11-08-06 GHC 2006: A Conference in Review

Nine CISters attended The Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing (GHC).

What the participants thought of their experiences:

What I was expecting was nothing compared to what I experienced [at GHC]. There were many more people at the conference than I predicted, there were many recruiters from the biggest technology companies and, moreover, I could listen to the speeches of many smart and famous people, including Stu Feldman, President of ACM, and Sally Ride, former NASA astronaut. ... Attending Grace Hopper Conference helped me to decide on my professional path after completing my bachelor degree.

    -- Yana Novikova, junior

I was overwhelmed with the energy of and the synergy among more than 1200 participant women!

    -- Ilknur Aydin, graduate student

It was remarkable and rewarding to have a conversation with African-American women Ph.D.s on how they cope with their challenges.

    -- Rashida Davis, graduate student

I have never seen this amount of women computer scientists together in my life. The diversity of the conference was amazing. I met with lots of women at the beginning of their careers like me as well as the ones who were already honored with their achievements. I never thought of meeting people who are in leading positions of huge organizations like Google and Microsoft before. ... [It was] easier than I thought.

    -- Seniz Demir, graduate student

The women I met at GHC06, either directly or indirectly through their talks or presentations, have motivated me to aspire for more. At this conference, I learned that anything is possible if you work hard and believe in what you do. ... Receiving encouragements from other women and learning about their experiences, especially when being in a field in which women are a minority, motivated and helped me to see more clearly the steps that I need to follow to attain my goals.

    -- Oana Tudor, graduate student

The conference opened up many opportunities to discuss my career goals with professionals and peers in technology.

    -- Sherol Chen, graduate student

After attending two previous Hopper Conferences, I can definitely state that the 2006 conference was larger and more exciting than ever before. There were more women, more sponsors, more industry representatives, and absolutely amazing speakers.

    -- Emily Gibson, graduate student

I highly recommend that women students about to graduate participate in the Ph.D. Forum because employers who want to hire women will seek out potential employees in the proceedings.

    -- Sara Sprenkle, graduate student