IT in the D

Welcome to our third episode of our “IT in The D” radio show, and we’re all about networking. This time around, we’ve lost our Voice of Reason, but we’ve gained… …Mark Brown of Brown Staffing Solutions.

So last week's debut of "IT in The D" was kind of like Episode 1: The Phantom Menace.

I mean, you already basically knew where things were going, there was only one woman in the entire galaxy room, and we even had our very own Jar Jar Binks Russ in studio with us for some comic relief.  Our drive to the studio from the bar felt like a pod race at times with some of the lunatics in beatup cars making weird noises on downtown side streets.  A weird, distorted holo-transmission phone call from afar.  The battle between Bob and the stairs was every bit as intense as the final scenes with Darth Maul.

It probably shouldn't have been a surprise then when this week had some very interesting parallels with Episode 2: Attack of The Clones...

 

UPDATED: scroll down to the bottom for the links to listen to this episode of IT in The D

Politics, plots, intrigue and all sorts of other fun taking place since our last show.

But, most importantly...there's leather.

I mean, come on...are you really going to try and pretend you didn't immediately whisper "Thank you, George Lucas" under your breath when, you know, that scene happened?

Didn't think so.

In a similar vein, there's absolutely no reason for us to lie or try and pretend that the ladies behind Girl Develop It - Detroit didn't blow our doors off last night.

And yes, we kind of realize that makes us "typical"...

...to which we reply "shut up, you weren't there".  But we'll get back to that in a few, we've got a show to start.

We had Davina Beh, a recruiter from iTalent that frequents our events and has hired a few people from the group, in-studio with us to comment on the women in technology theme we had going on.  We've decided that we really like having a recruiter on-hand and in-studio for the entire show, as it gives people someone to ask questions of whether by calling in or via Twitter - http://www.twitter.com/ITinTheD over the course of the night.  You can find the wide variety of positions Davina is recruiter for out on iTalent's website at http://italent-llc.com

We kicked things off with a topic that's lighting up our LinkedIn group's discussion boards for the past few days, and that's the whole NSA / Verizon / Prism / Tech companies fiasco that's blowing up currently.  You should absolutely hop in at http://lnkd.in/22QFus, read up, chime in and comment.  It's a very interesting story that keeps getting more and more bizarre as each day passes, and it's definitely something to be paid attention to.

The conversation evolved a little bit into the overall security realm, moving into locking down social media profiles while job seeking, and a few other hints and tips from Davina and her perspective as a recruiter.

Because there's a major time/space distortion that takes place inside the studio when we're on the air, suddenly it was 9:30 and time for our first break.

See? Leather.

So we hopped out of the studio, and went to meet our guests for the next segment...

...and well played, ladies.  Well played.

With our break rapidly coming to a close, we hopped back in the studio with our new guests, everyone got situated, and we were ready to go.

As with last week's guest, the first question for Erika and Michelle was the same "What made you decide to take on the insanity of running a group like this?"

From a posting on a Facebook page to a meeting over lunch, we got the story of how Girl Develop It - Detroit came into being.

Erika and Michelle, while also being lovely ladies on the superficial level are also damned smart and completely committed to making things better for women in technology here in the metro Detroit area, and that's a cause we wholeheartedly support.  Not to mention the fact that they both have multiple layers of "geek", which is just flat out cool.

And, of course we had Karen running the board for us after her Corner with K-Hubb show had wrapped prior to ours getting started...

...so yes, for those of you keeping score at home, that means that Bob, Jeff and I were outnumbered in the studio by the women.

If you were listening, you didn't hear any complaints.

But you did hear an awesome chain of conversations from that point forward.

There's a wide variety of attendees that show up at Girl Develop It - Detroit events, including yes, even some guys.  Their classes range from basic, beginner, intro-level classes through a wide variety of programming languages and even casual meetups at the Great Lakes Coffee Roasting Company.  You need a laptop to walk in, and after that, they'll take care of you from there.  They have all of the software you need, they'll help you get everything installed, up and running, and you're good to go from there.  Their classes are typically about eight hours in length over the course of two days, or four hour sessions in a single day, and while they're not really issuing accredited class completion certificates or anything along those lines, here's where the overall theme we keep hammering on - networking - comes into play.  That's where you find someone who believes in what the Girl Develop It - Detroit crew is doing, knows the value of the classes they're putting on, and is willing to help make sure that others understand that value as well.

Oh, and "Glitter.  Leather.  Butterfly stickers."

Michelle's looking to hire someone in at WDET, by the way - a Systems Administrator II position, which you can find here: https://jobs.wayne.edu/applicants/jsp/shared/position/JobDetails_css.jsp?postingId=484050

The conversation continued about the "after" of the classes - what they're working on to try and help build an entire ecosystem of a development community.  The people moving through the classes are then presented with the challenge of "now what?", and how they can then continue to move and grow their skills and use the networking opportunities available through the group and existing relationships.

That brought us right to bumping up into our next break...and with as well as things were going, there was just simply no way we were going to be kicking Erika and Michelle out of the studio, and so we invited them to hang out for a while longer...and they graciously accepted.

We came back and dove a bit into something that the class participants are concerned about - how do I put this class on my resume?  How do I list the classes as experience?

Through a chain of conversations that led us through our speaking engagements with Shifting Gears to Bad Resume Guy and Bad Resume Guy 2, Davina's experience as a recruiter in dealing with candidates and their resumes that require some tweaking, we had a really great chat about what companies are actually looking for when they're looking to hire, what candidates should and shouldn't do, how Erika killed off a bottle of wine reading through our Don't Be That Guy posts one random evening, the horrors of both overly padded and horribly malnourished resumes, and just a really great discussion about getting people from that "getting started" position into working towards a career.

And Michelle took that opportunity to mention that System Admin II gig, which you can find over at https://jobs.wayne.edu/applicants/jsp/shared/position/JobDetails_css.jsp?postingId=484050

The conversation then wandered into the job market here in Detroit and the relationship / symbiosis with Windsor over across the border, and how many of the folks from Windsor make their way over here for jobs due to the increased demand on this side of the river, and in our last segment we dove into outsourcing, companies bringing talent back in-house, and the wide variety of female oriented groups that are following the lead of Girl Develop It - Detroit and opening up new chapters, new resources for young girls and those of all ages to get more engaged and involved in the information technology community and industry as a whole.

Long story short?  You don't have to be a girl to get involved with Girl Develop It - Detroit, and you absolutely need to pay attention to what these smart, dedicated ladies are doing here in the area and for the community.

...and with "Eastbound and Down" playing...we were done for the night.  Thanks to everyone who tuned in, the callers / tweeters / texters / emailers with questions and thoughts...seriously, thank you for listening.  It's kind of awesome interacting with people like this.  And of course a serious, major, ridiculously over the top thank you to our in-studio guests Erika, Michelle and Davina!

To wrap things up, here are a few links from the course of our conversations:

Davina Beh works for iTalent, which can be found at http://italent-llc.com, and you can reach her directly at [email protected]

Girl Develop It - Detroit can be found at http://www.GDIDetroit.com

The Girl Develop It - Detroit Meetup group is at http://www.meetup.com/Girl-Develop-It-Detroit

Their next meetup is on Saturday, June 22nd at 10am: http://www.meetup.com/Girl-Develop-It-Detroit/events/121810122/

The Michipreneur article that Erika's in is at http://www.michipreneur.com/erika-carlson-on-supporting-detroit-women-in-tech/

That Sys Admin II position Michelle is hiring for is at https://jobs.wayne.edu/applicants/jsp/shared/position/JobDetails_css.jsp?postingId=484050

The hilarious woman running our boards is Karen (who will probably demand you call her K-Hubb) can be found at her show's Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/TheCornerWithKHubb

The IT in The D Facebook page is at http://www.facebook.com/ITinTheD

The itinthed.com Facebook page is at http://www.facebook.com/ITintheD

The itinthed.com LinkedIn group is at http://www.linkedin.com/groups/ITintheDorg-Detroit-Networking-Events-IT-91763

The itinthed.com Meetup group is at http://meetup.itinthed.com

Our next casual networking event is Thursday, June 20th at Atwater Brewery: http://www.meetup.com/ITintheD/events/118446442/

Don't Be That Guy, Bad Resume Guy is out at https://itinthed....

So last week’s debut of “IT in The D” was kind of like Episode 1: The Phantom Menace. I mean, you already basically knew where things were going, there was only one woman in the entire galaxy room, and we even had our very own Jar Jar Binks Russ in studio with us for some comic relief.  Our drive to the studio from the bar felt like a pod race at times with some of the lunatics in beatup cars making weird noises on downtown side streets.  A weird, distorted holo-transmission phone call from afar.  The battle between Bob and the stairs was every bit as intense as the final scenes with Darth Maul. It probably shouldn’t have been a surprise then when this week had some very interesting parallels with Episode 2: Attack of The Clones…   UPDATED: scroll down to the bottom for the links to listen to this episode of IT in The D Politics, plots, intrigue and all sorts of other fun taking place since our last show. But, most importantly…there’s leather. I mean, come on…are you really going to try and pretend you didn’t immediately whisper “Thank you, George Lucas” under your breath when, you know, that scene happened? Didn’t think so. In a similar vein, there’s absolutely no reason for us to lie or try and pretend that the ladies behind Girl Develop It – Detroit didn’t blow our doors off last night. And yes, we kind of realize that makes us “typical”… …to which we reply “shut up, you weren’t there”.  But we’ll get back to that in a few, we’ve got a show to start. We had Davina Beh, a recruiter from iTalent that frequents our events and has hired a few people from the group, in-studio with us to comment on the women in technology theme we had going on.  We’ve decided that we really like having a recruiter on-hand and in-studio for the entire show, as it gives people someone to ask questions of whether by calling in or via Twitter – http://www.twitter.com/ITinTheD over the course of the night.  You can find the wide variety of positions Davina is recruiter for out on iTalent’s website at http://italent-llc.com We kicked things off with a topic that’s lighting up our LinkedIn group’s discussion boards for the past few days, and that’s the whole NSA / Verizon / Prism / Tech companies fiasco that’s blowing up currently.  You should absolutely hop in at http://lnkd.in/22QFus, read up, chime in and comment.  It’s a very interesting story that keeps getting more and more bizarre as each day passes, and it’s definitely something to be paid attention to. The conversation evolved a little bit into the overall security realm, moving into locking down social media profiles while job seeking, and a few other hints and tips from Davina and her perspective as a recruiter. Because there’s a major time/space distortion that takes place inside the studio when we’re on the air, suddenly it was 9:30 and time for our first break. So we hopped out of the studio, and went to meet our guests for the next segment… …and well played, ladies.  Well played. With our break rapidly coming to a close, we hopped back in the studio with our new guests, everyone got situated, and we were ready to go. As with last week’s guest, the first question for Erika and Michelle was the same “What made you decide to take on the insanity of running a group like this?” From a posting on a Facebook page to a meeting over lunch, we got the story of how Girl Develop It – Detroit came into being. Erika and Michelle, while also being lovely ladies on the superficial level are also damned smart and completely committed to making things better for women in technology here in the metro Detroit area, and that’s a cause we wholeheartedly support.  Not to mention the fact that they both have multiple layers of “geek”, which is just flat out cool. And, of course we had Karen running the board for us after her Corner with K-Hubb show had wrapped prior to ours getting started… …so yes, for those of you keeping score at home, that means that Bob, Jeff and I were outnumbered in the studio by the w...

So Monday night was pretty awesome.

You know...if we do say so ourselves.

In case you missed the memo (and shame on you if you did), our "IT in The D" live internet radio show went live at 9pm on Monday night.

We had some great in-studio guests, a couple phone calls, and just a great time was had by all.

The best part?  This coming Monday's shaping up to be even better...

The evening began with some pre meeting Pabst Blue Ribbons, food, and wrestling talk strategic planning over at Third Street Saloon.  If you haven't been to Third Street Saloon yet, you absolutely should.  AWESOME little place, and it's an extremely safe bet that you will find us there every Monday night before we go on the air.  If you DO go, get the "SMOG" meat pie.  Trust me.

The three of us met up, along with Russ Dotson (a recruiter from Brightwing who attends our events, and was one of our in-studio guests that night) , to just basically make sure our brains were all in synch.

Which, of course, had nothing to do with the conversation that actually took place.

From wrestling to Tazmanian Devil impressions (don't ask - long story), we chatted about anything and everything but the show that night.  In fact, we were a little worried that we were riffing and cracking each other up so much that we should have just been recording that conversation and playing it back on the air because we'd be out of material...

...but that was hardly a realistic concern.  You know us.  We can talk for hours and Hours and HOURS and still not even be close to "empty".

And so, meat pies consumed and PBRs downed, it was time to make our way over to the studio, just a few minutes up the road.  After, of course, a quick stop across the street from the bar we were at to grab some snacks for while we were in studio.

And beer.  Don't think for two seconds we didn't grab more beer.  What spinach is to Popeye, beer is to us.

We arrived a little on the early side, and then proceded to climb Mt Everest walk up the four flights of stairs to where the studio is.  Got ourselves situated, shook off some last minute jitters, and then made our way into the studio and took our spots.  Which looked pretty much like you'd expect it would...

If you want to come on the air with us, keep reading down...

At 9:00pm on the dot (I know, I know...us starting something "precisely" on time is a bit shocking...good thing we're not the ones running things here), we began.

The sounds of "The Eighties" by The Killing Joke hit the airwaves...and we were rolling.

The Imperial March kicked in...and we adjusted our mics, and we were off and live and ohmygod this is crazy...

But we did it.

And from the feedback we've gotten, both during the show (yes, "thank you" to all of the people who sent us tweets, text messages, and all sorts of other distractions during the show...jerks...lol... ) as well as afterwards, it seems like it came across as well as we hoped it would.

Thanks again for coming in, Wolfgang!

At 9:30, we took a break and brought J Wolfgang Goerlich in studio with us to talk about his upcoming Security BSides conference that's taking place this weekend.  While tickets are all sold out (so it was a bit of a tease, sorry), they are live streaming all of the speaker sessions and talks.

If you're in or around the security field, or just have an interest in it, you really do want to pay attention to these guys.

They'll have everything from a lockpick village setup to hands on hacking demonstrations and even a scavenger hunt to test your skills against 500 or so of your peers in the industry.  Physical security and cyber security.  Password cracking.  Even stuff designed specifically for kids to help them be more aware and protected in today's digital world.

We chatted about some security basics, what led him to decide to take on organizing and running a conference, how easy it is to mine data out of even a locked-down Facebook profile, and a whole host of other topics that definitely made it worth a listen.

(sidenote on that front: we're working on getting the archived podcast versions done...this is our first time, be patient and gentle with us)

If you're interested in finding out more, you should check out the MISec page at http://michsec.org/, and the B-Sides Detroit page at http://www.securitybsides.com/w/page/61144863/BSidesDetroit13

That conversation took us right up to our 10:00 break.  Definitely time well spent.

Diving back in, we brought Russ into the game and started talking about jobs that Brightwing is actively hunting and recruiting for, as well as the benefits he sees as a recruiter in coming to our events, what job seekers should and should not expect and tolerate during their search, how to approach a job search...

The last hour flowed really well.  We even took a few calls, including from a job seeker looking for a gig who wanted to ask Russ a few questions.

This is Karen. She's hilarious. And kinda hot. And single. Just putting that out there...

Over the course of that final hour, in between movie quotes, jokes, ripping on each other and having a great time with Karen, who in addition to having her own show that was on right before ours, ran the board for us (and oh my god, she did a phenomenal job not just running the board, but also diving in with us in chats, keeping us on track and on time, she was just simply great) we managed to get some various viewpoints and discussion in on:

Being a first-timer at a networking event

Yes, recruiters stalk you on Facebook

Why coming to an event will do way more for your job search than anything else

A few of the 10 Commandments of Networking

Jobs that Brightwing is recruiting for actively at the moment

The challenges of being new to IT

Career transition

Ditching lame recruiters who aren't really trying to help you

...and a whole bunch more.  It was a very solid chain of conversations, and we all had a blast.

To the point where we barely even remembered to talk about our events, what we have on the horizon, etc.  Which, duh, was one of the things we really wanted to do.

On the jobs front, Brightwing has a ton of openings right now all over the state:

Entry level to senior .NET developers needed from Detroit to Grand Blanc and points in between

Some pretty cool stuff with high-end, wired vending machines that need installers with some basic networking certifications that don't mind flying around the country 75% of the time.

Security architects

Java architects

Senior QA developers and analysts

A whole bunch of anything and everything, from entry level to extremely senior level

Moral of the story?

Russ had WAY too much fun. Can you tell?

Their jobs site is at http://jobs.gobrightwing.com/

You go there.

You filter it down based on the area you're looking in around the state.

Then you drop Russ a note - russ AT gobrightwing.com.  You do what we keep telling you to do - you make the personal connection, you get someone actively engaged with you instead of filling out a vanilla resume form or firing nonsense off into the ether ninety times a day.

And you let Russ help you out.

It's that simple.  In fact, several people have already done that since our broadcast on Monday night.

See?  You really do want to listen live.  Never know what you're going to miss out on.

We wrapped up at 11:00, having thoroughly enjoyed ourselves for two solid hours of conversations, getting the word out about cool stuff, kicking The Hipster Queen of Brooklyn off of our phone lines, and maybe even helping a few people find new jobs.

And laughing.  And movie quotes.  And the usual politically incorrect shenanigans you would expect from us.

Next week's going to be even more interesting, we think.

Erika and Michelle

Erika Carlson and Michelle (please god let me spell this right) Srbinovich are coming in to talk about their Girl Develop It enterprise that's doing some extemely cool stuff with getting more women interested, involved, and into the IT industry and community here in the metro Detroit area.  They organize classes around the area to help improve coding knowledge, best practices, getting exposure into the area and industry and that's just a pretty damned cool thing.  You can read a bit about them here: http://www.girldevelopit.com/chapters/detroit ahead of time...or don't, you'll hear all about it on Monday night.

They're also outright hilarious, which is why we're sure they'll be great on the air with us.  Really looking forward to it.

We'll also have a recruiter in-studio with us again all night, and the phone lines will be open the whole time.  Some of the feedback we've gotten let us know that you wanted some more Q&A opportunities, so now that we've got one under our belt and successfully run, we'll go ahead and loosen things up a bit.

And we think we're going to try and do this whole "have a recruiter in-studio with us all night" thing each and every week.  So if you'd like to come join us, here's the deal:

You have to be willing and able to hang out the whole time.

It's 9pm to 11pm.

It's downtown Detroit.  Like "really downtown", like "not in necessarily the world's greatest looking part of downtown".  But it's safe, and you'll be fine, but I don't want anyone saying we didn't at least put that out there.

We're gonna be taking phone calls.  And yep, that means whacky mayhem might ensue.  But you've got us with you and on your side.

So, interested?  Drop us a note: ITintheD AT gmail DOT com, or here using our Contact Us form - https://itinthed.com/contact-us/ - and let us know.  We'll take them as they come in, and schedule accordingly.

So, all things being equal...a good first night, and a good first step.

Oh, and if you're worried about us getting ahead of ourselves...don't.  We're already keeping the best advice we can in mind...

See you tomorrow with our normal email blast, and don't forget to hit http://www.ITinTheD.com on Monday night at 9pm to tune in and listen to us live!