Shannon's thoughts on marketing, public relations, social technology, entrepreneurship and other things

This week’s Awesomely Fantabulous Woman is @DigitalSista aka Shireen Mitchell, if you don't know her, then you must be brand-spanking-new to the social space. She has a passion for inclusionary technology that is accessible to everyone regardless of ethnicity, class or education. Shireen was tech savvy before it became cool.

How did you get started in technology?
My first introduction was through Pac-Man, which was originally designed for girls. Ironically, today most video games are geared to boys and men.

Pac-Man, how old were you?
I was 10 years old and I played every day until it was dark outside, which was my curfew. The store owners didn’t want me there because they couldn’t make money off of me. I would go to the corner store and beat everyone.

You say you beat “everyone,” does that include the boys too?
It was only boys; I was the only girl playing at that level.

What did your Mom think about you spending all of your time playing video games at the store?
My Mom didn’t believe I was down there playing video games. She thought I was going there because of some boy, so to keep me home she bought me an Atari game console.

Really, a sort of “if you can’t beat them, join them” strategy.
You can say that, she even bought me my first home computer.

When did you become interested in technology?
It was 1984, I was 14 years old and technology became a core part of my being. I played games and experimented with different programs. And by high school people began trying to direct my interests away from technology.

That doesn’t make sense, why do you think they did that?
I had been in accelerated academic programs since the 7^th grade, which meant I was taking mostly math and science classes. For instance, I took law instead of history. I was doing 11^th grade math in 9^th grade, so it didn’t make much sense but the comments I continued to hear was that I couldn’t get a job doing this. At the time I didn’t know what they meant; I understand these tracking methods now.

It wasn’t easy for my Mom. I know I was a little rebel. I was smart; I knew it and I wouldn’t back down from it. I was doing work above my classmates and many of my teachers didn’t know what to do with me. So, I got bored because I felt like I was being ignored; I was insulted. The principal said I had an “attitude problem.”

How did you handle it?
By college, I acquiesced some and majored in psychology, while spending my spare time with my techie friends. I would study for school and study tech manuals for fun. It was nuts. My tech click only studied the manuals while I studied both. We were very competitive, the guys would try to hide things from me and keep me from learning, but they couldn’t. I would buy individual components and build my own PCs and servers.

The “guys,” they were guys?
Yep, it was four guys and me. Gender didn’t come up. It wasn’t a trigger in my head at the time. When AOL comes on the scene, a couple of them drop out of school and go there to work. They still haven’t finished school and still work at AOL. Another one became a CIO. I decided to finish school. Every now and then, I think about what if I had gone to AOL in its heyday, with the stock options…hmm.

How did you get from psychology to digitalsista?
I was doing the back end work for Sister Circle, one of the first communities for Black women and the founder encouraged me to start my own web management firm. I jumped in and began to notice I’m only one of a few women in the field, so I started doing trainings at a local bookstore. Men would attend the sessions and try to challenge me by using tech terms. I wasn’t intimidated at all; I knew what I was talking about and they usually used a term in the wrong context. What happened is the men intimidated the women in the classes, not me. I started holding women only sessions, which would eventually grow into DigitalSistas, a place for girls and women to support and encourage their tech dreams. “Someone will always present a barrier; it’s up to you whether or not you’re going to accept it.”

Fashion gurus have told people for years to accentuate the positive, translation, highlight your best features and down play your less optimal ones. This adage can guide you through business as well.

• If you enjoy public speaking, then why hasn't anyone heard you?
  
• If you like building, fixing and doing it yourself, then why are your neighbors calling strangers?
  
• If you get excited telling stories, then why are you an accountant?
• If you have an eye for fashion and love shopping, then why are you stuck behind a desk?
• If you have dreamed of owning your own business, then why does someone else give you a paycheck?

Tens of thousands of manufacturing and corporate jobs have been lost over the past year, and the economy is puttering along at a snail's pace. This is the time to step up, step out and use your creativity to accentuate your positive. There is a market for whatever product or service you have to offer, and you don't have to do it alone. It's time to accentuate your business positive:

1. Elongate your neckline with v-neck tops: Talk about what you want to do...to everyone. You will find encouragement, support and future customers are all around you.
2. Know your particular body type, be it petite, slim, long/short-waisted: Do research to learn about the your new industry. There are websites, blogs, newletters and listservs available for you to peruse.
   
3. Invest in well-tailored suits and properly fitted shoes: Get advice from others in the field. Seek out people who are where you want to be, some may offer advice, council and possibly serve as mentors.
   
4. Slim your body by wearing one color head to toe: Preparation and planning will serve you well in your new endeavor. Take time to choose a business model, write a business plan and find funding.
   
5. Accentuate your greatest assets, your mind and your spirit with an attitude of gratitude: If you believe it in your heart and can see it in your mind, then the only thing left to do is to do it.

You are the one, today is the day and you look fabulous...get started!

Twitter chats are vehicles to share information with your audience, demonstrate your subject matter expertise to new audiences and learn from your tweeps. However, as with all events, prep work is required to make them educational, interesting and valuable experiences for all involved.

The Hashtag
The hashtag is fundamental; it is the key, the focus and core of the chat. The best chat hashtags are simple, relevant and easy to remember. They convey the chat's topic and don't take up too many of the precious 140 characters. Some good examples are #blogchat, #brandchat and #measurepr, and some examples bad chat hashtags are #beginnerbloggingchat, #marketingandbrandingyourbusiness and #measuringyourpublicrelations. The former are easy to remember and you immediately know the chat’s topic; the latter are disastrous.
Nugget of knowledge: KISS – Keep It Succinct & Simple

Schedule
Setting a regular day and time for the chat is the key to participation and growth of the audience. Many of the established Twitter chats occur weekly. Newer chats start off bi-weekly or monthly, then become weekly as their audiences grow.

Website
As this is a Twitter chat, a Twitter account is the ideal place for information about the event; however, you can only put up so much information there. A static site or blog provides space for all of the chat’s pertinent information: the what, where, when, why and how of the event. A  Facebook Fan page or LinkedIn group are good alternatives or add-ons as well.
Nugget of knowledge: Always keep SEO in the back of your mind, even for marketing your Twitter chat.

Format
Currently, there are two basic formats for a Twitter chat, open mic and moderated. Open mic is just like it sounds, the chat’s host will start the conversation with a question and then the crowd sourcing begins. Tweeps answer, ask other questions, answer and ask follow-up questions. During a moderated chat the host serves as the event’s facilitator, there’s a guest subject matter expert and questions are fielded via the facilitator.

Recognition
It is important to remember, the Twitter chat is only as good as the tweeps. Replying, retweeting and acknowledging them during the chat are great ways to show appreciation for their participation. You can also list them on the website/blog or create a Twitter list for the chat.

Archive
Saving the chat discussion is as important as choosing the hashtag. The archive is a valuable resource for people to review post-chat. It is full of links, authors, books, dos & don’ts, how tos and tips, and most participants will have missed a lot of the information. The archive is also there for those who were unable to attend.
Nugget of knowledge: A Twitter chat archive is chock full of business ideas, potential blog topics and future influencers.

Additional Resources:
What the Hashtag?!
10 Steps to Creating a Successful Twitter Chat
Twitter Chat Calendar