Published December 21, 2023
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Women in tech, eating and chatting.
Even though we work with technology, sometimes we want to step out of it and sit around the table to talk. Person to person. And what better way than to share a table with food?
But we don’t just eat together… We care about fostering an environment that stimulates innovation but also gives a space to navigate challenges and have a sounding board. Especially for women, who are underrepresented in tech and thus have less opportunity to find the right people to bounce ideas or struggles off.
At Smooth Sailing, we enjoy qualitative, yet informal networking. That’s why we love to organise ‘Women in Product’ dinners; small scale dinners where we welcome about 15’ish women that work in the Product scene. In the time span of a few courses, we share our experiences, future career ambitions, laughs and we broaden our network. Last Thursday we hosted the second edition, together with Amplitude.
Our last Women In Product dinner centered around female founders. In our 6th edition of WIP, we've brought together leading women driving initiatives in the tech industry to steer discussions toward a broader, high-level perspective on impactful design. And we had a blast; incredible conversations unfolded, shedding light on pivotal reasons why these gatherings are more than just a meal—they're catalysts for change and growth.
Throughout the evening we noticed similar topics arising across the table:
A lot of innovative ideas where shared, yet they echoed a common underlying feeling - the courage needed to lead disruptive projects and the challenge to turn a concept into an impactful product. While the ideas were abundant, translating them into tangible, impactful products posed a significant challenge, because prevailing market forces prioritize profit over potentially transformative ideas with sustainable long-term effect.
Our Women In Product-dinners are often a place to re-center perspective towards a product thinking approach. And this Women in Product - Female founder edition wasn’t an exception to this rule. We discussed the necessity of focusing on a product-centric approach as a way to avoid the traps of early stage product development, such as focusing only on marketing and brand identity or fundamental principles rather than the actual value to bring to a customer.
Design methodologies and frameworks adapt as time goes on and as the technology landscape changes. As with any other Women In Product dinner, we delved into conversations that highlight the slow shift towards systemic design frameworks and acknowledged the need for approaches that tackle complex and interconnected challenges.
The journey from a brilliant idea to an impactful product is rarely a sea one sails alone. Collaboration is key. And our Women In Product-dinners are part of it. By bringing people together, new ideas, new courage, new connections are built ; from the an Impact consultant we who inspired us in creating our future events, to a researcher who is innovating in measuring social impact or a new founder who wishes to bring people together. We know that the meaning of these evenings is created by us discussing together.
And mostly, informal dinners are about more than just business talk. They're an opportunity to connect on a personal level amidst busy lives. Amidst packed schedules, we prioritized coming together, breaking bread, and engaging in meaningful discussions.
We organize these dinners because we too, as an agency, need reflect on our work and to keep on being inspired by others: and Women In Product dinners are just that; a genuine gathering where we talk and wine!
Published December 21, 2023
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At Smooth Sailing, we enjoy qualitative, yet informal networking. That’s why we love to organise ‘Women in Product’ dinners; small-scale dinners where we welcome about 15’ish women that work in the Product scene. In the time span of a few courses, we share our experiences, future career ambitions, and laughs and we broaden our network.