Grace Hopper Conference is the largest gathering of women technologists in the world! The energy there is insane! It is inspiring, empowering and exciting! Being a woman myself, I can vouch that there are hardly any girls in CS. (Just a little background info, I am am Electronics Engineering undergraduate who is crazy about programming.) My CS friends, with whom I have technical discussions, are undoubtedly ALL male. Hanging out with women in CS, albiet even for four days, can be incredibly electrifying! :)

   

Needless to say, I have always wanted to attend the conference. Come on, who wouldn’t? You get to see all of them in one place!

• Sheryl Sandberg (COO of Facebook)
• Ginni Rometty (President and CEO, IBM)
• Latanya Sweeney (Professor, Harvard University)
• Marc Benioff (CEO, Salesforce)
• Megan Smith (CTO, United States of America)

   

Isn’t it wonderful? :)

Given how amazing the conference is, the tickets sell out like hotcakes (yum, hotcakes!). So now you might be wondering how I got a ticket, right? Well, the wonderful ladies at Systers (super cool organisation for women in tech, by the way) give out 50 registerations every year. You have to fill out a form with your details and they’ll decide whether to give you a ticket to one of the most sought out conferences! Luckily, I got a ticket. Yay! :D

   

BUT…I won’t be able to go. The registerations are not paid ones which means that I’ll have to shell out $950 + travel (I am talking overseas travel, guys) + accomodation. That was simply not going to happen. If you translate it to Indian rupees, it’s almost RS. 100,000. ABSOLUTELY not gonna happen!

Sadly, I had to send an email to Systers explaining that I wouldn’t be able to join in.

   

But at the end of the day, I’m glad I was at least considered for the ticket. Even though I am unable to go this time, I will try again next year! There are a number of scholarships available (although many are for US citizens) and I’ll try applying through them. Crossing my fingers for the next time! :)