Any seasoned conference attendee worth their salt knows that there’s nothing more terrifying than going into a massive conference over with 25,000 people without a plan in hand. You need to know exactly which sessions you’re going to hit, plan your walking time and make sure you get to the room in time to squeeze in a quick bathroom break AND still snag good seats in the room.
Now let’s talk about schedule planning for a minute.
We all know how annoying it is having to scroll past thousands of sessions on the Session Catalog to find the ones you want to go to. Luckily for you, there’s an easy way to find Diversity and Tech sessions – breakout, theaters, Empower Lunches, you name it – on the session catalog. Simply click the Filter button > Solution Area > Diversity and Tech and voila! Watch as the D&T session listings populate before your very eyes.
If you’re bent on not trying to figure out the Session Catalog, we have you covered as well. Here’s your At-a-Glance cheat sheet to all the Diversity and Tech sessions happening at Microsoft Ignite – timeslots, venue, topics etc. Lost during the conference? Just pull up this webpage and we’ll get you right back on track 🙂
See you there!
Diversity and Tech @ Microsoft Ignite 2018: Highlights
Ongoing all-day: Idea Swaps + Group Idea Swaps at the Diversity and Tech Lounge, Immersion Zone –> look for the “Connect” overhanging banner
Sunday, September 23 | ||
12:00 PM-7:00 PM
7:00PM-9:00PM |
OCCC West Room 230
Urban Tide Restaurant @ Hyatt Regency Orlando |
Diversity and Tech Evening Reception for D&T Pre-Day Attendees featuring DJ EmV and a local calligraphy artist Hosted by Catherine Boeger, General Manager of M365 GTM and our Diversity and Tech Champion Sponsor (to be announced soon) Pre-day registration required. D&T Pre-Day bracelet required for admission into the D&T Evening Reception. |
Monday, September 24 | ||
12:15 PM-1:15 PM | OCCC West Room 230 | Empower Lunch Panel Voices from the Top: Leaders Get Real on Building Inclusive Work Cultures featuring top executives and engineering leaders
Panelists:
Panel moderated by Marianne Roling, GM of SMSP CEE, Financial Times’ Top 100 OUTstanding LGBT executives
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4:00-4:20PM | Expo Theater #6 | How to start your own employee resource group to champion diversity and inclusion by Nivine Zakhari |
Tuesday, September 25 | ||
9:00AM-9:20AM | Hyatt Regency Theater | What it’s like to be a woman in technology in Lebanon – My journey from being the only woman in class to a speaking on a global stage by Nisreen Deeb, Systems Analyst at Mediterranean Shipping Company, Co-Founder of Girls got IT, Chair, Arab Women in Computing Lebanon Chapter, Founder of The Mini Programmer and TechWomen alumna |
10:10-10:30AM | Expo Theater #6 | Work out loud: How to nurture your self-esteem at work and be comfortable with diversity by Lesley Crook, MVP |
12:15 PM-1:15 PM | OCCC West Room 230 | Empower Lunch Spin your tale: The fiction writers’ guide to telling YOUR story by Dona Sarkar, Head of Windows Insider Program
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2:15-3:30PM | OCCC West Room 222 | Parents in Tech Meetup hosted by Michelle Caldwell, Sue Hanley and Cristal Kawula, Microsoft MVPs |
2:50-3:10PM | Expo Theater #6 | How a woman passionate about AI became Founder and CEO of MTY Intelligent Software, the first Algeria woman-led startup specializing in intelligent solutions by Ouafa Benterki, CEO and Founder of MTY Intelligent Software Algeria, President and Founder of Association of Machine Translation Algiers and Chair, Arab Women in Computing Algerian Chapter |
4:00-5:15PM | OCCC West Room 222 | Women in Tech + Allies Meetup hosted by Heather Newman and Liz Sundet, Microsoft MVPs |
5:00-6:00PM (TBD) | Diversity and Tech Idea Lounge @ Community Central | IACMP WIT-sponsored Women in Tech + Allies Happy Hour |
Wednesday, September 26 | ||
8:00-9:00AM | OCCC West Room 230 | Empower Breakfast hosted by Diversity and Tech Champion Sponsor, IBM |
9:35-9:55AM | Expo Theater #6 | How to kick fear and toxicity out of the workplace: A practical guide by Heather Newman, MVP |
10:10-10:30AM | Expo Theater #6 | Beware the lure of “Get Rich Quick” schemes: My personal journey as a business owner and lessons learnt by Stephanie Donahue, MVP |
12:15 PM-1:15 PM | OCCC West Room 230 | Empower Lunch Service Degraded: Recognizing mental burnout in your colleagues and yourself by Sonia Cuff, Senior Cloud Ops Advocate |
3:15-4:00PM | OCCC West Room 230 | Letting go of fear and taking risks in an ever-changing IT landscape by Phoummala Schmitt, Senior Cloud Ops Advocate
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Thursday, September 27 | ||
9:00-9:20AM | Hyatt Regency Theater | Stories from North Africa: Engineers to Educators – A Day in the Life of Women in Technology by Noura Ghali Berzouga, Head of Cloud and Key Account Service Department, Vice President and Co-Founder of Women Leaders in Technology Tunisia and Dr Fatima Zohra Benhamida, Assistant Professor, Higher National School of Computer Science in Algeria |
10:10-10:30AM | Hyatt Regency Theater | “I’m here for the refreshments”: The journey of finding my inner goddess as a woman in tech by Phoummala Schmitt, Senior Cloud Ops Advocate |
12:15 PM-1:15 PM | OCCC West Room 230 | Empower Lunch Empowering Diverse Leadership by Karuana Gatimu, Principal Program Manager, Microsoft Teams |
2:15 – 3:30PM | OCCC West 222 | Diversity and Inclusion Strategies Meetup: Why does it matter, and what we can do about it? by Jen Stirrup, MVP |
3:15-4:00PM | OCCC West Room 230 | How I went from sales to technical product management: You don’t have to code to build great products by Ashanka Iddaya, Chief Product Architect, Microsoft 365 Business |
Friday, September 28 | ||
10:00AM-11:00AM | OCCC West Room 230 | Empower Brunch Panel In Conversation: Raising the Next Generation of IT Pros as Diversity and Inclusion Champions
Panelists:
Moderated by Rachael Sera, President, University of Central Florida Women in Computer Science (ACM-W) student organization
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