Letter from GHC 2012 General co-chairs

We are so pleased to present this year’s Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing!

In collaboration with many of you and the Anita Borg Institute staff, the Steering Committee has designed a program that will meet the needs of many audiences: students, faculty, researchers, and industry professionals, early career through senior leaders. We continually listen to your feedback and make improvements year over year.

Our theme this year, “Are We There Yet” has provoked some great innovative sessions focused on making an impact in many domains — technical to social.

This year’s program is very exciting and offers much for new and returning attendees. A few highlights:

  • Sessions focused on key technology areas: Big Data, Security, and Social Collaboration.
  • Tech Entrepreneurs Lab: For those who are considering starting a new venture, or who want to explore what it takes to be an entrepreneur, this lab will open with a presentation by Robin Chase (Founder and ex-CEO of Zipcar, currently Founder and CEO of Buzzcar). Her story will inspire you!
  • Sessions designed for mid to senior career professionals: Responding to feedback requesting more content for experienced technical women, this year features sessions on developing leadership presence and recruiting and team building.
  • Plenty of networking opportunities: targeted meet-ups, lunchtime topic tables, and Birds of a Feather sessions.
  • For the first time, a high level government plenary: A panel of technology leaders in government talk about the role of technology in solving big societal problems, and the cool technology challenges being pursued to solve those problems.
  • For the first time, we have a track of sessions related to Women of Under-Represented Groups (WURG). In line with our fundamental value of inclusion, this track will address the unique challenges associated with these communities, and increase the accessibility of our conference.
  • Fun! In addition to the usual dance party after the awards ceremony, we have a great celebration planned for Friday night at the Baltimore Science Museum, situated on the beautiful inner harbor. The event serves both to close the conference and to celebrate the 25th Anniversary of Systers, our online community of technical women.
  • The “usual suspects” that have always been very popular: Leadership Development with Jo Miller, CRA-W career development sessions for researchers, Grace Hopper Open Source Day, and of course, the Career Fair.

Please join us for what promises to be a fantastic conference. The Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing is the largest convening of technical women in the world —  an opportunity for us to gather, learn, connect, and have fun with other like-minded people.

We look forward to seeing you.

 Linda Apsley and Laura Dillon

General Co-Chairs

2012 Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing