October 24, 2024 • 26 mins
In this episode of Imperfect Genius, Rachel is fresh off her trip to the 2024 Grace Hopper Celebration in Philadelphia and excited to share all the highs, lows, and lessons from the experience.
From engaging conversations with fellow women of color in tech to navigating a packed conference schedule and dealing with introvert overload, Rachel will take you through each day of this fantastic event. She shares reflections on her sessions, some unexpected challenges, and the importance of finding time to recharge.
If you’re curious about what it’s like to attend the largest women-in-tech conference in the world or just want to hear more about Rachel’s takeaways, you don’t want to miss this episode!
Want to join in the discussion? Call or text (404) 425-9862 with your questions.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:16):
Welcome to Imperfect Genius, the podcast that helps Black women thrive by providingtechnical advice on effectively navigating the business development journey and offers
advice to all women on building successful careers in the tech industry.
I'm your host, Rachel Foster, a tech professional, educator, and entrepreneur.
So hey, folks, I am back from the Grace Hopper Celebration in Philadelphia.
(00:37):
And originally, I had a thought that I thought was brilliant at the time.
which was that I was going to record this video diary while I was at the conference.
But what I failed to take into under consideration was just how busy and chaotic theconference would be and that and noisy and just the idea of recording while I'm walking
(00:59):
around the conference.
Just, I don't know what I was thinking.
I thought, I don't know.
I didn't, I didn't take that into consideration, but more importantly, I did not thinkabout the fact that I am a complete introvert.
I know I don't come across that way.
But the reason I bring that up is that I didn't think about, because I was like, well,even if I can't record during the day, then when I get back to my hotel room at night, I
(01:25):
can always just sort of record my summary of the day.
I don't know.
I don't even watch reality TV, but I feel like I've watched too many reality TV shows.
And it wasn't in my head that they have full producers that are doing those like end ofday wrap up things.
It's not somebody doing it themselves on a selfie stick or whatever.
So I just had like this image in my head of what this was gonna go like and it did not goanything like that.
(01:49):
I do have some clips I'm gonna so what I'm gonna do is I'm gonna play the I did do a videodiary at the end of days one to there's a four-day conference so I did do a video diary at
the end of days one two and three and I'm gonna play each clip and then we'll talk aboutit on the other side and then we'll sort of wrap up with some final thoughts, but
(02:11):
Just know that, you're here.
It was rough at the end of each day.
I had like zero energy.
I'm not even sure what the volume levels are gonna be like.
So this will be interesting.
So let's take a listen.
Okay, I might have bitten off a little bit more than I can chew with this video diarything.
(02:36):
It's day one, the end of day one, but it's been a really long day one.
I only had a couple hours of sleep.
I was working on a webpage for a landing page for a swag giveaway and then I was packingand just doing a bunch of stuff and then barely made my flight and came in.
(02:59):
got my badge, there's a speaker reception.
Anyway, it's been a really long day.
I'm really exhausted and I don't know how well this recording is gonna go.
I'm gonna make this one short.
Maybe, you know, it'll be better or, you know, I'll have more to say in subsequent days.
So there was a speaker reception.
(03:19):
There was some issue with the hotel when I first checked in.
That ended up being fine, but.
And then there was a speaker reception, which was amazing.
Well, I mean, it's just a basic reception, know, finger food and everybody just sort ofmingling.
And I never know what to do.
You know, there's people at regular tables and high top tables talking to people that theyalready know or met or like, and most of the tables are full.
(03:42):
So you're like, you never know what to do in those sort of things.
There was somebody that I met right when I walked in the door and turned out it wassomebody that I already had a one-on-one brain date with tomorrow.
And so we started chit chatting.
So we already sort of knew each other because we had this, we set up this brain date andthen we found an empty space at another table.
(04:04):
We went over and started talking to those folks.
And then, so when we first walked up, so the person I had the brain date with, she was anIndian woman.
And when we first walked up, there was a black woman and two white ladies there at thetable.
And then we all introduced each other, sorry, we all introduced,
(04:25):
ourselves to one another and talked about our roles, et cetera, et But then later it wasjust me and the Indian woman and the other Black woman.
then we were chit chatting and then another Black woman came up.
The short version of what the story, what I'm trying to say is we ended up having thistable full of Black and brown women.
And it was just, had just an amazing conversation and we were talking about some really,you we were talking about socially.
(04:52):
responsible stuff with regard to women of color in tech, also we were one of the ladieswas a PhD candidate and we were talking about her thesis and it was like a very deep
technical conversation.
was just, it was just so amazing to be at a table chit chatting with black and brown womenwho were super smart, super tech, high level leadership.
(05:15):
just, was, it was great.
It was a great thing.
And then I kept thinking, I should probably.
I should probably go talk to other people, what do you do?
You just walk up to another table and start talking to them?
I don't know, I just feel awkward.
when we had our little table, until they started, they had to kick us out.
They were like, okay, it's over.
And we were still at the table talking and we walked out in the hall and kept talking.
(05:39):
And I don't know, it was great.
So day one, exhausting, I'm so tired, but it was a good conversation.
It's got a very busy day ahead tomorrow, so that'll be very interesting.
So stay tuned.
We'll see.
Okay.
So as you can see or hear, if you're watching the video, can see or, but if you'relistening, then as you can hear, I was exhausted.
(06:03):
The thing that I forgot to mention in that day one wrap up was that I missed, well, Ididn't know it at the time that I was recording.
I missed the opening session and I missed America Ferrera's speech, which was apparentlyamazing.
I think I can go watch it online.
So if you were a conference attendee, you got to go obviously to the sessions in person,but then you could also go watch the recordings.
(06:28):
You could watch any of the recordings virtually during the conference and you can watchit, think up to 60 days after the conference.
And then if you have an AnitaB.org membership, then you can watch it for a longer periodof time.
So all that to say, I can go back and watch the America Ferrera speech, but I missed itand I heard it was amazing.
And the reason that I missed it is because they never, this kind of bugged me.
(06:50):
They never announced, they announced that they were going to have these big speakers.
They were going to have America Ferreira and Viola Davis, but they never said when theywere speaking.
so I didn't, I mean, later we figured out that America Ferreira spoke at the openingsession and Viola Davis spoke at the closing session, but that wasn't, there was nowhere
on the agenda when you're scheduling, you're planning your days of, you know, planningthat in, unless you knew that they were going to be speaking at the opening and closing
(07:15):
sessions.
And so I flew in onto the opening session was on Tuesday.
I don't know what time.
Let's just Tuesday late afternoon.
Like I'm making up time.
So let's say like four o'clock or whatever.
And I flew in, got to the, to my hotel around that time.
I don't remember, you know, I might've gotten there before that time.
And I went to the hotel, checked in.
(07:37):
Like I mentioned in the clip, there was an issue with my room.
So I dropped off my bag at the Bell station and I went to go get my bag, walked over tothe commitment center to get my badge and then came back to the hotel because I was going
to have the speaker reception later that night.
Well, let's say later that night.
It was like in an hour or in 30 minutes or something like that.
My point is
(07:58):
When I was over at the convention center getting my badge, nobody said, by the way, goupstairs to the second floor because the opening session is happening and America Ferrera
is speaking.
Like there was nothing to indicate that upstairs was the opening session and that, youknow, there was going to be this big guest speaker.
So I go get my badge and then I leave.
Like there was just nothing to indicate that that was happening.
(08:19):
So I went and got the badge and I thought it was, I thought it was weird that it was kindof empty.
That's apparently because everybody was upstairs watching America Ferrera speech and Ispeak and I
you know, just got my badge and went back to the hotel to get, you know, a little bit ofrest before the speaker reception.
So I just completely missed the opening session and completely missed that, that speech.
that, that I found that out later, which really bummed me out.
(08:42):
so that was day one.
Let's, let's take a listen to what I had to say about day two.
Okay.
So I just wrapped up day two at Grace Hopper and it was another amazing, exhausting day.
and it ended on a really high note.
So let's go through the highlights.
I started the day with a reception for Black Women in Tech, which was awesome.
(09:05):
And I got a chance to meet the president and CEO, two different people, of AnitaB.org,which is the organization that puts on the Grace Harper celebration.
Both of them are Black women.
I was able to meet them, which was awesome, and took some pictures, met lots of greatwomen, had great conversations in that reception.
and then headed over to the convention hall and had some brain dates, found this awesomehidden lounge that was perfect for an introvert to just sort of like decompress in between
(09:35):
sessions and hang out.
Tried to make it over to the expo hall.
The thing that I learned today, there's a couple, we'll talk about the most importantthing I learned in just a minute, but there's a couple things I learned about being a
speaker at Grace Hopper, which is you can't necessarily plan your day the same as youwould if you were an attendee because
you've got certain times that you need to be at certain places for your sessions.
(09:59):
And if you'd want to attend someone else's session, the thing I didn't think about isthere would be lines.
There was actually queuing rooms for some of these sessions.
So I'm thinking I'm going to rush from my Brain Date session to head over to go watchanother session, which first of all, I didn't know it was two buildings over.
This convention center is massive.
So I'm heading down two blocks to even get to the place.
(10:22):
And then I get there and there's just
huge long line outside and I was like there's no way by the time I get through the linethis session is going to be over.
Then somebody told me later another speaker was like no you have the speaker's badge youcould have just walked through which I probably would have felt a little some kind of way
about that if I just tried to walk to the front of the line and it's not really mypersonality type but I don't know if it happens again maybe I'll consider it I don't know
(10:47):
but I didn't get a chance to make it to that session and then headed back and then hadsome more sessions.
and wrapped up the day with a really amazing group of women from Capital One and had agreat dinner, which for me is saying a lot.
I have lots of food allergies and can't always find things to eat, especially when I'm onthe road because I can't predict and I don't know the ingredients of everything.
(11:11):
So for me to have a good dinner, that's a really big deal.
And we had such a great conversation.
And you would think...
As an introvert, having had all of these sessions during the day and being at thisconvention center with all these people, that's very draining.
And I was drained when I got back to my room, but I had a little bit of a downtime beforegoing out for dinner.
And the conversation was just so, it was fun and free flowing and it was very relaxing.
(11:35):
So was a really great way to end the day again with great food, great conversation.
Lovely ladies talking to, hey ladies talking to the folks at Capital One.
So yes, that was a good ending to the day.
The thing that I think the most important thing that I learned today is that I am possiblythe worst selfie taker in the world.
(11:59):
I take the absolute worst selfies.
I'm not sure what I'm going to do from a social media content perspective.
I took selfies all day at all these different things and with all these different people,amazing people, and they're just so horrible.
They're just the worst pictures.
I have ever taken.
I'm good at taking pictures of other people.
(12:20):
I am not good at taking selfies.
So I'm not really sure what I'm going to do from a social media perspective for today.
But yeah, that was an important lesson is that I'm a terrible selfie taker.
Also, if you're a speaker at the conference, then maybe you need to plan your day a littlebit differently.
(12:40):
But all that aside, that's sort of lighthearted jest.
Again, it was really great conversations.
with really lovely women.
My sessions were good.
Had some really insightful conversations.
I love the idea of the Brain Day.
Again, that's one of the reasons that I specifically chose that as my session type wasbecause I wanted to just have a conversation.
(13:00):
I didn't want to talk at people.
I wanted to have a conversation and we had really good conversations today.
And you know, the thing about having a conversation, you don't have to have the answers.
I had a lot of opinions, but I wanted to hear other people's opinions and hear theirthoughts and.
It was just really good.
It was a really good day.
So I'm exhausted.
This is going to be a short episode or this isn't the full episode.
(13:22):
This part, this clip of for the episode, it's going to be kind of short because I'm reallyexhausted.
I've got three more brain dates tomorrow.
I had some sessions on my calendar.
think I'll need to adjust my calendar a little bit.
And also I'm going to try to make it over to the expo hall so that I can see the vendorsand maybe get some awesome swag.
see.
(13:42):
So until next time soon.
Bye.
So as you can hear in that clip, I had a way more energy and that has a lot to do with thedinner that I had.
Like I say, like normally I'm starving and exhausted.
So I had a good break before dinner and a good dinner, which is so rare for me when I'm onthe road and just great conversation.
(14:06):
Thanks again to the ladies at Capital One.
So yeah, I had a lot more energy in that one.
I do want to correct something that I said.
I said that I met the president and CEO of AnitaB.org and I said two different women.
I did meet two different women.
I just misspoke.
So I met Brenda Darden Wilkerson, who is the president and CEO of AnitaB.org, but I alsomet Lucia Hicks Williams, who is the COO.
(14:33):
So I meant to say I met the CEO and the COO, two different women, but I said it wrong.
I met, again, I met Brenda and Lucia.
So just wanted to clarify that.
But so, yeah, so day two was the bulk.
That's when I had most of my set when I had three sessions on day two and three sessionson day four or three or four.
I've lost track.
But yeah, day two was a lot better because I had that great dinner.
(14:58):
So it ended on a high note, but it was just really good.
I had my sessions.
I learned my lesson about not booking things back to back.
The rest of it I said in the clip.
But yeah, day two was pretty good.
Let's listen to what I had to say about day three.
Well, day three of GHC was quite a doozy.
(15:23):
Mostly because I was dealing with a drama back at home with a sick dog and that was a hugedistraction for the second half of my day and there was just a lot going on.
So even though I was still doing sessions and events, it was...
(15:45):
I wasn't fully present for all of those, but it was a good day.
had several more brain date sessions, some group sessions and some one-on-one sessions.
I did a community lounge with black women in tech.
then I was, unfortunately, I was there for the pitch competition, but missed most of itbecause I was texting about my dog.
(16:14):
talking to the vet and other things.
yeah, I really, really wanted to watch the pitch competition just as an entrepreneur.
I wanted to see what kind of new startups were pitching and who won.
I wanted to, there was an audience vote for the best pitch as well as the judge's finalvote.
(16:38):
And I missed most of that, unfortunately.
I saw the announcement of the winners, but I don't.
I didn't see their pitches, so don't know if they're who I...
I didn't participate in the audience vote because I hadn't seen all the pitches.
I'm to go back and watch or read about the various companies just so that I can see whichones, know, learn more about the ones that won.
(17:01):
So I was sorry that I missed that and there was a reception after that and had some goodconversation in the reception after that.
It's just, again, just another super exhausting day.
The final morning session is tomorrow morning.
I think I'm going to attend that.
I'm hoping that Viola Davis is going to be there.
I hear that she wasn't in the opening session on day one.
(17:26):
America Ferrera spoke at that one, and unfortunately I missed it because I was travelingin, and I missed that.
So I think I'm going to attend the session tomorrow morning before I get on a plane.
again, I'm hoping Viola Davis will be there as the guest speaker.
and got some swag that I got to give away for some of my participants.
I got some things that I got to finish up.
(17:48):
This, not this podcast, but the podcast episode that's being released while I'm at theconference that you would have heard, it should have been the previous episode as of the
time that this one is released.
I still have to get that one posted.
That was a little bit delayed because of...
my travel and whatnot.
So I've got a lot of work to do and then I got to pack and then I've got the openingsession tomorrow and then I'm going to head home.
(18:15):
but it's been a good, it's been a really good conference, really good connections, reallygreat conversation, really, really great conversations.
I'm definitely going to try to come next year.
I've also already been talking to some other folks about sessions, doing some jointsessions and things.
So.
I'm looking forward to applying to be here again next year.
(18:39):
So it's just been an amazing conference.
I'll probably try to record a final wrap up.
I don't know, after flying home tomorrow, I think I'll be too tired to record that.
I'll probably do it on Saturday, just sort of final thoughts as a wrap up for just sort ofmy Grace Hopper experience.
But it's been really wonderful.
(19:00):
Whew, that one was hard to watch.
I look beat down for those of you who are watching the video.
I sound it too for those who are just listening to the audio.
But, you know, ended on a good note.
was wonderful conference, as you heard there.
Let me, couple things.
One, I am really bummed that I missed out on the pitch competition.
(19:21):
That was one of the big things I was looking forward to as a big highlight.
Again, as someone who does...
business consulting and tech consulting for business owners.
I was really looking forward to watching those pitches.
I was really looking forward to meeting those ladies at the reception.
Unfortunately, I can say I was dealing with the drama with a sick dog and it was moreimportant to me to make sure that he got taken care of and I just, I missed a lot of it.
(19:47):
And by the time it was over, I was hungry, I was starving and I just went back to my roomand I just sort of crashed.
I'm really bummed that I missed out on that.
If I go next year, I'm definitely going to do what I have to do to prioritize going to thecompetition next year.
The other thing is I was planning to go to the closing session in person to see ViolaDavis, because as I said, figured out that, okay, well, if America Ferrera spoke in the
(20:16):
opening session, then my guess is that Viola Davis is going to speak in the closingsession, even though as far as I know, it was never officially announced.
I know they were sending out daily updates, but I don't remember seeing that at all.
So I was planning to, because my hotel was connected to the convention center, I thought,okay, well, I should be able to jump over there really quickly, watch that, come back, get
(20:41):
my bag and head to the airport.
But here's the thing though.
for certain sessions, they were forcing you to go through certain doors.
And there was a message that came, an email that came out the night before saying that,the opening session was going to be from nine to 10.
And they sent out something saying that they were going to open the doors for the openingsession at, I think 7 45 or something like that.
(21:02):
It was like an hour, a little bit more than an hour early.
And then I realized that I probably wouldn't be able to take the shortcut from my hotelacross the bridge into the convention center and go in that way that I'd probably have to
go in.
through another door and there'd be like a long line.
And I just, was like, I was too exhausted to deal with it.
And since you could see all of the sessions online, I was like, why don't I just, I waslike, here's, here's a better idea for me, you know, me as an introvert.
(21:25):
How about I order room service and I have breakfast in my room and I watched the openingsession on my computer.
And then that way I can see everything very clearly.
And actually I, so I did that and it was great.
And her speech was good or it was more of a, it wasn't a speech.
It was a fireside chat.
But I saw some pictures from people who took pictures.
You know, they posted them on LinkedIn, whatnot.
(21:47):
And it was like stadium seating and you could barely see the stage.
So I feel like I made the right choice.
And you know, it was a little bit of a introversion cop out to go, okay, I'll just watchit online.
But I, like I said, I had to get, had to pack my bag and get to the airport and had a lotgoing on.
And it was the last day and I just.
I feel like I made the right choice.
(22:07):
didn't get a chance to see, you know, be in the room with Viola Davis, but I did get achance to see her speech.
So there was that.
But again, as I said in that clip, you know, it was a really good conference.
I'm looking forward to applying to be there next year.
And like I said, I've made some connections and talking to people about collaborating onsome things for next year.
(22:31):
So I'm very much looking forward to that.
Overall, it was a really good experience.
I have to say.
I've been to lots and lots of conferences over the years and even, you know, smallconferences, big conferences.
This one was the best from a networking perspective, just because the connections were sogenuine.
(22:54):
And maybe it's because it was, you know, it's a women's tech conference, but also I wasattending these specific receptions and community lounges that were for women of color.
It was just, I don't know, was from a network perspective, this was by far the bestconference I attended for that purpose.
A lot of times you go to conferences, you do meet some people, but networking is notnecessarily the greatest.
(23:16):
I didn't make it over to the expo hall to get any kind of cool swag.
Again, that's something I'll try to fix for next time.
And by the time I got home, wow.
I crashed for days afterwards.
I mentioned in that clip that I thought I was gonna record the final wrap up thatSaturday, the next day, then no, I'm recording it a week later because I just crashed for
(23:42):
like four days after I got back because I was so completely burned out.
By the way, the dog is fine.
I may share a picture of him in the video if I do.
He'll be right here.
don't know if I'm going to put that in there or not, but he's fine.
was, he was just, well, originally the doctor thought he was just stressed out and missingme, but actually I think there was an issue with his food.
(24:07):
I'm still working through what happened there, but he's fine.
He was just dehydrated and not doing so great, but thank you to my friend, Yazzie for herawesome efforts there and getting him to the vet for me.
Thank you so much.
so that's going to wrap, but well, actually I take the back.
(24:27):
That's going to wrap up this episode with regard to my reactions to the Grace Hopperconference.
what I'm thinking I'm going to do is do one final episode in this series.
I don't know if you all are sick of hearing about Grace Hopper, but I'm thinking I'm goingto do one more episode.
I want to talk to someone that I met there that I'm planning on collaborating with nextyear, about her.
(24:48):
was at it.
She's another speaker.
And I want to talk to her about her speaking experience as well as just her networkingexperience.
so I think the next episode is going to be, I'm not saying the name yet because I haven'tconfirmed yet that she's going to be on.
But hopefully the next episode will be a wrap up with just another speaker that I'm hopingto collaborate with next year.
(25:10):
Just talking about, just to get another perspective, somebody else's perspective of theirexperience.
So we'll end this here.
We'll end this episode here.
If you have any questions, can give us a call at 404-425-9862 and leave us a voicemail orsend us a text.
If you want to connect on social media, it's at Ask Imperfect Genius.
(25:31):
You can subscribe to our newsletter at subscribe.imperfectgenius.com.
I will confess that I am behind on newsletters more for my newsletter subscribers more onthat soon.
I will send out a message about that.
But again, if you want the show notes,
You can subscribe to the newsletter as well as just general information and things likethat.
And until next time, this is Rachel Foster reminding you that while your journey may notbe flawless, it can be phenomenal.
Welcome to Imperfect Genius, the podcast that helps Black women thrive by providingtechnical advice on effectively navigating the business development journey and offers
advice to all women on building successful careers in the tech industry.
I'm your host, Rachel Foster, a tech professional, educator, and entrepreneur.
So hey, folks, I am back from the Grace Hopper Celebration in Philadelphia.
(00:37):
And originally, I had a thought that I thought was brilliant at the time.
which was that I was going to record this video diary while I was at the conference.
But what I failed to take into under consideration was just how busy and chaotic theconference would be and that and noisy and just the idea of recording while I'm walking
(00:59):
around the conference.
Just, I don't know what I was thinking.
I thought, I don't know.
I didn't, I didn't take that into consideration, but more importantly, I did not thinkabout the fact that I am a complete introvert.
I know I don't come across that way.
But the reason I bring that up is that I didn't think about, because I was like, well,even if I can't record during the day, then when I get back to my hotel room at night, I
(01:25):
can always just sort of record my summary of the day.
I don't know.
I don't even watch reality TV, but I feel like I've watched too many reality TV shows.
And it wasn't in my head that they have full producers that are doing those like end ofday wrap up things.
It's not somebody doing it themselves on a selfie stick or whatever.
So I just had like this image in my head of what this was gonna go like and it did not goanything like that.
(01:49):
I do have some clips I'm gonna so what I'm gonna do is I'm gonna play the I did do a videodiary at the end of days one to there's a four-day conference so I did do a video diary at
the end of days one two and three and I'm gonna play each clip and then we'll talk aboutit on the other side and then we'll sort of wrap up with some final thoughts, but
(02:11):
Just know that, you're here.
It was rough at the end of each day.
I had like zero energy.
I'm not even sure what the volume levels are gonna be like.
So this will be interesting.
So let's take a listen.
Okay, I might have bitten off a little bit more than I can chew with this video diarything.
(02:36):
It's day one, the end of day one, but it's been a really long day one.
I only had a couple hours of sleep.
I was working on a webpage for a landing page for a swag giveaway and then I was packingand just doing a bunch of stuff and then barely made my flight and came in.
(02:59):
got my badge, there's a speaker reception.
Anyway, it's been a really long day.
I'm really exhausted and I don't know how well this recording is gonna go.
I'm gonna make this one short.
Maybe, you know, it'll be better or, you know, I'll have more to say in subsequent days.
So there was a speaker reception.
(03:19):
There was some issue with the hotel when I first checked in.
That ended up being fine, but.
And then there was a speaker reception, which was amazing.
Well, I mean, it's just a basic reception, know, finger food and everybody just sort ofmingling.
And I never know what to do.
You know, there's people at regular tables and high top tables talking to people that theyalready know or met or like, and most of the tables are full.
(03:42):
So you're like, you never know what to do in those sort of things.
There was somebody that I met right when I walked in the door and turned out it wassomebody that I already had a one-on-one brain date with tomorrow.
And so we started chit chatting.
So we already sort of knew each other because we had this, we set up this brain date andthen we found an empty space at another table.
(04:04):
We went over and started talking to those folks.
And then, so when we first walked up, so the person I had the brain date with, she was anIndian woman.
And when we first walked up, there was a black woman and two white ladies there at thetable.
And then we all introduced each other, sorry, we all introduced,
(04:25):
ourselves to one another and talked about our roles, et cetera, et But then later it wasjust me and the Indian woman and the other Black woman.
then we were chit chatting and then another Black woman came up.
The short version of what the story, what I'm trying to say is we ended up having thistable full of Black and brown women.
And it was just, had just an amazing conversation and we were talking about some really,you we were talking about socially.
(04:52):
responsible stuff with regard to women of color in tech, also we were one of the ladieswas a PhD candidate and we were talking about her thesis and it was like a very deep
technical conversation.
was just, it was just so amazing to be at a table chit chatting with black and brown womenwho were super smart, super tech, high level leadership.
(05:15):
just, was, it was great.
It was a great thing.
And then I kept thinking, I should probably.
I should probably go talk to other people, what do you do?
You just walk up to another table and start talking to them?
I don't know, I just feel awkward.
when we had our little table, until they started, they had to kick us out.
They were like, okay, it's over.
And we were still at the table talking and we walked out in the hall and kept talking.
(05:39):
And I don't know, it was great.
So day one, exhausting, I'm so tired, but it was a good conversation.
It's got a very busy day ahead tomorrow, so that'll be very interesting.
So stay tuned.
We'll see.
Okay.
So as you can see or hear, if you're watching the video, can see or, but if you'relistening, then as you can hear, I was exhausted.
(06:03):
The thing that I forgot to mention in that day one wrap up was that I missed, well, Ididn't know it at the time that I was recording.
I missed the opening session and I missed America Ferrera's speech, which was apparentlyamazing.
I think I can go watch it online.
So if you were a conference attendee, you got to go obviously to the sessions in person,but then you could also go watch the recordings.
(06:28):
You could watch any of the recordings virtually during the conference and you can watchit, think up to 60 days after the conference.
And then if you have an AnitaB.org membership, then you can watch it for a longer periodof time.
So all that to say, I can go back and watch the America Ferrera speech, but I missed itand I heard it was amazing.
And the reason that I missed it is because they never, this kind of bugged me.
(06:50):
They never announced, they announced that they were going to have these big speakers.
They were going to have America Ferreira and Viola Davis, but they never said when theywere speaking.
so I didn't, I mean, later we figured out that America Ferreira spoke at the openingsession and Viola Davis spoke at the closing session, but that wasn't, there was nowhere
on the agenda when you're scheduling, you're planning your days of, you know, planningthat in, unless you knew that they were going to be speaking at the opening and closing
(07:15):
sessions.
And so I flew in onto the opening session was on Tuesday.
I don't know what time.
Let's just Tuesday late afternoon.
Like I'm making up time.
So let's say like four o'clock or whatever.
And I flew in, got to the, to my hotel around that time.
I don't remember, you know, I might've gotten there before that time.
And I went to the hotel, checked in.
(07:37):
Like I mentioned in the clip, there was an issue with my room.
So I dropped off my bag at the Bell station and I went to go get my bag, walked over tothe commitment center to get my badge and then came back to the hotel because I was going
to have the speaker reception later that night.
Well, let's say later that night.
It was like in an hour or in 30 minutes or something like that.
My point is
(07:58):
When I was over at the convention center getting my badge, nobody said, by the way, goupstairs to the second floor because the opening session is happening and America Ferrera
is speaking.
Like there was nothing to indicate that upstairs was the opening session and that, youknow, there was going to be this big guest speaker.
So I go get my badge and then I leave.
Like there was just nothing to indicate that that was happening.
(08:19):
So I went and got the badge and I thought it was, I thought it was weird that it was kindof empty.
That's apparently because everybody was upstairs watching America Ferrera speech and Ispeak and I
you know, just got my badge and went back to the hotel to get, you know, a little bit ofrest before the speaker reception.
So I just completely missed the opening session and completely missed that, that speech.
that, that I found that out later, which really bummed me out.
(08:42):
so that was day one.
Let's, let's take a listen to what I had to say about day two.
Okay.
So I just wrapped up day two at Grace Hopper and it was another amazing, exhausting day.
and it ended on a really high note.
So let's go through the highlights.
I started the day with a reception for Black Women in Tech, which was awesome.
(09:05):
And I got a chance to meet the president and CEO, two different people, of AnitaB.org,which is the organization that puts on the Grace Harper celebration.
Both of them are Black women.
I was able to meet them, which was awesome, and took some pictures, met lots of greatwomen, had great conversations in that reception.
and then headed over to the convention hall and had some brain dates, found this awesomehidden lounge that was perfect for an introvert to just sort of like decompress in between
(09:35):
sessions and hang out.
Tried to make it over to the expo hall.
The thing that I learned today, there's a couple, we'll talk about the most importantthing I learned in just a minute, but there's a couple things I learned about being a
speaker at Grace Hopper, which is you can't necessarily plan your day the same as youwould if you were an attendee because
you've got certain times that you need to be at certain places for your sessions.
(09:59):
And if you'd want to attend someone else's session, the thing I didn't think about isthere would be lines.
There was actually queuing rooms for some of these sessions.
So I'm thinking I'm going to rush from my Brain Date session to head over to go watchanother session, which first of all, I didn't know it was two buildings over.
This convention center is massive.
So I'm heading down two blocks to even get to the place.
(10:22):
And then I get there and there's just
huge long line outside and I was like there's no way by the time I get through the linethis session is going to be over.
Then somebody told me later another speaker was like no you have the speaker's badge youcould have just walked through which I probably would have felt a little some kind of way
about that if I just tried to walk to the front of the line and it's not really mypersonality type but I don't know if it happens again maybe I'll consider it I don't know
(10:47):
but I didn't get a chance to make it to that session and then headed back and then hadsome more sessions.
and wrapped up the day with a really amazing group of women from Capital One and had agreat dinner, which for me is saying a lot.
I have lots of food allergies and can't always find things to eat, especially when I'm onthe road because I can't predict and I don't know the ingredients of everything.
(11:11):
So for me to have a good dinner, that's a really big deal.
And we had such a great conversation.
And you would think...
As an introvert, having had all of these sessions during the day and being at thisconvention center with all these people, that's very draining.
And I was drained when I got back to my room, but I had a little bit of a downtime beforegoing out for dinner.
And the conversation was just so, it was fun and free flowing and it was very relaxing.
(11:35):
So was a really great way to end the day again with great food, great conversation.
Lovely ladies talking to, hey ladies talking to the folks at Capital One.
So yes, that was a good ending to the day.
The thing that I think the most important thing that I learned today is that I am possiblythe worst selfie taker in the world.
(11:59):
I take the absolute worst selfies.
I'm not sure what I'm going to do from a social media content perspective.
I took selfies all day at all these different things and with all these different people,amazing people, and they're just so horrible.
They're just the worst pictures.
I have ever taken.
I'm good at taking pictures of other people.
(12:20):
I am not good at taking selfies.
So I'm not really sure what I'm going to do from a social media perspective for today.
But yeah, that was an important lesson is that I'm a terrible selfie taker.
Also, if you're a speaker at the conference, then maybe you need to plan your day a littlebit differently.
(12:40):
But all that aside, that's sort of lighthearted jest.
Again, it was really great conversations.
with really lovely women.
My sessions were good.
Had some really insightful conversations.
I love the idea of the Brain Day.
Again, that's one of the reasons that I specifically chose that as my session type wasbecause I wanted to just have a conversation.
(13:00):
I didn't want to talk at people.
I wanted to have a conversation and we had really good conversations today.
And you know, the thing about having a conversation, you don't have to have the answers.
I had a lot of opinions, but I wanted to hear other people's opinions and hear theirthoughts and.
It was just really good.
It was a really good day.
So I'm exhausted.
This is going to be a short episode or this isn't the full episode.
(13:22):
This part, this clip of for the episode, it's going to be kind of short because I'm reallyexhausted.
I've got three more brain dates tomorrow.
I had some sessions on my calendar.
think I'll need to adjust my calendar a little bit.
And also I'm going to try to make it over to the expo hall so that I can see the vendorsand maybe get some awesome swag.
see.
(13:42):
So until next time soon.
Bye.
So as you can hear in that clip, I had a way more energy and that has a lot to do with thedinner that I had.
Like I say, like normally I'm starving and exhausted.
So I had a good break before dinner and a good dinner, which is so rare for me when I'm onthe road and just great conversation.
(14:06):
Thanks again to the ladies at Capital One.
So yeah, I had a lot more energy in that one.
I do want to correct something that I said.
I said that I met the president and CEO of AnitaB.org and I said two different women.
I did meet two different women.
I just misspoke.
So I met Brenda Darden Wilkerson, who is the president and CEO of AnitaB.org, but I alsomet Lucia Hicks Williams, who is the COO.
(14:33):
So I meant to say I met the CEO and the COO, two different women, but I said it wrong.
I met, again, I met Brenda and Lucia.
So just wanted to clarify that.
But so, yeah, so day two was the bulk.
That's when I had most of my set when I had three sessions on day two and three sessionson day four or three or four.
I've lost track.
But yeah, day two was a lot better because I had that great dinner.
(14:58):
So it ended on a high note, but it was just really good.
I had my sessions.
I learned my lesson about not booking things back to back.
The rest of it I said in the clip.
But yeah, day two was pretty good.
Let's listen to what I had to say about day three.
Well, day three of GHC was quite a doozy.
(15:23):
Mostly because I was dealing with a drama back at home with a sick dog and that was a hugedistraction for the second half of my day and there was just a lot going on.
So even though I was still doing sessions and events, it was...
(15:45):
I wasn't fully present for all of those, but it was a good day.
had several more brain date sessions, some group sessions and some one-on-one sessions.
I did a community lounge with black women in tech.
then I was, unfortunately, I was there for the pitch competition, but missed most of itbecause I was texting about my dog.
(16:14):
talking to the vet and other things.
yeah, I really, really wanted to watch the pitch competition just as an entrepreneur.
I wanted to see what kind of new startups were pitching and who won.
I wanted to, there was an audience vote for the best pitch as well as the judge's finalvote.
(16:38):
And I missed most of that, unfortunately.
I saw the announcement of the winners, but I don't.
I didn't see their pitches, so don't know if they're who I...
I didn't participate in the audience vote because I hadn't seen all the pitches.
I'm to go back and watch or read about the various companies just so that I can see whichones, know, learn more about the ones that won.
(17:01):
So I was sorry that I missed that and there was a reception after that and had some goodconversation in the reception after that.
It's just, again, just another super exhausting day.
The final morning session is tomorrow morning.
I think I'm going to attend that.
I'm hoping that Viola Davis is going to be there.
I hear that she wasn't in the opening session on day one.
(17:26):
America Ferrera spoke at that one, and unfortunately I missed it because I was travelingin, and I missed that.
So I think I'm going to attend the session tomorrow morning before I get on a plane.
again, I'm hoping Viola Davis will be there as the guest speaker.
and got some swag that I got to give away for some of my participants.
I got some things that I got to finish up.
(17:48):
This, not this podcast, but the podcast episode that's being released while I'm at theconference that you would have heard, it should have been the previous episode as of the
time that this one is released.
I still have to get that one posted.
That was a little bit delayed because of...
my travel and whatnot.
So I've got a lot of work to do and then I got to pack and then I've got the openingsession tomorrow and then I'm going to head home.
(18:15):
but it's been a good, it's been a really good conference, really good connections, reallygreat conversation, really, really great conversations.
I'm definitely going to try to come next year.
I've also already been talking to some other folks about sessions, doing some jointsessions and things.
So.
I'm looking forward to applying to be here again next year.
(18:39):
So it's just been an amazing conference.
I'll probably try to record a final wrap up.
I don't know, after flying home tomorrow, I think I'll be too tired to record that.
I'll probably do it on Saturday, just sort of final thoughts as a wrap up for just sort ofmy Grace Hopper experience.
But it's been really wonderful.
(19:00):
Whew, that one was hard to watch.
I look beat down for those of you who are watching the video.
I sound it too for those who are just listening to the audio.
But, you know, ended on a good note.
was wonderful conference, as you heard there.
Let me, couple things.
One, I am really bummed that I missed out on the pitch competition.
(19:21):
That was one of the big things I was looking forward to as a big highlight.
Again, as someone who does...
business consulting and tech consulting for business owners.
I was really looking forward to watching those pitches.
I was really looking forward to meeting those ladies at the reception.
Unfortunately, I can say I was dealing with the drama with a sick dog and it was moreimportant to me to make sure that he got taken care of and I just, I missed a lot of it.
(19:47):
And by the time it was over, I was hungry, I was starving and I just went back to my roomand I just sort of crashed.
I'm really bummed that I missed out on that.
If I go next year, I'm definitely going to do what I have to do to prioritize going to thecompetition next year.
The other thing is I was planning to go to the closing session in person to see ViolaDavis, because as I said, figured out that, okay, well, if America Ferrera spoke in the
(20:16):
opening session, then my guess is that Viola Davis is going to speak in the closingsession, even though as far as I know, it was never officially announced.
I know they were sending out daily updates, but I don't remember seeing that at all.
So I was planning to, because my hotel was connected to the convention center, I thought,okay, well, I should be able to jump over there really quickly, watch that, come back, get
(20:41):
my bag and head to the airport.
But here's the thing though.
for certain sessions, they were forcing you to go through certain doors.
And there was a message that came, an email that came out the night before saying that,the opening session was going to be from nine to 10.
And they sent out something saying that they were going to open the doors for the openingsession at, I think 7 45 or something like that.
(21:02):
It was like an hour, a little bit more than an hour early.
And then I realized that I probably wouldn't be able to take the shortcut from my hotelacross the bridge into the convention center and go in that way that I'd probably have to
go in.
through another door and there'd be like a long line.
And I just, was like, I was too exhausted to deal with it.
And since you could see all of the sessions online, I was like, why don't I just, I waslike, here's, here's a better idea for me, you know, me as an introvert.
(21:25):
How about I order room service and I have breakfast in my room and I watched the openingsession on my computer.
And then that way I can see everything very clearly.
And actually I, so I did that and it was great.
And her speech was good or it was more of a, it wasn't a speech.
It was a fireside chat.
But I saw some pictures from people who took pictures.
You know, they posted them on LinkedIn, whatnot.
(21:47):
And it was like stadium seating and you could barely see the stage.
So I feel like I made the right choice.
And you know, it was a little bit of a introversion cop out to go, okay, I'll just watchit online.
But I, like I said, I had to get, had to pack my bag and get to the airport and had a lotgoing on.
And it was the last day and I just.
I feel like I made the right choice.
(22:07):
didn't get a chance to see, you know, be in the room with Viola Davis, but I did get achance to see her speech.
So there was that.
But again, as I said in that clip, you know, it was a really good conference.
I'm looking forward to applying to be there next year.
And like I said, I've made some connections and talking to people about collaborating onsome things for next year.
(22:31):
So I'm very much looking forward to that.
Overall, it was a really good experience.
I have to say.
I've been to lots and lots of conferences over the years and even, you know, smallconferences, big conferences.
This one was the best from a networking perspective, just because the connections were sogenuine.
(22:54):
And maybe it's because it was, you know, it's a women's tech conference, but also I wasattending these specific receptions and community lounges that were for women of color.
It was just, I don't know, was from a network perspective, this was by far the bestconference I attended for that purpose.
A lot of times you go to conferences, you do meet some people, but networking is notnecessarily the greatest.
(23:16):
I didn't make it over to the expo hall to get any kind of cool swag.
Again, that's something I'll try to fix for next time.
And by the time I got home, wow.
I crashed for days afterwards.
I mentioned in that clip that I thought I was gonna record the final wrap up thatSaturday, the next day, then no, I'm recording it a week later because I just crashed for
(23:42):
like four days after I got back because I was so completely burned out.
By the way, the dog is fine.
I may share a picture of him in the video if I do.
He'll be right here.
don't know if I'm going to put that in there or not, but he's fine.
was, he was just, well, originally the doctor thought he was just stressed out and missingme, but actually I think there was an issue with his food.
(24:07):
I'm still working through what happened there, but he's fine.
He was just dehydrated and not doing so great, but thank you to my friend, Yazzie for herawesome efforts there and getting him to the vet for me.
Thank you so much.
so that's going to wrap, but well, actually I take the back.
(24:27):
That's going to wrap up this episode with regard to my reactions to the Grace Hopperconference.
what I'm thinking I'm going to do is do one final episode in this series.
I don't know if you all are sick of hearing about Grace Hopper, but I'm thinking I'm goingto do one more episode.
I want to talk to someone that I met there that I'm planning on collaborating with nextyear, about her.
(24:48):
was at it.
She's another speaker.
And I want to talk to her about her speaking experience as well as just her networkingexperience.
so I think the next episode is going to be, I'm not saying the name yet because I haven'tconfirmed yet that she's going to be on.
But hopefully the next episode will be a wrap up with just another speaker that I'm hopingto collaborate with next year.
(25:10):
Just talking about, just to get another perspective, somebody else's perspective of theirexperience.
So we'll end this here.
We'll end this episode here.
If you have any questions, can give us a call at 404-425-9862 and leave us a voicemail orsend us a text.
If you want to connect on social media, it's at Ask Imperfect Genius.
(25:31):
You can subscribe to our newsletter at subscribe.imperfectgenius.com.
I will confess that I am behind on newsletters more for my newsletter subscribers more onthat soon.
I will send out a message about that.
But again, if you want the show notes,
You can subscribe to the newsletter as well as just general information and things likethat.
And until next time, this is Rachel Foster reminding you that while your journey may notbe flawless, it can be phenomenal.
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