Grace Hopper Conference, 2015
Last week my long-held dream came true - I got to attend Grace Hopper Conference! It was 3 days of absolute craziness - of waking up at 7 am and not getting back to the hotel until 11pm, with each day filled to the brink with so many experiences, that it's still hard to really process them.
For those of you who don't know, Grace Hopper Conference is a Celebration of Women in Computing. This year a record number of 12 000 attendees from all over the world gathered in Houston, Texas. (And before the males on my news feed attack me, the conference is open to and attended by males too).
So what is Grace Hopper all about?
1. Talks
There is a large variety of talks and presentations at Grace Hopper, with so many wonderful talks overlapping, that it was a real challenge to pick the ones to go to! Talks generally subdivided into conference-wide keynotes and plenary talks, technical talks (there were AI, HCI, security, and IoT tracks this year), talks targeted for students (how to pick your first job? how to ace an interview?), seminars (how to boost your confidence), and panels.
The picture below was taken at the keynote by Megan Smith - Chief Technology Officer of the USA. You can see about a quarter of the people actually present at the talk. Time is 9am.
My favorite part was panels. Prepared talks are always so polished, so generalized, that it's really hard to apply the advice given to your own life. Panels gave an opportunity for real women to share their questions/concerns/problems, and for a discussion about those problems to happen. I found a lot of questions relatable, if not just for the struggles that they revealed, and the notion that others are not leading perfect life either. And I found that when real questions were asked, real answers were given, coming from real experiences...
2. Being surrounded by women
It might sound weird that I consider this an important component, but my current team's ratio of females to males is 10%, my previous team's was 3%, it is a unique experience for me to be surrounded by females!
The joke goes that Grace Hopper is probably the only tech conference where there are line ups for female washrooms! :)
In all seriousness, it is amazing to feel that you are not alone. That there are so many different females who have the same passion as you do. That there are females who stayed in the industry for 10, 20, 30 years and are still loving it. That there are females who achieve managerial, director, VP, CEO roles. It's inspiring to hear their stories, and you start to believe you can achieve that too.
3. Career Fair
As about 1/3 of the attendees are students, a lot of whom are looking for internship and full-time opportunities, Grace Hopper is a ripe place for recruiting. I spent a lot of time talking to prospective candidates, marking the quizzes and conducting the interviews. I was really impressed by how bright some of those students were. Our future is in great hands! :-)
Booths of some of the giants of the industry:
Google has actually sponsored 1000 (!!!) of its employees to come to Grace Hopper this year. It almost feels like it would have been cheaper for them to host the conference themselves :-)
And finally best booth prize goes to:
4. Talking to strangers
Grace Hopper is advertised as one of the best places for networking. However, one really needs to make it a point to not stay in your group and to meet people. My approach was to pick random tables at lunch, and join in on the conversations there. It worked out really great for me!
5. Connecting with coworkers
Finally, the most amazing part was meeting and connecting with a lot of coworkers - ladies from various parts of our organization. We have committed to bringing the light that Grace Hopper Conference has ignited within us back to our organization and use it to make changes for the better. As first steps, we are organizing a book club, lean in circles and strengthening the women in technology organization within our company. And we'll see what comes next :-)
I am very grateful for having been given an opportunity to attend Grace Hopper. It's one of those things worth experiencing in a lifetime.
For those of you who don't know, Grace Hopper Conference is a Celebration of Women in Computing. This year a record number of 12 000 attendees from all over the world gathered in Houston, Texas. (And before the males on my news feed attack me, the conference is open to and attended by males too).
So what is Grace Hopper all about?
1. Talks
There is a large variety of talks and presentations at Grace Hopper, with so many wonderful talks overlapping, that it was a real challenge to pick the ones to go to! Talks generally subdivided into conference-wide keynotes and plenary talks, technical talks (there were AI, HCI, security, and IoT tracks this year), talks targeted for students (how to pick your first job? how to ace an interview?), seminars (how to boost your confidence), and panels.
The picture below was taken at the keynote by Megan Smith - Chief Technology Officer of the USA. You can see about a quarter of the people actually present at the talk. Time is 9am.
My favorite part was panels. Prepared talks are always so polished, so generalized, that it's really hard to apply the advice given to your own life. Panels gave an opportunity for real women to share their questions/concerns/problems, and for a discussion about those problems to happen. I found a lot of questions relatable, if not just for the struggles that they revealed, and the notion that others are not leading perfect life either. And I found that when real questions were asked, real answers were given, coming from real experiences...
2. Being surrounded by women
It might sound weird that I consider this an important component, but my current team's ratio of females to males is 10%, my previous team's was 3%, it is a unique experience for me to be surrounded by females!
The joke goes that Grace Hopper is probably the only tech conference where there are line ups for female washrooms! :)
In all seriousness, it is amazing to feel that you are not alone. That there are so many different females who have the same passion as you do. That there are females who stayed in the industry for 10, 20, 30 years and are still loving it. That there are females who achieve managerial, director, VP, CEO roles. It's inspiring to hear their stories, and you start to believe you can achieve that too.
3. Career Fair
As about 1/3 of the attendees are students, a lot of whom are looking for internship and full-time opportunities, Grace Hopper is a ripe place for recruiting. I spent a lot of time talking to prospective candidates, marking the quizzes and conducting the interviews. I was really impressed by how bright some of those students were. Our future is in great hands! :-)
Booths of some of the giants of the industry:
Google has actually sponsored 1000 (!!!) of its employees to come to Grace Hopper this year. It almost feels like it would have been cheaper for them to host the conference themselves :-)
And finally best booth prize goes to:
4. Talking to strangers
Grace Hopper is advertised as one of the best places for networking. However, one really needs to make it a point to not stay in your group and to meet people. My approach was to pick random tables at lunch, and join in on the conversations there. It worked out really great for me!
5. Connecting with coworkers
Finally, the most amazing part was meeting and connecting with a lot of coworkers - ladies from various parts of our organization. We have committed to bringing the light that Grace Hopper Conference has ignited within us back to our organization and use it to make changes for the better. As first steps, we are organizing a book club, lean in circles and strengthening the women in technology organization within our company. And we'll see what comes next :-)
I am very grateful for having been given an opportunity to attend Grace Hopper. It's one of those things worth experiencing in a lifetime.