Women Getting Biz-Ness Done

Monday was the “Your Office, Your Terms” event hosted by Microsoft Office 365 and 85 Broads, featuring an accomplished panel of Los Angeles Businesswomen… Wait, who are those two at the end?  Yikes!!  Guess our secret is out.

Yes, as filmmakers we are businesswomen – we’re Writers, Directors and Producers but we are also CPA’s, contractors, cooks and therapists.  And guess what, every entrepreneur and business owner is the same!  When you run your own show you reap all the rewards, but you also shoulder all the risk and financial commitment, so when the plumbing goes out at 3 a.m. you learn pretty quick to get handy with a wrench.

It was an honor to be included alongside: Madelyn Alfano, President & Founder of Maria’s Italian Kitchen and President of The National Association of Women Business Owners, Los Angeles (NAWBO-LA); Monica Dodi, Managing Director of the Women’s Venture Capital Fund; and Ana Perez, President of National Latina Women’s Business Association, Los Angeles (NLWBLA) [R-L from Elizabeth].

Elizabeth & I were awed by the women alongside us – each so extremely accomplished and equally committed to leadership and support of other businesswomen.   We discussed business plans and accounting, and the importance of mastery and utilization of technology.  We all could agree that owning and running your own business, be it a restaurant, film or tech start-up, is always a lot of work – ALWAYS a lot of work – but with focus and dedication, and the right team of advisors and supporters, there is nothing more rewarding.

Many, many thanks to Microsoft and 85 Broads, who exemplify the “advice and support” that gets us all through our day.  To Independent Filmmakers who often feel like lone gunwomen in the Wild West of Hollywood, this was like a peek into a back room of powerful, dynamic woman who are changing and running the world all around us.  Gosh was it cool!

- Emily D.
February 8th, 2012

“please don’t give emily the mic again.  Really”

Get Down with Microsoft at the Mall!

Date:  Monday, February 6th, 2012

Time:  6 pm – 9pm

Place: Westside Century City Mall, Microsoft Store

What: Women and Entrepreneurs and Technology.  We’ll talk about it, network about it, bond about it, and hear awesome shared stories about it.

REGISTER:  http://85broadsms.eventbrite.com

Free. Light Refreshments.  Be there to learn or just to cheer us on!

Panel:

• Emily & Elizabeth Dell, Two Camels Films
• Monica Dodi, The Womens Venture Fund
• Madelyn Alfano National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO-LA)
• Ana Perez, National Latina Business Women Association (NLBWA-LA)
• Penny Delgadillo, Sr. Product Marketing Manager, Microsoft

Microsoft M’s!

90s Technology and Me

Last night, flying back from holidays on the East Coast, I was cleaning out my inbox.  This was very cool.

Not because I was flying some super-modern wifi plane (instead 1970s fabulousness of US Airways), but because my new Microsoft Outlook works OFFLINE.  I wrote emails all through the flight and when I landed in LA, my computer hooked into the internet and sent them all off.  Kinda like magic.

I should preface this by noting there are some aspects of the movie biz that are stuck in the technological dark ages.  Sure we have CGI and THX and 3D (if that doesn’t say it’s the 1960′s I don’t know what does!) but our business infrastructure is woefully outdated.  Chalk it up to the temporary nature of film offices, the constant moves and travel — who knows, but the dirty truth is we’re still doing business the way it was done when my airplane rolled fresh off the assembly line.  The new freedom that comes with my Microsoft Outlook is a blessing – Hooray!  (Said with only the barest touch of irony  – I really do like to work more than almost everything else).

Now I know that the most junior sales guy in corporate America is laughing at me right now (“Hello Elizabeth, the 90s on Line 1!!”) but this is new to me.  As a solo businessperson, I have spent the last six years loving (or hating) my web-based Mail, and hooked into my inbox ONLY when hooked into the internet.  Not to say I can’t read email on my phone, but I certainly couldn’t write email while on the same plane my mother took coming back from college.

(not my photo - thank you Panoramio!)

It was amazing – I returned holiday greetings, cleaned up 500 emails in my inbox, and got some lovely views of the Rocky Mountains.

This amazing new Outlook program comes as part of the new Microsoft Office365 (in the cloud!).  Two Camels Films are partnered with Microsoft through their Your Office, Your Terms project.  Step one – installing Office Pro Plus 2010 and now discovering the wonders of offline email.  Step Two – migrating my older emails and contacts and calendar to turn this Outlook into Two Camels Films central (coming soon).

I am technologizing like it’s 2003 and ain’t nothing gonna hold me down.

Partay with Microsoft

Proud & honored to celebrate our new partnership with Microsoft Office 365 on FRIDAY Dec 2, 2011 at the Microsoft Store in Century City Mall from 6pm to 9pm.

The event’s co-host is Women 2.0, an amazing media company devoted to promoting female-owned business and entrepreneurs!

Please stop by and say Hi, there’s nothing like a party in a Microsoft store!
(Emily promises not to spill her drink on the keyboard.  The first one.)

They gots free parking for 3 hours, and if you tend to get lost in malls like me (they’re just so BIG!) here’s a MAP.

See you Friday!

Microsoft Teams Up with Two Camels!

The Dell Sisters are working with Microsoft Office365 and 85 Broads to profile women-run businesses making things happen.

Preparing for a film, we work from phones, tablets, laptops, and more, traveling between sets, offices, and states.  Office “in the cloud” has come on board to streamline remote contacts and help make business run better!   Yay remote access!

We are just beginning our Office365 makeover, so stay tuned for updates as we deal with migrations (you want to put all my email where?!!), onsite visits, deployments, and marketing.

Two Camels Films is one of five women-run companies around the US selected for the “Your Office, Your Terms” campaign and we are extremely grateful for the support.

Microsoft Office 365 is an amazing toolset and 85 Broads is a crazy cool group of women around the globe who are kicking down doors everywhere.

Thank you Microsoft and 85 Broads!