Event Recap: Women of Silicon Valley
Empowerment. Solidarity. Validation. These are the top three things that come to mind when I think about Women of Silicon Valley (WoSV) 2019. With over a thousand participants, WoSV is one of the largest women in tech conference. It was a great honor and privilege to be given the opportunity to speak at the event.
When I first walked into the conference venue, the first thing that came to mind was: “Wow, there are so many women in tech!” In contrast to other conferences I’ve been to, at WoSV I was surrounded by a sea of fellow women, and it was glorious. In fact, in one of the seminars, someone commented that for the few men (yay, allies!) who attended WoSV, this was a good opportunity for them to understand how women often feel in other conferences and events.
I’ve attended a number of conferences in the past, mostly scientific conferences, and this was the first conference where I can say that most (if not all) of the seminars I attended were very relevant and interesting to me. There were a number of parallel tracks at the conference — I mostly attended the ones on Career Guidance / Personal Development, as well as Diversity and Inclusion. I took a bunch of notes from the various talks, and also grabbed a number of photos.
There was a lot of useful information that I jotted down from the talks I attended. Here are some of them, in no particular order:
- What does “having it all” mean for you? Everyone has their own interpretation of “all”; you can have it all, but not all at once
- People may not like you being the voice that brings up issues, but someone has to do it; why not you?
- Your courage might inspire someone else to open up
- Quote from Annie Easely: “Work with someone or work around someone”
- Employers need to reward inclusivity
- It’s important to have diversity in rooms where decisions are made
- When giving kudos about other people, tell their manager so that it helps their career along
- You are in charge of your own career
- Managers do not promote people, people promote themselves, i.e., tell your manager if you want to be promoted, and come up with an actionable plan together
- Instead of finding one mentor that can do everything for you, seek out various mentors for different aspects
- You can’t control your colleagues, and you’ll spend a lot of time with them, so pick your colleagues during the interview process
- Be prepared to walk away from toxic environments: don’t risk your health, values, etc
- Many people have imposter syndrome, both women and men
- There are many paths to success, don’t be your own obstacle
One of the sessions that I attended was Nisha Kumari’s talk on “Creating your growth mindset to tackle imposter syndrome.” It was evident that this topic is important for women, and perhaps the community as a whole; the talk was so packed, that the room ran out of space for people to stand. One of the take-aways I got from the session is that imposter syndrome is something that women and men experience. Nisha described ways to manage imposter syndrome by 1) setting your goals; 2) telling yourself it is okay to fail; 3) reframing your thoughts; 4) tracking achievements; and 5) opening up. The most important factor of these five steps is yourself!
Besides all the wonderful and informative talks that I attended, there was a social event for the speakers of the conference on the evening of the first day. I had the opportunity to interact and have great conversations with a number of other speakers. There were people of all levels and backgrounds, from software engineers like myself to CEOs. One interesting nugget that came out of a chat with two other women is that all three of us had children of the same age, so we spent some time talking about our children, their characteristics, and their amazing growth. These casual conversations were juxtaposed with longer discussions about topics like sexism and sexual harassment in the tech industry, and elsewhere in STEM.
During the conference, I went to the exhibition area during the lunch break, and spent some time talking to various companies that were there. The two best pieces of swag that I got were: a whistle I could attach to my keys (which perhaps reflects the state of our society in general), and a Pride flag pin, which to me demonstrated that the company not only cared about women, but also about other axes of diversity. One piece of advice that I gave two students who I chatted with over lunch is that it is extremely important to work for a company with the right culture. A good way to find such companies is to network: talk to other women and listen to what they say and don’t say. Another good place to start would be to check out the companies that had attendees, speakers, and booths at WoSV. Thus, I’d like to commend all the companies that fully support women and participated in the conference.
On Thursday, I gave a talk titled “How simulation accelerates the future.” I think the audience was the best I’ve ever had, and I had a wonderful experience giving the talk. In my discussion with other speakers later, I found that a common thought amongst us was that the audience was warm, friendly, and nice.
In summary, attending Women of Silicon Valley was a wonderful experience. I got to know many new people, listen to great, informative talks, and have insightful discussions with people. I look forward to attending other events, getting to know more people, and giving more talks in the future!
