WITI Discussion Groups - WITI launched our discussion boards this week. You can now communicate with WITI supporters around the world. Topics include - Radical Sabbaticals, Bioscience Women, Women in Security, The Role of Men in Women's Organizations, chapter specific boards and much more! You can even log on to congratulate the Hall of Fame winners. Please click here http://www.witi.com/users/discussion_board to participate.

WITI Book Club - Book reviews are already coming in and will be part of our new web redesign being launched this fall. So, please send us a few sentences about one or more of your favorite books, including title and author. Don't forget to include your name, title, company - or however you want to be credited for your review! Send your reviews to [email protected].

New Member benefit! WITI@ keeps you up to date on where you will find WITI partners, WITI discounts,WITI women attending industry events. If you want a discount to an event you will be attending and/or want to meet other WITI women at that event, just let us know so we can get it for you!

New! WITIhost.com - if you are fed up with your hosting company or just want to upgrade your hosting services, check out WITIhost.com.

Top Companies for Women in Technology

Would you nominate your company as a top place to work for women in technology? WITI Fast Track will feature the results of the WITI survey in the next issue of Fast Track magazine and the deadline closes on August 1st. This survey is important because it provides a powerful venue to let companies know how you really feel without putting your job on the line! Please take two minutes to complete this survey! (http://www.witi.com/surveys/questions_form.php?id=6)

IT'S THE ECONOMY, STUPID! By Carolyn Leighton, CEO/Chairwoman/Founder, WITI

With dramatic changes in the economy and the explosion of web opportunities, we are finding a growing number of WITI women starting and building their own businesses. Towards this end, WITI is rolling out a number of services to support this segment of WITI, as well as stories, columns and articles to help women business owners gain new perspectives, ideas, insights.

Please share your observations and insights by sending your comments to [email protected].

I live in a small town on the central coast of California, with a population of about 16,000. I actually found this town and my property on the web when I was living in the Silicon Valley and decided it was time to move out of my dark, ugly house into a property I could afford with some acreage and views. So I did some research on the web and found this wonderful place for less than I sold the dark, ugly house in the Silicon Valley!.

The central coast has become the second largest wine producing area of California. Arroyo Grande is an interesting mix of farmers, wineries, and transplants (like me) who wanted to find a simpler, healthier, environment in which to live - and one that was more affordable than the bigger metropolitan areas from which we moved.

Like most small towns, there is an abundance of people who prefer to cook at home, rather than eat out. Those of us who love to cook also love to visit kitchen supply stores. The closest kitchen supply store to Arroyo Grande is located in the 5 cities outlet store in Pismo Beach, about 5 minutes south of Arroyo Grande.

One Saturday afternoon, I decided to wander into the store to look for some cooking tool I needed. I was surprised the store was so empty of customers, given the popularity of cooking in the surrounding communities, and the lack of competition for the store I was visiting.

There was one salesgirl working in the store that Saturday afternoon. When I asked her a question about how to use some new gadget I had found, she exclaimed, "I have no idea - I don't cook"! I was so astonished at her response, I blurted out "why would a kitchen store hire someone who did not cook? Her response was even more amazing - she said, with great indignation, and her hands on her hips - well, the store manager and the regional manager don't cook either!!!

I just walked out of the store, shaking my head, wondering who was making such incredibly ridiculous decisions to hire 3 levels of people in a kitchen store who don't cook when their customers come into the store looking for cooking tools??? No wonder it was empty of customers!

I imagined a corporate meeting with the CEO of this kitchen store chain (who probably didn't cook either) sitting around a big corporate table with all of his regional sales managers. , When the sales managers complete their reports to the CEO, he asks "why are the numbers so low?", and all of them looking at him, with astonishment, saying "it's the economy, stupid!".

Discuss this topic @ http://www.witi.com/users/discussion_board

Women on the Move

Karen Hiser was recently promoted to Vice President of Services and Support at SciQuest, Inc. SciQuest provides technology, services and domain expertise to optimize procurement and materials management for the life sciences, higher education and industrial research markets.

As the Vice President of Services and Support, Karen oversees delivery of SciQuest's integrated Innovation Supply Chain solutions through service and consulting engagements. Karen brings 15 years of experience in helping customers achieve their business objectives through the intelligent use of software and technology to her current position at SciQuest.

Women on the Move is a new section for the newsletter and the web site. Please allow us to acknowledge your new move by sending your announcement to [email protected]

WITI @ ...Keeping you up-to-date on where you'll find WITI!