Digital Digest September 2006

/:/:/:/:/ THE DIGITAL DIGEST /:/:/:/:/:/ The Monthly Newsletter of DigitalEVE Japan. Promoting women's digital lifestyles by offering a supportive community and programs tuned to women using IT in their workplace and in their everyday lives. http://www.digitalevejapan.org

:/:/:/:/ THE DIGITAL DIGEST /:/:/:/:/:/

The Monthly Newsletter of DigitalEVE Japan.

Promoting women's digital lifestyles by offering a
supportive community and programs tuned to women using IT in
their workplace and in their everyday lives.

http://www.digitalevejapan.org
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1 September 2006

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This monthly newsletter is a membership benefit of
DigitalEVE Japan and is sent through our mailing list,
de-japan. If you wish to cancel your membership with
DigitalEve Japan, please follow the unsubscribe instructions
at the end of this issue.

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IN THIS ISSUE
-> From the Editor
-> Rota Leader Report
-> Media Team News
-> Membership Team News
-> Web Content Team News
-> Upcoming Events


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FROM THE EDITOR
Ailsa Wylie, Newsletter Editor
<newsletter@digitalevejapan.org>

Hello DEvas,

How was your summer? I hope everyone was able to enjoy
pleasures of summer, while avoiding the "fool's" summer cold
caused by too much air-conditioning!

Remember when trying to figure out how to use new technology
could leave us on hold for hours waiting for technical
support? These days, the internet is such a great resource.
Many organizations have discussion boards where people can
ask questions and share information about common problems.

Another way to figure things out is simply to search your
problem. That's how I solved a recent dilemma with my new
keitai. I bought it because I wanted to use it as a PDA,
only to find that Vodafone Japan doesn't support the
software to sync it with a Mac! Oh, no! After a few attempts
that had me tearing my hair out, I finally managed to make
it work, with the help of some extra software from a blog in
English and some very clear, simple instructions (with
screen-shots to make it even easier!) from an independent
Mac-support website in Japanese. I started dancing around
the room as my phone and my computer started sharing the
information on their calendars and address books through
Bluetooth. It was a quiet day at work. My coworkers thought
I was crazy.

We sometimes forget that this is part of DigitalEve's
mission, too. You don't have to be a technical expert to get
involved. Recently there have been some interesting
discussions on our mailing list, and people often post job
requests or offers. But next time you have a problem with
your new hardware or software, how about asking if any DEvas
can help you? That way, everyone can learn from it. You
might make a new friend, too!

(As for me, I posted what I learned on my blog in English
and sent "thank-you" comments to the websites/blogs that
helped me.)


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NOTES FROM THE STEERING COMMITTEE

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ROTA LEADER

Leader's Report

Please see the recap of Beer Party in the membership report.
Thanks to those who attended - here are some comments from
them:

-Hi gals, just wanted to say thanks also to you for the fun
and stimulating conversation.

-Hello everyone,
Also I want so say thank you. I enjoy it very much. Lets
meet again.

-Thank you too for sharing a fun time! Hope to see you soon.

To organize events is a pleasure if they are appreciated.
However, it is difficult to offer them regularly without
enough volunteering hands. A volunteer group needs active
members who get involved and are willing to take
responsibility for planning and supporting activities and
projects. In fact, our active members are just three on the
Steering Committee, five on the Newsletter team and some
helpers at events, even though there are nearly 700 members!

Our members are so talented in many different ways and
believe in the mission of DigitalEve. However, why have we
had no leader for almost 3 years? There are still many
members who want to pursue their interests and ambitions
through this group. Give us your thoughts and ideas to
support this unique group. If we don't have enough active
members it will be hard to organize our own events or
workshops in future.
I'm looking forward to hearing from many of you on the
mailing list, or send me a message directly.

Thanks and enjoy the rest of the summer.

Misao Kajiro
Rota Leader for September


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MEDIA TEAM NEWS

Chiharu Kawai, Media Coordinator
<media-j@digitalevejapan.org>

"A crisis in our group: Please read and think"

As we have repeatedly mentioned to you all, we do not have
enough volunteers to help the Steering Committee manage this
big group of some 700 members. New members are constantly
joining. We are part of the prestigious global DigitalEve
family, and people find us interesting.

However, DigitalEve Japan is facing a crisis now. Despite
the large number of members, our online list has been
inactive for some time, with few IT discussions. We on the
SC still do our best to organize events such as workshops
and social gatherings, but these no longer attract enough
participants to be viable. No matter how many times we ask
for help with our newsletters, we receive very few
responses. I understand that everybody is busy, but if you
would like to preserve and support this group, please offer
just a little of your time and effort to make this
organization more helpful and more meaningful for all our
members. What can we do to encourage your participation?
Your suggestions are most welcome.


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MEMBERSHIP TEAM NEWS

Misao Kajiro, Membership Coordinator.
<membership@digitalevejapan.org>

Total membership is 699 as of August 29th, 2006.

Three new members joined in August. Pippa, Midori and
Corinne, welcome to DEJ!

In the middle of the summer holidays, August 25th, a small
group of DEJ members got together at the trendy Heartland
bar in Roppongi. After most attendees had arrived, we moved
onto the terrace to talk about various topics, such as the
question about breast cancer that Rochelle posted on our ML
(thanks Rochelle!), and some software that one member is
using for her fashion design work. Corinne came across our
website event information and attended this gathering the
next day in order to know more about DEJ. She joined DEJ
right after she got home!

Thanks Miwa for your efforts and hope you can assist again
with organizing events. We'd like to remind members that
even for casual social events, an RSVP is appreciated so we
can get an idea of how many people to expect. Also, if you
suddenly find that you can't make it after all, please try
to let someone know. We look forward to seeing more members
at the next event!


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WEB CONTENT TEAM NEWS
Ladawan Lhuang-on, Web Content Coordinator
<web@digitalevejapan.org>

Information and knowledge-sharing is a key to keeping our
group active and meaningful to all members. I believe that
we have a pool of talented people in IT and related fields.
It would be beneficial to all members if we could use our
group as a platform to exchange knowledge and make progress
in our daily learning process. A quick note of your thoughts
-- a paragraph or two -- or a brief article of what's
happening in your field would be a big plus for our monthly
newsletter.
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UPCOMING EVENTS

(This is not a DigitalEve event. Please contact JMEC
directly for information/registration.)

The Japan Market Expansion Competition (JMEC) ・Now taking Project
Client and Participant Applications for JMEC 13!

JMEC is a business training program sponsored by twelve
foreign Chambers of Commerce in Japan, the Delegation of the
European Commission in Japan and a large number of
corporations. Its purpose is to strengthen the skills of
young business executives while fostering the development of
foreign businesses in Japan. The young executives receive
training and hands-on experience, while companies (project
client) receive innovative business plans for a fraction of
the cost of hiring outside consultants.

We are now taking reservations for JMEC 13 information
sessions, which are scheduled for September 13th, 28th, and
October 17th, from 7pm ・8:30pm. To register, please email
Beckie Cassidy, Program Director at info@jmec.gr.jp and
indicate which day you would like to attend. Potential
participants and clients welcome! Location information will
be sent upon registration.

See http://www.jmec.gr.jp/ for more information and to register.