Grace Hopper

The Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing is a series of conferences designed to bring the research and career interests of women in computing to the forefront. Presenters are leaders in their respective fields, representing industrial, academic and government communities. Leading researchers present their current work, while special sessions focus on the role of women in today’s technology fields, including computer science, information technology, research, and engineering.

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In 2018, the conference was held in the George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston, Texas from September 26–28. Scroll down to see a daily blog and special tips!

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“We arrived at GHC at 7:45 am to pick up our badges. We got a GHC and Google tote bag to hold all of our swag. We then walked around Discovery Green and got free coffee from Audible. In Discovery Green. Google had a tent where they had breakfast, cookies, popcorn, and free socks. Then we walked over to the Toyota center where we listened to the opening keynote. Padmasree Warrior started off with a talk about autonomous vehicles and women leaders. She also gave this piece of advice as follows: ‘Open doors and go through them; keep your eyes on the stars and feet on the ground; and work across boundaries.’ Next Jessica O. Matthews talked about her journey from college psychology student to business owner, and she told us, ‘Just because it’s not your plan doesn’t mean it’s not your destiny.’ She even jumped rope in heels! After the keynote, we got lunch from the food trucks in front of the George R. Brown Convention Center. After lunch, we split up, and I went to the career expo. I talked to many companies, some of which do not come to Engineering Expo or the CNS Fair. As I talked to the companies, I began to collect a lot of swag! In between talking to companies, I also took a few breaks at the lounge throughout the career expo floor and charged my phone. When the career expo ended, we went to dinner near the convention center.”

“We arrived at GHC at 8:45 am and we got free coffee from Groupon. After that I had an interview that I got from the career expo the previous day. When my interview finished I walked around the career expo for 30 minutes. We then went to the UT Women in Tech Brunch at Xochi, a restaurant near the convention center. We had brunch, and Professor Norman interviewed Adriane McFetridge, Director of Engineering at Netflix. After the brunch, I walked around the career expo and collected more swag. I then took a hour break since I was so tired from walking around the conference. For dinner, I walked to the Conservatory, a food hall in downtown Houston and got a bowl of pho. I had RSVP’d to the Twitter party, so I took a Lyft to the venue, Warehouse Live. They had free food, swag, and music. Also, I think I saw the CEO of Twitter and Square, Jack Dorsey, walking around the event. I took a picture at their photo booth, and since there was a space theme for the event, there was an astronaut suit there.”

“We arrived at the convention center at 9:00 am, and we went to a coffee and crepes event held by Stripe in Discovery Green. The line was long, so we didn’t get our crepes until 10, but we played checkers with some of the Stripe employees while in line. After that we stopped by the Google tent which was much less crowded than the first day. I then walked back to the career expo to talk to a few more companies and collect swag. I also walked around the technology showcase and the gallery about women in tech. Then I went to a session about using voice assistants to help people made by a designer of Siri. After that, we walked around the career expo one last time to take pictures and get swag. We then took a group picture at the block letters and walked to the Toyota Center for the closing keynote. We had dinner at the Conservatory, a food hall in downtown Houston. We walked back to the convention center for the evening celebration. It was a big dance party with free food! Overall, I had a great time at the Grace Hopper Celebration and would love to go again! I would highly recommend you to go at least once!”