Grace Hopper Celebration (GHC) is a global conference organized by the Anita Borg Institute and is a unique opportunity for women in technology to share, learn, network with each other about the latest work in technology (academia and industry). The conference is also a great place for women to showcase their awesome contributions in technical, management, process and soft skills tracks. GHC this year is was held in Bangalore, between November 14th and 16th. ACM NITK Members Sharanya Kamath and Mansi Joisher attended the conference and they share their experiences in this blog post.
Mansi Joisher:
If you are a woman studying Computer Engineering, Computer Science, or any subject related to Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics, I strongly recommend to you to check out everything about Anita Borg Institute, Systers, ACM-W, and Grace Hopper Celebration, and all their events, workshops, and initiatives to support women in computing.
I was lucky enough to be a GHCI’18 ACM student scholar. A little background first — The Grace Hopper Celebration India is the Indian counterpart to the Grace Hopper Celebration that takes place in Houston, Texas every year. It consists of a combination of technical sessions and career sessions and includes a poster session, career fair, awards ceremony, and more. It is a conference full of inspiration, energy, with a huge women technologists community. In 1994, Anita Borg and Telle Whitney founded the Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing. Fun Fact – The words ‘bug’ and ‘debug’ were coined by none other than Grace Hopper!
A student scholar is given free entry to the 3-day conference, travel reimbursement and accommodation at Fairfield by Mariott, Bangalore. Look out for the GHCI applications next year and get a chance to meet thousands of women like you dedicated towards technology, ready to share their life experience.
Here’s a quick recap of what GHCI’18 was like for me: The first day consisted of keynote sessions by Lori Beer, Global CIO of JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Vaishali Kasture, Founder of Sonder Connect, followed by a marvellous dance performance. The first day was meant for the scholars to connect among themselves and build a strong network with women in different career stages. On the second day, I attended a couple of sessions in the domain of AL, ML and IOT. The main attraction for the last two days was the career fair and the tech-expo. All the fortune 500 companies set up their booths with fun games and lots of fun goodies. Many a times, women leave the conference with an internship or job offer letter after a few rounds of on-spot interviews. If you are here, make sure you have 10-15 copies of your resume.
During the conference, many events are conducted for scholar networking. I met some amazing people with a mindblowing passion for technology. I also came across a few international student scholars and got to know their culture better.
I had an amazing experience at GHCI’18 and I’m very grateful to AnitaB.org, GHCI teams for hosting the event. I am back with loads of memories, experiences and a huge network. Attend GHCI’19 to learn about different technologies, know yourself better, make friends or grab a job! AND don’t forget to carry your party shoes along, It’s a girls celebration after all!
Sharanya Kamath:
ACM India has a program to sponsor girl students to attend the annual GHC for Women in Computing in India. 2 to 3 girl students from each chapter were selected on the basis of the resumes we submitted and a couple of questions we answered. From NITK chapter, Mansi Joisher and I got selected. I was over the top with happiness when I received my selection email.
At GHCI, I learnt that about 40% of the women who go into tech, end up leaving the industry altogether. Studies suggest that women in the field of tech experience feelings of isolation as they find themselves in hostile and uncomfortable environments, often ridiculed for asserting themselves, their beliefs and opinions. To top it all, no one seems to know about the women in tech, who have changed the world – they are forgotten. Gathering all these women in one place, sharing our experiences and stories, and realizing that you have a vast support network is what Grace Hopper Celebration is all about.
Here is a brief listing of what all events I attended at GHCI’18:
- Keynote Speeches
- Tech Talks
- Career Fair
- Tech Expo
- Microsoft Networking Session
The keynote speeches were given by Lori Beer, Global CIO, JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Vaishali Kasture, Founder of Sonder Connect. They shared their stories and experiences of being in the industry for so long, followed by an interactive QnA session. It was extremely inspiring and set everyone’s mood for the event.
The TechTalks included exciting and interactive dialogues with the tech front runners of our times. We got to hear their stories on achieving the impossible, while they told us about their ideas and solutions. There was no registration required for these talks, we could just go and sit in whichever one we found interesting. It felt like a plethora of knowledge open in front of me, I just had a hard time choosing which ones to attend.
I attended the following talks:
- Fake Article Detection from Multilingual Documents-A Deep Learning approach
- Evolution of SDLC (Software Development Life Cycle) through DevOps and Knowledge Management
- Data That Caught the World With Surprise
The Tech Expo showcased some of the latest technology products and solutions, from the world of startups and large organizations. We got to “Experience” technology first hand! From a car which runs on your concentration powers created by SAP labs, to enhanced virtual realities created by Qualcomm and Microsoft HoloLens, I tried it all. Companies had brand new tech on display which had not even released in the market yet.
The Career Fair intended to give women professionals and students from technical backgrounds the chance to meet top recruiters from global technology companies. Individuals could explore internships and full-time job opportunities. Although I didn’t get any job offer, I got a LOT goodies. Trust me, a lot!
Microsoft Networking Session
This was an ‘invite only’ interactive ideas-exchange session with Microsoft. It was an opportunity of listening from the Microsoft Technology Leaders covering recent industry trends & how Artificial Intelligence is enabling Industries.I got to know how Microsoft’s new technologies are creating significant impact- several of them integrated with artificial intelligence and shaping the next wave of digital transformation.
The networking dinner enabled us to have small group interactions and focused conversations with leaders on topics that we were curious to learn about. No need to say, the food was fantabulous (if that’s even a word).
I returned from GHCI’18 feeling well-informed about the technology industry, and eager to join the amazing women who are making things happen. Technology is more accessible than ever- we are constantly building, adapting, and changing the way we engage and deliver technology in the modern web world. It was a beautiful experience. I made a couple of very nice friends and I am still in contact with them. I look forward to attending GHCI again next year.