Call for Participation

Building upon the success of our previous event in February 2012, the third Minnesota Celebration of Women in Computing (MinneWIC 2015) will bring together students, faculty, and technology leaders from across Minnesota and neighboring states to discuss the role of women in today's computing and technology fields, share experiences and strategies for success, and explore issues common to women working in these fields. It will be held February 20-21, 2015 on the campus of the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities.
The success of the conference depends on your participation. There are many ways you can take an active part in this conference.

CONTRIBUTE
We encourage all attendees to fully participate in the conference by submitting their work in the following categories (for details on each, read below):

  • Posters (Open to students)
  • Lightning talks (Open to all attendees)
  • Birds-of-Feather (BOF) sessions (Open to all attendees)

DEADLINE
The deadline for poster, lightning talk, and BOF submissions has been extended to Saturday, January 31, 2015. We will accept posters after the deadline as space permits. Notification of acceptance will be made on a rolling base. Please do not delay your submission..

HOW TO SUBMIT
To submit your contribution, please go to the submission web page:
http://www.cs.umn.edu/~gini/minnewic/submit.htm

POSTERS
Students are encouraged to submit posters on research, class projects, and work-in-progress for the poster session on Friday, February 20. The poster session gives students the opportunity to discuss their work with conference attendees in an informal setting. To participate, submit a poster abstract where you summarize the key idea of your poster. Poster abstracts will be lightly reviewed for suitability only. Our goal is to help students gain confidence and practice public speaking in discussing their work.
Posters should be vertical and no larger than 24"x36". You will be given a styrofoam board for your poster.
Judging will be separate for undergraduate and graduate posters. Winners (one undergrad and one graduate student) of the poster competition will receive a paid trip to the next Grace Hopper conference (October 14–16, 2015 in Houston, Texas). Posters will be judged on the originality, content, technical quality, clarity of the poster, and quality of the presentation.

Prospective poster presenters may wish to read http://www.writing.engr.psu.edu/posters.htm for guidance on creating posters or the longer guide at http://colinpurrington.com/tips/academic/posterdesign. Do not forget to check our list of topic ideas (see below).

LIGHTNING TALKS
Lightning Talks are five-minute mini-presentations on any subject relevant to the conference. A lightning talk may be given by one or more students, faculty, or industry professionals. Submit a brief description of the topic of your talk and list the name(s) and affiliation(s) of the speakers(s). (For information on how to give a lightning talk, see the advice of Mark Fowler at http://www.perl.com/pub/2004/07/30/lightningtalk.html .)

BOF
Birds of Feather (BoF) sessions are informal discussion groups on specific topics of interest. Attendees split into small groups to discuss specific technical or social topics that interest them. Suitable topics for discussion include anything related to computing: careers, education, challenges, student organizations, or a variety of other topics. BoF sessions may be organized by one or more students, faculty, and industry professionals. Submit a proposal briefly describing the discussion topic and listing the name(s) and affiliations(s) of the organizer(s). Our goal is to engender a lively exchange of ideas and foster a sense of community and mutual support. (You might want to check out http://www.mhhe.com/socscience/english/tc/discussion.htm on leading effective discussions when putting together your BOF.)

INFORMATION TABLE
We will be hosting a career fair on Saturday, February 21. Corporations and academic institutions that are interested in hosting an information table at this fair should contact [one of us by email].

TOPIC SUGGESTIONS
Submit posters, lightning talks, and BOF ideas on any topic relevant to conference attendees. Some suggestions include (but are not limited to):

Original research results — motivation for the research and the key ideas explored
Historical overview of some field of computing research or technology
Impact on society of some field of computing research or technology
Ethical issues relating to some field of computing research or technology
Outreach activities that worked (or didn't)
How to survive a computing major
Programming tips
Research, internship, or co-op experiences
How to get involved in research
Choosing a research advisor
Choosing a good research topic
How to create a successful Women In Computing group
An activity that your Women in CS organization conducted that was really successful. Or an activity or two that you wish your organization would conduct.
Tips for a new teaching assistant
Career networking tips
A tribute to a role model: What a specific woman did to help you; why her efforts "worked".
An open letter from a student to her instructors: What works and what doesn't - from the student perspective.
Tips for mentoring. What works and what doesn't from the student/faculty perspective
What you've learned that you'd like to tell a first-year student in order to help her
How to encourage young women to develop their interest in computing
Curricular changes that broaden participation in computing
Computer Science Education at the K-12 level, what higher ed can do to help