Networking for Women in IT

I’m still really overwhelmed to the amount of interest and positive feedback which has been generated by the event that I organised on March 6th.  “Connecting Women in IT” was originally an attempt I dreamed up over a glass of wine with a friend in IT.  she was telling me about her job, her frustration at her lack of progression in her organisation, her lack of sponsors and she even thought that her salary wasn’t on a par with her male colleagues.  This got me thinking that her problems are really similar throughout the IT industry and if I could just get some of these women together to talk to each other, then they would realise that their perceptions are an industry wide problem and not just internal to their own company.

Getting Cisco, Dell, IBM and Microsoft together was a much easier task that I’d thought it would be.  No business speak, we just wanted to network.  “Why do you work there?” “What do you enjoy about the job?”, “What a great job title”, and the inevitable “Have you met Bill Gates?” (No).  So like a viral advertising campaign, the news is spreading and more and more companies are asking to get involved in our initiative.  They want to come and network with other like minded women in IT, exchange business cards which may come in very handy one day.

So why am I writing this for the TechNet newsletter? Well as women influence 80% of the purchasing decisions in the home and 55% of consumer electronic purchases, then these decisions may impact your business.  Perhaps encouraging the women in your company to network with other women in your area, they may act as your unofficial sales force.

And that may be rather good for your business bottom line…

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1 thought on “Networking for Women in IT”

  1. Tanya Middleton

    What a wonderful event you organized. It’s imperative that women unite in support of one another, IT or business. In these male dominated fields, women are on the rise in both of these industries, which constitutes the absolute neccesity of encouragement, mentorships, and commanalities amongst women. I actually work with Microsoft, and right now I’m really excited to spread the word about the “Vision to Venture” tour they’re having between April and May, which will consist of five live events. Featured speaker, John Jantsch is a marketing and digital technology coach, award-winning social media publisher, and author of Duct Tape Marketing: The World’s Most Practical Small Business Marketing Guide.as well as many other speakers offering industry tips. Our first event was momentous and we hope to continue on with our success. You can see more and register at http://smallbusiness.officelive.com/v2v/ so let me know what you think! And if you have any questions, I’d be more than happy to answer them 

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