Your checklist to stand out at vGHC ‘20
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2020 has come with a lot of surprises 🥵, and the biggest celebration of women in technology around the world going virtual was definitely one of them. I had the opportunity of attending my first Grace Hopper Conference last year, GHC ‘19, in Orlando, Florida 🎡. At the time, I complained about the heat and the humidity, the long waiting lines, expensive flight tickets and hotel reservations (thankfully I went on a scholarship but I STILL cribbed 🥵). In the world that we live in today, I take back all of my words. It was an experience that I will never forget - I met some strong, independent, very inspiring women. I gave my first in-person interview for a software engineer role - ever - at one of the career booths. I also had my first experience of a career fair, waiting in lines to meet the people I really wanted to meet, listened to some very exciting pitches from incredibly passionate women and over-all, had a blast of a time!
Sharing some of my pictures from last year’s GHC ‘19. You can click on the picture to open it in full size and read the description 😄
I have to start this post with kudos to the AnitaB Org and the GHC’20 team for taking up the monumental challenge of making this celebration online. With over 30,000 people attending the sessions over 5 days, a ground-breaking virtual career fair, exciting opportunities to network with women all over the world - I believe this year is going to be nothing short of legendary! I can think of a few reasons why going virtual is a good decision for the attendees; firstly, well, we are living in the middle of a pandemic and the only safe way to live right now is by being socially distant in person. Secondly, think of all the money you are saving for the flights and accommodation. Last but not the least, there will be so much time saved - you can attend the sessions, switch between sessions, go for an interview, and then register for another session right after that interview followed by a coffee chat with someone you e-met in one of the sessions - ALL from the comfort of your chair 🎉. No buffer time needed to move between sessions and interviews. Sounds genius to me - but also sounds like something that will need a tremendous amount of planning.
Having a compulsive list-making tendency and actual in-person GHC experience under my belt, here are some of the tips that I think will work to help you make the most out of vGHC 2020 😉:
Pre-vGHC preparation
✅ If you haven’t already, submit your resume to the resume-database
AnitaBOrg has a career center which makes the resumes of all the attendees available to the companies that are hiring during GHC. A lot of people are under the impression that the only way to get a job is AT the career fair, but that is not true. You can start the process much earlier by submitting your resume to the resume database. In fact, a lot of the companies will go through this database in advance to start contacting candidates that they will like to interview during the days of the celebration. The database opened a few weeks ago and stays open for the entire year, but is most effective at this time. So if you haven’t updated your resume and uploaded it - yet - now is the time!
🐦 Update your online presence and keep the links handy
This tip is useful for any online/offline conference you attend, and especially online because people are sitting on their laptops all day anyway; giving them an easy access to your social media / social presence will make it more likely for them to connect with you. This means it is time for you to update your LinkedIn ( have a test picture on your profile, update your headline, education, experiences etc), Instagram/Blog (in case you do have an online presence and have a profile that you are comfortable sharing with new people) and Twitter. I usually like to keep the links on a notes app on my phone and laptop, so in case anyone is interested, I can quickly share the hyperlinks with them. Reducing the effort that people need to make to connect with you will make it more likely for them to do so.
#️⃣ Update your social media with #vGHC20
Another thing to do is to update your headlines/bios with relevant hashtags, which in this case are #GHC20 or #vGHC20. This makes your profile searchable and you never know who will find you inspiring and want to connect with you! Here are the example of my twitter and instagram profiles.
📆 Decide which sessions you want to attend, register for them and add them to your calendar
GHC has a lot of sessions to choose from, a lot of them happen in parallel and have limited capacity. All this makes it very important to decide which sessions you will like to attend in advance and register for them to make sure your spot can be saved. Only register for a session which you are absolutely sure to attend to prevent the seat being taken away from someone who really wants it. Since the conference is virtual and sitting in one spot can make you forget the passage of time, add these sessions to your calendar and put alerts 10/15 minutes before the events so that you are less likely to forget attending a session.
During vGHC
📸 If there is an option to turn on the camera during sessions, TURN IT ON
Online conversations can easily become awkward (read: painful) if you are just talking to a screen. There are many advantages of having your camera on during the online conference, for example, it can make you pay more attention during the call, it can also make other people pay more attention to you compared to those who don’t have their cameras on. It also helps to make calls more personal, for example when you set up a 1:1 or when you are in a potential break-out room.
🐶 Keep your surroundings distraction free
Because you are going to have your camera on (read point 1 again if you didn’t think I was serious, I am very serious and you SHOULD have it on!!), it is important that you don’t have anything in your surroundings that may be distracting for other attendees. For example, while dogs are cute and all of us love them, their presence can be very distracting for you as well as others. Having said that, I understand that we are living in unprecedented times and since everyone is working from home, this step might be difficult for you - you might have a baby that needs your attention or kids running around the house, or a partner working the background - don’t beat yourself over it. You are doing the best that you can and I hope you continue to do so! 😄♥️
🗒 Have a notepad (or a second screen) for taking notes
This is more for convenience than anything else, but it is something that helps me better whether I am in a meeting or attending a lecture. Since the videos are going to be on the laptop screen / desktop monitor, if you are used to taking notes digitally, you will either have your “notes” window over the video call or reduce the size of the video window to allow you to take notes. You shouldn’t have to do that! (And you SHOULD take notes, the sessions at GHC are GOLD!). I suggest taking the notes in a physical notebook or in an iPad if you have one, or if not, then an additional monitor screen, such that you can use one screen for the video and one for taking the notes.
📣 Speak up in breakout rooms / discussion sessions
Speaking up in a room full of people can be daunting, and the motivation to speak up in a virtual call can be low, coupled with the anxiety to actually say something. BUT, once you speak up, there is little to lose and everything to gain - people will notice you, want to connect with you, you might find a mentor or a mentee, maybe even a lifelong friendship. Trust me, speaking up is worth the effort.
1️⃣ Be proactive about setting up quick 1:1s
This is so important! Just like you would meet someone at the actual conference, in between sessions or in the evening after sessions for coffee, be sure to ask people if they would be up for quick 1:1s either on call or on video chat for 10-15 minutes. Chatting is great, talking is better, video call is the best! If they yes, be ready to send them a quick invite for a Zoom / Meet call so being logged into these apps is the best strategy.
💻 Be wary of Zoom Fatigue
I am not sure if we will be using Zoom for the conference but whatever video conferencing software it is, the fatigue of staring at a screen all day is real. Make sure to step away every now and then, get a glass of water, go for a quick stroll and then settle back in to your seats again.
After GHC
💌 Send emails/Linkedin requests
Ideally, the sooner you do this, the better. But I can tell you that days can feel long and you can be overwhelmed by all the sessions you attend during the day(s). So if you are unable to connect with other people on the day of e-meeting them, do it right after the conference ends so that you are still fresh in their memory. Always include a message along with your invite, maybe a snippet of the conversation you had with them, so that they can distinguish you from all the other people they might have met.
🥳Take a day off
Well, the conference is over, you made some lifelong connections and learned a lot of new things. You also have now spent a lot more time on your screen than you have in quite some time - so turn off your systems, get an eye mask if you need, and take the well deserved day off you and your body both need! 🎉
I hope these tips are helpful! I can’t wait to connect with you at the conference. If you don’t follow me on social media already, here are my LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter and Youtube. I plan to document and share my journey as I attend this year’s celebration and will love to have you tag along!
Let me know in the comments below what you are most excited about for this year’s celebration! 🎉
