Ruth Lemmen: Womenize! Tech, Digital Business and Media

Womenize! is an action day for women in tech, IT, startups and media. How did the idea come about? What are its goals and specific target group?
Womenize! co-founder Michael Liebe and I realise that the skills shortage is a huge issue for these industries which has been concerning companies for quite some time and will continue to do so in the future due to demographic change. We therefore want to offer "Womenize! Tech, Digital Business and Media" as an event format that provides a platform for recruitment, networking and the exchange of information. From our professional experience we also know that women are under-represented in the tech industry in general, although there are many creative and talented women in the employment market. Talented professionals can choose the companies that they work for. Companies should therefore also make a move and provide their future employees with an attractive environment that includes sustainable development opportunities and adequate support. The skills shortage can only be compensated if more women are also addressed in the future. The purpose of Womenize! is to build a bridge here between companies in the digital sectors and the female talents. We are delighted that the Senate Department for Economics, Technology and Research / Projekt Zukunft has recognised the potential of the event and is supporting our project.

Womenize! is the logical progression to the Girls'Day for an older target group and addresses young women who are studying or have completed their studies and want to start a career in the digital industries. Young female entrepreneurs or women striving to become entrepreneurs, as well as career changers and women who, for example, want to re-orientate themselves professionally after a break, are just as much part of our target group as companies in the digital industry that want to employ more women in the future. Our main objective is to offer companies an opportunity to compensate for their lack of skilled workers and to be able to shape their corporate culture in such a way that women are also supported sustainably in their careers. We want to show young women career opportunities and offer them targeted information, advice and coaching in workshops. Studies have shown that young people – and this does not apply only to women – still cling very strongly to traditional occupational notions when choosing a career, even though this is the generation of so-called "digital natives". In addition, women need role models to advance their careers sustainably and we will present these to them with Womenize!. An on top of that, they can engage in a dialogue and network with them, and receive advice.

What can participants in the Womenize! action day expect?
The action day consists of three pillars – there is a recruitment area where companies can present themselves and enter into a dialogue with the participants. In addition, there is a conference area discussing topics such as mentoring for women, job profiles and corporate culture. Women such as Reine Abbas, who is one of the 100 most influential women in the international games industry and runs her own development studio in Lebanon, or Nicole DeMeo, who worked with Steve Jobs at Apple and has been active in Silicon Valley for over 20 years, will present themselves and their work. There will also be workshops on topics such as founding a business, employer branding, training opportunities and application tips. The programme is in English because excellent command of English is a fundamental prerequisite for working in the digital industries – also in companies which have their registered offices in Germany, English is often spoken because the teams are put together internationally. We expect around 150 international participants and we are delighted to have successfully gained European participants through cooperation with the project BERLIN meets POLAND or Bahçeşehir University in Istanbul. Interested men are naturally also welcome.

In the areas IT, games and digital economy, women often face greater challenges than their male colleagues. What do you see as the biggest challenges? Where do you still see a need for strengthening? How can a day like Womenize! help here?
It often starts with the job postings – if a woman can only cover 50 percent of the desired profile she will tend not to apply for the job. Women clearly have a bigger problem admitting to gaps. Armed the same prerequisites, men go to the interview with confidence and sell themselves as the ideal person for the position in question. Looking at this problem more closely – from job interview to pay negotiations and from career development through to starting a company – women often lack courage and self-confidence. However, there is certainly also a need to strengthen networks and visibility. Women should learn to build, expand, maintain and actively use their networks. It can be quite helpful to distance yourself from the traditional division between private life and professional network. This applies both online and offline. Your own self-representation in the network, the cultivation and honing of your own profile in business networks such as LinkedIn or Xing, as well as on Facebook and Twitter, are essential today as the Internet virtually acts as an online business card. At Womenize! we will be offering targeted workshops on both of the above-mentioned topics, as well as on issues relating to the design of application letters and résumés. A great opportunity presents itself for companies in the digital economy if they position themselves accordingly and adapt their corporate culture so that it is attractive to women – employer branding is the magic word here and it will also be the subject of interesting discussions and workshops at Womenize!. The companies can thus gain a competitive advantage: Studies show that companies with heterogeneous and diversified teams are more successful. Naturally, this applies not only to gender, but also to other aspects such as nationality, religion, age, etc.

What is your advice to women intending to start a business and to startups run by women?
Firstly, it is certainly essential to analyse the market and to develop an innovative and sustainable business idea. In general, it is important to obtain support, to get advice, to share with other successful entrepreneurs, not to get discouraged, even if things don't work at the first attempt, to have and maintain a wide network, but also to be courageous. Founders should present themselves confidently, be committed to their goals and stay on the ball. Being prepared to takes risks is just as indispensable as having a good business plan. Wanting to start a business also means being able to fail and not allowing this scenario to get you down. We will also be offering workshops on these topics: We are pleased to have been able to enter into a partnership with the European Network for the Promotion of Female Entrepreneurs in the web area "WeHubs". There will be a panel discussion with successful female business angels and female founders which I am expect to provide many stimuli. The challenges and obstacles, as well as the opportunities which must to be taken into account when founding and financing startups, will be examined more closely here. We are also pleased to be collaborating with the Berlin Geekettes, Edition F, Hauptstadtmutti, Witas – Women in Tech and Startups, WeFound and numerous other initiatives in Berlin and Europe that are committed to this topic.

Berlin is…
... the hot spot for dynamic, creative and tech-savvy talents and companies. The internationality of the capital region is unique in Germany and is one of the most important factors contributing to the current boom. Firms from Asia, Europe and the USA come here to establish their European headquarters or set up development locations, and always with the same argument: It is easier to attract new talent to Berlin than to other European cities. The quality of life is simply unbeatable. Add to that the wide range of attractive employers, then it is relatively risk-free for job seekers to accept a job. If the combination does not work, there are plenty of other good options. Berlin is also extremely well connected. The various institutions such as the Senate Department for Economics, Technology and Research, Projekt Zukunft, media.net berlinbrandenburg, Berlin Partner, Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg, the Federal Association of Interactive Entertainment Software e. V. (BIU), Startup Germany e. V., Tech Open Air Berlin (TAO), Silicon Allee, etc. provide the startup, tech and games industries, as well as the film and media sectors, with a variety of events and networking opportunities producing a dynamism that is second to none.

Ruth Lemmen works as a consultant for event management, marketing, communications and product development in the games and media industries. She is an expert for the European Commission and a member of the advisory board of Quo Vadis – create.game.business, the developer conference. Previously, Lemmen worked for the BIU – Federal Association of Interactive Entertainment Software in project management and as a consultant for media competence issues and serious games. She was also involved as an independent project manager and consultant in numerous European projects and gained her first experiences with the games industry in the development studio TERRATOOLS, where she was responsible for public relations, marketing and sales. After successfully completing her studies of the Romance languages in Berlin, Paris and Mexico City, for three years Ruth Lemmen initially headed the PR and marketing department of a Potsdam post-production house which produced visual effects for cinema and television.

Contact
Booster Space UG
Ruth Lemmen
Weinbergsweg 6
D-10119 Berlin
Tel.: +49 30 208 497 74
e-mail: action@womenize.de
www.womenize.de