Grace Hopper Conference 2014: Thursday

We were all anxious to get to the conference Thursday morning, because rumor was the special guest coming in was "super important". I couldn't believe Megan Smith, Chief Technology Officer, walked out on stage! I can't even describe how wonderful it is to see a woman in that high of a tech position in our nation.

Next up, CEO of Microsoft, Satya Nadella. It was so inspiring to hear how he worked his way up from the bottom.

The first (and only) session I attended was a chat Sew Electric by Leah Buechley, Kanjun Qiu and Sonja de Boer is a book of projects that combine fabric, electronics, and programming. The Media Equation by Bryon Reeves was written in 1996. She mentioned this would still be a great book to read - what still stands today, and what has changed since?
with Elizabeth Churchill from eBay Research Labs. She mentioned a few books that I need to add to my Empty Shelf Challenge.

More highlights:

• Interfaces are more than screens.
• You name it, and sooner or later someone will have a chip in it (shoes, chairs, etc).
• Technologies are social and getting more social in nature as it progresses. It's sociotechnical.
• Good things evolve.
• Digital information is an "agile material."

We had lunch at the Pizzeria Bianco. It was pretty good pizza, but not my favorite. I'm more of a thick crust kind of girl. We did try a pizza with pistachios on it. Surprisingly, it was really good! They also had mexican coke there which made my heart so, so happy.

Once back at the conference, I hit up the career fair before meeting with the Indiana University group. I got to chat with Shopify, Spiceworks, EA, and Joomla!

I won a copy of the special edition Sims 4 while I was at the EA booth. Pretty awesome! :)

After meeting up with the group from Indiana University and Dean Bobby Schnabel, I decided to go back to the hotel to rest. After a mix of heat and exhaustion, I felt like I could pass out any second. A member of our group walked me to my room to make sure I didn't pass out on the way. I slept for an hour or two and woke up pretty shaky still. I had a salad downstairs and thought maybe the veggies would be good for my body since all the conference has had so far is junk food. After eating I felt a lot better. I finished the evening watching the Colts vs. Texans and working on my cross stitch. I woke up feeling okay today. Not too sure how today will go, so I am planning it by ear and taking it easy.

We fly out in the morning and I will be back in Indianapolis Saturday evening.