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الشهر: سبتمبر 2014

Robin Abrams

Robin Abrams

Robin Abrams has over 35 years in key leadership roles at numerous high-profile high-tech companies in the U.S. and abroad. Abrams served as CEO of Palm Computing and VeriFone, the global leader in debit/credit card authorization and held key executive positions at Apple, including managing director of Apple Asia and president of Apple Americas. Abrams’…

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Attending Grace Hopper for the first time this year?

So am I, and I could not be more excited for this experience!

Let me start this blog post off with my strongest motivator for attending GHC14: I want to change the world. Cliché? Perhaps, but GHC is a prime opportunity on the journey to achieving this goal in the tech industry for everyone attending. I’m a 24 year old software engineer with a passion in the mobile industry. I graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Software Engineering at Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada, and I’m currently working at Microsoft in Redmond on the Windows Phone. I’ve been at the company for about a year now, and have previously worked at Electronic Arts, Research in Motion (now known as Blackberry) and the Network Management and Artificial Intelligence Lab at Carleton University.

I found out about the Grace Hopper Celebration from chatting with my female engineering friends at Microsoft. Last year, over 4,500 participants and 350 companies were represented from over 53 countries. This year, Grace Hopper will open its doors to 8,000 attendees! Talk about networking opportunities, collaboration and girl power celebrated at its finest.

Initially I had no idea how to navigate through the busy three-day schedule.

Along with the first-time jitters, the adrenaline of realizing the size of the conference, and the excitement of learning new skills and developing existing ones, I wanted to get involved in a unique way to make the most out of this celebration. That’s when I was introduced to the Grace Hopper Volunteer Committee. The committee takes care of overseeing the event and connecting with women worldwide through blog posts, wiki posts, and social media (including Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn, Facebook). If you can’t attend the conference this year, have no fear! The lectures will be noted and blogged from our amazing team of volunteers, led by these wonderful ladies: Gail Carmichael, Valerie Anne Fenwick, Charna Parkey and Rosario Robinson.

I’m hungry to connect and collaborate on a variety of topics and fresh ideas. Interested in becoming a manager in the future and leading a team? Improving on your leadership skills with high impact? Building your professional network? Discussions on reverse engineering, security, gaming, or cloud computing? Deciding if working at a start-up is the right career decision for you? All of these topics and PLENTY more will be discussed over the three days, with a link to the full schedule here.

Your passion is contagious! As GHC14 approaches, I can’t help but think, “The Phoenix Convention Center will have its roof blown off with the amount of energy these women are going to bring!” The opportunity to meet all of you, who share the same passion as I do for technology and engineering, is the top reason why I think the conference is so beneficial as a part of any woman’s career growth and personal growth.

Your story as to how you found yourselves in the tech industry serves as an inspiration to the thousands of girls who are about to take or are already taking the steps in advancing their careers. As Bill Gates said, “As we look ahead into the next century, leaders will be those who empower others.” All 8,000 of you leaders are empowering women all over the world to embrace the field of technology, make a difference and truly change the world. This is the revolutionary tone that Grace Hopper has been setting for the last 13 years and will continue to set for years to come.

What are you most excited about for #ghc14? How will you #changetheworld? Connect with me at Twitter with your story!

See you there superwomen!
Vivian

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Looking forward to GHC14

I first attended the Grace Hopper Celebration in Tucson in 2009 as an MA student studying culture and technology. It was the first women-centric and technology-oriented conference I’d been to and, among other things, I remember really learning the value of Twitter and how backchannel conversation/communication works. Can’t wait to see/meet everyone this year in […]

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Grace Hopper Celebration

Photo Credits: GHC13

It was year 2010 when I was first introduced to the Grace Hopper Celebration by a friend living in the US. I was back in Pakistan then. As a strong believer of a community based culture, which allows peo…

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Countdown to Grace Hopper Conference

I’m beyond stoked to blog at Grace Hopper this year! This is my 4th G.H.C. and my first G.H.C. as a new grad. Let the countdown begin! 

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Justin Rattner

Justin Rattner

Justin Rattner is president of the Intel Foundation as well as an Intel corporate vice president and Intel Senior Fellow. From 2005 to 2013, Rattner was Intel’s Chief Technology Officer and managing director of Intel Labs, the 1000-person research arm of the company and winner of the 2012 Intel Quality Award. As head of Intel…

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All Registration Codes Expire on September 19

Don’t forget that all registration codes expire on September 19 so make sure to use them as soon as possible.

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Do You Know Our #GHC14 Community Committee?

Rest assured, our #GHC14 session will be covered by many volunteers. They’ll be note-taking and blogging as well as video-blogging at GHC. But many planning hours happen before the conference from a dedicated GHC community committee that started back in Spring. They’ve been brainstorming ideas, planning, and organizing way in advance to prep our volunteers and to ensure everything goes as smoothly as possible. Who are they?

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AnitaB.org Communities @ GHC 2014

#GHC14 ABI Community Presence 

Community Pavilion
Check out our new home at the ABI booth. We have so many communities represented this year and it’s great to have them as part of the ABI family. Please stop by and learn more about Systers and all of our Systers communities.

Systers & Peace Corps Open Source Day Projects
If you didn’t know, Systers started Open Source Day at GHC in Atlanta, Ga GHC 2010. Many thanks to Robin Jeffries, Jen Redman, Teri Oda, and Leslie Hawthorn for kicking things off for what is now a tradition. Systers partnered with Peace Corps this year on our Google Summer of Code program. We are helping Peace Corps volunteers around the world with our technical projects. We are continuing to “pass on” the benefits of being part of Systers at every chance we get.  There will be Peace Corps representatives at our community pavilion to tell you about technical and volunteer opportunities at the Peace Corps.

Mentoring Track
Our community is AWESOME! Not only are they engaged in many of our conference tracks, activities and events, they always find time to give back and pay it forward. We’ll have plenty of our community leaders moderating speed mentoring session throughout the day as well as participating as mentors. Passing-It-On!

Lunchtime Table Topics
Need lunch plans at GHC? Stop by lunchtime table topics on Thursday and Friday. Plenty of topic discussions

Stay Connected!
A new track this year is dedicated to helping attendees stay connected and get involved. All of our communities will be represented so be sure to attend the track. The lineup is amazing.

10:15am – 11:15amRemembering Anita Borg Documentary

 

12:00pm – 1:00pmSysters Creating Change EVERYWHERE Through Community and Technology InitiativesNadyne Richmond (moderator co-chair SAC), Neetu Jain (co-chair SAC), Kayra Hopkins (PIO chair), Ayori Selassie (Best of Systers), and Nicki Hutchens (Systers GSoC org admin)

 

3:30pm – 4:30pm
Showcasing ABI Systers Everywhere: Building Strong Globally Connected Communities to Empower Every Woman in Computing EVERYWHEREJulie Mariga (moderator LGBT), Mirkeya Capellan (Latinas), Danielle Cummings (BWiC), Sana Odeh (ArabWiC), and Umit Yalcinalp (TurkishWiC) 

 

5:15pm – 6:15pmExpanding Reach for African and Asian Systers and Women in Computing EVERYWHERERose Robinson (Her Systers Keeper moderator), Jean Njoroge (AfricanWiC), Wei Lin or Qiao Lin Mao (ChineseWiC), Elizabeth Bautista (FilipinasIC), Roshni Chandrashekhar (IndianWiC) 

 

6:15pm – 7:30pmABI Community MeetupWe’ll wrap up our track with an ABI Community meetup and will hear from the following: Marilyn Wulfekuhler (Entrepreneurs), Kate Isaacs (Student ResearcHers), Sheila Campbell or Matthew McAllister (Peace Corps), Linda Kamau (PIO Recipient), Valerie Bubb Fenwick (GHC Community) and Gail Carmichael (Anita’s Quilt)

More details about each session here.
Hope you join ABI Community at GHC. We have lots of stories, plenty of ways for you to stay engaged and get involved. Looking forward to see you at GHC!

Abbreviations
SAC = Systers Advisory Council
PIO = Pass It On
BWiC = Black Women in Computing
GSoC = Google Summer of Code

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#GHC14ORBUST

Going to a conference can be exciting and expensive. There are a lot of ways posted online to help cut costs. Sometimes, even with the best of advice,  more costs cutting measures have to be made. What to do? 

Break out your thinking caps ladies. Let’s get creative. 

  • Registration
    • Early bird gets the worm! There are early bird specials when you register the moment they announce registration is open.  
  • Hotel 
    • Find a buddy and bunk up to cut costs. Seriously. Worse comes to worse you make a new buddy. G.H. has an ongoing discussion on Linkedin connecting people who are looking for roommates. 
    • Airbnb– they’re sponsors so why not use their product? You can cut costs by finding a room close to the convention center and staying there for the night. 
  • Flight 
    • Like to travel? Goodie! Save those miles up and redeem them for your ticket to wherever G.H. is. This year, I used some of my miles (25k) and paid $11.20 for my round trip flight to Phoenix. (Note: make sure to book early though and you may not get the best flight so be prepared.) 

 

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