CICWIC Central Indiana Celebration of Women in Computing

1. CICWICCentral Indiana Celebration ofWomen in Computing Gloria Townsend Beth Plale Suzanne Menzel Barb Clark Townsend, Plale, Menzel, Clark

2. Introductions Gloria Townsend Professor of Computer Science, DePauw University Beth Plale Assistant Professor of Computer Science, Indiana University Suzanne Menzel Senior Lecturer in Computer Science, Indiana University Barb Clark Director, Science Diversity Office, Purdue University Townsend, Plale, Menzel, Clark

3. Huge Thanks • University sponsors: DePauw, Butler, Rose-Hulman, Indiana, Purdue • Corporate sponsors: Hewlett-Packard, CREW, Microsoft • ACM-W Townsend, Plale, Menzel, Clark

4. Inspiration and Motivation • Brainchild of Gloria Townsend: mini-GHC • Foster connections between Indiana schools • Women supporting women • Technical component • Women leaders from industry and academics • Relationship building: networking and mentoring opportunities Townsend, Plale, Menzel, Clark

5. Planning Beth Plale Indiana University plale@indiana.edu Townsend, Plale, Menzel, Clark

6. Planning Areas • Venue • Keynote speaker • Program • Panels • Poster session • Fund raising • Marketing • Give-aways • 6-9 month planning cycle Guiding philosophy: Keep it short, Keep it cheap Townsend, Plale, Menzel, Clark plale@indiana.edu

7. Planning: Organizational Committee • Who: wanted all 5 area schools represented • How to organize: divided based on strengths, interests, and connections • Connections for panel speakers and for fund raising • How to meet: held F2F early on. • F2F was excellent idea; got idea of people’s strengths, weaknesses, commitment level, and interests • Communicated by e-mail thereafter • All organizational committee members were e-mail responsive. Important for making steady progress. Townsend, Plale, Menzel, Clark plale@indiana.edu

8. Planning: Program Selection • Who is our audience? • Undergraduates from liberal arts college who were trying to decide whether to marry or have a career, to the urban evening student, to the 4th year PhD student. • This was probably the toughest issue to get right. Went with • Grad panel • Technical panel • Undergrad panel • Career panel • Poster session held during registration Townsend, Plale, Menzel, Clark plale@indiana.edu

9. Planning: Keynote Speaker • Our maxim: get the maximum amount of speaker possible for the most reasonable cost. • Found sponsorship for this • Chose keynote speaker that understood the intent of the conference (a good idea) • Leah Jamieson gave our keynote – a technical keynote that wove in a female thread • She then stayed for the remainder of the retreat. Townsend, Plale, Menzel, Clark plale@indiana.edu

10. Planning: Venue • Held at Indiana State Park hotel. • Reasonable rates in February • Central location • No Magnificent Mile to lure people away. • It’s got to have good vegetarian food. • Someone has to go check it out. • Take sketch pad – you’ll be asked to clarify every nook and cranny of the place 100 times to the rest of the committee over the next 3-6 months. Townsend, Plale, Menzel, Clark plale@indiana.edu

11. Planning: Marketing • Early announcement to send to potential sponsors and speakers • Early web site presence • On-line registration • Brochure that creates excitement and outlines registration process • Our brochure did great job creating an atmosphere of fun (e.g., slumber party) • Nametags – essential • Video – very useful for claiming success afterwards • Goodies – t-shirts, pens, raffle items donated by sponsors Townsend, Plale, Menzel, Clark

12. Basic Format • Overnight at McCormick’s Creek State Park: 4pm on Fri to 1pm on Sat • Cozy Inn setting • Low cost: $15 early, $25 late • Poster session, Keynote speaker, Panel discussions Townsend, Plale, Menzel, Clark

13. Socialization Opportunities • Dinner, Breakfast, Lunch • Roommates • Film screening • Slumber party • Midnight hike To Dream Tomorrow John Fuegi and Jo Francis Wolf Cave Townsend, Plale, Menzel, Clark

14. WIC@IU Back row L to R: Cherry Liu, Ying Liu, Nithya Sivaraman, Nithya Vijaykumar. Front row L to R: Deepti Kodeboyina, Poornima Venkatakrishnan. Townsend, Plale, Menzel, Clark

15. Panels • Four panels • Careers in Industry and Academics • The Student Perspective • Technical (Bioinformatics and Health) • Looking to the Future • Three or four panelists, mostly women, plus moderator • Q/A or individual presentations • Balancing personal life with professional Townsend, Plale, Menzel, Clark

16. Student Panel Panel of undergraduate students discuss the perils and pleasures of pursuing degrees in computing at their respective institutions: Rose-Hulman, Butler, DePauw, Purdue, and IU. Moderated by Barb Clark, Purdue. Townsend, Plale, Menzel, Clark

17. What Worked • Keynote speaker: Leah Jamison talked about software projects that addressed community needs • Panels with three people • Round tables of 8-10 people for meals • Lovely setting Townsend, Plale, Menzel, Clark

18. What Didn’t Work • Four person technical panel was overwhelming for undergraduates • Hike plans were abandoned due to weather conditions • Registration area was too far from poster area • “Look to the Future” panel was useful for the inaugural conference, but can be omitted in future versions Townsend, Plale, Menzel, Clark

19. Evaluations • 4.22 (1-5 scale, 5 being the best) in response to the comment, “I feel my time at CICWIC was well spent” • 95.4% of the attendants said they would return to a conference like this as well as recommend it to a friend Townsend, Plale, Menzel, Clark

20. Recommendations • Three panelists is an absolute maximum • Consider parallel tracks: graduates and undergraduates have different expectations • Short breakout sessions following each panel • Registration area should be in vicinity of poster area • Snacks, ice-breaker activities at registration • Better leisure activities; BoFs perhaps • Encourage students from different schools to mingle; allow students to room with friends, but possibly prepare a seating chart for meals Townsend, Plale, Menzel, Clark

21. Discussion • What is your reaction? • What similar conferences or retreats have you had at your institutions? • What do you see as the major obstacle to organizing such a conference in your state or region? Townsend, Plale, Menzel, Clark

22. Contact Information Gloria Townsend gct@depauw.edu Beth Plale plale@indiana.edu Suzanne Menzel menzel@indiana.edu Barb Clark BarbClark@purdue.edu Townsend, Plale, Menzel, Clark