Facebook Gifts, you're doing it wrong.

Ever since my college roommate spurred me to create a Facebook account to virtually stalk our floor mates, I have been an avid user. Unless I'm really busy or traveling, there is rarely a day when I don't check my newsfeed and feel connected to friends that are no longer down the hall.

That said, Facebook is failing to monetize a tremendous opportunity when it comes to gifts — and my hypothesis is that it's an opportunity that both end-users like myself and their clients would be open to accepting. Facebook is currently implementing something they call "Facebook Gifts" (not the most imaginative name, but I digress). In essence, if Facebook deems that someone in your inner circle is having a birthday, for example, you will see a prompt at the top of your newsfeed suggesting that you might want to consider getting your friend a gift. If you click on "Buy a Gift," you'll get a list of random products that you can potentially purchase for your friend. Or you can gift your friend credits that she or he can use on a gift of their choosing.

Of course, the downside is that this prompt to buy a gift shows up on the day of your friend's birthday which means if you are hoping the gift gets to your friend in time, that's not going to happen. And the other downside is that not all the gifts are incredibly appropriate. For example, Facebook suggested that I give my mom a gift on Mother's Day. Pretty sure my mom would not be interested in any of those gifts delivered many days after Mother's Day!

While this is probably the simplest approach, the truth is that it isn't working. AdAge is reporting that Gifts hasn't gotten the kind of response that Facebook and its partners had hoped. Facebook Gifts will only be successful if it becomes relevant. The only way it can become relevant is if it becomes more targeted and more persistent.

By targeted, I mean that Facebook Gifts needs to target the right person with the right gift ideas. Here's a very rudimentary example. Facebook knows that I'm in a relationship and who I'm in a relationship with as well as our anniversary date. Facebook also has data on what my partner likes and his basic demographic information. With this data, Facebook should be able to match me (the gift giver) with a list of advertisers with products/services that want to reach his demographic (to over simplify, they are the gift seller). This helps me figure out what to get my partner and helps the seller because the likelihood of conversion is a lot higher since you are targeting someone who is predisposed to buy. It's the same reason why candy and magazines are in the aisle at the supermarket check-out line — you are already intending to buy, so why not buy a little more? In this case, you know I'm probably going to buy him a gift, so why not give me a strong hint on what he might like?

And by persistent, I mean these gift suggestions should not suddenly appear on my newsfeed the day of an occasion or birthday. These should appear at given intervals. I imagine that one month before our anniversary, for example, Facebook could remind me that our anniversary is coming up and suggest some gifts. And then it would remind me when it is two weeks away, and then reminders daily leading up to the day of the occasion. These reminders are not just reminders, they are actually targeted advertisements. But instead of targeting your sought after demographic, you are actually targeting the folks most likely to initiate the purchase of these products for your sought after demographic. This makes the gifts helpful to users because they'll be able to get better gifts for friends and family. In addition, this makes gifts tremendously valuable to advertisers because, if the conversions hold true, you are now getting your product/service into the hands of your target demographic who, being more actively engaged Facebook users, will likely spread the word about the product/service (for better or for worse).

Combined with the Social Graph Search, Targeted Gift Ads (as I would call them) could be super powerful in generating real sales. For example, I typically get ads from engagement ring sellers such as Brilliant Earth and Blue Nile. However, I am not the person who would purchase the engagement ring — that would be my significant other. Running these ads for my significant other would likely be way more effective than showing them to me, or any other unmarried woman in a relationship for that matter. While I might click through to look at pretty rings, I'm not going to be the purchaser there so all I'm doing is looking and the advertiser will hope that I tell my friends and my significant other, of course. Sounds like it's time to stop hoping for results and start actually getting some by leveraging the power of all the data we've already given to Facebook.

Posted on May 22nd, 2013 | Tags: , , , , | No Comments

On Being an Adult: Handling Conflict in Professional Settings

There's a story of some weight unfolding around some people in the tech community who were fired as a result of some offensive-leaning comments made at PyCon. I won't go into too much detail but basically a woman, Adria Richards, overheard some comments which she deemed to be offensive. She tweeted about them and included in said tweet a photo she snapped of the men who made the comments. The men's identity was eventually confirmed by the conference organizers and not only were they booted from the conference but they also lost their jobs. Richards, who tweeted about the behavior that she deemed to be offensive, has also lost her job. Reactions to the story have been mixed. Should the guys have made the comments? Should the photo have been posted on Twitter? Were the comments blown out of proportion? Should anyone have been fired? Everyone has their own opinion and, for better or for worse (I hear Richards is on the receiving end of threats of bodily harm), the right to express that opinion.

I don't want to fan any flames here so I won't go into my opinion on the matter. To be honest, the issue is not black and white so I'm sure we could discuss that for hours on end. My objective is to talk about something that never really gets discussed as much as it should: conflict resolution in professional environments.

Offices make for some unlikely groupings. Usually it takes all kinds to make a company run but there are some fields where it is clear that some types of people are more represented than others. Technology is dominated by men. For the naysayers, this is not to say there aren't leagues of capable women in the industry (here's looking at you Sheryl and Melissa!) but the proportions are way off. For example, I'm currently in a team where I'm the only female member — and this is nothing new to me as, in the company I worked at last, I was also the only woman in a team of male developers.

So in this industry, you are talking about a base that is largely men. If you start discussing under-represented minorities, the disparity gets even larger. It's very rare that I meet a black or latino developer. As a result of this relative homogeny, you start to develop some form of "groupthink" i.e. "everyone agrees with everyone else so it's okay to let my hair down." This is when things can get ugly. What one person considers funny another person may still find offensive — especially out of the mouth of someone in a superior position. For instance, if you manage a team of women, you may not be in the best position to make "that's what she said" jokes in the office around your direct reports, however apropos it seemed.

But how do we handle the situation when something cringe-worthy and immature or downright disturbing gets said in our presence, or at us, for that matter?

Personally, I call on everyone to take an aggressive stance. Aggression does not mean anger. I don't encourage yelling or name calling (unless you need to do so in a private space by yourself to get the negative juju out of your system). I believe we need to encourage everyone to speak up and say, "Dude, what you said is not cool. Knock it off." If you believe in making the world better for the next person, it's your duty to say something when you see something that isn't just.

Of course, this is easier said than done. In some cases, you may feel uncomfortable broaching the subject in front of a large group. In other cases, you may be so overwhelmingly angry that you would like nothing more than to punt the person across the room. I can sympathize. I've been there. Take a minute to collect yourself and maybe talk to other people outside your professional sphere (friends and family) to get some fresh perspective. I think the worst thing to do is to rush to judgement and rash decision-making as the result of the fiery all-consuming rage deep in your belly.

I've had the benefit of working with some pretty amazing professionals and one thing I've learned from them all is that you have to pick and choose your battles. I've also learned that, when you do choose to battle, you must fight fair. It boils down to what we were likely taught as kids: two wrongs don't make a right. Humiliation and snark doesn't take away hurtful words nor does ignorance excuse what could be construed as inappropriate behavior. I've been in situations where I had to decide to let something go, as much as I wanted to rally on my soapbox about how unfairly I had been treated. On the flip side, I've also been in situations where I have had to defend myself against comments that were blatantly sexist or ageist. I much prefer to politely but firmly stand up for myself against perceived injustices but sometimes, for whatever reason, you just can't.

But back to the point of this blog in the first place: if we who work in technology are a community of peers, we owe it to each other to try and mediate conflicts; that means, one-on-one communicating without our phones or other screens in the way. In so doing, we can take an active stance in making this an inclusive place for all types of people and create a largely positive view of this career path among the world at large. A couple of weeks ago, I attended Career Day at an inner city school. Some of the kids seemed really enthusiastic about technology and may never considered it before I mentioned it. I want to make sure that, when those ten-year-olds who were (hopefully!) inspired to pursue technology are my age, they have less potential battles to fight.

Posted on March 21st, 2013 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , | No Comments

On Being an Adult: The Paperless Office

My desk at work, devoid of paper.

I don't spend a lot of time on my personal blog (here) talking about work. If you know me, you'll know that I like to keep church and state separate (ie: work life and home life). You may also know that I juggle a full-time day job working at a major media company and moonlight as an entrepreneur of my own production company. Add a personal life to that mix (you know, spending time with friends and family) and you have the potential to get really busy really quickly. As a result, I've been trying to get more efficient about the use of my time and the resources around me.

I took the first step towards becoming truly paperless by keeping more digital records. I have paperless statements for pretty much everything, I keep my calendar via Google Calendar and I maintain addresses for all my contacts using my Address Book app on my laptop which now syncs with "the cloud" (which is buzz-word terminology I can't stand — but I'll go into that another day). But there are still a lot of things at home that are paper. I still jot down notes to myself when I need to quickly remember something or organize ideas outside of my head (sometimes I think I have too much in there and the paper makes for lovely spillover).

But even with jotting down notes, I started to realize that something had to give. I had notebooks EVERYWHERE. And then I couldn't remember where I had put a note — which notebook is it in? where in the notebook did I write that down? and the worst question, crap, did I even bring that notebook today? That's when I decided that starting to go paperless would make me more efficient. Having notes that travel with me everywhere (well, everywhere that there's internet) is ideal. And the idea of not needing to carry around a bulky notebook with notes about projects I don't need at this moment is probably helping my bag stay much lighter which may be positively impacting my neck and shoulder health — double win!

My desk at work is my sort of "pilot program" into going completely paperless. This came to be because, after coming back from a wonderful trip to Europe with Anthony, I found my desk covered in dust. I decided to clean off all the dust, and throw out the baby with the bathwater so to speak by getting rid of all the paper on my desk as well. A month into my experiment, here are some of the things I've learned:

1. Having the right devices and apps is huge
I'm very fortunate to have my personal iPhone, for which my company subsidizes my bill as I use it during work hours, a company issued iPad and then my desktop computer. When I'm at my desk, it is very easy to be paperless as I can easily look up any information I need. However, at meetings, it became clear that I needed to do something to eliminate the notebook problem. Instead of bringing a notebook with me to meetings, I now bring the iPad (or, if I forget it, my phone which I typically always have on me). I use the Evernote app on either device to take notes. The notes I take in this app are then accessible to me anywhere: at my desk at work, at a different computer via their website, and etc. These notes are also very easily searchable and can be tagged for easy retrieval later. In addition, these notes can be shared with folks who are not on Evernote very easily.

But taking notes wasn't the only reason I was using paper. I also had gotten into the habit of writing daily "to do" lists. The list represented things I needed to do in the next day (I'd typically write them at the end of the previous day). This process has been replaced by a combination of things. One replacement is my Outlook inbox. I have a fairly elaborate labeling system for emails that helps me tie emails to tasks I either need to do, am in the midst of doing, or need to keep track of. If an email is related to a task that I need to address, it gets a "To Do" Category label (which is colored red so it stands out much like "x" marks on a term paper). Conversely, if I've responded but am waiting for a response or approval, I'll mark that email with a "Pending" Category label (this label is yellow in color, much like the traffic light that indicates the need for a slower speed). Finally, anything that gets the "For Your Information" Category label is colored green which, quite literally, means smooth sailing. There is nothing that I need to act on but I may want to keep this information in my inbox to refer to or file the email away in my archives.

While this may sound complicated, it really does help me triage tasks. However, emails often don't relate directly to the given task at hand and so that's where another handy app came in. I ended up using an app called Wunderlist to create "to do" lists for myself. Instead of creating a new one for each day, I created one list for everything on my plate and highly prioritized the tasks that I would need to work on right away. Like Evernote, Wunderlist is available on all the devices I use so I always have access to a concise list of tasks that I need to complete at any given moment.

2. Old habits die hard
Today, I have paper on my desk. I'm not 100% proud of it, but I can't deny that it is necessary. While I can type as fast as I can write, it's very difficult to outline ideas in a Word document or draw wireframes of what pages should look like in Photoshop. Essentially, any time I'm trying to get my ideas out, I need a piece of paper. I find that writing things down helps me preserve the information that is in my head so I can then digitize it. Some would argue that this extra (paper) step is a waste of time between getting things out of your head and into a digital format. I think the contrary; without the paper step, I'm likely to miss something.

3. People may take you seriously if you bring an iPad to a meeting
Perhaps everyone is jealous of my paperless outward appearance, but I find that I get taken just a little more seriously when I have my iPad to take notes on. Additionally, it does come in handy when you need to show someone something on the fly and can easily pull up a website. On this one, your mileage may vary.

4. Typing on mobile devices is still pretty awful
Though I love my iPhone and the iPad I get the benefit of using at work, I still don't love typing on them. In fact, I despise typing on iOS devices. I haven't yet gotten a keyboard case for the iPad, but I'm strongly considering one. Ideally, I'd like to find one that will work on a desk (at a meeting, for example) and balanced on my lap (when I attend a conference or informal meeting, for example). I am open to suggestions!

As with any trial, I'm still working on refining my processes. I will try to keep this blog updated with the results of my leaning towards paperless approach. In time, I'm sure I will have new insights to share and further app recommendations.

Posted on November 14th, 2012 | Tags: , , , , , , , | No Comments

Captured: Art of the Commute

At work, there is a gallery show for our department called the "Art of the Commute." Below are my submissions:

At the Start by Jen Gallardo

An Empty Car

Blue, in need of Orange

The Ghosts of Midtown

Maybe Breakfast?

Exiting Last Leg

Essentially, my approach was to photograph the disparity between where I begin my commute and where my commute lands me. I begin in my neighborhood which is pretty calm and quiet (for the most part). Most days, I get to the station and I will find a seat on the train as I'm at the last stop on the A train (where it terminates and then begins to head back downtown).

In contrast, after about 30 minutes on the train or so, I end up at 59th Street Columbus Circle. This is a relatively large station on the west side and a big connection point in the morning. As such, there is always a lot of hustle and bustle and tons of people walking around. I used long exposures to show in one frame the multitude of movement and people that's happening at that time of day.

It's here where I start the second leg of my trip, waiting for a B or D train to take me to Rockefeller Center where the building I work in is currently located. The Rockefeller station it not as big but just as nearly populated as so many other commuter's trips terminate there. There is a network of office buildings connected underground so there are a lot of people in and around the station. The revolving doors in the station lead to the underground shops in the "Concourse" level where one can find breakfast and emergency dry cleaning and shoe shining, among other things.

Perhaps if the series could have been longer (we were limited to a certain number of photos), I would have considered taking a photo of my desk (where my commute officially ends) or perhaps even my bed (where my commute officially begins).

Posted on June 24th, 2012 | Tags: , , , , , , | No Comments

Challenge Accepted!

It has been a while since I last wrote anything here. I get very good about keeping this fresh and then fall back into old habits. Not that it's an excuse, but I'm also writing for merlardo.com, which makes it fairly difficult to find time to write something thoughtful (and not ranty – because I have lots of those!) over here.

Lately, I've been thinking a lot about challenges. Maybe I'm getting older, or maybe I have too much time on my hands, but I have been trying to get better at a lot of things I'm not so good at. Currently, I've accepted the challenge to get physically stronger. For almost a year now, I've been taking kickboxing classes where I get to punch and kick things (and sometimes people). While that's helped me considerably (I can open most jars by myself), I still need to do a bit on my own to get to the next level.

One thing I've been meaning to do is to get back to my goal weight. I may or may not have mentioned here that I lost a lot of weight (about sixty pounds) on Weight Watchers. At first, this was something that I've kept mostly to myself but I'm comfortable sharing this information as I hope it helps to inspire others to take control of their own health. Currently, I'm still within a healthy weight range for my height, but I'd like to get back to the original goal I had set for myself. As of today, I'm just six pounds shy of that!

In addition, being a few pounds lighter will help me with my most recent very specific challenge to do ONE chin up. If you are more physically active and have been most of your life, this might not be as difficult for you. However, I grew up an apartment kid – and a nerdy kids at that, spending most of my time reading books or messing around on a computer. While this has paid off for me in the business world, it hasn't really helped me get to the point where I can do a chin up. And, if I ever found myself on the edge of a cliff (hey, you never know!), being able to pull my body weight up at least once would definitely help me survive. I know, that scenario is a bit of a stretch; I just want to challenge myself to be a stronger person both inside and out.

I'm of the mind that the human body is a wondrous thing. Just this past month, I managed to complete a 5K without much previous training. While I still think I'm a "wannabe runner," it is encouraging to know I can run for that long. Maybe when I feel less like a "wannabe" I'll move onto a 10K!

So, why not a chin up? I know my word is not so good here on my blog, but I will try to post my progress – or at least report back on how it is going.

Posted on June 24th, 2012 | Tags: , , , , , | No Comments

Watching This is Like Watching Clueless: HBO's New Series GIRLS

Over the past few weeks, my social networks have been abuzz about the new HBO series, Girls. Girls is the brainchild of Lena Dunham who is currently a media darling after her film Tiny Furniture was received with much acclaim on the festival circuit. The 26 year-old Dunham, who writes and directs Girls, also stars in the show as the character Hannah. Among my contacts, the Judd Apatow produced show has received mixed reviews but I decided to watch the pilot (currently available on YouTube) and give it a chance. This is my take and I would warn you that there may be some spoilers in the following so you may want to watch first and read the rest of this after you watch.

The pilot begins with the character Hannah having dinner with her parents at what appears to be a fancy restaurant. As she shovels food into her mouth, her parents begin to slowly reveal that they no longer wish to bankroll her New York City lifestyle. We find out Hannah has been out of college for two years now and is working an internship while trying to finish writing her memoirs. At the time of this writing, I'm just a couple of years older than Dunham as I'm going on 28 years-old in July. When I was two years out of college, I wasn't working an unpaid internship while my parents paid for all of my expenses. On the contrary, I had to work. Immediately following graduation, I found a job. Not particularly well paid compared to some of the jobs my classmates landed at financial firms, but it was a job nonetheless — it paid the bills. In Girls, the prospect of having to try and find a job horrifies Hannah and she spend most of the rest of the scene arguing with her parents and trying to convince them to continue to financially support her. I know lots of twenty-somethings, and most of them don't behave this way.

Later in the episode, we are introduced to Hannah's best friend Marnie played by the stunning Allison Williams. Williams actually feels like the most realistic character. She is portrayed as an ice queen as her boyfriend clearly likes her far more than she likes him. Marnie and Hannah even discuss the possibility of Marnie potentially breaking up with him because he is simply too nice for Marnie. This character is at least self aware as she notes "I feel like such a bitch" for wanting to dump a guy who, as far as we know, has been nothing but doting. However, I have a qualm with this scene: who hangs out in the tub naked with their girlfriends shaving their legs together? I dormed in college and, Judd Apatow, I can assure you this probably happens less often than you'd like to believe! Also, we hear that they watch Mary Tyler Moore together but, correct me if I'm wrong, Mary Tyler Moore was a WORKING GIRL. These girls don't seem to do much of anything, but we'll get to that in due time.

To follow the Sex and the City mold, Girls appears to follow four primary protagonists with Dunham playing the lead (the Carrie role, if you will). The next character introduced, Shoshanna, even makes reference to this. She points out her Sex and the City poster to her new roommate, British cousin Jessa. Shoshanna, played by Zosia Mamet, is over the top in her enthusiasm for the show and which Sex and the City character she most embodies. While I don't think it's a stretch, what should have been a nod with a smirk to a former HBO heavyweight and similarly themed series is instead a long, drawn out, drunken overt surly wink. To say it felt forced is an understatement.

When Hannah's character is at her internship, we meet our first minority — the Asian graphic designer who is apparently more valuable than Hannah because she knows Photoshop! Her scene ends swiftly as Hannah's boss interprets her "I can't afford to work for free anymore" comment as "I quit." This then leads Hannah into the arms of her actor lover with whom we can assume she's had an off again, on again history. They wax poetic about the working world and the lover, Adam, confesses that his parents don't support him — wait for it — his grandma does! Adam's grandma gives him $800 a month towards living expenses so, as he puts it, "I don't have to be anyone's slave." At this point, I'm almost ready to turn off the TV and walk away. Again, I'm not in my 30's — I'm a twenty-something with lots of twenty-something friends. My friends who aspire to be actors work their fucking asses off. Most of them work crappy jobs at Starbucks or administrative assistant gigs that give them the flexibility to go out on auditions and work on their personal projects. It's not easy for them and most of them don't have their grandma's giving them what amounts to rent every month.

The interaction between Hannah and Adam is so awkward it hurts. Hannah can stand up to her parents to try and make them give her money but she's weak and powerless when with Adam? She asks Adam to retrieve a condom before they have sex and he replies "I'll consider it." Later, she confides in him about how her rapid weight gain spurred her tattoos to which he replies, "You're not that fat anymore." All of this seems normal to Hannah; she doesn't bat an eye. And their sex scene is probably the worst of it; I know premium television seems to require them, but in this case it really didn't seem necessary at all.

Finally, toward the end of the episode, Hannah — who is now high on some sort of opium tea — decides to storm into her parent's hotel room and demand that they support her because she has a "voice of a generation." If Lena Dunham's voice is the voice of a generation then it clearly isn't mine. Her voice, which I assume is scattered over all these characters, tells of a breed of entitled bratty little girls. In keeping with the entitlement, Hannah pleads "All I'm asking for is $1100 per month every month for the next 2 years." Wow, what I would've given to have someone gift me $1100 per month! Instead, I had to earn it. And to be honest with you, I probably earned that much working while I was in college full time!

The end of the episode leaves a particularly bad taste in my mouth. Hannah's parents check out of the hotel and Hannah wakes up in their hotel room, alone. Her first inclination is to order room service! Yes, room service after her parents explained how they can't afford to, you know, pay for this make-believe lifestyle she leads. Upon finding that the room service tab is fully closed, she decides she should leave before housekeeping comes. On the hotel room desk, she finds an envelope addressed to her with some money. Her parents also left an envelope on the desk for housekeeping. Hannah steals the money left for housekeeping and pockets it before leaving. Oh, and by the way, at the end of the episode we get minority sighting #2; the homeless black man that sings at Hannah as she walks down Sixth Avenue. I thought there were more minorities in New York City, but I guess I'm just mistaken.

One of my friends, who saw this show before I did, described the girls as "vapid" and I can't say I blame her. Girls is a terrible portrayal of elite, entitled twenty-somethings living a fantasy Disney princess life in New York City on borrowed money and/or trust funds. But perhaps I'm not part of the key demographic for this show as I'm not white, I don't live outside my means and I don't have other people footing my cable bill? To be honest, this makes me rather sad. I was looking forward to Girls being an exploration of coming of age as women in a big city where you need to work hard (and sometimes get a lucky break here and there) to survive. Instead, it was a bunch of unredeemable adult characters acting like little girls. But, as the title suggests, maybe that's the point. Though, after that pilot, I won't be sticking around to find out.

Posted on May 4th, 2012 | Tags: , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Captured: One Light Portraits of Anthony

My boyfriend Anthony is probably my greatest model. He is always ready and willing to stand by and let me take his portrait. Secretly, I think he enjoys being in front of the camera a tiny bit (even though he will never admit this). Below are some photos I captured of Anthony with a one light set up. The one light, besides ambient lighting, was a Canon flash unit that I shot through a softbox.

Anthony Test Portrait #1 by Jen Gallardo

Anthony Test Portrait #2 by Jen Gallardo

Anthony Test Portrait #3 by Jen Gallardo

Posted on March 25th, 2012 | Tags: , , , | Comments Off

What's the deal with Warby Parker?

As many of the dozens of you who read my blog know, I wear glasses pretty much daily. On a rare occasion, I might break out the contact lenses, but like I said, it is rare. I find that contact lenses put a huge strain on my eyes during the course of a normal work day where I generally sit in front of a computer screen most of the time. And I'm still very scared of laser surgery where they slice open your eye (!) so, yeah, I wear glasses.

I've been wearing the same frames for years now. I originally found them for sale on ebay and purchased them something like 5 years ago. After years of wear, they started to get old so I decided to do a search for new frames again. I looked around and didn't see much I liked. I ended up buying the same frames again but in a different color. These are the frames that I'm wearing now. I really like them, but they are starting to age and it might be that time where I decide to get new glasses (especially with insurance…score!).

My first thought this time was to try a different sort of online purchasing experience. Warby Parker (warbyparker.com) has revolutionized the purchase of glasses by taking the whole experience, with the exception of the eye exam, online. You send them your prescription, pick glasses, and BEHOLD, you have new glasses shipped to your door. Also, they are a company committed to good. For every pair of glasses you buy, they send a pair of glasses to someone in need. I'm a sucker for a good cause.

I'm also a sucker for stalking apparently. After visiting the Warby Parker website once, I kept seeing Warby Parker ads on various websites I visited afterwards (this is not coincidental, by the way…). While I understood they were virtually stalking me (and targeting their ads at me), I did think their frames looked kinda cool. So I decided to consider the idea of buying my glasses online. I could easily get my prescription as my previous year's eye exam would suffice (last year I got prescription sunglasses — again, this is why it is awesome to have eye insurance).

But perhaps the biggest reason why I decided to try Warby Parker was the home try-on service. For no charge, Warby Parker will send you 5 pairs of glasses for you to try on. You keep the glasses for at most 5 days and then return them using the same box you received them in with a pre-paid shipping label also provided in your package. I thought that was the coolest thing since sliced bread. I hate the ordeal of going to the eye place and trying on glasses. I can't really see myself because I'm not wearing glasses. At least if I'm at home, I could put my contacts on and get a truer vision of what I would look like in a certain pair of frames.

I went to their website and picked five frames and I'm fairly certain that either the next day or the day after I received them. They say they put a hold on your credit card (in the event you decide not to return their glasses) but I didn't notice it. The box the frames came in was actually pretty nice as it was felted and neatly separated each plastic-wrapped pair of glasses. I could list the styles I tried on, but at he end of the day, I just wasn't digging them. They were either too small or too big or too narrow. I will keep checking their website to see if they add other styles, but for now, the styles they do offer just aren't a good fit.

That said, the return process was super pleasant. After dropping the package in the mail, I received an email from Warby Parker stating they were processing the return. They also suggested I contact them with any questions I have about their products or if I need help making a selection and getting to the next step. I'm happy to report that this is the only post-try-on solicitation I've received. No crazy sales pressure. No "hey, we are going to add you to our annoying email list." Just really straightforward and direct — which I dearly appreciate!

So, while Warby Parker didn't get my business today. I probably wouldn't hesitate in considering them at another time and definitely recommend them. With the option to try on from the comfort of your home, it's just silly not to try them!

Posted on March 21st, 2012 | Tags: , , | Comments Off

Where did all the cowgirls go?

I recently read a blog post by Clay Shirky about the difference between how women talk about their own abilities versus men. He wishes that more women would stand up and exert their influence because women are just as talented, smart and capable as their more effusive male colleagues. I wish for this, too.

In fact, many other women wish for this as well. COO of Facebook Sheryl Sandberg has given many a talk aimed at women. She says that women should take a seat at the table and not count themselves out by default because they want to have a family. Sheryl is living proof that it is possible to maintain a family and still be successful; and she acknowledges the challenges that come with that.

However, she also touches upon the big elephant in the room that many who talk about the disparities between men and women fail to acknowledge. A man who goes for the gold is assertive. A woman who does the same is off-putting at best, and at worst simply labeled a "bitch." Often when I say this, people roll their eyes; Sheryl present a famous Harvard Business school study that proves this is not simply "women getting easily offended" or "being emotional" (which, by the way, is another topic for another day).

It's an issue that permeates regardless of industry. In politics, Hilary Clinton was often given that label. Her wardrobe of pants suits and "attack dog" stance during her campaign gave her a harsh exterior in the public eye to both women and men. Tina Fey of Saturday Night Live commented on the whole thing and turned it into a positive with the saying "Bitches get shit done."

I love that sketch because I sympathize. I am good at my job. I get things done. If that wasn't true, I wouldn't now be earning nearly triple what I was offered upon graduation in 2006 (in a "bad economy", to boot!). However, as a result of my focus on process, keeping on schedule, and GSD (getting shit done), I am sure that there are many colleagues, past and present, who think I'm a bitch. In fact, I can name them (and there are, unfortunately, women among them).

And the truth of the matter is, I'm not a difficult person to work with. Despite going to school for Computer Science, I'm self-taught at a lot of things, lousy at some others and definitely still have quite a bit to learn. This invigorates me to learn more but also terrifies me at the same time; being in technology, I sometimes feel the need to know everything and be on the cutting edge. This isn't necessarily true, but motivates me to keep on my toes and at the very least stay relevant in a few things (and, given current trends, looks like my decision not to dive head first into Flash development wasn't so bad after all).

But the point of writing this wasn't to brag about myself. The point is that yes, women need to step up to the plate more to brag and take credit — myself included. Often times, we shy away or defer to others when we know what the right answer is. This is a problem of self-doubt and wavering self-esteem that perhaps everyone has at times but tends to be more evident among women. However, the flip side of that is let's call a spade a spade. When a woman steps up, do we encourage it? Or do we add to this doubt — do we doubt her abilities because of predisposed notions?

A lot of people don't like to hear the "as a woman, it's hard out there…" speech, but it is. I can only speak from personal experience here so I will tell a short story that I think illustrates the point. I remember looking for internships while I was in college. I didn't have a ton of relevant experience but I had done freelance web design/development for some local bands while in high school and could show some of that work if necessary. In addition, my part-time work study job was helping out at a public school in Brooklyn where I become the defacto computer expert as I refurbished and networked together old Macs and Windows PCs that were previously merely taking up space in the back of the fourth grade classroom. So, while I didn't have a lot of experience on paper, I felt pretty confident I could land a crappy internship at a record label for $8 per hour (and most likely consist of lame administrative work).

I went to the interview in midtown Manhattan. The office building was not glamorous (this was a small, indie label that worked on re-releases of older records) and the office itself was pretty rundown. I was introduced to several men in the office. They were all men. I made a note of the fact that I did not see a single woman in their office. I spoke with the man who interviewed me and explained my skills and background. He nodded and didn't seem impressed; I was unable to really tell if he was unimpressed or if it was just a really good poker face. After I finished my talk, he asked me if I would be willing to take a typing test.

"A typing test?" I responded.

He said, "Yeah, we hired a girl before that couldn't type so we just want to make sure whoever we hire can type."

I made a mental note of the fact that he said they hired a "girl" before. I put two and two together but typed out a stupid sentence from the cover of an LP anyway. When I left the interview, I knew, without a doubt, that I would not be offered the position because I was a woman.

Since then, I've seen the "boys clubs" at certain offices. I've seen the quizzical looks or passive aggressive emails when I've (correctly, I might add) critiqued a colleague's work. Today, in fact, I received an email that did just that. I don't think the email would have been as questioning if I were a male colleague. Perhaps I'm thinking into this too much, but perhaps I'm not.

Before I am crucified, I have to say that the majority of the men I have worked with have not been like this. The majority have been great and accepting of a lady on their team. To my credit, I like sports which greatly improves my ability to relate. My personal theory (because I took Psychology 101 does not mean this is truth so please take it with a grain of salt) is that the gender roles we grow up with have a great bearing on how we interact with folks of the opposite sex. As soon as you take a car out of a girl's hand and put it in a boy's hand, you've implicitly created an impact on the capabilities of each.

While that may be hard to break, it certainly is not impossible to educate better on the implicit sexism that comes across more often than we care to admit in our interactions at work. However, this means that leveling the playing field is not so simple. Per Clay Shirky's post, this is also a rant with no immediate answer. My hope is I've illuminated some issues that can start discussions in favor of a positive, more inclusive future.

Posted on December 1st, 2011 | Tags: , , , , , | Comments Off

Observation on Museums

I'll preface this by saying that maybe this opinion is largely the way it is because I'm a (relatively) young person.

I'm a member of both the Metropolitan Museum of Art ("The Met" for short here in New York City) and the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA). I started with MoMA membership a year ago and decided to renew this year. The MoMA is a cool place to hang out, has lots of exhibitions of interest to me, and is pretty accessible to my house by train. This year, I decided to get a membership to The Met. I was mostly attracted by the Alexander McQueen exhibit (I won't lie to you, the opportunity to skip to the members line and avoid a 2+ hour wait was appealing) but I've been to The Met many times before and there are some pieces of their permanent collection that really speak to me. Additionally, I discovered that they have a killer roof deck that overlooks Central Park.

That said, I don't make use of these memberships nearly enough. I wish I could find more time to go, particularly during members-only hours when I could really make the best use of my membership in avoiding the herds of tourists. However, I've noticed some differences in how these museums speak to me as a member and thought it might make interesting fodder for my blog (which, I know, I haven't updated in quite a few months).

I find that MoMA is a lot better at asking for money than The Met is; and I should mention that this doesn't mean that MoMA contacts me more frequently about it. Actually, the reverse is true! I get a lot of mail from The Met asking me for money and I just became a member in August of this year. I would understand if I was reaching the end of my membership period and they were looking to retain me, but it's only been a few months. To be honest, the excessive asking is making me consider NOT renewing my membership next year.

On the contrary, I find MoMA's ask to be less, well, annoying because not only does it happen less frequently, but I get much more useful content from MoMA on a regular basis. Every month, I get a booklet from MoMA that tells me what is going on at the museum. It's a tall narrow book (it looks sort of like a Zagat guide in size) so it is easily portable in case you wanted to take it with you to the museum. In addition, as a member of their "Film Plus" program, I get one or two emails a month about specials screenings that I am able to attend gratis with that membership. These emails even go so far as to make it easy for you to RSVP. If you click on "YES" in the email, you get routed to where you can complete your RSVP. If you click on "NO," they know you are not attending and will stop contacting you about that event.

Now, fast forward to today, I check my mail and find two items from The Met. One is a monthly members calendar and the other is a fall bulletin. I find this confusing. Why mail me two things? Just send me one thing, and kill less trees. The fall bulletin is a large magazine-sized book but on the outside of it is yet another ask for money. I'm not so much bothered by the ask as much as the fact that this jacket on the outside of the fall bulletin was covering a wrap-around cover that featured the restored painting of Washington crossing the Delaware, which looks pretty freakin' cool. Why would you cover that? And apparently the fall bulletin is a lot of in depth information about the restoration of that painting. Very interesting stuff. How about putting the ask for money in the middle of the book? So while I'm perusing it and realizing how hard you guys work, I can think about donating before the year's end.

Instead, I'm annoyed because you keep asking me for money in all the wrong ways and compelled to blog about it!

Posted on November 22nd, 2011 | Tags: , , , | Comments Off

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