Cecilia Klauber, GMC
WE Local 2020 kicked off last week in sunny San Diego, CA! I had the opportunity to attend and enjoyed the inspiring keynote speakers, empowering lightning talks and workshops, and engaging networking sessions. Here are a few tips to help you get the most out of your WE Local experience this year!
Have you attended WE Local? What other tips do you have for making the most of your conference experience?
- Download the SWE Events App! You can browse the sessions to make a schedule ahead of time and check out the companies that will be at the career fair. Search “SWE Event” in your mobile app store to download. If you have used the app for previous conferences, click “More” on the bottom banner then “More SWE Events” to download the relevant information for your specific conference.
- Meet new people, especially other graduate students! Join the #welocalattendees channel on the SWE Grad Community Slack Workspace to learn about graduate student interest events or to facilitate meet ups at conference! [Bonus Tip: Download the Slack app to your phone and turn on notifications for the most up to date info!] Also, you can support fellow students by attending the Collegiate Competition sessions and checking out their posters in the lobby!
There are many opportunities to network at WE Local. I highly recommend the WE Local Celebration- Networking Event (with appetizers and raffles) and the guided networking Saturday breakfast session. Tables at San Diego were labeled for different topics including SWENext, career transitions, meet a former SWE President, fitness, crafting, and even GradSWE! - WE Local is a green conference! There will be no programs on site (so download the app - see #1!) and the nametag holders are to be recycled in the purple bins at the end of conference. It’s really exciting that we can take these steps as a society to lessen the footprint of our activities.
- Let us know about your experience! If you use social media, be sure to follow SWE and to use the hashtag #WELocal! [Bonus Tip: feel free to use the hashtag #gradswe and tag @swe_grad, if also relevant!] Also, don’t forget to rate the sessions you attend in the app and to fill out your post-conference survey. That will help the WE Local organizers continue to improve the WE Local experience!
Have you attended WE Local? What other tips do you have for making the most of your conference experience?
Collegiate Competition Posters in San Diego
