Traveling to Phoenix

Sitting here at the BWI it's hard not to wonder which of (if any) of the woman in the airport are going to GHC... sometimes I like to pick out woman and say "she is a programmer", or "she's working on a cure for cancer". One day, everyone will think this way...hopefully... until then...there will always be GHC. 

See everyone soon!

:wq

HOWTO Get the Most Out of a Conference

Steak Anyone?

Corn - Cooked on a low heat, seasoned with teriyaki, sesame, butter, onion, and lemon grass
Perogies - Pan fried with some onions and olive oil.
Steak - Marinated with teriyaki, sesame, lemon grass, worsteshire, curry, chipolte. Then broiled in the oven, topped off with some pepper jack cheese.

Day 2 at GHC13

The second day at the conference was amazing! I met so many awesome women and even attended the lunch for labs. I was sitting at a table with some women from the MIT and DE Labs. We were all having great conversations, even one about getting together the different labs next year to try and put on some panels. I said I was thinking about standing up and making an announcement, so the lady sitting next to me encouraged me and said she would tap her glass with her spoon.

I agreed to this, even though I was very nervous. As I stood up and she started to tap her glass, everyone got quite, and it reminded me of a wedding speech (not that I have ever made one). It was only fitting that I start off saying, "I'm getting married...(dramatic pause)... just kidding". The entire room burst into laughter, and I instantly felt more at ease. 

Cloud Services Acceleration through Orchestration

I was asked to attend this session Deepika Nath, I met her during my internship at Cisco in the summer of 2012. It is always nice seeing old friends each year at GHC, and hopefully we will be able to connect in our future GHC adventures.

The session was very interesting and informative. I had very little knowledge of cloud computing stepping into the room. The table I sat at, ended up being with all the Rackspace employees. So I was able to ask them more specific questions about cloud computing during the interactive parts.

I really liked the way the session was setup. Having the information and then workshop like participation always allows the attendees to get more out of it. Besides... brainstorming with amazing women is always fun!

Learning Journeys: The Promise and Perils of Online Education

About three years ago, I received this completely random email from Pooja who was wanting to meet and talk about this thing called Piazza. I have to admit, I was extremely skeptical and actually forwarded it to the professor I was TA'ing for at the time. His advice was to meet with her, so I did, and later sent him this in an email "I met with her today and Piazza is amazing!".

I was very excited when I found out that not only was Piazza a success but that Pooja was going to be a guest speaker at GHC this year. Having met with Pooja in the beginning, it was amazing to see how she and Piazza have grown! It's not everyday that someone is able to witness something so impactful from the beginning. There were at least a couple people in the audience who had the privilege of meeting Pooja in the beginning of her adventures as well.


Don't forget to check out the notes on the wiki: Invited Technical Speaker -- Pooja Sankar

YOU CAN INVENT

It was really great being in a room with 4 awesome female inventors! Karen Sleeth, the moderator, was extremely funny, she even started humming a song at one point during the talk. There was so much good advice given during this panel, but the one that stuck with me after was...

Find that thing that lets your mind go on a crazy invention coaster! Katalin will watch Into the Worm Hole while folding laundry, or go on a bike ride to come up with ideas. They mentioned a guy that keeps a pencil and notepad just outside the shower, so that when he gets that brilliantly crazy idea, he can write it down before he forgets. Driving is my minds best invention time. There is nothing more soothing than driving with the windows down, the music blasting, and nothing but time. What lets your mind invent?

Don't forget to check out the wiki notes: You Can Invent