My parents will celebrate their 59th wedding anniversary this Sunday. My father recently had a bad fall and has been in the hospital – we are thankful that he got back home today. Happy day folks!
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Images Copyright 1951-2011 by Katy Dickinson
Category Archives: News & Reviews
TechWomen Work Today
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Yesterday I taught at the well-received Mentor-Mentee Workshop, generously hosted by Symantec. Mark Bregman (EVP and CTO for Symantec) welcomed us. Today is the first day of work for the 37 TechWomen Mentees in the Silicon Valley. Our three Mentees at Huawei are settled into their office – we are still getting everything sorted out but they seem happy and pleased with their first day.
Images Copyright 2011 by Katy Dickinson
Wedding Shopping
We went shopping on Sunday for wedding party outfits. The Mother of the Groom, the Bride, the Maid of Honor, and I went to the Valley Fair mall Macy’s and Nordstrom’s. This post is partly to celebrate the girl fun we had and partly to publish the colors we picked (teal, hot pink, white, black) so that the rest of the wedding party can coordinate if that is their desire.
Images Copyright 2011 by Katy Dickinson
Filed under Home & Family, News & Reviews
Wedding cake, flowers, catering
My daughter Jessica just paid the deposit on her wedding catering. Mimi Chiang-Brown at Flower Flour in Willow Glen is providing both the flowers and the food for August’s big event. Costco is providing the cake (Bride’s choice!).
Jessica and Matthew (The Couple) and Paul (Groomsman) and I (Mother of the Bride) went last Saturday to Flower Flour to look at pictures and discuss plans. The same day, Jessica and I also visited the deliriously colorful Britex Fabrics in San Francisco to buy 2-1/2 yards of pink-violet raw silk for a sash for her dress for the reception.
Tomorrow, the Mother of the Groom, the Bride, the Maid of Honor, and I are going shopping to buy the Mothers of the Couple their dresses. I am torturing Jessica by saying that we will be looking for matching polkadot miniskirts…
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Images Copyright 2011 by Katy Dickinson
Filed under Home & Family, News & Reviews
Preparing TechWomen Training
Today, Denise and I are finishing up my presentation materials for Monday’s TechWomen Mentor-Mentee Workshop. I will be training 37 women from 6 Middle Eastern and North African countries and territories and their Technical Mentors from dozens of Silicon Valley companies the day before they start work.
Many of the Mentors were able to join yesterday’s opening event in San Francisco but for some, Monday will be the first time they meet. The workshop will offer a welcome, introductory activity (“icebreaker”), plus an hour of structured discussion so that the Mentors and Mentees can plan their work. Most of them have been in email discussions since we announced the matches several weeks ago; tomorrow we get down to cases. The afternoon will feature talks about social networking and mentoring. It will be a fun and interesting day.
Images Copyright 2011 by Katy Dickinson
Opening Day TechWomen
Today is the opening day of the first TechWomen mentoring program. I am in San Francisco listening to a panel from the three organizations which put together the program. TechWomen is funded by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA), managed by the Institute of International Education (IIE), and implemented in partnership with the Anita Borg Institute for Women and Technology (ABI). I have been working on TechWomen with ABI during the last year.
We were welcomed by Assistant Secretary of State for Educational and Cultural Affairs Ann Stock on behalf of TechWomen’s sponsor, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton. We also enjoyed an inspirational talk by Google Engineering Vice President Jen Fitzpatrick.
The best part has been finally meeting the 37 technical women Mentees from 6 Middle Eastern and North African countries and territories in person, after so much planning and hard work. I know how to say their names now (sortof, anyway). I was happy to hear that some Mentees have just as much trouble saying our names.
Linda Schneider (Huawei Distinguished Engineer), Athellina Athsani (Huawei Senior Manager), and I just met the three TechWomen Mentees who will be hosted by Huawei this month. So exciting!
Images Copyright 2011 by Katy Dickinson
Last After School Session
For the last three years, my husband John and I have been after-school teachers on Thursday afternoons for the Santa Maria Urban Ministry (SMUM) Studio program. There is another group of volunteers who offer Studio on Tuesdays. During the summer, the Studio kids enjoy monthly activities.
Last week was our final session for this school year. My daughter Jessica is home from college so she was able to join us. We had a party with cake and pizza. The kids posed with backpacks for a picture for the SMUM Canticle Newsletter. In 2010, over 800 backpacks were distributed at the end of the summer to grade school, middle school, and high school students in the SMUM community of inner city San Jose. Backpacks and their contents are donated by churches and community service groups like the Willow Glen Lions.
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Images Copyright 2011 by Katy Dickinson
Filed under Lions, News & Reviews
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