Call For Volunteer Wiki Note Takers and Bloggers

Will you be attending the Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing 2011? Are you already going to be taking notes or blogging about the sessions you attend?

If you answered yes to these questions then consider signing up to post your notes or blogs for the sessions you are interested in. Here's how to sign up, it's super easy:

1. Head over to our wiki and create an account if you do not already have one.
2. Fill out your user profile by talking about what communities you plan on being involved in, see mine or Valeries for an example.
3. Head back on over to the wiki ghc2011 page and click edit on the day that you wish to sign up for a session.
4. Replace the Sign Up text with your name linking to your profile in the correct cell of the table for the session you wish to blog or take notes on. (Here is an example of how to link to your profile page [[User:Bubbva|Valerie]] replace Bubbava with your user name and Valerie with your name)
5. It is a good idea to preview your changes before saving them

And Voila! you are all signed up. We need to get as many of the sessions covered as possible so please take some time to figure out your schedule before the conference and sign up.

In order to give you an idea of what we are looking for, Note-takers will add their notes directly on the wiki using the wiki markup language, and these should be factual notes of what was actually said in the session. Bloggers will blog on their own blogs anything they like and edit the session wiki page to link to their blog from their.

If you do sign up, be sure to post your notes as soon as possible after the session because we have many followers who are not able to make it to this years GHC and we want to keep them well fed with new and updated content as the conference goes on.

If you have any questions don't hesitate to ask.

Taking Advantage of Flickr for Grace Hopper 2011

Wanna know how to find all those photos people are going to take of you during the conference? Check out the Flickr GHC 2011 Group and the groups from 2006, 2008, 2009, and 2010!

If you do not yet have a Flickr account it’s easy to set one up, after all why not share all the pictures you took with all of the new friends you are going to make?

Here are a few how-to's to help you get started with Flickr.

How to get an account on Flickr if you don't already have one:

1. Go to http://www.flickr.com/
2. Click on the "Sign Up Now" button
3. If you happen to already have a Yahoo!, Google or  Facebook account you can login with those options, or if you prefer you can click “Create New Account”
4. Fill in the info and click "Create My Account" and follow any remaining instructions.

How can I upload my photos?

1.      By email! Go to http://www.flickr.com/tools and get your very own private email upload address.

2.      Through the website http://www.flickr.com/upload .

3.      Download a mobile app! Go to http://www.flickr.com/tools/mobile and find apps for Android, iPhone, Windows Phone, iPad, or any mobile device using the internet through m.flickr.com

What can I do with Flickr?

1. Add photos to your own profile.
2. Join and add photos to a group.
3. Link to or embed photos into other social media.
4. Edit photos.
5. Share photos and more

For additional details you can read last years GHC Flickr blog entry, take the Official Flickr tour, or leave comments on this post with specific questions. I look forward to seeing you all on Flickr.

How to Make the Most of Twitter for Grace Hopper

Short on time? Jump to "Networking Face-to-Face to Twitter (and Back!)"

Twitter has hit mainstream. News anchors suggest following their account for the latest updates, companies updating their online presence create accounts, celebrities use it to create their own press. And it is a norm at conferences.

Grace Hopper is no exception to this rule. Read on to learn how to make the most of it! (PS – Folks to which Twitter is old hat, jump to the NEW! highlights.)

Setting Up Your Account

It’s okay to use Twitter to only follow others. BUT – if you’d like to use Twitter to connect with other people, there are some steps you will want to take.

• Personalize your account.
• Having a name, profile picture, and bio is your first defense against being assumed a spammer. If you prefer to be more anonymous, you can omit your last name or use a nickname and upload an image that is not a photo. (Keep in mind having a photo allows other conference participants to recognize you.) The main goal is to make you look like a real person. Since, you know, you are. :)
  
• Understand the impact of the “Protect my updates” setting
• With this setting on, others must request permission to see your updates. If you would like your updates to show up in the public stream, this setting must be turned off. To do this, log into Twitter, click Settings, scroll down and make sure “Protect my tweets” is NOT selected.
  
• Get out there and tweet!
• Most important way to distinguish yourself from spammers? Start updating your Twitter account! People don’t follow people who have never tweeted before. They want to know what you have in common and if you tweet about things they want to hear more about.

Twitter Basics for GHC

Use the #ghc10 hashtag for ALL (before, during, and after) GHC10-related tweets. Doing this ensures your related tweets show up in the conference Twitter stream (provided your tweets are not protected). You can view the real-time stream by searching for #ghc10 on Twitter. To add a hashtag, simply include #ghc10 somewhere in your tweet.

The official conference Twitter account is @ghc. Following @ghc connects you to the latest conference news. It is also the account to which you can direct GHC questions. (Make sure to include the conference hashtag in your tweet to @ghc. If someone else knows the answer, they may be able to respond before the official account can get a chance!) If the @ghc account is following you back, you can also address private messages by starting them with d ghc.

Before, During, After, All Year Round!

Session/Workshop Hashtags NEW!
I've already mentioned using the #ghc10 hashtag, but new this year are session/workshop hashtags. When tweeting during and about session/workshops, include BOTH the #ghc10 hashtag and the corresponding session/workshop hashtag. This provides context for those following your tweets and people looking at the overall #ghc10 conference stream.

Update Your Poken with you Twitter Details NEW!
I just found out about this so excuse my uber excitement, but Pokens are available to all GHC attendees this year! They are FREE for students and $15 for non-students. (Seems reasonable to me!) You simply touch your Poken device to the Poken of the person you’re connecting with to exchange contact info. So make sure your Poken includes your Twitter details!

Twitter Lists NEW!
If there is anyone on these lists that is of particular interest to you, make sure to follow that person so they show up on your Twitter homepage.

• @ghc/ghc10-attendees
• This is where you can find all the #ghc10 attendees that are on Twitter. If you're attending GHC and would like to be added to the list, tweet or send a direct message with your request to the @ghc account.
• @ghc/ghc10-speakers
• A great list where you can find all the presenters from GHC10 that are on Twitter.
• @ghc/communities-committee
• See all the tweets from the members of the GHC Communities Committee.

Networking Face-to-Face to Twitter (and Back!)
Include your Twitter name on your conference badge, so the people you meet know they can connect with you online.

If you pardon me jumping on a soap box a bit, Twitter is my ABSOLUTE FAVORITE way to network. The nature of Twitter allows users to loosely stay connected. There is no need for the formal replies email, LinkedIn messages, and even Facebook messages require. Twitterers can choose which tweets to comment on. This leads to awesome scenarios such as receiving a solution from a contact I would not have even thought to ask as a result of tweeting a challenge I was facing. The other general benefit of being connected to your network by Twitter is best described by the video Twitter in Plain English.

Do take advantage of (and feel completely free to!) follow people in the #ghc10 Twitter stream that are tweeting about things that interest you. The main chunk of my network from past GHC conferences was from connecting with the women on Twitter prior to the conference, briefly meeting them in person (if at all), and then getting to know them over the course of the year via Twitter! Now I look forward to meeting up with my tweeple in real life! :)

Glossary

RT – Abbreviation of the word retweet. Retweeting is the action of quoting another user’s tweet. You can either type in RT @username and copy/paste the message or use Twitter’s Retweet button. You would use the copy/paste method if you would like to add a comment.

Hashtag – A hashtag is a word, phrase (no spaces), or abbreviation that is preceded by the pound (#) sign. It acts as a tag in your tweet.

DM – Abbreviation for direct message. Direct messages are private messages. To send one, the recipient must be following your Twitter account. Precede your message with d username.

Tweeple – What I like to call the folks I interact with on Twitter. :)

Any suggestions or tweaks to my suggestions? Add your thoughts in the comments!

How to Make the Most of Flickr for Grace Hopper

With the advent of digital cameras, we can all consider ourselves photographers. But what happens to the hundreds of photos you'll inevitably take at this year's Grace Hopper? Instead of letting them sit unopened on your hard drive, why not share them with fellow attendees and those who couldn't make it? The best place to do this is on Flickr!

Each year, a new Grace Hopper group is set up on Flickr where attendees upload their favourite images. For instance, check out the groups from 2007, 2008, and 2009. There's even a group up there for 2010 already. I still enjoy opening up the group for a year I attended and letting the happy memories return. I think this pool of photos is also an excellent way to get first timers excited about the next conference.

Here are a few how-to's to help you get started with Flickr.

How to get an account on Flickr if you don't already have one:

1. Go to http://www.flickr.com/
2. Click on the "Create Your Own Account" button
3. If you happen to already have a Yahoo! account, you can just enter that in the appropriate text boxes (Yahoo! ID and password); otherwise, click on "Sign up for Yahoo!"
4. Fill in the info and click "Create My Account" and follow any remaining instructions.

When you have a Flickr account, you can add photos to your own profile:

1. After you log in, you will see a set of menu items along the top (Home, You, Organize & Create, etc).
2. Click the little arrow beside "You" and click on "Upload Photos and Videos" near the bottom.
3. Follow the instructions on the screen.
4. Add titles, tags (e.g. ghc10 for Grace Hopper 2010), and (if you like) descriptions for the photos. These make it easier to organize and search your photos.
   
5. Once your photos are uploaded you will see them when you click on "You" - clicking here brings you to your photostream, which is just a big long list of all your photos.
6. You will probably want to organize your photos into sets (these are kind of like albums). Play around with the "Organize & Create" menu and be sure to consult the Flickr FAQ as needed.

You can join and add photos to a group:

1. First navigate to and join a Flickr group (for example, the GHC2010 group).
2. Once you're in a group you can start participating in discussions.
3. Above the photos showing on the group's home page is a title called "Group Pool" - this refers to the "pool" of photos members add to the group. You will add photos that are already on your own profile as if the group pool were just another set your photos can belong to.
4. Beside Group Pool click "Add Something?"
5. You can choose up to 6 photos from our photo stream to be added to the group pool. You can do this as often as you like.

Link to or embed photos in other social media:

Once you have your photos uploaded to your profile, you may want to share them on other social media sites or include them in blog posts.

1. Navigate to the photo you want to share. You can do this by clicking on "You" at the top, then clicking on the photo of choice.
2. If you want to share just the link (say, on Twitter), click on "Share", "Grab the link" and then copy the text.
3. If you want to embed a photo like I did below, click "Grab the HTML", change the size if needed, and copy that text. You can paste it into any editor that lets you write code. For example, on Blogger, you can switch to "Edit HTML" and paste the code where you want the photo to appear. Your photo will even be linked back to the original Flickr page so people can see it big!
   

Happy photographing! You'll find more ways to share the Grace Hopper Celebration experience at GHC Community Home.

Meet the GHC10 Communities Committee!

For months the Grace Hopper 2010 Communities Committee worked behind the scenes. They created Twitter hashtags for GHC tracks, designed GHC speaker badges, determined community volunteer needs, and planned topics.

In the last few weeks they've become more visible as GHC community evangelists. Across our GHC online communities on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Flickr, and the GHC Blog they're starting conversations, sharing introductions and favorite GHC memories, and inviting participation by community members.

Many of our hard-working Grace Hopper committees complete their tasks well before the conference: selecting program submissions and scholarship recipients, recommending speakers, and deciding on award winners. Not so for this committee, which is a new addition this year. They'll Keep working right through Grace Hopper to help you connect online before, during and (if I know them) even after the conference. So here's a quick introduction to the committee members:

	Co-Chair Ashley Myers just completed her undergraduate CS degree at DePauw University and will start at Microsoft later this month. She helps with the @ghc Twitter account and will co-moderate the Grace Hopper Celebrat­ion 2010 group on YouTube. Learn more about Ashley on the GHC blog in her post Introducing a Recent Undergrad Graduate.
	Co-Chair Erin ‘Ed’ Donahue also started coming to GHC as a DePauw student and now works at Lockheed Martin, a career connection she made at the 2008 conference. Learn more about Ed in her blog post Hi! My name is Ed! With Ashley, Ed helps with the @ghc account and will co-moderate the YouTube group. They also host Ed & Ashley's 5 Minute Show, featuring interviews with technical women interviewed at GHC and other events.
	Gail Carmichael is a doctoral candidate at Carleton University. Gail is the lead for our GHC bloggers and note-takers again this year, and also taking a leadership role on the GHC10 group on Flickr. Learn more about Gail on the GHC blog and check out her blog The Female Perspective of Computer Science.
	Kate Tsoukalas is a graduate of Simon Fraser University and now works at Microsoft. Kate helps moderate the Grace Hopper Celebration page on Facebook. Join Kate in Discussions on the Grace Hopper Celebration page on Facebook (requires login).
	Valerie Bubb Fenwick is a Principal Software Engineer at Oracle, arriving through the Sun acquisition. Valerie helps manage the Anita Borg Institute and Grace Hopper Celebration groups on LinkedIn. Learn more about Valerie in the Introduce Yourself! discussion on LinkedIn or Facebook.

And watch for upcoming blog posts from committee members on how to make the best use of each GHC online community. Meanwhile:

• If you're coming to the conference, introduce yourself to the community.
• If you've attended Grace Hopper before, share your favorite memory.
• Follow @ghc/communities-committee to connect with these evangelists on Twitter.
• Sign up for the ghc10-attendees Twitter list when you register for GHC10.
  

Come join the discussion here or on Facebook, LinkedIn or Twitter!

Introducing a Recent Undergrad Graduate

Hello! I'm Ashley Myers, and I am the other co-chair of the Grace Hopper Conference Communities Committee. As both Ed and Gail I have done, I am here to introduce myself. If you haven't yet, check out other attendees introducing themselves and introduce yourself on LinkedIn, Facebook, or any of the online communities.

I learned of GHC during my first year of college. It seemed like one of those things that only the lucky would attend. "The largest women in computing conference." I was a broke college student, there was no way.

The following school year, a classmate was awarded a student scholarship to attend GHC07. She came back with a ton of photos of her amazing time in Orlando and was totally energized about all things Computer Science. At some point toward the end of that school year, I came to the decision I was going to Grace Hopper in 2008. I applied to be a Hopper (GHC10 Hopper application closes on July 30th), crossed my fingers, secured funds from my university for the flight, saved cash from my summer internship for the hotel and registration (just in case), got a roommate via Twitter to split the hotel room with (Hi @emilyhowe!), and that was that!

Since I had not participated in the official call for participation, Ed (my forever roommate) and I signed up for pretty much everything asked of community volunteers: Twitter, Flickr, note taking, blogging, and video blogging. This involvement has made my experience these last two GHCs. I have met and most importantly kept in contact with so many women through these online mediums. I encourage you to either informally participate by tagging your tweets and blog posts with GHC10, or to officially volunteer (GHC10 online Community Volunteer application is live until August 24th).

The best thing about the online communities is you don't need permission to get involved. Here are all the places you can find and connect with me!

• Twitter: @OrganizeFISH (I will also be tweeting as @ghc, look for my signature ^amm)
• Blog: "Let's Eat That Big Fish!"
• Ed & Ashley's 5 Minute Show
• YouTube
• LinkedIn

This year marks a big change for me. This will be my first Grace Hopper I will attend as a women in industry rather than as a student. I will also be traveling from my new home in Seattle, moving officially for the first time in my life next month.

What's your story? Undergrad? Grad? Industry? Academia? Introduce yourself in the comments below, on LinkedIn, on Facebook, or any of the online communities! I look forward to meeting you!

Hi! My name is Ed!

Hello there!  I'm Erin 'Ed' Donahue and I'm one of the co-chairs of the Grace Hopper Communities Committee.  Just like Gail, I'd like to introduce myself.

That's me!

I went to my first GHC in 2008 with my good friend and forever roommate Ashley.  Just before leaving for the conference, we decided we want to be video bloggers and so we created Ed & Ashley's 5 Minute Show.  Since then, we've continued to do our 5 minute show, focusing on technical women.

In May 2009, I graduated from DePauw University in Greencastle, IN and moved to Colorado for my first job as a software engineer with Lockheed Martin.  Working a full-time job is totally different from being in school, that's for sure!  I'm learning new stuff everyday (although that did happen in school too).  Out here in Colorado, I organize the Colorado Front Range Girl Geek Dinners.  If you're ever in Colorado, please stop by!

I also love to salsa dance, play rugby, swim, and nap outside on my balcony. :)

I'm online!  Connect with me!

• Twitter: @creepyed (I also tweet as @ghc, look for my signature ^ed)
• Ed & Ashley's 5 Minute Show
• YouTube
• Facebook
• LinkedIn

We want to hear from you!  Introduce yourself in the comments or on Facebook or LinkedIn!

Introducing a Passionate PhD Student

Hi everyone! My name is Gail, and I'm on this year's Grace Hopper Online Communities Committee. I wanted to take a moment to introduce myself and hope that you, too, will find a community you can introduce yourself in.

I went to my first Grace Hopper in 2008. We had just started our Women in Science and Engineering group (known as CU-WISE) on campus, and when I heard about the conference, I knew we had to go. My fellow executive members weren't so sure we would be able to get funding, but I pushed us to try, and lo and behold we succeeded! Attending the conference made an enormous difference to CU-WISE and our ability to put on a fantastic program at Carleton University.

In 2009, I wanted to get more involved with the conference. I love blogging, and started to volunteer more and more to help BJ Wishinsky, the Communities Program Manager over at the Anita Borg Institute, set things up. I ended up becoming the Lead Blogger and organized all our bloggers and note takers, ensuring we brought you info on as many session we could!

This year, as I said, I am on the new Online Communities Committee. Our main goal is to "evangelize and promote the Grace Hopper online communities... [by] participating in the online communities, recruiting diverse community volunteers, and evangelizing the communities to all Grace Hopper participants." I'm super excited to help everyone make the most out of the conference with these communities, whether they can attend in person or not!

To wrap up, a bit about me (and why I titled my post the way I did):I finished my Masters last summer and just finished my coursework for the PhD. I am very passionate about education and learning (could it be because my mom is teacher?), and I want my research to tap into that. I am planning on working on educational games, and in particular want to use augmented reality, as I believe there are some real cognitive advantages to the technology. I am also interested in the role of games and technology in the classroom, and want to help revolutionize how we teach computer science.

If anyone is interested in reading my personal blog or connecting with me, here are some useful links - I'd love to hear from you!

• My blog, The Female Perspective of Computer Science
• Twitter, @gailcarmichael
• Linked In
• Flickr
  

What a Web We Weave: Enhancing Conferences with an Online Community

I gave a lightning talk at MidWiC09 on how online communites are used at GHC. Below is my abstract and script.

In 2008, I decided to attend the Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing (GHC). SInce I had not submitted a BOF, technical paper, or poster during the call for participation, I volunteered to contribute to the online community. THe GHC online community includes blogging, note taking via a wiki, tweeting on Twitter, sharing photos and videos via Flickr and YouTube respectively, and utilizing the social networks of Facebook and LinkedIn. This participation absolutely made my GHC experience, and I returned again in 2009 as one of the YouTube group coordinators. In this Lightning Talk, I will explain how the different online mediums are used and the benefits they provide beyond the conference.

LinkedIn and Facebook allow distribution of information over pre-established networks. More importantly it allows interaction between those in the networks that wouldn't happen if the info was solely sent in an email newsletter distributed via blind carbon copy.

Mediums used before the conference in addition to LinkedIn and Facebook were the GHC Blog, YouTube, and Twitter.

Before the conference, bloggers posted advice on how to make the most of the exhibits and recruiters, on what to pack, on networking. The blog allows for sharing of personal perspective, and bloggers shared why they feel GHC is so important, how GHC has affected their life, and what they hope to get out of the conference. Organizers also blogged to share some of the behind the scenes work done at the conference.

I was a coordinator of the YouTube group this year. I started a video blog with a classmate at GHC08 where we did two pre-conference videos introducing ourselves and going over what to pack. This year we did a five episode series that included introducing ourselves for anyone new to our show, providing tips to first time attendees, and going over the eight session tracks.

Twitter was used to distribute announcements of new blog posts or video or new information about the conference. It's also used as a networking tool. Many of the GHC09 official Twitterers did not know each other. At the conference, when we ran into one another (and realized it), we weren't meeting a stranger. I discoverer a Twitterer who works for Sun is from my home town after I tweeted about a Fort Wayne issue.

At the conference, all these mediums were used as was a Wiki for note-taking. While at the conference, a conflict arose, and I was unable to attend a session I felt would be beneficial to my career. However, I was able to access the Wiki at a later time to see notes not just from the presenter, but also the audience Q&A.

The blog was used to share personal reactions to sessions, as well as session summaries.

The YouTube group was used to video record attendees that may not be presenting as well as interview presenters.

Twitter was used extensively. The conference center actually had a Twitter account that followed those using the hashtag, and responded to requests for stronger WiFi, turning down A/C, and providing other venue-related q's. It also allowed people following the back channel at one session to tweet questions to people at other sessions to ask. For example, I was note-taking one session, and someone tweeted an interesting quote from another session. I replied with a question, which the woman was able to ask on my behalf.

Beyond the conference I use Twitter to keep in touch with the new members of my network. After seeing one woman invite my old roommate to a Girls Geek Dinner, I tweeted my jealousy. In response, the Su employee from my hometown declared we would have a geek dinner of our own over the winter holiday.

This post was originally published on Ashley's personal blog, Let's Eat that Big Fish, at http://organizefish.com/blog/archives/149.

A Humanities Major's Guide to Surviving GHC09

As a geek whose geekiness comes out in her work (social media consulting, blogging, web presence development), her achievements (only high school student with an essay in She's Such a Geek, programmer for Stanford University Libraries at 18, three time presenter at Hopper) but not her major (Ethics, History and Public Policy [an interdisciplinary major between the History and Philosophy Departments], with a minor in Vocal Performance), it can be a little rough going to a conference for technical women.

Here are three of my coping mechanisms:

1. I am not my coursework--I am my ideas.
   
   Whether you are on Brazen Careerist or not, expect to be hired based on your web presence, not an 8.5x11 sheet of paper. My ideas--whether you find them in my presentations at this year's Hopper, my personal blog, or just through conversation with me--are what makes me a woman in technology, not whether I have taken C++.


2. Focus on the conversations, not the initials.
   
   The Impostor Panel was one of my favorites at Hopper last year. In it, incredible women (a presidents of a major University, inspiring technologists, groundbreaking innovators) stood up and told a roomful of women: "I am an impostor".
   
   Women in technology often feel like impostors, fakes, like we're sliding by until someone notices we're not up to snuff. As geeky humanities majors, we are particularly vulnerable to this feeling. Acknowledge it, process it, and ignore it. We have the ovarios to show up to this conference, and we are here because we have something to say. Once we say it, everyone will know we belong.


3. Technology is more than programming (Or, What Can You Do With a Humanities Degree?).
   
   As a daughter of a programmer, and as a geek who grew up in Silicon Valley, I know the value of programming. But for any given technology to reach its full potential, it needs people to speak for it--policy makers, columnists and visionaries. Here are three humanities majors who are shaping how we develop technology today:
   
   
   
   • Lawrence Lessig graduated from UPenn with a BS in managment and a BA in economics.
   • Annalee Newitz from Berkley with a PhD in English and American Studies.
   • Clay Shirky from Yale College with a degree in Art.
   
   
   So what can you do with a Humanities Degree? Rock the world. In the short-term, rock the Hopper conference.

Build your ideas. Focus on the conversation. Remember who sets policy. And enjoy yourself--this is a world-class chance to be surrounded by geeks like us, and to confirm we're not impostors. Enjoy it, spread it, bring it home.

Inspirational Quote:

For there are two deserts: One is a grim desolate wasteland. It is the home of venomous reptiles and stinging insects, of vicious thorn-covered plants and trees and unbearable heat... visualized by those children of luxury to whom any environment is intolerable which does not provide all the comforts and luxuries of a pampering civilization.

The other desert -- the real desert -- is not for the eyes of the superficial observer or the fearful soul of the cynic. It is a land which reveals its true character only to those who come with courage, tolerance, and understanding. For those the desert holds rare gifts.--Randall Henderson

(My quote-theme for this conference will be desert quotes because we're in Tuscon AZ)

Student Support Groups: How to Build Them and Do They Work?

I'm part of a group of amazing women who are presenting a Birds of a Feather (BoF) session at 4:30 on Thursday October 1. It's called Support Groups for Women in STEM: International Perspectives:

Retaining women in STEM fields has been a challenge globally. Studies suggest that peer support, mentoring, and female role models help. This session brings together student leaders from around the world to discuss the strategies and challenges of building and sustaining support groups. Are these groups working? Surprising results from our research will be presented in this interactive discussion with group leaders.

I'm really excited about this talk. The five executives of Carleton University's Women in Science and Engineering (aka CU-WISE) - Barbora, Natalia, Serena, Lindsay, and me - will be showing you how we rebuilt our group. We started only a couple of years ago from nothing, but you wouldn't know it if you saw us today! We believe everyone can be successful in creating a similar support group, whether it be for students or industry professionals.

The second part of the talk is also going to be very interesting. Students from the Women in Computer Science group at Simon Fraser University and from MenTe (Mujeres en Tecnologia) in Mexico will tell us about their research on how well these student support groups are actually working.

Whether you can attend our talk or not, you can participate in the conversation! We have set up a website called Support Groups for Women in STEM, where we have posted all kinds of useful links and resources for you. We hope you will leave comments on the pages and come with all kinds of great ideas and questions in Tuscon!

Connecting Online with GHC 2009

What do Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn have to do with the Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing? They are all great ways to make and maintain connections online with other GHC conference participants!

On LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook, technical women from around the world are introducing themselves; talking about their posters and panels; finding rides and roommates; asking and answering questions. But wait, there's more!

Our GHC Bloggers are sharing tips on how to get the most out of the conference, highlighting sessions of interest for first-timers, job-seekers, students, and more. During the conference there will be still more, as attendees share photos, videos, notes and blog posts about the conference. Our GHC community volunteers will be there for you, helping participants use these online communities and sharing their own notes, blog posts, tweets (Twitter updates), photos and videos.

If you're new to Web 2.0 social networking, check out Getting Started. Sign up now so you'll be ready to share your own photos, videos and more at the conference.

In all our GHC online communities, excitement about GHC 2009 is building and being shared. Come join us today!

Why Patty's Glad She Went to GHC

Our Anita Borg Institute e-newsletter has been publishing a series of responses to our call for Why I'm Glad I Went to GHC stories. This thoughtful response from Patty L is a great illustration of how the Grace Hopper Celebration can impact a career — and a life. Here's Patty's story, in its entirety. — bj

Attending GHC in 2006 pulled together all of my passions: a love of technology, a desire to address isolation and plateau challenges at work, and a desire to work on the K-12 pipeline issues for women and minorities. It was marvelous to be in such a large community of intelligent and talented women from all over the world. You could talk about anything – work, home, technical, non-technical, family, pets, hobbies, outreach -- whatever was on your mind or in your heart. The sessions mirrored the conversations – professional development, work/life balance, technology, panels, outstanding keynotes. It was inspiring to attend an awards ceremony that recognized women who have paved the way, despite innumerable roadblocks and hardships.

A “Birds of a Feather” session that was focused on Latinas in Engineering caught my eye. There I found a community of women with whom I could identify and share challenges unique to my culture, ethnicity, and values. The session organizers were Gilda Garreton (Sun Microsystems) Dilma da Silva (IBM TJ Watson Research Center), and Cecilia Aragon (Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory). In that session, Latinas in Computing was formed, along with other contributing members Raquel Romano (Google) and Claris Castillo (IBM), and me. Latinas in Computing has since grown to include many more active members, and we have worked on numerous panel and workshop sessions every year at GHC and elsewhere to grow and support the technical Latina community. We host a Latinas in Computing luncheon every year at GHC for anyone who wants to attend. We’ve received invaluable support from the Anita Borg Institute and from other generous corporate sponsors.

Every year I come back from GHC energized, motivated, and focused. The realization of why hit me after my first conference – I remembered an article by Deborah Tannen. She distinguished between male and female conversational rituals – girls tend to learn rituals that focus on rapport, while boys tend to learn rituals that focus on status. At the typically male-dominated technical conferences I had attended in the past, it required thoughtful, concerted effort to interact with male peers (most of whom I’d never met before) -- at every meal, every session, and every breakout I felt like I was always “on”, inadvertently focusing on the status dimension. It was exhausting! I came home drained and deflated. At one conference in particular, I was pregnant with twins and literally stuck out like a sore thumb – which reinforced a deep-seated fear that l didn’t really belong in technology. The key reason I attend year after year is because the GHC community is inviting, intelligent, inclusive, and supportive. Sessions and conversations with other attendees at GHC helped me understand that I could enjoy being a technologist and a woman, a mentor and a protégé, a mother, a syster, a Latina, and a friend – I could just be myself.

Stepping outside my work environment and into the GHC community made me realize that I needed to move on professionally, and gave me the skills and support to make a successful job transition. Starting over was the hardest thing I’ve ever done – leaving the expertise, security, and network I spent almost two decades building. To try something new was incredibly empowering - it won’t be nearly as hard to do the next time. I now have a supportive community to draw from, and I was able to quickly rebuild a new network. I learned a lot about myself in the process, and started my new job with a clean slate and a fresh perspective.

There’s still so much work be done to level the playing field for women and minorities of all ages, we need “all hands on deck” to make inroads over the next decade. At GHC 2007, I was compelled to bring my own middle-school-aged daughter, in an attempt to keep her interest in science and technology alive (OK, I bribed her with a few days at Disney World!). 2009 will mark her third GHC conference. I hope she will look back on these formative years as pivotal in deciding who she wanted to be and what she wanted to accomplish with her life. I want her to have what I lacked through most of my academic education: to find role models she can relate to for inspiration and mentorship, to learn to navigate her own path at her own pace, to learn how to build her own community, and to be fearless to pursue her dreams.

Finding a Roommate for Grace Hopper

Want to come to Grace Hopper but aren't sure if you can afford the hotel costs? Or maybe you'd just like a great way to meet new people on a more personal level. Finding a roommate to share a room with is a great way to accomplish this!

But where can you find someone you trust to make your roommate?

The first place to look is women's organizations in your own school, company, or city. Groups like ACM/ACM-W, WISE, WICS, and SWE may have members already attending. Our own WISE group at school had someone ask about the conference, and now she's staying with us in the suite we reserved!

If that doesn't turn up any results, you can check for others looking to share a room on the Grace Hopper Facebook group. The "Finding GHC09 Rides and Roommates" thread has been very active, and is currently the best place to go for your search after you've checked locally.

The roommates thread on the Grace Hopper group on Linked In has had less participation, but is another alternative available to you.

Finally, you might try the Systers mailing list. There are many subscribers to the list who attend the conference each year.

Remember, if you are a scholarship winner, your hotel is being arranged for you. You can check your award information letter for more info.

How Students Can Get the Most Out of Grace Hopper 2009

If you are an undergraduate or graduate student in computing, the Grace Hopper Celebration is a great place to come for inspiration, learning, professional networking, and job opportunities. With a little preparation, you will gain the most from this experience.

Before the Conference

Some activities at Grace Hopper require preregistration. Don’t worry if you did not sign up for these when you registered. Just log back into the registration system and you can add them. Here are a few that students in particular should sign up for:

• If you’re looking for work:
1. upload your resume into the GHC Resume Database and
2. schedule an appointment in the Resume Clinic in the registration system.
   
• To make the most of your professional networking at Grace Hopper sign up now in the registration system for the CONNECT project:
  
  • Set networking goals, exchange contact information electronically, and receive daily reports on your networking progress.
    
  • After the conference, you'll receive a summary of all your CONNECTions' contact info – no business cards required!
    
• If you are a GHC Scholarship recipient (past or present) you’re invited to attend the GHC Scholarship Reunion Lunch on Friday. Other networking lunches include ResearcHers, Women of Color, and LGBT on Thursday and Latinas in Computing, ACM and Systers on Friday. Pre-register for all lunches in the registration system to ensure you get a seat.
• There are more ways to connect online with other conference participants before, during and after Grace Hopper:
  • Join our groups on LinkedIn or Facebook (a great place to look for a GHC roommate!).
    
  • Follow us on Twitter.
  • Share GHC photos, videos, notes and blog posts.
    
  For these and other opportunities to connect online, check out our GHC Online Communities.
• Last but not least: If this will be your first Grace Hopper Celebration, read Tips for Newbies by recent graduate Erin Donahue for more planning tips.
  

Great Sessions for Students

Before the conference, check out the program online and plan the sessions you want to attend. There is an overview on the Conference Program page. Look for the CRA-W Career Mentoring panels for undergraduate and graduate students, highlighted in brown, on Wednesday afternoon and the Student Track sessions, highlighted in red-orange, on Thursday and Friday. You will also find a brief description of each session in the more detailed Program Schedule.

Here are a few sessions that might be of particular interest to you as a student:

• The CRA-W Career Mentoring panels begin after lunch on Wednesday:
  • For undergraduates, start with CSE is for You: Innovation, Flexibility, and Exciting Opportunities followed by The Road to Graduate School and The Graduate School Experience.
  • For graduate students, start with Graduate School Survival Skills, then Networking and Professional Development and Publishing your Research.
• If this is your first Grace Hopper Celebration, or if it has been awhile since you’ve attended, don’t miss our For the Newcomer session from 5:30PM -7:00PM (before the Opening Reception).
• On Thursday and Friday you’ll choose from Student Track sessions – like Mastering the Art of the Technical Interview and The best way: research by undergraduates – and sessions from other tracks in Industry, Academia, Technology and more. Some of our Birds of a Feather sessions will be presented by and for students, e.g., Building A WISE Support Group From Scratch and Baby Loading, Please Wait: Pregnancy, Graduate School, & Computing.
• Between sessions stop and visit our GHC sponsors at their tables, especially if you are looking for a job. Even if you didn't get an interview from submitting your resume to the database, you might get one by stopping and talking to their recruiters. Don't miss this opportunity!
  

After the Conference

The magic words when you get back home are “follow up!” Share any remaining conference notes, photos, videos, etc. that you didn’t upload to the GHC communities during the conference. Go through the business cards you collected and contact information emailed to you from CONNECT, then send those connections Facebook friend requests, LinkedIn invitations, or emails. They’ll be grateful if you assume they met as many people as you did at the conference: Provide hints about how you two connected or subjects you discussed. And remember to watch the Anita Borg Institute e-newsletter for news about Grace Hopper 2010!

What additional suggestions do you have for students attending Grace Hopper?

GHC2009 - Getting Ready

Preparations for the Grace Hopper Celebration are kicking into high gear at the Anita Borg Institute. I thought I would blog a little on what is going on:

• Program - Call for Submissions - Deadline is March 16th and we will not be extending the date so if you have an idea and would like to be part of the GHC2009 program, now is your opportunity.
• Awards - Call for Nominations - Nominate someone (or yourself) for an Anita Borg Award for Leadership or Social Impact, the Denice Denton Emerging Leader Award or a Change Agent Award. The deadline is April 30, 2009.
• Scholarships - 2 options here: Google Anita Borg Scholarships (already started) and the Grace Hopper Scholarship Program will begin March 19th.
• Get involved in our Community. Having a great network is one of the best ways to improve you career prospects and its more fun too!

Email me! What do you want to see at Hopper this year? What are your goals while you are in Tucson? How can I help? deannak *at* anitaborg *dot* org.