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If you're a woman who has a big idea that involves technology, the Internet or social media, we have an opportunity for you. With the leadership of 50 pioneering entrepreneurs, technologists and business leaders, BlogHer is hosting a special event for women who want to start something. Whether you're considering a start-up of your own, or innovating from inside a company, we invite you to join BlogHer's 2011 Business, Entrepreurism and Technology conference on March 24-25 in Silicon Valley.
This is a long post, so here's a roadmap:
“Where are the women starting companies?”
Meet 50 amazing mentors
March 24-25, 2011 Conference Agenda
Who Should Attend and What You Need To Make the Most of it
A Little Context, A Lot of Inspiration
The inspiration for this event is the question we -- and perhaps also you -- have been hearing from mainstream media: "Where are the women in tech?" and "Where are the women starting companies?" The question reminds us of 2005, when we launched BlogHer to answer the question "Where are the women who blog?" Rather than continuing to talk about it, we decided to do something about it by inviting 300 blogging women (and men) to the first BlogHer Conference '05 to settle the question. Today BlogHer's annual conference is going strong, with more than 3,500 attendees expected this August in San Diego. We can't even count the number of businesses and partnerships spawned by connections made at BlogHer, but we know one thing for sure: Networking, community and mentoring fostered by this conference and made possible by our sponsors has made a huge difference for women who are social media leaders, who took the proverbial ball and ran with it.
"Where are the women starting companies?"
Back to the question at hand: Where are the women in tech and starting companies? We think the best way to answer such questions is to create the opportunity for women to show up, learn, connect and advance. And we're not alone -- Elisa, Jory and I are inspired by the amazing initiative of groups such as the Anita Borg Institute, Astia, Springboard Enterprises, Women 2.0, Women Who Tech, She’s Geeky, Girls in Tech, WebGrrls -- some of which specialize in in-depth, weeks-long courses in entrepreneurism aimed at women. We don't want to duplicate their work -- rather, BlogHer is pulling together a big-tent initiative with the goal of introducing women to the many resources available to them. Our goal? To inspire more women to take the leap: To fill the proverbial pipelines…funding pipelines, management pipelines, boardroom pipelines, product roadmap pipelines…with more women-led initiatives in business, technology and media. And we know these women are out there -- we hear from women every week who are looking for these opportunities. Some already have seed funding or angel funding and want introductions. Others just have amazing ideas that deserve encouragement to birth the kernel code or launch the next project that will “save” media or develop that killer app.
Meet 50 Amazing Mentors
BlogHerBET is the opportunity to bet on yourself if you're one of these women. Key to this event will be an opportunity for one-on-one mentoring by some of the industry's most incredible leaders who also happen to be women. Each of our 100 attendees will be matched with one of our 50 mentors for one hour each of advice, networking and recommended next steps. (An aside: For us personally, nothing has mattered to the success of BlogHer, Inc. as much as the personal investment of time, encouragement, tire-kicking, networking, tough love and even skepticism of essential mentors. Our mentors were the amazing women who advised our first conference, and the Silicon Valley insiders who counseled us immediately after, including Ann Winblad, Heidi Roizen, Caterina Fake, Charlene Li, ultimately leading us to a Series A investment by Venrock led by David Siminoff.
Just look at the list of women who have volunteered their time to offer inspiration, information and connection at this event:
- Funders and Acquirers. Including Christine Herron of Intel Capital, Dana Mauriello, founder of Profounder.com, Patricia Nakache of Trinity Ventures,
