It’s Wednesday night and somehow I’ve gone from being embarrassingly punctual to the late side of fashionable. No one will care particularly – once again I am off to a London tech meetup to, well, meet a whole host of complete strangers – however I am a bit ashamed of the fact that I’ve managed to get lost in the most central part of London less than three blocks away from the bar I’m trying to find. But, I’m a girl so I’m prepared. My A-Z is in my bag. And I am not ashamed to ask for directions from my coworker, Alice, who wrongly assumed I knew where we were going. Being prepared, willing to ask for help and female are traits I will share with those I am about to meet and finally the bar is in sight. Silicon Stilettos, here I come.
Silicon Stilettos, organised by Zuzanna of Huddle.net, is a chance for techie women of London to gather, sip some sponsored drinks (in the case of tonight’s event, the beverages are being provided by Sun Startup Essentials and the few men in attendance are for the most part responsible for the plentiful food and drink so we don’t give them too hard a time), chat about business and technology and meet share ideas.
There are a number of brilliant women in attendance, but one of the entrepreneurs in attendance whose company really caught my attention was Anna of CompletelyNovel. CompletelyNovel is an online platform for writers to publish their stories and readers to find new online reading material. While using the web as a way to share creative writing is nothing new, CompletelyNovel offers ways for writers to manage their fan base and articulate readership to partner publishing houses, basically making a case for their book’s success before the publishing houses take the risk and expense of publishing the story. As CompletelyNovel puts it, “would a band be signed to a record label without fans, record sales and a tour?” Now, authors have the opportunity to prove they will be a success and increase their chances of getting picked up by a publisher. Additionally, readers get the chance to access all sorts of brilliant fiction in one online library for free, and support their favourite authors.
Anna and CompletelyNovel represents just one of the many interesting stories I hear at Silicon Stilettos and anyone who thinks that women are not a driving force in technology would be forced to reevaluate in the presence of the strong, entrepreneurial women I meet tonight. Thank you so much to Zuzanna for organising the event and Sun Startup for sponsoring the night. I look forward to future Silicon Stiletto events.
It also seems fitting that my recap of an evening with this wonderful group of women marks the 200th post here at The Top Floor Flat. I’d like to thank friends and family who have been reading since my fateful flight from JFK to Heathrow. To be in the company of these women is just one small indication of how far I’ve come. Thank you for reading, commenting and being a part of my adventure!
Evocative Foods: Feed Your Imagination
13 May 2009
A few weeks back, I described a brilliant food-related event and brainchild of the wonderful Kate Matlock and her classmates. They are pleased to announce that “Feed Your Imagination,” presented by Evocative Foods with chef Numo Mendes and food futurologist Dr. Morgaine Gaye will take place on June 4, 2009 at The Loft Kitchen, Hackney.
The Evocative Foods concept was developed by eight MA Design Studies students from Central Saint Martins and features a tasting menu, developed by Chef Mendes with ingredients identified by Dr. Gaye as providing a more emotional connection to food.
Gaye, whose book The Non-Cook Book: Super Health for Busy People is coming out in June said, “The students’ work is ingenious and is a totally new way to present concepts around food and sensation. It’s an exciting collaboration and an event not to be missed.”
Chef Mendes, who currently hosts intimate tasting events in preparation for the opening of his new restaurant Viajante in 2010, was chosen by Evocative Foods for his creative menus and experimental uses of texture and temperature in his cooking.
The exhibition-style tasting event uses foods with natural mood enhancing properties combined with art and music to evoke a mood of vibrancy. This event features food that Dr. Gaye has identified as “vibrant,” and turned into edible works of art by chef Mendes. Kate has given me a sneak preview of the menu which will include English spring peas on the half shell with liquid gel and flowers.
Tickets and more information are available via the Evocative Foods website at http://www.evocativefoods.com/ but spaces are limited so be sure you book early. If the initial hype is anything to go by, this event will sell out fast. And everyone can use a little more vibrancy in their lives.
It’s become increasingly popular to “donate your facebook status” to various charities and causes. And overall, it’s a great idea – you show your support, you can quickly raise awareness amongst all of your friends and you get that warm fuzzy feeling of having done something good. Karma points all around. But amidst the general chatter and noise of Facebook, a status update for charity is, literally, the least you can do. So what’s the next step?
Lovebox, a new London startup and brainchild of The House London, thinks they’ve hit on a new way to spread the word about charities and show some internet love for various causes all through a little pink box. In their own words,
Lovebox is a digital wristband to help raise money and awareness for different charities around the world via the web. Each month we add another good cause and featured charity for you to support…. Social networks and the internet help us share information quickly. Lovebox is a simple but effective way for you to show your support for charities.
Imagine checking out your favourite social network and all you see is Lovebox! Swap your profle pic for a Lovebox avatar.
As Lovebox is still in Beta stage at the moment, their features are pretty limited. All that is currently available is the downloadable Lovebox image – for ease of use when you’re ready to swap it in place of your current profile pic on various social networks, and their current charity of choice, Cancer Research UK.
There are a couple of issues with the service that hopefully will be addressed as the site grows. The selection of only one charity per month as the Lovebox supported cause is slightly problematic as not all charities appeal to all supporters. Also, convincing us self-involved web users to change our digital signature, that is, our ever-present profile picture, might not be quite as easy as convincing us to change our profile statuses. Also problematic is the fact that profile pictures are not clickable links so a sea of Loveboxes is all well and good, but if others don’t know what they mean and have no way of finding out, it can be a bit of a challenge to get the word out.
Yet issues and growing pains aside, Lovebox certainly has a lovely vision: a sea of pink hearts, Loveboxes, covering the face of social networks across the planet. From Twitter to Facebook, MySpace to Bebo, Hi5 to IMVU, a Lovebox just might become the universal sign of giving and charitable donations if the Lovebox team has anything to say about it. And the appearance of one box can cause hundreds of others on the network to sit up, take notice and consider supporting a charity themselves.
So what are you waiting for? Download your very own Lovebox and start showing a little love today.
Last Thursday I had the opportunity to attend the Opening Night Gala of the International Buddhist Film Festival at the Barbican Centre here in London. Now, I like Buddhism. I’m pretty sure in a past like I was a fairly devout Buddhist in fact. I’ve come to this conclusion for a number of reasons. Primarily my life at the moment is so awesome that I probably did pretty well karma-wise in a past life but also because Buddhism has always held a fascination for me, ever since my 10th grade religion project in which I annoyingly got stuck with Hinduism when I made it very clear I wanted to be in the Buddhist group (although admittedly Hinduism was quite interesting as well). In both my Japanese and East Asian art history classes, Budhhism formed a fairly central pillar for the art and culture we studied. In short, Buddhism is pretty darn awesome. Besides, who can argue with a belief system that basically says “be nice to people, not because something awful will happen if you don’t but because better things will happen if you do.”
In any case, the International Buddhism Film Festival selects a series of films with various levels of direct Buddhist influence from documentaries of the sky burials of Tibetan monks and dramatisations of the life of Siddartha to modern film like Donnie Darko and Stay which have underlying themes in tune with Buddhist believes.
On the opening night, I had a chance to see a 1925 silent film Prem Sanyas (The Light of Asia) and you can read my full review on Spoonfed – here is an excerpt:
There is no denying the stunning beauty, scope and power of the film, however, and I am lured into an almost meditative state by the sepia images, ornate sets and costumes and classic story of Siddhartha who became the Buddha. I am surprised when the end credits appear, having been drawn entirely into this masterpiece of classic silent film.
For me, the one element I think is missing from this festival is a series of optional post-film discussions with someone who can describe and lead a debate on the Buddhist films in the series. I’ll accept that Donnie Darko include Buddhist themes but I’d much rather be able to discuss that after seeing the film with others knowledgeable on the subject.
But perhaps that would be a little more academic than most involved in the festival mean to make it. At the end of the day, some private meditation on Buddhist themes and their place in films – modern or classic – is probably exactly what they meant to create anyway.
The International Buddhist Film Festival is at The Barbican from 7th-17th May, 2009
For more information, visit the Barbican’s IBFF website
Or the Festival’s official site.
Traveling Mamas and Skin Cancer Awareness Month
10 May 2009Although mother’s day was a number of weeks ago now in the UK, this Sunday is Mother’s Day in the states. So in honor of mums everywhere, and in particular my amazingly wonderful mother, Lila, here is a plug for a mum-created blog and a family health public service announcement.
The weather is warming, the days are longer and the rain is gone enough of the time for Londoners to get reacquainted with the sun. That’s right, summer is approaching. It seems apt, then, that May – the time when everyone is getting so excited about seasonal changes that clothing seems optional – is National Skin Cancer Awareness Month. I suppose National refers to the states but last I checked, people outside the US get skin cancer too so I’m taking the awareness across the pond.
People are increasingly aware of the need to slather themselves and their children with sunblock but it’s still important to remember that nearly 50% cases of diagnosed cancer cases are skin cancer/melanoma, even though it is one of the most preventable types. With everything from SPF70 super cremes to sun protection foundation makeup and chapstick, it’s a lot easier to protect yourself from sun damage these days than it was when SPF5 “tanning cremes” were standard beachwear.
One of my favourite travel blogs, Traveling Mamas, has done a feature on the significance of the month and are donating $100 to the Skin Cancer Foundation. I highly recommend that you check out the blog, the Skin Cancer Foundation, and remember to pack the sunblock this summer.
Meaghan Fitzgerald is a marketer and entrepreneur building and growing consumer and gaming products and experiences. A Silicon Valley native, she started her first company, DormWise, in 2006 which she later sold in 2009. Meaghan spent 7 years in London in early stage consumer startups, two years at Xbox as a product marketer for Minecraft, and is currently the head of product marketing for VR experiences at Facebook and Oculus. Meaghan writes here about business, technology, gaming, and marketing. She has been named a top