Gratitude Monday: Three days of the Hopper

As you’ll be aware from my most recent posts, I spent much of last week at the Grace Hopper celebration of Women in Computing (GHC), in Orlando. It was a stunning experience, encompassing everything from masses of humanity to fascinating conversations with individuals; flavored with tales of inspiration, practical advice and not a little near-hysterical laughter.

And, of course, after-parties and swag.

I’ll try to organize my thoughts about it all and pass on the more interesting tidbits to you, but it’s Gratitude Monday, and I’m grateful for many things: for the opportunity to go, for the fact that I actually was able to get a ticket to go (many, many thousands did not, notwithstanding the fact that there were 18,000 of us there anyhow) and for making it through the three full days (from 0600 to 2200 of hard charging) with the help of massive quantities of ibuprofen.

Let me also say that I’m impressed and grateful for an organization that walks the talk of diversity and inclusion, as witnessed by something as basic as the need to pee: restrooms were clearly signed for a multiplicity of genders (the tiny minority of males at the conference discovered fewer actual loos for them, but should have taken heart in the number that were all-gender).

This is only a sampling of the options:

Also, and I don’t have photos of this, but provisions were in place for the keynotes for people who needed special access seating, closed captioning or other aids to full participation. The logistics behind this was extensive and complex, and—while I thankfully did not need to avail myself of any of it—I was grateful for an organization that undertakes this kind of effort to ensure that all were included.