digital eve blog

Join Us for Digital Eve Live @Microsoft Israel R&D Center

What:  Networking with the Digital Eve DEvas and an interactive talk with
Limor Lahiani, Senior Developer at Microsoft Israel Innovation Labs

Limor will share with us how the MSFT Innovation Labs work and how we can apply their
successful business methods to our organizations. She will also touch upon her personal
experiences building a career as a technology innovator.

Where: Microsoft Israel R&D Center, Shenkar 13, Gav Yam 5 Blvd,  Herzliya Pituach

When: Wednesday, July 21
5:30pm for Networking
6:00pm for Listening (and asking questions of Limor)
7:00pm for some more Networking

Seating is limited – so please RSVP to jodij@013.net <mailto:jodij@013.net>  with the form below.
For security reasons, only people who have RSPV’d will be welcome to attend.

We will be sending out a networking list to the attendees.

Please return this information if you plan on attending:
First Name
Last Name
Email
Phone
Field
Comments

Note: the Attendee Networking list is intended for PRIVATE use only and not to be redistributed.

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I’d appreciate your input regarding choosing either wiki or sharepoint as a platform for our content portal.

Anyone who can refer me to an expert on either — also appreciated. Whichever one we choose – we’ll need development work!

Thanks!

Tsipi Erann
GigaSpaces Technologies

GigaSpaces XAP is a high-end application platform trusted by enterprises for their business applications – boosting performance with always-on availability, and near-zero latency. As the only product that provides a complete middleware solution on a single platform, XAP is a strategic solution that enhances efficiency and agility across the IT organization.

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Hey DEVAs,

I would have titled this post:

*7** Reasons Why The DEVA List Is the Most Valuable Resource I know To Develop Your Marketing Career in Israel *

But obviously that would not have fit in the title field

So here goes:

1.       *Job sites are dead
*At a certain point in your career, there’s only so far you can go
responding to job postings on- or offline. For the past 7 months, I’ve been
working at Radware as their content and social media maven thanks to the only place this gig was posted – the DEVA list! (Thanks Amy

*2.       **DEVAs recognize the true value of solid content and writing
skills
*I’m first and foremost a writer, a web guy second. It’s easy to fall into
the trap of accepting a low salary / freelance fee in our local market,
certainly in this economy. The DEVA list is rife with knowledgeable, well
paid content and marketing professionals who set a great example of
leveraging professional content and writing as a career development tool and core skillset. **

* *

*3.       **DEVAs are mostly right-brained, but know how to wrap their
background with hard skills
*I know there have been times in my career when I wanted to pull my hair out from all the acronym spewing, techno babble sputtering, socially challenged engineers. You gotta love ‘em, but it’s nice to communicate with soft-skilled peers who understand tech is just another thing you need to worry about – not the main deal. **

* *

*4.       **DEVAs contend with and even innovate on all marketing fronts –
Branding, Copywritng, SEO, Social Media, and on and on…
*It’s so easy to get lost in the marketing mix, with the skills you need to
grow your career changing by the nanosecond. I find the knowledge and
insights on this list cut through a lot of the clutter and ground those of
us who just want to get the job done and get ahead. **

* *

*5.       **DEVAs understand giving is the first step to receiving
*So much has been said in the marketing world about giving value for free
before pitching your offering. Very few, however, actually know how to “move the FREE line” and use their knowledge as a powerful marketing tool. You’ll find quite a few of them on this list. **

* *

*6.       **DEVAs think on all sides of the box
*This list is filled with Marcom career people, freelance writers,
consultants, and work-from-home Internet marketers. There are so many ways to grow and monetize marketing skills, and you don’t have to be based in Silicon Valley or Wall Street to make it happen. Certainly, developing your marketing career out of Israel* *comes with a unique set of challenges, but isn’t that part of the attraction? J**

* *

*7.       **DEVAs are teachers & students, Twitterlebrities & followers –
all at the same time
*I learned of the DEVA list from my students at the first Marcom course I
ever gave. Since then, the list has been an endless source of advice, leads,
and even quality career opportunities. From time to time, I do my best to
give back in any way that I can. The more people do the same, the more we all benefit!**

* *

Wishing you all the greatest success and a Hag Sameach,

Ohad Flinker**

Ohad Flinker is a veteran copywriter and Internet marketing consultant with over a decade of experience. Merging the best of Israeli innovation and American business culture, he has consulted both startups and publicly traded companies on either side of the Atlantic. Ohad develops marketing communications (Marcom) campaigns and writes copy for a variety of media vehicles. His professional expertise spans the technical minutiae of web content management, pushing the hot marketing buttons of direct response mind tricks, and leveraging the creative flare of high concept brand strategy. Ohad studied computer science at the Technion, and fed his right brain with a liberal arts background from Haverford College in the US. You can find him @HoverGeek Tweeting about his favorite niche vehicle

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…and a final thought on this subject:  Several years ago when I went to
see former U.S. Secretary of State Madeline Albright speak at a book signing
in San Francisco, someone asked her during the Q&A whether she regretted
devoting her life to career rather than her children.

Her answer was that we are all individuals making individual choices suited
to our talents and needs.  Some women are meant to stay at home with kids,
others are meant for public service and others slot into a combination of an
in-between range.  ”But,” she added (and I paraphrase here)  ”there’s a
special place in hell for women who give other women a hard time for the
choice they make.”  The room went wild with applause.

From a single mom working hard to do both!

Stephanie L. Freid

–
Stephanie L. Freid
Writer   Producer   Editor
052-427-9502
http://stefanella.wordpress.com

I Strive to be the Person My Dog Thinks I Am

Stephanie is a freelance journalist and Marcom/Content Craftswoman reveling in her single mom status.  She blogs at: stefanella.wordpress.com <http://stefanella.wordpress.com> 

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Date: Wednesday February 24th
Time: 19:00
Place: Aroma on Herzl (corner of Yehuda Halevi) in Tel Aviv (Read on …)

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Hi Devas,

I may be one of the youngest on the list which is why I’d like to ask you
all a question. I am just at the beginning of my career, a career that I
love, that I am passionate about and that I am determined to succeed in. My
question is, after all the discussions about the comprise between parenthood
and a successful career, do you feel as mothers that this is true? That
there is indeed a great comprise you have to make and that one will
eventually suffer, or at least dwindle behind?

I do want to have kids, but making something of myself and excelling in my
career is not something I’m willing to compromise on. So what does this
mean? Obviously I know that once I begin having children I will no longer be
able to work the 10-11 hour days that I’m used to, but will I be able to
excel and juggle my family life and professional? Do you believe it is
realistic?

If you feel like sharing, I’d love to hear your opinions and your personal
experiences.

Many Thanks,

~Natasha

At age 23, Natasha Shine is the Social Community and Marketing Manager of a startup company called 6rounds. 6rounds.com <http://6rounds.com>  is a live meeting point, a video chat platform that incorporates real-time communication with interactive features (such as watching videos, facebooking, playing games together, e-learning and much more). Born in London, raised in California, Natasha has now settled in Tel Aviv after making Aliyah by herself almost five years ago.  

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Hi Devas,

You know the feeling of having worked with a really great graphic designer
who has creative, out-of-the-box, thinking skills that can be translated to
image for print/web… whatever – in a way that gets your message across so
beautifully? And at a reasonable price.

Well, back in 2004 I worked with Iris – she was amazing. I used to pay her
more that she charged since she was so good – I felt so blessed. Every
company I went to I took her with me. And then, in 2007 something
unthinkable happened. Iris was offered a full-time job in a company… that
left her with no time to do work on the side.

Since then I have had many experiences with graphic designers… and sadly I
have not had the same experience as I did with Iris. There have been spurts
of magic, but sporadic.

So… I am reaching out to you. A network of professionals like me. And I
hoping you can recommend to me someone, not too costly who can bring back
the spark. I prefer the freelancer – but then again also graphic agencies -
since they can be good too. I have had really good experience with AOP and
Mishan-Portnov and J&J… but i think that they may be out of my budget
right now.

Thank you.
–
Regards,
Miki
054-7799930

PowerSines is a mid-tech Israeli company that provides energy efficiency solutions for lighting worldwide.

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For discussion: A former colleague of mine had a policy of not recruiting former employees back into the company, even if several years had past since their departure. I also think that, in some ways, going back to a previous employer is like going back to an ex-boyfriend/spouse. There was a reason for the breakup or divorce in the first place….so can you really go back?

As I am unemployed due to cutbacks at my last job (sadly this may sound too familiar to many of you), and with unemployment insurance funds dwindling, I cannot be picky. Therefore, I have not yet refused a job offer or job interview based on the fact that I used to work there. If I do have that opportunity in the future, I am curious to learn from your experiences:

What do you feel about this matter as an employee and/or employer? Have you ever gone back to a place that you used to work for? Has your previous experience with that company helped you get used to the job more quickly? Or are you frustrated that things really haven’t changed since you left or were laid off? As for employers, what are your feelings? Have you hired back employees? Did they leverage their past experience effectively into more senior positions? Or do you feel, like my former colleague– that it’s better to recruit “fresh blood”?

I don’t recall this being discussed before here, so if it has, please refer me to the archived discussion:-)

Looking forward to hearing your responses.

P.S. I’m also interested in job leads in marketing writing, copy-writing, editing, narration and/or social media marketing, that may not have been posted on this list due to confidentiality.

Thanks

Ronni Kives

Ronni has been a marketing writer and editor in the hi-tech industry for more than ten years, including companies such as RADVISION, AudioCodes, TTI Telecom and Dassault Systemes (ENOVIA SmarTeam).  She is presently seeking employment within or beyond the hi-tech industry in the areas of marcom, writing,, editing, social media marketing, and /or narration. Originally from Winnipeg, Canada, she currently resides in Kfar Saba with her teen-aged son.

Ronni Kives
Marketing Writer, Editor, and Narrator
Kfar Saba

email: > rkives@zahav.net.il
> Twitter: RonniKives
> LinkedIn: http://il.linkedin.com/pub/ronni-kives/0/67/a24

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Networking To Make A Difference.

A DE event held on 10th September 2009

We did it! We got out from behind our screens and met some real women.

While we were doing that we heard about over 200 real children whose lives are being changed for the better  at the Bet Elazraki  Childrens Home in Natanya where the event was held.  And we had a chance to hear how the real corporate and social responsibilty professionals at Cisco give back to make a real difference in Israel and all over the world.

Here’s what some of the women there said…

 ”"Thank you so much to our inspiring speakers, gracious hosts and enthusiastic participants for opening your hearts and minds to make this happen.”"

“We got to know each other, exchanged business cards, but most importantly -
were inspired to think about our contribution to the community. ”

“”The brainstorming session on what each person can volunteer from their own experience was also a brilliant way helping everyone to get to know each other – and what a lovely group of ladies they were!”

“”It was a privilege to meet so many smart and engaged women and to
learn and be inspired about how we, as professional women, can contribute to
different aspects of our society.”"

”

We hope to follow up on the evening with practical action related to both Bet Elazraki and Cisco”s CSR programs.

Website: http://www.elazraki.org.il

http://www.cisco.com

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Hi Aviva

In response to your post about exposing your personal facebook interest, language and activities to business contacts:

The various social networks are like online versions of real life social
environments. I don’t wear professionally acceptable clothing to the beach,
and wouldn’t be embarrassed if a client saw me there in a bikini. However I
certainly wouldn’t wear a bikini to a work meeting. Therefore I think it’s
all about being clear about your personal environment within each social
media platform. For instance, I made a decision from day one that facebook
would be social for me. I accept clients and colleagues as friends, but my
facebook picture is intentionally of me with two kids that shows them
without question that this is a social, not professional, environment for
me. This also means that I don’t use my personal facebook profile as a
business tool like many people do.

If I saw a client at the beach with my kids running around me I would gladly
talk business with them, but I wouldn’t set up a meeting for that
environment. Similarly, sometimes there is a comfortable cross-over, but
it’s not a “Seital” facebook, it’s a “Rashi” facebook profile. Having said
that, I am aware that some professional contacts are privy to my facebook
activities so I am cautious not to do professionally damaging things there,
just like I wouldn’t do something that could damage my professional
reputation at the beach – but there’s a difference between professionally
damaging and non-professional. Twitter on the other hand is more of a
blended professional interface for me, although I do blend personal updates
there too and quite like the personal/professional blend within that
environment.

So bottom line – I think it’s all about setting expectations. If you’re
inviting or accepting professional colleagues to what is clearly your
personal space, then they’ll accept it in that context and realize that the
music you enjoy isn’t a reflection of your professional competency, and your
jokes with friends show your social side, not your professional
communication style.

Good luck in achieving the professional/personal balance we all work towards
in real life, now reproduced via the online social environments!

Regards

Rashi

———————————————————-

Rashi Elmaliah is a marketing strategist for about a decade and is founder & director of Seital. Seital provides marketing strategy and implementation services to Israeli companies targeting international markets.

Rashi Elmaliah
Director
Seital – Marketing Strategy & Implementation

mobile: +972-54-6622893
phone/fax2mail: +972-2-5701628
fring: rashi / +972546622893
skype: rashielmaliah
MSN: rashi@seital.co.il
twitter: http://twitter.com/rashi

* welcome to our new website at www.seital.co.il

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