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March 30, 2022 — “Why is Your P.O. Crying??”

On March 30th, Zettabytes hosted a fabulous virtual event where we got the lowdown on Tech Product Ownership and on our Community Partner organization Equality Ohio!




Delaney Barr, Esq. of Equality Ohio



The evening began with Delaney Barr, Esq. of Equality Ohio laying out for us the history of her organization and the way it advocates for the legal rights of LGBTQ Ohioans in terms of:  


~ non-discrimination protections in employment and housing

~ same-sex legal recognition and LGBTQ family law

~ hate crimes protection


Equality Ohio is also working to defeat the *unprecedented* wave of hateful legislation being introduced that would adversely affect our communities (Anti-gay/Anti-Trans Youth laws, censoring teachers so they can't talk about race and/or LGBTQ issues, etc.)


Later, our own Rachael Henderschott led a presentation on “Why Product Owner are like Toddlers”





Rachael Henderschott, Zettabytes.Today



Being a Product Owner herself, she discussed the responsibilities of her role; the day-to-day challenges of managing stakeholder interests and expectations, feature development and ROI, and understanding why product increments may or may NOT move forward (leaving P.O.s crying like toddlers who don’t get their way).








February 23, 2022 — Virtual Panel Discussion: "Leading Through Change






We were very proud to host the Virtual Panel Discussion "Leading through Change”, with panelists Karan Froom, a Transformation Change Management Leader at Clorox and Ann Bearda Continuous Improvement and Organizational Expert at Alliance Data.

They discussed with our own Dhruva Vyas, the Importance of Change Management; facilitating and effectively implementing major Business Transformation projects; and fostering Enterprise Readiness.

Beforehand, we started the evening as usual with a Vinny Sanfillipo drink demo during our "cocktail/mocktail" hour. 

Our Community Partner Kimberly Sue GriffithsExecutive Director of OCTOPUS (Organizing Communities Transgender Outreach Promoting United Support) then discussed their organization’s advocacy for trans well-being, and being an active member of Central Ohio’s LGBTQ Round Table. 🌈🌈

#lgbtq #pride #lgbtqcommunity


January 26, 2022 — Taking Action in DEI with Level D&I and Zettabytes.Today!

     

For our January 26, 2022 event, we were joined by Level D&I for an incredible panel on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion! 


The incredible Khris Goins crafted a Ginger Smash for us, and gave a lovely demonstration around how to craft this refresher! 




Immediately afterwards, our Vinny Sanfillipo crafted up a more floral version of a French 75, full of flavors of champagne, lemon and St. Germain. 




Chelsea Akers, COO of Level D&I gave us a great presentation about what Level D&I does and their new product-line around helping companies take charge of their DEI strategies. 




Following Chelsea's presentation, we had a fantastic discussion with our esteemed panelists! LinkedIn links and profiles below! :D



Katie Dascoli, Head of People at Physna (bottom right)

Doug McCollough, CEO of Color Coded Labs (top right)

Katie Moore, Pathway Program Director at Tech Elevator (bottom left)

Kristine Tsirigotis, CEO of Level D&I (top left)


It was an absolutely wonderful panel around DEI initiatives, how to be the changes you want to see at an organization, and strategies to get buy in from the larger organization and community. 


Bummer you missed the panel? Want to see more like this and be a part of the conversation? 


Become a Zetta Star and get access to our slack workspace, recording of the panel, and more! 


See you at the next event! 


December 2021, Zettabytes.Today attends Extraordinary Tech Summit hosted by Lesbians Who Tech

Zettabytes Today  members Rini Das, Dhruva Vyas and Robbin Bowman attended the phenomenal “Debug Summit 2021”,  a 4-day virtual tech summit held by Lesbians Who Tech & Allies.


The tech summit is one of the largest LGBTQ events worldwide ! 💥



~ credit: https://lesbianswhotech.org/debugsummit2021/

The summit provided the opportunity to learn from experts in engineering, UX design, product management, A.I. and cyber security; to network with other LGBTQ+ folks in tech; and to attend daily career fairs with tech-giant sponsors including Google, Amazon and Microsoft.







Conference sessions included a range of important topics, like Diversity in AI:, ethical practices in software creation, bias within AI and ML.














We had a GREAT time! 

You will NOT want to miss our next event, featuring Jyllian Spikes of Black out and Proud and Scott Kirkendall, “Go Be You” coach.

Register here:
https://zettabytes.app.neoncrm.com/np/clients/zettabytes/event.jsp?event=118&

December 1st, 2021 “Vinny-Rini-Martini” Happy Hour held at Land-Grant Brewing Company


Our Zettabytes.today Martini Happy Hour was a smashing success! We had a nice turn out at Land-Grant Brewing Company in the Franklinton District and got to mingle with a very interesting and diverse group - from tech professionals to tech students and everyone in-between!






While we’ve had several virtual events this year, this was our first live, in-person event since the Pandemic brought everything to a screeching halt.







After a few martinis and samplings of Land Grant’s best (the “Tinsel” Holiday brew was my favorite), we ventured across the way to Strongwater Food and Spirits for dinner.


We had a GREAT time! 
You will NOT want to miss our next event, featuring Jyllian Spikes of Black out and Proud and Scott Kirkendall, “Go Be You” coach.

Which Martini will you choose? The Rini or the Vinny?

Zettabytes.Today's Co-Founder Rini Das and I became fast friends over a variety of topics, but one thing that always brings us together is the martini. Crisp, briny, and ever so boozy, the Martini never fails to satisfy. Moreover, you'll often find Rini and myself at a Rini Vinny Martini happy hour, where we'll enjoy martinis and chat about the goings on in the tech community here in Columbus. 

Historically speaking, the birthplace of the martini is unknown, although most stories include the Gold Rush in California and the town of Martinez. The original refined version of the cocktail emerged during Prohibition, which was a gin and vermouth based cocktail. Then, in the early 1950's and 1960's, vodka became increasingly popular, and with a little help from James Bond, the Vodka Martini, or kangaroo cocktail, was born. Interested in learning more about the origins of the Martini and its long history? Check out this USA Today article here.

Shocker and spoilers here: Rini and I find ourselves on the opposite ends of the Martini spectrum. While we're not opposed to each other's school of thought around the coveted cocktail, we're strongly committed to our personal spins on each. 

The Rini Martini

Rini prefers a more classic take on the Martini, with good gin and vermouth being the stars of the show. 


Here's what you'll need: 

3 parts good Gin (Rini prefers Plymouth, Roku, or Hendrick's)
1 part Extra Dry Vermouth
1 Lime Ribbon
1 Martini Glass
1 Drinker Shaker
Ice

Put your glass in the chiller. 
In a shaker, combine ice, gin, and vermouth. 
Stir for 20-30 seconds(about 20 times around the glass). 
Pour into cold Martini glass. 
Garnish with lime ribbon. 
Enjoy! 

The Vinny Martini

As is no surprise, I prefer a more modern take on the Martini, which is essentially an extra dry dirty martini.

Here's what you'll need: 

3 oz of good vodka, (I prefer Chopin or Ketel One for my Martini)
.75 oz of olive juice
3 Pimento Stuffed Olives, skewered
1 Martini Glass
Ice

Fill your Martini Glass with cold water and ice. Set aside. 
In a shaker, combine vodka, olive juice, and ice. 
Stir for 15-20 seconds. 
Discard the water and ice out of the martini glass. 
Pour the vodka mixture into the glass.  
Garnish with olive spear.   
Enjoy!



No matter how you prefer your martini, you are always welcome at Vinny Rini Martini

Want in on the next one? Meet us at Land Grant on December 1st at 5:30pm to come enjoy one with us! 

You can register for the event and see the details here!

What's your favorite spin on the martini? We want to know! 
Are you Team Rini (Gin) or Team Vinny(Vodka)? 
Let us know in the comments below! 

November 11, 2021 - Great time at the Tech Life Takeover with Tech Life Columbus, Tech Elevator, and Zettabytes.Today!

 The Zettabytes.Today team had an absolute blast at the Tech Life Takeover event! 



Tech Life Takeover, hosted by 1487 Brewing and Tech Life Columbus, is a monthly event where the bulk of the proceeds go to a specific charitable organization. This month, we supported ACS PanOhioHope Ride and Union County Special Olympics! 




It was also incredible getting to see the huge turnout from the Tech community here in Columbus, as well as all Tech Elevator students who are gearing up for graduation! 



Bummed you missed out on the fun? Come check out our next event at Land Grant Brewing on December 1st for Vinny Rini Martini hour! Register for the event here: 


See you there! 

October 27, 2021 Tandem and Zettabytes.Today present “Don't break your new things budget: How to push an iOS app with no experience.”


What’s spookier than not having access to reliable childcare? Tandem CoFounders McKenzie Kennelly and Natalie Aimling taught us how Tandem is helping to alleviate that concern with their product, an app that provides the ONLY free marketplace for reliable, vetted childcare.



Vinny and Connor, dressed as Shaggy and Fred from the mystery gang, gave us a humorous cocktail demo for a tasty “Finding Scooby Doo” cocktail. Recipe below!




Then it was time for the main event! Tandem CoFounder McKenzie Kennelly taught us how to create and host an iOS App. She told us their story of launching a MVP (minimum viable product) fast; Then they kept developing to get to where they needed to be.




She heavily recommends having a “new things budget”, where you can use what you know and put aside some funds for learning. They started their journey using Heroku, because that’s what they knew and could get off the ground fast. They advised a mindset of thinking through how you can get off the ground, the “what do you need to know vs what do you know already?”




After some Q&A (there were many questions, get em Rini!) and some spooky monster trivia with Dhruva, Natalie was able to speak to Tandem’s awesome culture! They shared that they believe that they are all active stewards of the environment. That they expect their team to treat each other with respect, vulnerability, and kindness. No matter how long someone has been at the company, all are expected to lead as much as they follow, to learn as much as they teach.


Sounds like an incredibly wonderful and collaborative place to work. 
Interested in learning more?
They are hiring! Visit https://www.join-tandem.com/ and reach out about their exciting opportunities!


September 29, 2021 The Ultimate Agile versus Lean Showdown with Dhruva Vyas of Nationwide and Rini Das of RD Management Consulting Inc.

The Invitation: Here is the invite

The Agenda: 

Community Partner: Jaron Terry, President of PFLAG Columbus discussed the history of PFLAG and announce any upcoming events to celebrate National Coming Out Day on October 13, 2021.
Headline: The Ultimate Showdown! Agile versus Lean. Dhruva Vyas of Nationwide representing AGILE versus Rini Das of RD Management Consulting Inc. representing LEAN.
Key Bartender: Connor Pilbeam demonstrated a mocktail/cocktail to celebrate Autumn. 




PFLAG -- Jaron Terry





Headliner: Dhruva Vyas and Rini Das





Showdown: Facilitated by Robbin Bowman




National Coming Out Day Luncheon, hosted by the Designer Brands

National Coming Out Day Luncheon, hosted by the Designer Brands

Mindy Halasz, Co-Chair of  (LGBTQIA+ Brand Employee Group- BRG) of Designer Brands (that includes brands such as DSW), invited us -- aka Vinny Sanfillipo, Lisa Kagy and Rini Das of  Zettabytes.Today team and Stacy Drake of PFLAG Columbus to speak at their annual National Coming Out Day Luncheon.

The Leaders of MySELF BRG are:

  • Mindy Halasz  – Co-Chair
  • Sonya Voronkova – Co-Chair
  • Erica Melton – Community Committee Chair
  • Kimberly Hensley – Communications Chair
  • Margaret Kluk – Business Committee Chair
  • Todd Roudabush – Talent Committee Chair
  • Jared Poff ( EVP CFO) – Executive Sponsor

Panel:

We were delighted to speak and we discussed many topics including

  • Coming out can be a lifelong journey. How do you manage coming out in different situations? 
  • Coming out as "Transgender or Non-binary" at your work-place
  • How to be an ally for those who are "coming out" at your work-place?
  • How to support as a parent or a grandparent or relative when a child or grandchild or young relative comes out?
  • How to support someone in their journey in coming out in a virtual work environment
  • What resources can we provide?
There were more than seventy globally-dispersed attendees at the virtual event. Some of the attendees and speakers and the MySELF leaders are included in the photo below.

 


Come out when you are in a safe environment and at your time-table.


#VisibilityMatters
#NationalComingOutDay



"Coming Out" Resources:

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