My WWCode Connect 2018 Experience

Two weeks ago, I had the opportunity to attend a conference called Women Who Code Connect. It is a yearly conference for incredible tech women hosted by the Women Who Code organization.

Credit: Women Who Code

I’ve been to quite a few women in tech events over the years. I’ve been to large women in tech conferences like Grace Hopper, the more intimate Girl Geek dinners, and everything in between, but Women Who Code Connect really stood out for me this year.

In this short post, I just wanted to share why I enjoyed WWCode Connect, and a few things I learned this year.

Why I like WWCode Connect

1. It is a small enough conference that doesn’t take much time out of your schedule. It also isn’t as big as Grace Hopper, so it doesn’t feel as intimidating.
2. Women Who Code is all about community. If you live in a popular city in the world, there is probably at least one WWCode meetup going on where you can meet like-minded women. If not, become an organizer and lead a WWCode group in your city! Because it operates as smaller communities, WWCode has the advantage of scale as well as the comfort of small groups.
3. There is a great mix of speakers at the conference. It is not heavily focused on tech, but there are a variety of talks on new technologies, leadership, and growth.

My Favorite Takeaways From WWCode Connect 2018:

1. I learned how to think about the cards we are dealing every time we communicate something about ourselves. Candi Castleberry Singleton talks about something called the Corporate Card Game which eludes that everyone is playing a card, whether or not they realize it. These cards can either help you grow in your career, or not. Check it out!
2. Pat Gelsinger (CEO of VMWare) gave a keynote, and spoke about Technology as a Force for good. He talked about the 4 biggest things that have taken over the technology world at the moment, and these are: Cloud, Mobile, IoT, and AI. Each of these serve a different purpose in technology, but as technologists, we must start thinking about the positive impact we can make on the world by leveraging the capabilities that these fields offer.
3. In the panel about “Changing the Face of Tech,” it was interesting to learn that based on different cultural needs, the process of helping women grow in tech may be different. For example, the panelist mentioned how women in Manila have cultural expectations like taking care of kids, etc. so they worked around their schedules to create time for technical events to help mothers grow in their careers.
4. “Inequality begins with unequal access to opportunities,” and Algorithms perpetuate the same biases as us, so it is important to analyze, and level the training data to avoid bias while doing Machine Learning.

I learned so much more, but I’d like to keep this short. I met amazing women from around the world, and one of the speakers was a 14 year old founder of the Alzheimer’s App ‘Timeless’! I also met a 10 year old raising money for Kickstarter. I even saw a toddler accompanying her mother, and attending the talks! It was incredibly inspiring to see the changing face of technology in women of various races, backgrounds, and ages at this conference!

I hope this gives you a glimpse of my experience at Women Who Code Connect 2018, and I really do hope you check it out next year!

P.S. Women Who Code sends a weekly newsletter called Code Review which highlights job openings, events, and even discounts! You can sign up at https://www.womenwhocode.com/