Trailblazers

Right now, Megan is in the midst of a long plane ride, returning to Sew What? after a productive trip that included Washington D.C. (for Inc 500/5000) and Australia (for Dell Computer’s “Take Your Own Path”).  We are so looking forward to having her back, and I’m sure once she settles back in, she’ll be posting about her trip. 

In the meantime, I thought you might be interested in content that Dell Computers has posted regarding the Australia Trailblazers (including Megan).  Check it out!  Yes, the focus is on technology, but I find it quite interesting to learn how people in various aspects of business utilize technology to improve their businesses.

Megan in Australia

As you may know if you are a regular reader of this blog, Megan is currently in Australia as part of Dell Computer’s “Take Your Own Path” launch.  It has been a whirlwind trip for Megan – first to Washington D.C. for the Inc 500/5000 Conference, and then directly from there to Australia.

It has worked out well for Megan – the first part of the trip was to Melbourne (her hometown), and so in addition to participating in a variety of activities as one of the TYOP Trailblazers, she has also had time to spend with family and friends.  Next up is Sydney, where more activities are planned for the Trailblazers.

On a related note, you may remember back in July I told you about an article about Megan and Sew What? that was published in the Sydney Morning Herald (the author, Lia Timson, met Megan at the DWEN Conference in Shanghai).  Well, Ms. Timson has an article out in My Business magazine in which she mentions Megan and Sew What?  Nice that the article should appear while Megan is there in Australia!  Click here to view the article.

Meet the Australia TYOP Trailblazers

Last week, I posted about Megan travelling to Australia to participate in Dell’s “Take Your Own Path” launch in Australia.  I thought today I’d tell you about the other entrepreneurs who will be a part of “Take Your Own Path” in Australia.   These entrepreneurs include:

Martin Port, Managing Director, Masternaut Three X

Based in the UK, Masternaut Three X provides tracking and related mobile applications for vehicles and other assets.  The company recently opened facilities in Sydney, Australia.

Kym Houden, Founder, Task Retail

Task Retail is one of the leading providers of Point of Sale (POS) technology in Australia.  The company was award the Dell Computers Small Business Excellence Award in 2008 (the same award granted to Sew What? in 2006), along with numerous other awards.

Tony Wheeler, Co-Founder, Lonely Planet

Founded more than thirty years ago, Lonely Planet now publishes more than 500 titles of guidebooks for locations throughout the globe.  Based in Melbourne, Australia, for much of that time, the company now also has offices in London and Oakland.

Inc 500/5000 Conference

You may remember Megan mentioning, in a post back in March, that one of the awards that Sew What? was been given over the years is the Inc 500/5000 award.  To tell you a little bit about it, it is an award presented each year by Inc. Magazine to the 500 and 5000 fastest growing private companies in the United States.

This year is particularly exciting, because Megan was invited to participate in the Inc 500/5000 Conference and Awards Ceremony as one of the Mainstage speakers!  She will be supporting Steve D. Felice, President of  Consumer, Small and Medium Business at Dell Computers, in a presentation on technology in small business, with Megan discussing the ways in which technology has helped Sew What? to grow dramatically over the last ten years.

The conference takes place in Washington D.C. from September 30th to October 2nd.

TYOP Heads to Australia

As you may recall, last year about this time, Megan was selected by Dell Computers as a “Trailblazer” for its “Take Your Own Path” Campaign.  It was a real honor for Megan and Sew What? to be selected, and Megan enjoyed participating in various events related to “Take Your Own Path.”

Recently, Megan was contacted again by Dell Computers.  They were launching the “Take Your Own Path” Campaign in Australia, and they wanted Megan to be a part of it.  As a native of Australia who is now a US citizen and resident, Megan was delighted to return to Australia to share her story about the many ways that technology has enabled Sew What? to grow and develop over the years.

In a few weeks, Megan will be heading over to Australia to meet her fellow trailblazers and share her story.  I’m sure she’ll have lots of stories to share on this blog – I’ll keep you posted!

Rent What’s New Site

I don’t know if you’ve had a chance to visit Rent What’s website recently, but if not, you have got to check it out.  The website has always been terrific, but recently they added some great new content and redesigned the navigation to make it even more user friendly.

The site really is fun to explore, and they have made it so easy to find what you are looking for.  I love the new Backdrops page (check out the LED backdrop information – remember, I posted about them last week), and the addition of separate web pages for each of the Specialty Drape Collections (such as the Rockin’ Red Drapery) means there is lots of inspiration for the show or event designer.

So, whether you’re looking for a drapery rental or just in the mood to check out some cool pictures, this is a gorgeous site to look through (and I bet you’ll come up with some great ideas for your next show or event!).

Star Drops

Ever wondered how music tours achieve the “starry night” effect onstage?  Well, for years they have used drapes with embedded fiber optics.  But the fiber optics tended to be bulky and difficult to manuever.

Today, more and more, fiber optics are being replaced by LEDs to produce a stunning light display that mimics the appearance of a gorgeous starry night.  These LED Star Drops are manufactured utilizing a durable black synthetic velour on the face along with a strong but lightweight black lining, with strings of LED lights inserted between the face and the lining.  A controller (which can be used on its own or with a lighting board) is used to manipulate the pattern, frequency (speed) and intensity of the blinking “stars.”

Our sister company, Rent What?, has found these LED Star Drops to be quite popular in their rental inventory.  As a matter of fact, last year they were used by the “So You Think You Can Dance?” tour (among others).  Want to learn more?  Check out the “Starlight LED Backdrops” page on the Rent What? website.

Megan on Blog Talk Radio

As a result of her trip to Shanghai in June, Megan was introduced to Angie Strader, host of “What’s Your Bottom Line?” on Diva Toolbox Radio Network, and was asked by Angie to appear on the show.  The show aired live last Tuesday, and it was a really interesting experience, both for Megan and the rest of us here in the office.

Megan was asked to call into the show, as well as go onto the show’s webpage, a few minutes the show went live at 2:00 pm Central Time (noon here on the West Coast).  Angie had another guest for the first 15 minutes of the show and then went live to Megan as that day’s featured guest.

It was really a fun experience here.  Megan sent out a company-wide e-mail asking that she not be disturbed during the live radio interview, and even put a warning sign on her closed door (it reminded me of those red lights at TV studios – “Silence – Taping in Progress). 

Meanwhile, we all logged onto the Internet to listen to the interview while we worked.  It was a great interview, but a little surreal to be sitting in our offices a few feet away from Megan and yet hear her being interviewed on Blog Talk Radio!

If you want to hear more from Angie Strader, you can listen to “What’s Your Bottom Line?” live each Tuesday at 2:00 pm Central Time (3:00 pm Eastern, 12:00 noon Pacific), and there are also a number of previous shows available.  I’ve also just checked out her blog, and I found her posts quite interesting.  I especially liked the post titled, “Why the heck are you going it alone?”

My Trip to Shanghai for DWEN

As Lynda has mentioned in previous posts, I was honored to be invited to participate in the Dell Women’s Entrepreneur Network conference, held in Shanghai, China, in connection with the World’s Fair.  I have been to China once, but that was many years ago, so it was great to return. 

I started the trip out on a high note. Had a terrific flight over with China Eastern Airlines and landed safely and well rested. The Four Seasons Hotel Shanghai was the venue selected for both accommodations and the program. The hotel is fantastic, and as a guest the services were flawless.

We were absolutely floored to be greeted at registration with an unexpected (and completely amazing) attendee gift kit featuring a Dell Vostro 3300 laptop fully loaded with Windows 10.  I am personally putting it to use already!

Started the program out with an evening cocktail party at the M Bar on the Bund. It was a lovely evening where we spent several hours meeting and greeting and getting to know each other. The group (75ish) was small enough to be able to get around and really dedicate some time to learning what everyone is doing. I was fascinated to learn of the stories – so many of them with similar threads and certainly similar challenges. There was a lot of commonality. Really interesting. I believe that there were 10 countries represented at the conference.

One goal that I had in attending was to meet inspirational CEO’s and learn their stories and discover their challenges. No problem meeting this goal –  I felt very humbled by meeting these women. There was a tremendous amount of authenticity amongst the group.

The programs were excellent. The live link to the Bloomberg DWEN Group on LinkedIn was a great idea. I have not seen this type of tool used live in a presentation program before – and I am completely sold on it now. It really benefits the attendee. Having the attendee comments posted live throughout the sessions allowed the speakers to keep the content relevant and also made it possible to generate some great break conversations.

There was a focus on innovation and technology. The theme was definitely “mission first”. Passion and commitment to innovation and business development was very strong amongst the group.

The session with Frog Design was fascinating. We participated in a hands on activity in smaller groups that challenged us to really push typical business concepts to the limit and develop our own innovative business plans. Despite having had a business for 14 years and also having a 2 year old startup company I found myself really scratching my head – collaborating with my team was great. 

This was an incredibly inspirational group – in particular I was very inspired by Ingrid Venderveldt (CEO Clean Air Conversions). 

After the conference ended, I was luckily enough to have a free day in Shanghai to explore.  I loved visiting the garment district and seeing bolt upon bolt of lovely fabric.  I also visited several textile mills – fascinating!

I arrived home last Thursday, exhausted by jet lag but energized by this incredible experience.  What an great opportunity, one I won’t soon forget.

Photos and videos of DWEN

There are so many great photos and videos available online of the Dell Women’s Entrepreneur Network conference in Shanghai that I just had to share. 

Dell created a DWEN Photo Set on Flickr that is terrific (there is even a great photo of Megan).  Seeing all of the photos tiled together really gives a sense of the amazing energy of the conference.

Even more exciting are the videos that Dell has posted to their DellVlog under the playlist DWEN Shanghai 2010.  It is so incredible to watch and listen to these amazing people (primarily women).  I was especially inspired by the video “Q&A with Cindy Gallop”.  What a fascinating women she is – as soon as I watched the video, I went straight to her website IfWeRanTheWorld.com to learn more.