She is a web consultant and developer, the principal of D. Wyeth & Associates, and the mother of NYWICI digital. "People don't know what a web developer does until they're in the middle of a project and find they can't communicate with the designer. The programmer (possibly their nephew) doesn't know what they're talking about, the price keeps climbing and then the search engines don't recognize the resulting site. I'm the person who puts all the pieces in place."

Why she's the mom-in-chief Deirdre is the driving force behind so many of the organization's digital initiatives — nywici.org and its re-launch last year, the e-newsletter, blogging and the first live blogging for Matrix. She also instituted the use of Yahoo groups for the committee members to communicate with each other.

Between 2006 and 2008, she served as co-chair of the then-Communications Committee. In 2006, she was bestowed with the Liz Hoover Award for her outstanding service to the organization. She is now the head of the Communications Committee for the NYWICI Foundation Board and launched and continues to support the Gratitude Wall.

Sox and socks "I'm the fourth generation of women in my family to sit and knit while listening to Boston Red Sox games. I love that sense of continuity."

How the web industry has changed "I remember the day in 1995 when nytimes.com launched and crashed. It was one of the first times that the rush of people trying to log onto a news site caused the server to go down. I kept the printout with this error message: 'Log-in failed. Reason: Site does not exist.'"

For better... "The web keeps up its strength in information-gathering and dispersal, while becoming more entertaining and easier to use."

...and worse "We thought that the web would level the playing field for women. In fact, women do hold executive positions at major companies, but nothing like the 50% of the senior positions we had hoped for."

Most expensive job "It was an editing gig for a dingy company on a dangerous New Jersey road that paid less than the childcare and attendant costs for my then-infant daughter. While I was at work, and these were pre-cell-phone days, the nanny was either calling her mom in Jamaica or consulting with the Psychic Hotline — all on my dime. When the phone bill came in at twice my monthly take-home pay, I went back to being a full-time mom for a while."

Twitter, tweet...stop! "My least favorite new words are all the plays on Twitter and tweets. If I hear one more, I won't be chirping."

Best vacation "No computer, no phone."

No more princesses, please "That's the name of a blog I'm thinking of writing, because, I hate the 'princessing' of American girls. Being a princess is not a great ambition: The odds of achieving it are low, and the job itself is really tedious, even when you factor in the clothes. And despite the fact that we're American — anti-royalty — we keep foisting this idea on girls who are too young to know they should reject it. It's pretty disheartening. I'll be happy when more parents buy play briefcases instead of plastic tiaras for their daughters."