Sherry Moore speaks at the Kernel Conference Australia, July 2009.
filmed by Deirdré Straughan
All posts by Deirdre Straughan
The Twitter Diaries: 2009-10-25: San Francisco, CO
- a team-building exercise that totally makes my day: http://bit.ly/3VS0dm #
- for the first time in my life, a pair of glasses broke on me. Now I really look like a geek with the lens taped to the frame. #
- “With the swirling violins, fighting and constant cries for liberty, it’s like spending 2 hours inside Bossi’s brain.” http://bit.ly/4ugR4L #
- plans for today: “South Pacific” with @jeffreytaylor then a nice dinner with Jeffrey & John to thank them for their hospitality & friendship #
- “with Berlusconi as your prime minister, you don’t have to take yourself too seriously.” http://bit.ly/18Urrc #
- I am an unabashed fan of musicals. I wish people burst into song in real life more often. #
- Excellent dinner at Town Hall inSF. Neo American country cooking. #
- @ThinGuy cornmeal-friend oysters, fried chicken with collard greens and mashed potatoes, fondue…and champagne for a birthday in reply to ThinGuy #
- xkcd – Certainty http://bit.ly/4bKk3a – explains a few things… #
- South Pacific yesterday was good, not stellar. But WTF is up with people arriving – and TALKING – during the overture? Very very rude. #
- eating baguette toast with fig jam, drinking coffee, editing video. For once, getting the video out pretty close to the event #
- @davewiner I think I saw those same mugs on the Embarcadero yesterday. Didn’t buy several very applicable ones, not to give the game away. in reply to davewiner #
- RT @jeffreytaylor: Anonymous donors have issued a challenge for @RestoreEquality on behalf of the @CourageCampaign! http://bit.ly/1gb8yy #
- Heading for sfo. It’s been a good – no, great! – visit in many and various ways. #
- Amateur travelers argh! #
- @bubbva at BRM we have s clothing-optional teaming area ; ) in reply to bubbva #
- Damn you SFO! Why no free wifi? #
- @OrganizeFISH the faux pas was not going up to use an empty checkin terminal and forcing me to wait til the agent told them it was okay. in reply to OrganizeFISH #
- @lskrocki I resemble that remark! Practically everyone I know is a weirdo, one way or another. Dad’s FB profile says he’s “a 70 YO teenager” in reply to lskrocki #
- Editing video at the airport. I should have gotten a 15″ Macbook instead of 17″. Then I’d carry it around and get more editing done. #
- Everyone buys the same boring black luggage, then have to put colored ribbons etc to distinguish them. Why not just buy a colorful bag? #
- @creepyed doesn’t have to be fave, just easy to spot. So I have Big Pink, Big Blue, Small Aqua… in reply to creepyed #
- @KeithBurtis not to pick on you, but for the rest of us wd be more interesting to give some hint what the interesting convos wr about. in reply to KeithBurtis #
- @creepyed travel is a gift you give yourself, so sparkly ribbons are entirely appropriate in reply to creepyed #
- @macsun yes, colored bags get dirty. Just makes ’em look well traveled in reply to macsun #
- RT @Security_Summit Deadline to register is Oct 26th. Note: you can still register at the conference. http://tinyurl.com/lisa09dp #sysadmin #
- Waiting for a gate at DIA. Bored now. #
- Of course the guy in the pork pie hat and retro shirt has a nearly antique suitcase – in great condition. Both stand out = win #
- back home, burning through the urgent emails, uploading videos, doing laundry, and oh, yes, might be good to eat some dinner… #
- I guess I shouldn’t have looked at work email this evening. It has only made me irritable. #
- @missbhavens might be worth waiting a few days to see if you’ve effectively excluded the hacker in reply to missbhavens #
- perhaps the cure for my irritability is to retire to a warm bath with a shot of Maker’s Mark and the new Discworld novel… #
- @ben great minds ; ) in reply to ben #
- @ben I guess the next question is: what are you drinking? in reply to ben #
- Videoblogging Tips: Filming Engineers (video – of me, not engineers) http://bit.ly/vs7Rt #
- awake way too early. Roomie & I have to talk. Her BF living with us=okay. Exiting garage at 6 am=not – my rms right above, always wakes me. #
- “Italy doesn’t award social recognition to women who work outside the home and have an independent income.” http://bit.ly/4Z3Dy #
- @davidorban SMAU still survives? Last time I went a few years ago it was looking small & sad compared with its glory days. in reply to davidorban #
- came home to a loaded Tivo, don’t know when I’ll have time/inclination to watch any of it #
- @KathySierra a brand can’t do any of those things. It has to be done by people, for people, with people. in reply to KathySierra #
- Protecting Oracle Applications with Built-In Solaris Security Features – Sun Video http://bit.ly/4BIieG #
- I wouldn’t mind so much you “helping” me with this task, if you didn’t keep SCREWING IT UP. #
- @u8out good wishes! in reply to u8out #
- so a booth layout is just like a living room layout, minus (in this case) the sofa. Right? And where do I put these frickin’ trees? #
- RT @ElaineEllis: Looking at hotels for Siena, Italy for Christmas. Recommendations? – I suspect some of my Tweeps can help with that! #
- “Sun Microsystems announced plans to slash 3,000 jobs over the next year,” http://bit.ly/2QrfI0 <sigh> here we go again, some more #
- hmph. Wasn’t expecting to have to dig out my car this morning. #
- finally got enough sleep = in a good mood right now, in spite of a number of reasons to be highly irritated. So – nobody spoil it! #
- a taste of what’s coming at the Solaris Security Summit http://bit.ly/1SVm3G – video: http://bit.ly/19B0bm #
- calling CO techies! Brendan Gregg Talk “Little Shop of Performance Horrors,” Thurs Oct 29th at the Front Range OSUG – http://bit.ly/2p7F0Y #
- RT @jwillie: How to Market an Offline Event Online. Another excellent blog post from @ChrisBrogan. Truly on target! http://ow.ly/vGOa XLENT! #
- “the mammone problem is rooted in the economic precariousness of a debt-ridden nation that has been in gradual decline” http://bit.ly/2S8LZg #
- a large burden that I wasn’t particularly keen on has been lifted from my shoulders – yay! Now what do I with with unexpected spare time? #
- @empoprises warthog is a different animal from wild boar. Wild boar is yummy. Warthog I’ve never tried. in reply to empoprises #
- SC09 in Portland is now definitively on my travel schedule – I’ll be filming Sun’s HPC consortium and probably more show floor footage #
- @saraford aww. If I was there, I would definitely hug you! in reply to saraford #
- doing so many things, meeting so many people, that “ci lascio lo zampino” everywhere http://bit.ly/4gLN1I #
- @italylogue Nov 13-19. Meet up? in reply to italylogue #
- RT @macsun: New whitepaper on Virt Machine Hypervisor Storage Interface: http://bit.ly/16KMbB from SNIA #
- my monthly attack on my enormous video status spreadsheet. Damn there’s a lot of it! #
- amused at how my connections on various media/networks reflect who I was most in touch with at the time. Skype is now a blast from the past #
- The Economist “this would be an unprecedented assault on Italy’s post-war legal order.” http://bit.ly/tBimx #
- RT @Security_Summit: Only a few days left to register online for the security summit.http://wikis.sun.com/display/secsummit09/ # #
- @davewiner I could think of a major piece of snark to add to that, but will restrain myself… in reply to davewiner #
- @davewiner but somehow PC guys comes out more likeable, less snotty-nosed kid in reply to davewiner #
- a beautiful bird seems to be thinking about nesting outside my office window. I think it’s some kind of woodpecker. Need to find a picture #
- RT @vdotw: @Cdash @shawnferry You’re a fun pair to have dinner with. – and don’t forget to come up to B’more for LISA. Dinner Monday Nov 2? #
- @davewiner okay, can’t resist this time: since you’re going to San Quentin with Guy and Scoble, can you just leave them there? ; ) in reply to davewiner #
- I was in fine voice in the car this morning, singing this: http://bit.ly/2xDNdH #
- @davewiner who said I was joking? ; ) in reply to davewiner #
- another video from #00w09 Optimizing & Managing Simulation Runs with Intel Flash & Oracle & MSC Software – Sun Video http://bit.ly/2yRbyu #
- wow it’s been a long week, feels like I spent it entirely pushing on strands of limp spaghetti. How many projects am I still managing…? #
- oh, great. Dreamhost thinks I’ve been hacked so they’ve disabled my site and now I have to figure out how to fix it. Just what I need tonite #
- @jeffreytaylor I had just upgraded WP earlier today! in reply to jeffreytaylor #
- got my website back #
- today alumni of Woodstock School (India) get together worldwide, including distinguished alum Chris Anderson (TED) http://bit.ly/2uiAa3 #
- looking forward to dinner in Arvada tonight, where I’ll see a high school friend I haven’t seen since 1981. Part of my Woodstock family. #
- a bit of nostalgia for my classmates » Woodstock School Class of ‘81 – 9th Grade http://bit.ly/1oQlCF #
- @saraford purely keyword based. I’ve seen ads for Lemon Pledge show up on articles abou the Pledge of Allegiance in reply to saraford #
- after a long week of confict and stress, feeling fragile today. But the sun is shining and tomorrow will be better. #
- @jeffreytaylor Go! in reply to jeffreytaylor #
- just found something cool a cousin of mine is doing: Port Hudson Organics – A Louisiana CSA http://bit.ly/3ckhQt #
- Strangely relaxed after spa torture. #
- @bklein34 how bulky is it? I might want it in reply to bklein34 #
- everything old is new again: spent the day catching up with former colleagues, old friends, and fellow alumni of Woodstock School. #
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Woodstock Class of ’81: Graduation
GHC09: Women in the Flat Connected World
^ Panelists (L->R): Kristin Rozier (NASA); Sumitha Prashanth (Sun Microsystems-India); Radha Ratnaparkhi (IBM); Claudia Galvan (Microsoft); Bev Crair (Quantum, formerly Sun); Meenakshi Kaul-Basu (Sun Microsystems); Lydia Ash (Google) – photo from Meena
“Globalization has forced companies to create new processes to empower distributed teams to collaborate. It could mean that individuals have to travel for longer periods of time across the globe, work at odd hours, and work from home or make other adjustments to accommodate a new working lifestyle.
Panelists will discuss and give their perspective on the topic, impact on women, and the technologies and strategies they use to maintain balance.”
This panel at the Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing 2009, run by my colleague Meena, was one of the few sessions at GHC09 that I felt addressed the practical needs of women currently in technology management: all of the panelists manage geographically-dispersed teams (which are increasingly the norm in high tech).
One theme that came up over and over was the importance of face-to-face interaction, especially for the managers, who therefore end up traveling a lot. Phone conferences, email, and instant messaging simply can’t build relationships in the same way. As Bev Crair said, even for teams that know each other and have worked together for a long time, “Trust breaks down after six weeks of not seeing someone.” I’ve seen this in my own experience of working remotely.
Bev added that relationships can be supported by video conferencing: “We use WebEx a lot.”
But she and others also felt strongly enough about the importance of in-person interaction that (during her time at Sun) she created a rotation program for Sun’s engineering office in China. US-based test engineers visited for three weeks at a time (the company had rented four apartments) and did their regular jobs from Beijing while also mentoring/training Chinese colleagues.
This taught the local engineers Sun standards for engineering, but it also helped the US-based engineers understand local problems so they could better represent their Chinese counterparts when they got back to US.
Kristin Rozier, NASA: “We put a lot of emphasis on face to face” within her small US reearch group. They host an annual symposium where everyone can get together.
Lydia Ash, Google: “As a manager I had to realize that bad news travels much faster than good news.” Solution: over-commuicate rather than under-.
Claudia Galvan, Microsoft: “You need to let go of driving everything from HQ and let the remote sites drive, too.”
Work-Life Balance
Bev Crair: “Working globally means there’s not a hard line between work and home life. I take time for myself and my daughter n the middle of the day. I have to set aside that time.”
Women are about connectedness, so why try to separate work from life?
Sumitha lives with her in-laws (a traditional arrangement in India), who are very supportive of her family and career. She says: “There’s no such thing as work-life balance. You figure it out as you go along. There’s no perfect situation. You have to prioritize. And don’t feel guilty about anything.”
Radha agrees that work-life balance is a myth. But there can be harmony if you have control and a support system (family, friends, community).
Two of the panelists’ daughters wouldn’t want their mothers’ jobs: “Too many phone calls.” One thinks that being an engineer is cool because you get to go to all these exotic places.
Women often end up taking care of family stuff (babies, aging parents), which leads to breaks in their career histories. Being able to “integrate” the personal with the professional is critical. Remote work allows people to deal with things e.g. cultural observations (such as the rituals around a death in the family) while still working. We need to have the tools and processes in place for this to happen.
Question from the audience: All this flexibility needs company support. How real is that?
Answer: Even the [US] federal government offers time off for family situations, e.g. up to 12 weeks to help a parent after surgery.
Tools and Pitfalls
It was mentioned that video conferencing can feel weird because of lag times (at long distance) and the fact that it doesn’t provide a sense of eye contact, because the webcam lens is not where you direct your eyes when you’re looking at the video you’re receiving. “Everyone looks stupid in a videoconference.”
Bev said they have extra monitors which display video streams from other offices, to maintain a sense of presence even when not actively participating in video conferences.
Lacking funding or tools for any of this, one manager said that her group put up photographs of their remote colleagues to enhance a feeling of connectedness. Every little thing can help.
Virtual environments (such as Google Lively and Second Life) can become informal and unprofessional very quickly. It’s important to remember that professional presence matters even in these virtual worlds. In video conferencing, watch out for bedhead and undone laundry in the background; what is the message you are sending by your video presence?
Use tool such as Writely to collaborate in real time on documents.
On the whole, a very useful panel, and I’m grateful to have had the opportunity to learn from these women.
Worldwide Woodstock Day: Shadows
Today was Worldwide Woodstock Day, a celebration of the international boarding school in India that I and many other devoted alumni attended. Alumni groups gathered in all corners of the globe, which for me meant a Nepali/Indian restaurant in Arvada, CO. Saw one old friend I hadn’t seen since I graduated, another I have seen several times because she happens to be friends with a Sun colleague, several I knew via email, and many I’d never met in any way before. And, as always, we all found much in common and plenty to talk about.
One of our assignments was to record ourselves sing the school song (preferably in the key of F – not sure we hit that) as part of a forthcoming video montage. What you hear above is mostly me, since I was the only holding the camera.
Whoops, messed up the lyrics – wasn’t that supposed to be “close of day”?
