Internet Geek Girl

Well, this is the last of my 9 posts featuring the participants of the Windows Mobile Fantasy Application promotion. It took me a bit longer than I thought to do all 9 posts (but not so bad considering I decided to not post on weekends – that was delusional thinking given my busy personal life these days).  I have really enjoyed this process. Telling stories about colleagues that I know and respect is an honor. I also have enjoyed hearing your thoughts about their “mobile fantasy applications.”  Some readers have pointed out that some of these apps actually exist (if not in the US than at least in other countries). We all know that the US is behind in mobile.  Maybe we can turn that around one of these days. Maybe these exciting apps will help. I’ve saved Deborah Schultz for last. As the old saying goes.. best for last! (That and I went in order by row).  The greatest part of all of this has been researching links on all participants.  While we hang in person a lot, it is hard for all of us to stay on top of what we are all doing. Twitter helps for sure. You can read Debs’s twitter on @debs.

I’ve known Deb for over 10 years. We met during the 1.0 days back on the NYC tech scene where we worked on NYNMA projects together.  Her one line bio sums it up (but i highly recommend you read her about page as it’s extremely clever:

One line bio: Deborah has been inventing and innovating for over 15 years in emerging technologies – where people, technology and media intersect.

Deb thinks about social software through a very unique lense. Her motto… “Technology changes, humans don’t.”   Deb’s fantasy apps is based on one of the greatest human instincts, to make things EASIER and to get other people to help you complete a task.  Deb gives hommage to the old “Fetch” application in her title (Remember Fetch?). As Deb points out in this video, “Shopping online is not effiicient, buying online is.” I’ve heard that they have this type of thing in Japan.. but you let us know.

Erin Kotecki Vest  is a true renaissance women. As her bio states, she spent ten years as a broadcast journalist in Los Angeles, Orlando and Detroit winning six Golden Mic Awards with LA news institution KFWB. She now serves as Producer of Special Projects for  BlogHer.com where she hosts BlogHer Backtalk. She also tries to contribute to the Huffington Post, MOMocrats.com, and her own site Queen of Spain Blog as often as she can. You can find her on Twitter @queenofspain – she gives great tweets!! And please make sure to ask her about her interview with Barack Obama. BTW – if you can read all about why she calls herself the queen of spain, here.

To all that good stuff, I would add: Erin is hysterically funny, a community builder extraordinaire, smart as a whip and a non-stop contributor to the twittersphere. Plus she does all that while being an incredible (yet self-depreciating) mom and wife.  The love she has (and tweets about) for her family is inspiring.

Erin works for BlogHer, a community for women who blog. I spoke at BlogHer last year and I thoroughly enjoyed the chance to be at a conference with a majority female attendees (not common in the tech industry). Erin’s fantasy mobile application was generated by the BlogHer community and would add value to any event.  A community app for event attendess, this app would aggregate RSS feeds from blog posts, site content, hashtag searches, geo tracking of other event attendees, and even include a clean bathroom locator! Plus, for BlogHer they could include their prioprietary “Chatter” app which is similar to Twitter. By the way, she’s NOT wearing @armano ’s cowboy hat – that’s hers!

I get extremely excited writing about Dave McClure. It’s like blogger Viagra. Or since I’m a female, we’ll call it blogger Zestra. Why you ask? Well, Dave McClure, like all my guests here on InternetGeekGirl, is fantastic. I know I am a fan girl – actually I am for all my amazingly smart colleagues – but Mr. 500 Hats himself is truly special.

The self-proclaimed “D-List VC”! [Dave sees himself as the Kathy Griffin of Silicon Valley (except Geeks are his Gays; and he likes it!] Personally, I think Dave is funnier than Kathy Griffin (and she’s freakin’ hilarious). And while Kathy is brilliant, I doubt she can match Dave’s masterful mind and intellect.

By day, Dave is an angel investor at the Founders Fund. By day and night actually. He travels all over the place looking for cool startups to invest in. Companies like Twilio and SlideShare. That’s the inspiration for Dave’s fantasy application – a desire to stay more connected to his family.  Like most of us struggling to balance life and work, we’re always on the look out for new, effective tools and strategies. Mobile technologies obviously have a big impact for staying organized and connected. Watch Dave’s fantasy application and imagine a world where staying connected to your loved ones is that much easier!