Tech Superstars and Finland

Google today celebrated the arrival of spring (and autumn in Southern hemisphere) with a Finnish Marimekko doodle. That's not what caught my attention though. This did: apparently the idea for the doodle came about when Google's Vice President (and one of my role models) Marissa Mayer visited Marimekko's factory in Helsinki.

Bringing Marissa Mayer to Finland is an idea that I'm sure has been entertained by quite a few people in the Finnish start-up scene but so far proved to be impossibly hard. It's all the more pity that when she does come over it happens in such secrecy.

Obviously we all have the right to privacy, not to be disturbed anywhere we go. But people like Marissa Mayer do not frequent Finland, that's why it's all the more important to celebrate their visits. I am positive that had the opportunity been known, there would have been a lot of interest and help in organizing an event around that.

Marissa Mayer lives an inspiring life and works for a company that basically defined the last decade.  If she's in Finland even for a day, the opportunity can't be wasted. There are so many young people, especially young girls, who can get really inspired after listening to Marissa in person! It's the kind of drive we need to encourage and facilitate, not hide away and keep for ourselves.

I really hope that the next time a world-class tech superstar visits Finland, there would be a chance to arrange a short event around that. It doesn't have to be big or long, it just has to take place. Start-ups are building the future of Finland and it feels unfair to deny them access to foreign talent that visits Finland.

Inspired by Rails Girls

I grew up with computers and Internet at home. I've been creating and engaging with online content before I hit puberty. Unfortunately, no one told me back in the day that I could build things online. Few people around me knew what coding is and learning how to code simply never occurred to me as a thing to do.

Things have changed a lot since then: coding today really is a necessary skill that is and should be taught at schools. Though there still is hope for the likes of me: girls and women who were awoken to code later in their lives and got excited about it as if they were teens. Thanks to Rails Girls any girl can get an inspiring kick-start to their code-learning journey.

Rails Girls is a wonderful concept founded by Linda Liukas and Karri Saarinen that helps girls get inspired and build things. The concept is realized through hands-on workshops that are community-driven, open-sourced and targeted specifically towards females. Rails Girls have already been held in Helsinki, Singapore, Shanghai and now Tallinn, moving to Berlin and Krakow this April.

I had the chance to participate in the event held in Helsinki last September and past weekend I had the honor of helping organize the event in Tallinn. Both events are endlessly inspiring: there is some magic in the air when 30+ knowledge-hungry girls gather in the same space and take their first steps in learning code together.

The cause of Rails Girls is indisputably brilliant and the way the events are organized is refreshing too. One of the biggest things I like about them is that they heavily rely on the local community: all coaches that help out at the event come from local hacker communities. Participants are chosen based largely on their enthusiasm but effort is put into mixing girls with very diverse backgrounds.

Materials used for learning are widely available online for anyone to use so you can continue learning after the workshop. Plus, Linda came up with Bentobox - a brilliant way to conceptualize all the different components you need to know about the online environment through a simple model that is easy to understand.

The biggest praise of course goes to the girls who take the leap of faith to attend the event and despite frustration spend a good five hours or more on a weekend to learn the basics of computer programming. Even if 1% of them continues coding after the workshops, Rails Girls' objective has been realized!

PS Rails Girls Tallinn was organized with the help of Garage48 Hub that has probably the coolest dog in town!

PR Explained The Kell Way

Before I started working at a PR company I did not quite understand what people in the industry do. Turns out I wasn't the only one. After many intensive conversations on the topic, I realized that a lot of people outside the industry either don't know what PR is or have their custom-made definition of it that varies a lot.

Rather than opening a debate on the topic I turned to the famous saying: a picture is worth a thousand words. By that logic, a video is worth even more! So, ladies and gentleman, I present to you Kell on Earth, a reality docudrama about a PR company from New York that works in fashion business.

The story behind the show is: Kelly Cutrone is the ultimate power-woman who founded the PR firm, People's Revolution, some 10+ years ago. Apart from running one of the most successful PR agencies in the industry she is also a sinlge mum and quite a character. Her signature phrase is: 'If you want to cry go outside'.

Kell On Earth follows the daily routine of People's Revolution through Fashion Weeks, boutique openings, small and large-scale fashion shows as well as entertaining office hassle. The viewer gets to know key employees of the firm who get hired and fired as the show goes.

Naturally, this is in no way a representation of what all PR companies do. Since People's Revolution work in fashion industry they do a lot of event organizing which is not typical for PR companies that work in business or technology sector.

Though there are a few key take aways from the show that in my opinion can apply to PR work in general. First, attention to detail is king. In fashion industry that means an elaborated sitting plan for fashion shows, in tech industry it means a well-thought-out strategy or a perfect text that is faultless, reads well and is aesthetically pleasant.

Second, clients who buy PR services often want magic for a dime. It's natural for companies to be budget-conscious and not everything costs a fortune but to avoid disappointments it's important to create realistic expectations.

Lastly, PR work is unpredictable. In every single event shown on Kell on Earth something went wrong: too many people showed up and blocked entrance to an exclusive show, venues cancelled last minute, models fainted in the middle of the show... Things are a bit less dramatic in business and tech sector but they can change fast and drastically nevertheless. The only thing we can do is be prepared, be alert and ready to respond once the opportunity rises.

Watching the show got me really inspired. How awesome would it be to arrange a Fashion Week-style startup show once a year? Something with glam, tonnes of press and best-of-the-best products and services. 

Kell on Earth is available on YouTube. Unfortunately, embedding was disabled in the videos so you'd just have to follow this link below to see it with your own eyes :)

http://youtu.be/J9wk8l97icU

P.S. To my sincere disappointment the show was not continued after the first season.