How to Get Through the Awkwardness of Networking
Wesley Faulkner shares advice on how to be successful at professional networking as a developer.
This month we’re going to look at an area where a lot of technology innovation is occurring, but where we often don’t hear about due to some misconceptions and biases around a sensitive topic - sextech. Join us to learn more about what this area of technology is about much more than what you may imagine.
When it comes to sextech, people often let their imaginations get in the way of the facts. One common reason is that the media likes to focus primarily on VR porn and bang-able robots. In reality, these subjects are just a small sliver on the sextech spectrum. Sextech spans everything from menopause technology and sex-ed apps to teledildonics and erotica audiobooks. You encounter it when you use an app to track your menstrual cycle, talk to an A.I. OBGYN chatbot, or simply just watch pornography. In this talk I’ll describe:
Alison is the founder of Women In Tech Pittsburgh and Sex Tech Space, as well as the Managing Director of Women of Sex Tech. She is a previous software engineer with experience in startup and corporate environments. Alison is currently a cybersecurity master’s candidate at the George Washington University and a recipient of the (ISC)2 Center for Cyber Safety and Education award. She has also been awarded the RedChair Pgh scholarship for leadership as a mid-career woman in IT and recognized as one of fourteen individuals shaping Pittsburgh tech scene by The Incline’s Who’s Next in Technology 2019. She has been featured in WIRED, WomenInTech, Female Tech Leaders, Women of Silicon Valley, Sextech Guide, PGH City Paper, and has spoken on the CyberSexurity panel at DEFCON, Abst, Google, CISCO, and more. In her free time she likes to hang out with her pet cockatiel.
Wesley Faulkner shares advice on how to be successful at professional networking as a developer.
A discussion of the importance of the practice of developer relations by Mary Thengvall.
Jo Franchetti discusses how to understand your fears and learn to be kind to yourself.
Adrienne Braganza Tacke will discuss ways you may likely be doing code reviews wrong, how to fix those issues and other techniques to make code reviews even better.
Vitaly Sharovatov will discuss how trust and ethics relate to our careers as software engineers and how fostering them can create more satisfying and productive work.