Apply for a scholarship to attend the Grace Hopper 2010 Conference!

In case you missed the press release, applications are now open for the 2010 Grace Hopper Celebration (GHC). GHC scholarships cover a combination of registration, meals, lodging and a fixed amount of travel expenses. The deadline to apply for a scholarship to attend this year's conference is May 14th.

Here are a few things you may not know about GHC scholarships.

• Last year, 311 Grace Hopper 2009 participants attended on scholarships.
  
• Students are not the only participants who can receive GHC scholarships: Junior faculty and employees of nonprofits and NGOs are also eligible to apply.
  
• Participating in the conference will increase your chances of getting a scholarship. Since some of the program submission deadlines have been extended, take this opportunity to submit a proposal. Deadlines are March 30th for PhD Forum and New Investigators; April 6th for Technical Poster.
  

For more information or to apply for a scholarship see
http://gracehopper.org/2010/participate/student-scholarships/

Girls, Computer Science, and Games / Computer Games to a Career in IT

Gail Carmichael hit upon the idea of doing a 1 week course on games for girls when her university was soliciting proposals for "enrichment mini courses." These courses are largely attended by grade 8s (~13 year olds), typically the advanced students from the local schools. They're intended to give the students a one-week taste of the university environment. If you are interested in running such a program, Gail suggests that there are often similar programs in other cities, local summer camps, local WISE groups, the Girl Guides/Girl Scouts and many others who could help set something up.

The idea was to do a "head fake" -- get the girls excited about learning games, but manage to teach them computer science topics at the same time. The students seemed to crave the harder stuff, and really were excited about being told things like "they don't learn this until second year university!" once the girls had shown that they understood this difficult concept. Gail suggests that we shouldn't be afraid to give students complex concepts.

She notes that another thing the girls craved is Starbucks coffee... who knew?

When teaching younger students, variety seems to help a lot: Gail incorporates videos, lecture time, small groups, whole class discussions, lab time, and the activities from CS Unplugged.

It's interesting to note that Gail's advice for engaging younger students is very similar to the advice offered during the Best Practices for Introductory Computer Science session, which focused on university-aged students: get the students to work together, use interesting themes to motivate problems, and don't be afraid to give the students hard stuff.

The girls created games using the free tool GameMaker, chosen because it is relatively easy for the girls to make games from the drag-and-drop interface without learning programming. (As someone else who has taught students both with and without this interface, I'll add that for first year students, syntax errors can be a huge stumbling block. Tools like GameMaker allow them to create programs without typos making them frequently feel stupid and inadequate, which is a pretty huge advantage for beginners.) Some other (similar) game-creation tools that might be useful include Alice, Kodu, and Scratch.

So, how successful was it? Gail has run the course twice, and did informal surveys at the beginning and end of the course. Most of the girls thought computer science was a reasonable career for a woman, even before they took the course. This is perhaps not surprising, since they were at least interested enough to sign up for the course. But the real payoff was seeing that the girls really did like computer science more after having had a week to try it out.

Gail ended up having the entire hour to herself, since the second speaker, Anne Marie Agnelli, was unable to attend. This gave an opportunity for Gail to showcase one of the games created by her students, as well as have a longer question/discussion section. In fact, the second half of the presentation became much more like a Birds of a Feather session where a variety of women talked about their questions and experiences.

For more notes, including those from the question session, and links to Gail's course materials and slides, see the excellent notes on the girls and games session on the Anita Borg Institute Wiki.

Best Practices for Introductory Computer Science

The panel started with the bad stuff: There were 50% fewer computer science students in 2007 than there were in 2000, with numbers continuing to decline in 2007-2008. The attrition rate is 30-40% in computer science, so we lose a lot of students every year.

Then they moved in to the good stuff: ideas that have worked at their respective universities: Duke, RIT, Union College and the College of New Jersey. There were lots of very specific tips, but I've grouped them into three parts: collaboration, themeing, and hard problems.

• Duke has a peer led team learning program, where students can become peer leaders and teach each other.
  
  
• RIT has a game software development introductory sequence, where they teach the first 3 levels of CS as motivated by game design programs.
  
  
• Union college has 5 different theme-based intro courses (plus one for engineers), so rather than working on generic problems in first year, they are immediately working on bioinformatics, game design, etc.
  
  
• The College of New Jersey has a traditional track to level 3, but also accelerated multimedia track. And their CS 3 course has them working on socially relevant, interdisciplinary problems.
  

There were a variety of themes that came up in all the presentations: collaboration was a big one. Getting students to interact, work together, even teach each other seems to make a huge difference in their ability to learn and succeed. This was done in a variety of ways, from required group projects, teaching, wikis, to more subtle things like requiring use of tools the students may not have seen, so they are forced to learn together, or by teaching games, which tend to be very social. Students still sometimes have to be told "it's ok to talk to each other" but when they do learn to do that, they benefit.

Another theme was, well, themes. Students seemed to respond well to real-world problems, and themes can be used to inspire all assignments, examples, and lessons. Interest in the problems provides motivation for students to overcome the "hard" parts. And "getting it" is a lot more exciting when you're solving a problem that matters -- whether it's making your game work, or writing code that will be used by another department to solve a problem.

And finally, it's clear that in order to get more students to succeed, you don't need to dumb it down. Students are capable of doing very complex things when properly motivated and supported (both by the school and by their peers). In fact, they may be more motivated by hard problems than they would have been by simplified ones, since the hard problems are relevant to real problems. I really loved this part of the discussion, since I myself left computer science (I got a math degree first) because it was too easy and pointless. And I've noticed time and time again, now that I teach first year students, that they're way more capable than outsiders might expect.

I think the panelists summed up their key message well: "Set students up for success -- not failure."

This post can also be found on my personal blog

Landing a Job and Succeeding in Industry: Bridging the gap between in-class learning and job-related skills

As a senior undergraduate about to transition from school to full-time work in three months, I’m definitely starting to feel the anticipation and stress of the competitive job search.

So what can students do to stand out from the crowd?
"The number one skill recruiters look for in technical positions are communication skills."

Looking back on my undergraduate career I have learned more from my experiences outside of the classroom than from all the hours spent laboring over my textbooks and cramming for finals. Joining professional and student groups on campus, attending conferences and competitions, and doing internships every year has given me the opportunity to build my confidence in my technical and communication skills. My internships have given me the chance to interview the employer, explore different types of positions, teams, workplace environments, and build my skills sets. Student internships provide the power to “manage your own career” and find out what works best for you.

And as we've all learnt from GHC, the importance of networking is fundamental for our careers. Professional groups, internships, attending competitions and conferences are great ways to build a professional network.

Program Chair Tracy Camp on the CRA-W Career Mentoring Workshops at GHC09

We asked Tracy Camp, Computer Science Professor at Colorado School of Mines, to share a bit of her perspective as Program Chair for Grace Hopper 2009. Here she highlights a unique addition to this year's program. — bj

As the GHC 2009 Program Chair, I know the GHC 2009 program inside and out. There are several wonderful aspects of this year's program - way too many to list. Putting together such a fabulous program takes a lot of time and energy. I owe so many people a BIG THANKS for their efforts. I look forward to giving thanks (and hugs!) at the conference in a few weeks.

There are many pieces of the program that I find exceptionally exciting. I'd like to tell you about the CRA-W Mentoring Workshops that will occur at GHC this year.

BTW, if you haven't heard of CRA-W and the programs that this organization runs, it's time you do! CRA (Computing Research Association) is an association of more than 200 computing departments in North America. CRA-W is CRA's Committee on the Status of Women in Computing Research. You can learn about CRA-W and their programs at http://www.cra-w.org/.

CRA-W is sponsoring three sessions at GHC 2009, and each session has been created for a different population that attends GHC. The Undergraduate Student Session will include content on (1) the exciting opportunities in computing today, (2) advice on traversing the road to graduate school, and (3) the overall graduate school experience. The Graduate Student Session will include content on (1) strategies for thriving in graduate school, (2) tips for networking and professional development, and (3) publishing your research. The Early Career Researcher Session will include content on (1) the different career paths for researchers in computing, (2) balancing your professional career with your life outside of work, and (3) preparing for promotion.

These three CRA-W mentoring sessions for undergraduate students, graduate students, and early career professionals will run in parallel on Wednesday (9/30) afternoon from 1-5pm.

I've included the titles and presenters of the sessions below. I'm sure you can see why I'm very excited about having these CRA-W mentoring sessions at GHC this year!

For Undergraduate Students

CSE is for You: Innovation, Flexibility and Exciting Opportunities
Soha Hassoun (Tufts University) and Tessa Lau (IBM Almaden Research
Center)

The Road to Graduate School
Jodi Tims (Baldwin-Wallace College) and Shannon Steinfadt (Kent State
University)

The Graduate School Experience
Eleni Stroulia (University of Alberta), Andrea Danyluk (Williams
College), Ramya Raghavendra (UC Santa Barbara)

For Graduate Students

Graduate School Survival Skills
Yvonne Coady (University of Victoria)

Networking and Professional Development
Susanne Hambrusch (Purdue University)

Publishing Your Research
Lori Clarke (University of Massachusetts)

For Early Career Researchers

Growing Your Research Program
Cecilia Aragon (Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory) and Justine
Cassell (Northwestern University)

Work/Life Balance
Carla Ellis (Duke University) and Andrea Danyluk (Williams College)

Preparing for Promotion
Dilma da Silva (IBM T. J. Watson Research Center) and Nancy Amato
(Texas A&M University)

For more information see
CRA-W Career Mentoring Workshops

What I Love About GHC (and, Women Pilots in WWII!)

I wrote about this at my first Hopper, but I want to say it again: what I love about GHC is standing in the middle of the atrium floor on Wednesday night, watching 1000+ women talk and carry boxes and geek out about each other's gadgets and set up their posters and plan their evenings. Standing and watching, I am reminded that I am not that I am not alone, that I am in a community of women, women who are smart and geeky. As women in male-dominated fields, it is so easy to feel isolated and without community. I often feel pathless. Hopper gives me a chance to peer down the paths of life which other women have tread. I always start to reshape my life-map at Hopper, basing my new map on the stories I hear from the women around me.

As geeky women, we need this community, and this chance to imagine ourselves without borders. I am looking forward to it, as always.

PS: For geeks who are also history buffs, check out this article from the New York Times about female pilots in WWII. There were nearly as many then as there will be Hopper attendees this year!

Inspirational Quote:

"The cure for boredom is curiosity. There is no cure for curiosity." Dorothy Parker

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!

What is the GHC Poster Session and Why Should I Go?

We asked Bettina Bair, co-chair of the GHC Poster Committee, to explain what the Poster Session is and what's in it for you. Here's what she wrote. — bj

When I first started attending professional conferences, I had no idea what a "poster session" was. I visualized some sort of Woodstock-esque gathering, with people sitting on the floor of a blacklight lit room, wallpapered with posters that espoused "Peace, Love & Computers". Okay, that was a little scary. And, it turns out, really really wrong.

Now I know that the poster session is just about the best activity at any conference. And the poster session at the Grace Hopper Celebration is better than most, and I'm not just saying that because I've been the GHC Planning Committee Poster co-Chair twice. At the GHC poster session there might be 70 to 100 research posters, all tacked up on screens. Each poster will have one or two friendly and knowledgeable presenters on hand to explain the findings. The poster session at GHC is also a welcome reception, so there is a lot of time for meeting and chatting. Don't forget to enjoy the hors d'oeuvres, and beverages (cash bar).

1) Research Posters are a great way to quickly skim research and get an overview of what's new in your field. A research poster is usually about a new issue or concern -- usually with some preliminary insights. Most posters are prepared by grad students, but undergrads, faculty and industry professionals present posters too.

2) The Poster Session makes it easy to find others with similar interests. After skimming through all of the posters, I usually have two or three that I want to look at more carefully. When I get back, if I see other people at the same poster, its a perfect time for me to open a discussion with them, "Isn't this interesting? Are you doing anything similar at your institution?". Make sure to exchange cards with them.

... oh my gosh, this would be a perfect time to get CONNECTed. Find a scanner and get linked up in the database. Read more: gracehopper.org/2009/community/connect

3) If you are an undergraduate student, the poster session is a good time to shop for grad schools. Wander around and see what schools are doing research that is interesting to you. Talk to the student presenting the poster and ask her about her school and professors. Make sure that you take some notes and get her name, because these details look good in a grad school application letter.

Another thing that you can do, is look for the posters being presented by other undergrads. This year there are about thirteen undergrad posters. Think about proposing a poster yourself next year.

4) If you are a graduate student, you may already be presenting in the poster session. It's good practice, and you will meet others who are doing related work. If you are not presenting a poster this year, then use your time to plan a poster for next year.

5) If you are a faculty member, you may be looking for students that will be ready to apply for faculty positions with your college soon. Or you might be interested in seeing what other institutions are doing. Or you might be supporting your own students who are presenting posters.

6) If you are an industry professional [note from bj: or a sponsor!], this is a recruiting opportunity for you too. The undergrads that propose and present a research paper are clever, motivated and friendly. They'd make great employees, wouldn't they?

The Opening Reception & SRC Poster Competition and General Poster Session will be on Wednesday, September 30th from 7pm to 9pm. The reception is informal and unstructured. Come early and stay late -- or vice versa. It's all good.

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?

Computer Science Outreach - Recent Experience and Talk at GHC

I just got back from a morning at a summer camp held by Carleton University called Virtual Ventures. This week they are hosting the Girls@VV camp, and I joined them for a couple of hours to show them what computer science is really all about.

You can read my blog post about it, where I discuss some of the things the girls would like to see to help get themselves and others interested in computer science at a young age.

Much of this material is the same as what I used during my own week-long mini-course that I designed and taught called Computer Science and Games: Just for Girls! I will be presenting about this mini-course during the conference if you'd like to learn more. I am scheduled for Friday October 2 @ 10am. Hope to see you there!

Tips for Newbies

Firstly, I’d like to say that the Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing is one of my favorite conferences.  As a woman in technology, I don’t meet that many other women in technology on a day-to-day basis.  While being unique is great, it sure is great to flock together like birds of a feather!

Also, I’d like to second everything that BJ has written in her post!  I was a senior last year when I went to GHC and I was looking for a job.  I submitted my resume to the database and got several contacts from that.  In fact, I interviewed for a job while I was at GHC.  Because of GHC and that job interview, I have a job at Lockheed Martin.  I highly recommend taking advantage of the opportunities that GHC can present to you!

Having gone to GHC for the first time last year, I feel qualified to give advice to any newcomers.  Last year I attended as a student and this year I’m attending as an industry professional, so my advice is coming from my student experience.

Bring business cards
Yes, students, this includes you!  Having business cards instantly makes you look more professional, plus people now have your contact information on one card!  My personal card has my email address and phone number on it.  You may want to add your website, blog, or twitter username depending on what you feel comfortable with.  I designed my cards at Moo.  Zazzle also does business cards.  Feel free to put some personality into your cards!!

Network!
Networking is all about a mutually beneficial relationship.  With that being said, as a student, I always felt guilty networking since I felt like I was constantly asking for favors.  Lindsey Pollak gave me this great piece of advice when it comes to students and networking: Tell whoever you are networking with, “Please let me know if there is ever anything that I can do for you.”  This is great for two reasons, first, it’s not necessary to “pay back” a favor immediately.  This allows a person to contact you later, maybe even years later, and ask you for something.  Second, this is a message conveys that you understand networking is a two way street and you’re willing to return the favor.

Make a schedule
I made a rough schedule for myself on my Google calendar and printed it out before coming to GHC.  I put one day (it’s hours off because of time zones) on a whole page.  Even if some sessions that I wanted to go to overlapped, I put them both on the calendar with the location.  This way, I always had some point of reference.  Of course, I deviated from my schedule, but as it changed I just wrote it in.  I was able to quickly tell people when I was free since it was all on one sheet!

It’s ok to take a quick break
This is a big conference and sometime it can be overwhelming.  There is so much to do!  Don’t be afraid to skip a session to take a quick nap or catch up with someone you just met.  Last year, I didn’t make it to any BoF’s (something I will remedy this year!).  I spent that time chatting with people.  My GHC experience wasn’t any less fulfilling and it helped recharge my battery.

Bring an extra bag
Swag. Tons of it. Leave space in your suitcase or pack an extra bag (especially if you want to take some back for a women in technology student organization).

Be comfortable & have a blast!!

Countdown to GHC!

GHC is now less than a month away, and I've been trying my best to keep up with what's going on in various places. But as the conference looms closer, I've seen several comments about worried first-time GHC attendees: whether they are nervous about being in a foreign country, anxious about meeting such amazing women, or intimidated about coming alone.

It's hard to imagine because it is such a different experience (one perhaps many of us are unused to), but GHC brings together such a diverse group of women, from so many backgrounds, fields, and occupations (students, industry people, academics) that it really would be hard to find yourself out of place. Last year, I felt an amazing sense of community almost immediately upon arrival at the hotel, and I've read accounts from other attendees who have expressed similar sentiments.

It's easy to meet people too! Last year's GHC was my first, and I was pretty new to networking at conferences. But I met people and made some lasting friendships in some unexpected places. For example, a few of us were staying in a condo and had some extra room, so we advertised on the Facebook GHC group for additional occupants. We found two lovely girls from Toronto and we are still in touch today! We had an awesome time and I learned a lot from them. There were some other students from my own school that I hadn't really had a chance to talk to before, and I got to know them much better as well. Sharing a room, car, or making travel plans together is a great way to meet new friends, and if you are looking to try it out, there is a new discussion topic on this year's Facebook group for just this purpose, so check it out!

There will also be lots of other opportunities to meet people informally, whether you are chatting between sessions, enjoying the banquet, or partying at the Sponsor Night (speaking of which, does anyone have any theories about this year's party?). If you are a Hopper, get to know your fellow Hoppers! Attend the lunches, or make a point of chatting to your neighbour at breakfast. You won't be disappointed!

Help Us Integrate Your Ideas!

As has been mentioned (a few times now, sorry!), I am part of a four-person international collaboration that will be presenting a Birds of a Feather session (Friday, October 3rd, 5:10 p.m. — 6:10 p.m.) at this year's Grace Hopper Conference. Our session is entitled: "ʃIntegrating Ideas = Together We Can Make a Better World", and will be presented by Aakriti Agarwal, Sunayana Sitaram, Alicia Chong, and me, Kate Tsoukalas.

Here is a quick excerpt from our session proposal:

"Facebook, email, the internet and other types of online networking provide our long distance relationships with the fastest and easiest communication ever. This session is mainly about Student Group Networking, because different Women in Technology Student Groups around the globe are working with similar purposes. These networking applications make it easy for us to share ideas, but most importantly, integrating them can give the result that most groups expect and are working hard to accomplish. We really think that Together We Can Build a Better World - that by integrating our ideas, sharing old ones and making new ones our Student Groups can grow, and new student groups can come forward."

Part of the presentation will consist of a discussion of our experiences using networking tools to build our own women in technology student groups, with advice and tips on how you can too. However, we want to try to 'integrate' the ideas from a larger community - the global community - to help give women in technology groups a boost the world over.

This is where you come in!

Before, during, and after the session, we will be collecting your ideas, feedback, and experiences, and posting them on the internet so that we will have a record of all the amazing things being done to promote these student groups. So whether you've faced challenges or experienced great successes, we'd love to hear about it and possibly share it during our session. You can leave your comments right here at this post, and we'll be sure to 'integrate' them with our session materials as the conference approaches. Post away!

GHC Scholarships: 3 Reasons Why People Don't Apply, and 3 Reasons Why You Should

Recently, I read a pretty surprising statistic: only about 600 people applied for a GHC Google Global Community Scholarship this year! The scholarship provides winners with accommodations and travel funding to help them get to GHC, as well as all their meals and conference fees waived. This is a great program that helps many students, especially undergraduates who have limited time and funds for attending conferences.

Last year, over 900 people applied, so I wondered why the numbers would fall so dramatically this year. I'm worried; I think encouraging students to apply for the scholarship raises their awareness of GHC and increases the likelihood of their participation. Even if they can't attend, it may encourage them to be more involved in their student community, especially women's technical groups. Most importantly, students are really the life-blood of GHC - if we don't encourage young talent to come, the conference may eventually die out.

So, I've done some thinking and have three reasons why people aren't applying. I've also got some counter-reasons why [next year] you should give it your best shot anyway:

• "There are so many fantastic female students out there, I don't have a chance!"
  If you don't apply, you have zero chance, but if you submit something, there is always some chance, right? Also, it's very likely that you are also fantastic. You don't have to be a superwoman to merit an award; think of all the little things you are doing at school and in your community to help women in technology. Reviewers are looking for what makes you passionate and what you are doing to make a difference, no matter how small you think it might be. It might help to talk to others about your impact; in my previous post a reader commented that they hadn't realized they were doing all the same things that I had been doing, but hearing them from someone else gave her that 'light bulb' moment.


• "I applied before and was rejected (maybe more than once)."
  First of all, each year the competition changes. This year 300 fewer people applied, so your chances of winning may have increased. Second, with each time you try, you have a chance to improve your application. It's quite likely that you learned something about writing scholarship applications between now and the last time you applied, added some new accolades to your resume, or got some feedback on your unsuccessful applications that have given you some ideas for the next one. Use what you've learned to try again, and don't give up!


• "It's not worth the time, and I'm extremely busy."
  There are so many reasons why this is worth your time. A free trip never hurt anyone, for starters! But this isn't just any free trip; past attendees have described how GHC made them rethink the direction they were taking their career in, helped them decide to go to graduate school, or inspired them to finish their degree when they were having a tough time. Winning a scholarship could also encourage your peers to get involved and try to attend GHC themselves, or convince your school to support more students.

So now that I've (hopefully) convinced you to apply next year, what can you do to make you application the best it can be?

• Show Your Passion: Show why you're passionate about technology and the community of women in technology. You can demonstrate that passion in many small ways - maybe you've helped build a website, kept a regular blog, or organized meetings with other female students. Make sure you highlight those contributions!


• Be Specific: What will you do if you win a scholarship? How will you stretch the award to benefit as many as possible? Think of different ways you can contribute to the conference, the community at large, and your school. You might submit a technical poster or talk, or get involved with a Birds of a Feather session. Maybe you will present your experiences to your peers after the conference has ended. Give concrete plans and specific details.


• Present Yourself: Even if you're a spelling whiz, it doesn't hurt to have a second pair of eyes look over your application. Find someone to help proof-read your work and don't forget to return the favor! Presentation is important and you wouldn't want your work to be overlooked because of a few typos.

If you can't attend GHC or still don't want to apply for a scholarship, there are still other ways to contribute: encourage people you know to apply and help them with their applications. Remind people of the deadlines, help edit their applications, even write reference letters. Let's do all we can to encourage everyone! Even if those you help aren't successful in winning the scholarship, you will likely have improved their chances, boosted their confidence, and strengthened your network. Which is what the spirit of GHC is all about, right?

Hi, My Name is Ed

My name is Ed.  In actuality, my nickname is Ed.  My name is Erin, but please call me Ed.

I'm going to be a senior next year at DePauw University in Greencastle, IN.  This is my first time going to GHC.  I can't lie to you, I'm so excited!! I've been lucky enough to attend regional conferences here in Indiana and I'm always filled with enthusiasm and energy!  I know GHC is going to be just as exciting and energetic.

I've looked through the schedule and highlighted everything that I want to go to.  Looking back at my highlighting, there are a lot of events that overlap, so I'm going to have to decide which ones I really really want to go to.  Those will be difficult decisions!  Here are some, but not all, of the sessions I'm hoping to go to:

• Networking Workshop with Jo Miller-This is something I know I can improve on.  Plus, I'm going to be a senior!  Soon I'll be going out into the real world and looking for a job.  I think this workshop will be extremely beneficial.
• Resume Clinic-Once again, I'm going to be a senior looking for a job.  Resume tips are always welcome!
• How to Manage Your Career When "Life Gets in the Way"-I've always looking for information about how to keep my life balanced so I'm not overlooking some important aspect of my life be it friends, academics, or family.
• Any Session about Recruiting Girls into CS or Outreach Programs-I'm the chair of Women in Computer Science (we use the same acronym as Kate, WiCS), so I'm tirelessly on the lookout for how to improve our organization.

If you need to look at the schedule to do your own highlighting, check it out here.  Feel free to leave comments about what sessions you're most looking forward to attending.

Don't forget to join the GHC Facebook group and to start following GHC on Twitter!

3(.5) Reasons I'm Looking Forward to this Year's Grace Hopper Conference

I've been looking forward to this year's GHC since the closing day of last year's event, which was my first ever GHC. And I have several reasons to be excited!

Last year's conference was a whirlwind of amazing experiences. I was a bit star-struck: I got to meet such amazing people, from the girls I stayed with, to a VP of Cisco Systems and the President of the ACM, to the first woman to win the Turing Award, Fran Allen. I'd never attended anything like it before, and it made quite the impression on me. So the first reason to look forward to this year's conference is last year's conference, and that I know this year's will be even better (wait, is that two reasons?).

As my friends know, when I get excited about something, I have to share it with them. I've told just about everyone I can think of about GHC. I got started during last year's event; I blogged about it on my personal blog, told my friends about it, and made presentations about the conference to my labmates at school and to our Women in Computing Science (WICS) group. When this year's conference was announced and applications opened for the Google Global Community Scholarship, I got going again, emailing, Facebooking, and IM-ing like crazy. Which leads me to the second reason to look forward to this year's GHC - we have eight fabulous female students attending this year's GHC from SFU (my school).

All this Facebooking led me to meet three wonderful students from around the world, with whom I'm collaborating on a Birds of a Feather session at this year's GHC. We're hoping to help people learn how to start their own technology groups for women and also learn from those who attend our workshop. This is my first conference presentation and first international collaboration, and I'm excited about both. Which is the third reason to be excited about this year's GHC!

Ok, so it's pretty clear I'm excited. GHC is full of such wonderful opportunities, and I think we should do everything we can to get as many people involved as we can. If you're wondering how you can help spread the word, or get your own delegation organized, there are a few things you can do:

• Blog your experiences. You never know who will read it. Better yet, let your department know you are going; maybe they can help advertise your posts. You can reach a lot of students this way!


• If you don't have a Women in Computing Science/Women in Engineering/Women in Technology group, start one! It can be as easy as meeting for coffee or going for lunch. Let the group know about GHC and keep them updated on your trip so they'll be excited for next year.


• If you've found a deal on airfare or similar travel arrangements, let others know. Traveling together is a great way to get to know people from your department better! Sometimes it's cheaper, too.


• Read the Anita Borg Newsletter, join the Grace Hopper 2008 Facebook group, and encourage your friends/peers/colleagues to do the same. There is a wealth of information on how to prepare for the conference, what to do when you're there, travel tips, etc etc. It's also a great way to network - you may even find people to stay with! I find these groups invaluable and often find myself passing on information I find in them.

Thanks for reading this far! I'd love to hear the reasons you're looking forward to this year's GHC; please let us know in the comments below! I'll also keep blogging up to and during the conference, and I'll try to keep the posts shorter. Hope to see you there! ;)