I'm still recovering from SXSWi--South by Southwest Interactive--and no, it's not a hangover. My hangover wore off days ago. It's my brain. My buzzing, humming, jumping brain, brimming with information, inspiration, and the desire to create something big.

[ibimage==21358==Small==none==self==ibimage_align-left]

SXSWi was a week's worth of panels, workshops, lectures, talks, and presentations by some of the most well-accomplished and interesting presenters in the tech and creative industries.

I saw Rachel Maddow talk about the military, Nate Silver discuss data, Imgur explain how they've successfully bootstrapped, Ramit Sethi divulge his financial secrets, Pepsico share social marketing tips, and a couple dozen other geniuses brainstorm ways to build creative and successful businesses.

But despite all the celebrity sightings and high-profile organizations that presented at SXSWi, two of the most interesting and useful panels I attended were about women in the workforce, and women in tech more specifically. 

The first talk I went to explored whether or not women can "have it all," with the panelists arguing that perhaps no one can. Women and men alike struggle to find a balance between family life and work life, and it's important that women aren't socially ostracized or taunted for choosing to focus on their careers.

Conversely, choosing a caretaking role, whether it's for your children or aging parents, really could have higher value for both men and women, and as business owners we need to find a way to foster work-life balance for ourselves and our staff. 

[ibimage==21360==Small==none==self==ibimage_align-right]

As a half-time single mom who's also a partner at a tech company that's 3/4 women owned, this talk resonated deeply. My life revolves around my daughter and my job, and both are creative and fulfilling pieces of my life, and both are overwhelming and stressful pieces of my life. But I would never give up either piece. They make me whole.

It's important to me that our staff has the flexibility to spend time with their families, take a day off to go snowboarding, or telecommute from a beach in Mexico for a couple weeks. Yes, this has actually happened and it worked out wonderfully for everyone.

In order to make this flexibility possible, one of the panelists argued that companies must hire people who are incredibly talented and incredibly responsible. People must have passion for the work that they do, and as business owners we're responsible for ensuring that we hold ourselves accountable to our staff and that we do a better job of modeling work/life balance.

Easier said than done, right? Many of us are bootstrapping our way up, and every free moment we have--and even some moments that aren't technically free--we spend figuring out how to grow our businesses.

But what's our long-term goal? Is it to make enough money to send our kids to college (some people estimate that public college will be $45,000 a year by the time my daughter graduates high school)? Is it to contribute something good to the world? Is it the feeling of fulfillment we get by being creative (and yes, building a business is most definitely a creative endeavor)?

For many of us it's a combination of all these things, but a majority of us also crave time to indulge the other parts of our lives outside of our careers--to spend time with our families, to read a book for fun, to learn to play the guitar, to travel to South America--and it's up to us, both men and women, to work together to make that happen.

[ibimage==21361==Medium==none==self==ibimage_align-left]

The second panel (HackerGirls) I attended was about women hackers and focused on getting more women into development. In the early 1980s, women obtained 30% of Computer Science degrees; today, however, that percentage is closer to 18%.

Some of the panelists suggested that this is due to a publicity and marketing issue. All our CS heroes are men, despite the fact that the original hacker, Ada Lovelace, was a woman. We need more CS heroines.

A common misconception that many people have is that men are more naturally suited to coding whereas women are better at social careers, like marketing. However, studies have shown that boys and girls are equally good at math and English, but because of how we gender knowledge  by the time children are in Middle School girls begin to lose interest and confidence in math, and boys begin to lose interest and confidence in English. The conclusion: boys and girls each have the skills and ability to hack the shit out of some code.

By 2015 there will be a shortage of web developers because demand is growing exponentially. Excluding half the world from development positions is doing a great disservice to the tech industry. 

Hacker Girls made some great recommendations on hiring and training more female developers, including carefully examining how you write job postings, how you interview (make sure there's a woman present!), and being aware of the metaphors you use to discuss the work you do.

SIDE NOTE: I would be happy to look at any job postings for development or tech positions your company is hiring for and give you feedback on how you can change your language to be more inclusive and to encourage women to apply.

Having as close to a 50/50 balance of men and women in development is proven to be the most effective type of team you could have. My company, Commerce Kitchen, is highly invested in working with organizations like Women Who Code and Lady Coders, and training more women up, from intern level to junior devs, so that we expand the workforce in positive and productive ways.

SXSWi was an incredible conference and in many ways it validated our dedication to creating a healthy and balanced work environment, and to expanding Colorado's female dev population so that we--and really, all of us in the Built in Denver scene--benefit.

Edit! Check out the infographic we made about female presenters and panelists at SXSWi this year on our blog.