Zendesk

Women in Tech @ Zendesk

October 18th 6:00-8:00pm

Lately these company parties have been dominated by men so I wanted to take a moment to recognize the women, by crashing one of their events. I would never consider myself to be a woman working in the technology field, but I joined this Women in Tech panel to see which women are. To all the men out there, this was an event you should regret missing. These are the power females in San Francisco, the ones that are learning to code and changing the game within the status quo of women at work. I was welcomed into Zendesk by the Buddha with appetizers and drinks to join these entrepreneurs and thought leaders in conversation. I left this discussion with a new found outlook on innovation as it being not just about technology, but a different way of thinking and approaching problems. This is me with two of the panel speakers, Sepi Nasiri (VP of Women 2.0) and Saroj Yadav (Sr. Software Engineer at Zendek) -and this is us, seizing opportunities and doing things differently.

An event crash dedicated to the women in SF -cheers to changing things.

Trulia

Trulia's After-Party @ Trulia

October 15th 6:00pm-9:00pm

I never attended the Html5 Developer Conference but I did check-in to the after party, to check-out Trulia. I got the inside scoop from the lead engineer that night as he popped open his computer at the event to show me some of the best features on the site  He turned out to be a great representation of this very grounded workplace that literally was built from the ground up, starting off with one guy who was just simply looking to move but couldn't find a good go-to real estate site. Now seven years after inception, they're estimated to have more than 22 million unique visitors to the site each month, and one even more unique visitor at their headquarters crashing this company event. This online residential real estate site is a fast-growing company that just recently went public, but what was even more impressive was that out of all the business events that I've crashed, Trulia truly had the most down-to-earth people to talk to. While other events served fancy hors d'oeuvres and champagne, they had the good ol' fashioned pizza and beer routine. Somewhere between the darts, ping pong, beer tap and outdoor balcony they managed to create a perfectly balanced workplace built on intelligence and fun.

They're also hiring, so if you consider yourself smart and you think you could beat me at ping-pong you may just want to apply (after a quick game that is).

Traackr

Traackr @ Press Club

October 15th 5:00-7:00pm  

I got social with the door guy doing nametags at Traackr. Simon Trigg is an Account Manager, although we joked around about him also being hired as "that person doing the nametags." The stickers were printed upside down though and I figured his stronger skills are in helping costumers get the most out of Traackr's platform. According to his company profile description of him, "Simon always finds ways to put a fun twist on his work" -right even down to the nametags. After I grabbed a drink they called me a social rockstar as I mingled at this event in an attempt to find the influencers that matter most. That's actually part of Traackr's mission statement, but I was also on that same mission because I know the power behind social media from an experiment I once conducted that involved creating a social media birthday (one that was different than my actual one). It turned out I received four times as many wishes on my virtual birthday compared to my real one. With this kind of proven power behind social media, it's no wonder Traackr focuses on the online influencer space to track everything.

I'm only left wondering though, if Traackr truly tracks, have they tracked this event crash yet?

Edelman

EdelUp With Edelman @ B Restaurant

5:30pm-8:30pm

Meet Mike... I'm about 99% sure this is Mike Kuczkowski, the General Manager of Edelman SF and one of the people that said a few words to the crowd at this private event that I just happened to be walking by (while on my way to a different event).  I crashed this gathering to enjoy a drink with Mike, and he asked if I was a felon before agreeing to take a photo with me. I assured him that I wasn't... but I'm just glad we got that question out of the way early. Edelman is the world's largest public relations firm with 65 offices and more than 4,500 employees world-wide. It's a top-ranked PR firm so if you love PR and Digital -Edelman is the way to go.

They're also hiring, but please no felons apply.

The other folks I took a photo with at this meet-n-greet event were these two Swedish men in red. Clad in bright colors with a giant brand logo across their back made me wonder who these classy men were, and why I felt like a little person standing next to them. It turns out they're from Mynewsdesk, and they admitted that they were just extraordinarily tall and that I wasn't in fact shrinking.

CRASHED IT... For the love of PR

Westfield Labs and Innovate SF

Innovation Celebration Launch Party @ Westfield Centre Market

October 11th 6:30-9:30pm 

 

This is Brian Chesky, the CEO of Airbnb... and that's his doppleganger, Joseph Nolan the Director of of New Media at Men's Warehouse. Joe apparently got confused for Brian throughout the evening, but admitted to enjoying the mistaken identity. Either way, I was there to celebrate with Joe/Brian San Francisco's inaugural innovation month, to embrace technology and catalyze greater job creation through innovation.  I grabbed a glass of chardonnay to help launch Westfield Labs (converging the digital shopper with the physical world) and Innovate SF (spotlighting SF as the innovation capital of the world).  It was a night of networking as I accumulated twelve business cards, however not one of them made it into my business card book though. A book that I started that contains the best business cards I've seen from these company crashings. From laser cut letters to plastic business cards -these are the people I meet and what I have left to represent them.

Hive Advertising

Hive Advertising @ The new office

October 4th 5:00-9:00pm

The hive has moved, and I got buzzed in their bigger and better abode. This advertising agency proudly represents its name from the bee artwork on the wall to the honey soap in the bathroom. I enjoyed some honey cocktails that evening as I met DeeAnn Budney, the CEO, who introduced me to everyone that night as "Jaime the first guest" -a title I was honored to have as I've always been known as timely. This smaller shop still has a wealth of experience though and an impressive client list that includes Gymboree and Whole Foods. I beelive they're success is wrapped in how they embrace the fact that we're all a bit weird, but finding that beautiful solution to a complex problem is what they really care about. I also met the agency dog, which just so happened to have his face on every cupcake that was being served. There was an abundance of sushi and Vietnamese tacos from the nom nom food truck, and a photobooth with a bee costume sitting next to it... All I could say now, is that somewhere out there is a picture of me dressed up as a bumblebee.

CRASHED IT... Hive, it's a sweet place to bee!

Oracle

Oracle @ the Mint Plaza

October 2nd, Noon-8pm

The perfect weather in San Francisco brought me out to this Oracle event that was held outside at the Mint Plaza. This day time party for the media mavens was filled with fashion designers, live music, artists and appetizers, which made it a great gathering for the conference attendees -and me.


Known for her urban jungle theme, Melanie Alves paints a lion in front of the stage. While enjoying the music and margaritas, I jumped into another photo booth before picking up a t-shirt that was being given out by San Fran Pyscho, a local lifestyle brand that features the talent and diversity of the city.  It was one of the most beauitful days in San Francisco and crashing this outdoor event made it even better.