Tips for interviewing and interactive practice sessions. Learn about interviewing and the skills needed. We will also put these to work in interactive practice sessions.

Leader: Thayne Martin (IT Recruiting Group)
Assistants: Chrystal Henke Ball (Pandora), Pat Pepper (Argonne National Laboratory), Jackson Pontsler (Hill AFB), Amanda Walter (Girl Develop It)

Bring your resume or start one. We'll work together to take it to the next level.
This is a hands on workshop where you can start or polish your resume. We will have an in-depth conversation about the basics; as well as the mixed messages you will receive from a variety of sources.

Leader: Kerry Dew (Utah Geek Events)
Assistants: Janette Rounds (Montana State University), Anita Stokes (Pandora)

What they are, why you need one, and how to start developing yours.
Explore the importance of your "Elevator Talk". We will discuss how to prepare and give one.

Leader: Lori Lalonde (Solola Solutions Inc.)
Assistant: Amber Dixon (RizePoint)

Come find out from recent high school graduates what they wish they had known when they while they were in high school.

Moderator: Katrina Mehring(Southern Utah University)
Panelists: Mary Hallewell(Utah State University), Zoe Nacol(Colorado School of Mines), Valeria Rodriguez (Microsoft), McKenzie Weller(UC Boulder)

Come find out from recent college graduates what they wish they had known when they while they were in college.

Panelists: Wendy Belcher (Colorado School of Mines), Jessica Burnett (LDS ICS), Chelynn Day (Xactware), Sally Yoo (Hill Air Force Base)

Led by Nina McCurdy (University of Utah)

Led by Miriah Meyer (University of Utah)

Led by Kerry Dew (Utah Geek Events)

Because Street Cred - Gaining and Leveraging this Super Power

Julie Lerman is a globally recognized expert in Microsoft technologies.  She has been programming for nearly 30 years and has been an independent consultant since 1989.  Her path to this career started at a young age with her first mentor, Rhoda Lerman, who happened to also be Julie’s mother.  Rhoda was an acclaimed writer and instilled a strong sense of living life to its fullest and setting Julie on a path to be whoever she wanted to be.

While pursuing a History major in college, Julie fell in love with Computer Science and this became her professional destiny.  Her path to becoming an independent consultant and a renowned conference speaker, grew from the Street Cred she carefully groomed.  This became one of Julie’s most important superpowers; and, it can be yours too!  Julie will share her thoughts on Street Cred, why you need it and how to leverage it.  Wise use of your street cred can help you blow away career barriers, allowing you to be all that you can be.

Sponsored by NVIDIA

Sponsored by NVIDIA

Sponsored by NVIDIA

Come hear from working professionals in a variety of fields tell how they use computing in (yes) animation and gaming, but medicine, business, architecture, teaching and more!

Moderator: Lori Lalonde (Solola Solutions Inc.)
Panelists:
Chrystal Henke Ball (Pandora), Heather Conlan-Katz (Goldman Sachs), Michelle Kolbe (Red Pill Analytics), Nicole Reitz-Larsen (West High School/Code.org)

Chrystal Ball is an Oakland based Engineering Manager currently at Pandora working on their internal web products which support the Music Genome Project. Her background is as a full-stack software developer who builds internal and business-facing applications. Chrystal is obsessed with clean, purposeful code, finding the right technology for the product, smart processes, and mentoring teams on how to build both successful applications and fulfilling careers.

Heather Conlan-Katz leads the Technology Client Response Services team in Salt Lake City.  She joined Technology Client Services in 2011 and relocated to Salt Lake City where she and her team provide front-line technical support to over 34,000 Goldman Sachs employees globally. Heather is a member and women’s champion of the Campus Recruiting team. She is also a leader in the Women in Technology program in Salt Lake City and a member of the Salt Lake City Women’s Network Steering Committee. Heather joined Goldman Sachs in 2000 and was named vice president in 2006.  Through Goldman Sachs’ Community TeamWorks program, Heather partners with the Girl Scouts of Utah annually to help prepare their Camp Cloud Rim to serve more than 2,000 girls each summer.  Heather has had various IT roles during her career and has worked for Salomon Smith Barney and Computer Associates, among others. She has experience in operations management, voice technologies, technology governance, business process re-engineering, reporting and data analytics, and product management. Heather graduated magna cum laude from New York Institute of Technology in 1997 with a BA in Communications.

Michelle Kolbe works as a Consultant at Red Pill Analytics specializing in data engineering, web analytics, and OBIEE analytics & development. With over 12 years of experience in Business Intelligence, Michelle previously managed the Data & Analytics team at Backcountry.com, an online retailer and worked as a Data Architect and BI Developer for Intermountain Healthcare. Michelle is also an Associate Professor at the University of Utah teaching database and analytics courses at the undergraduate and masters level. Michelle has a BS in Computer Science from Winona State University and an MBA from Utah State University. She served as President for the Utah Oracle Users Group for four years and is currently on the board of the Independent Oracle Users Group. She previously held a Board Position on the Healthcare Data Warehousing Association. Michelle is recognized as an Oracle ACE and is a frequent speaker at conferences.

The Changing Tech Tides: Lifelong Learning
Technology is always changing and Technology Careers embark you on the path to Lifelong Learning. Come hear how to develop a strategy to meet your unique needs and plan for success

Moderator: Stacie Farmer (Girl Develop It)
Panelists:
Tyra Crockett (Oracle), Thayne Martin (IT Recruiting Group) , Susanne Sherba (University of Denver), Peter Shirley (NViDIA), Amanda Waters (Girl Develop It)

Thayne Martin has worked in HR since the 1990’s and has spent over 15 years in IT and specialty recruiting. He currently owns a boutique staffing firm after a dozen years leading the HR/staffing function for a regional IT consulting firm. Other roles involved managing HR functions for organizations in several industries and from small start-up to 2,000+ employees. Breadth of past work covering Employee Relations, Compensation Planning, Performance Management, Recruiting, Process Improvement, and Legal Compliance. On a more important note Thayne enjoys spending time with his wife and 4 kids…all of whom are excited about their recent relocation back to Utah from Arizona.

Susanne Sherba is currently a Teaching Associate Professor in the Department of Computer Science at the University of Denver. She teaches software engineering courses and introductory computer science courses.  Susanne was named the Ritchie School of Engineering and Computer Science Best Teacher in 2008. Susanne received a Ph.D. in Computer Science from the University of Colorado, Boulder and a M.S. in Computer Science from the University of South Carolina, Columbia. She also received a M.M in Violin Performance from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music and a B.M. in Violin Performance from Jacksonville University in Jacksonville, Florida. Before returning to school to study computer science, Susanne freelanced in various orchestras in the southeastern United States including the Jacksonville Symphony, Savannah Symphony, and South Carolina Philharmonic. She also taught violin to students ages three to adult. After earning her M.S. in Computer Science, Susanne worked at NCR, Oracle, and several smaller software companies. Because of her love of teaching, she returned to school to earn her Ph.D. so she could teach at the university level.

Peter Shirley is a Distinguished Research Scientist at NVIDIA. He was formally a cofounder two software companies and was a Professor or Researcher at Indiana University, Cornell University, and the University of Utah. He received a BS in Physics from Reed College in 1985 and a Ph.D. in Computer Science from University of Illinois in 1991.  He is the coauthor of several books on computer graphics and a variety of technical articles. His professional interests include interactive and HDR imaging, computational photography, realistic rendering, statistical computing, visualization, and immersive environments.

Careers require understanding the business side of negotiating your compensation, benefits, and position; but also some often unspoken strategies for career bumps, like being laid-off or fired. Come hear a discussion of these topics from professionals who have navigated these career waters.

Moderator: Jamie Morningstar (Qualtrics)
Panelists:
Casie Helms (HP), Paige Smith (Hire Utah), Anita Stokes (Pandora), Brenda J Yamagata (Yamagata and Associates, Inc)

Anita Stokes joined Pandora as Senior Manager of University Recruiting to help build connections between departments and academia with the Road Crew (Pandora’s summer internship program). Prior to joining Pandora, she ran internship programs at Sony PlayStation, Lucasfilm, Apple and Electronic Arts. Additionally, she worked as an assistant director/producer/consultant inside the university systems at Colorado College, Stanford University and Vanderbilt University.

There are numerous opportunities for Computer Science professionals in the Defense Industry. Come hear a discussion from women who have chosen this career path and the benefits it has provided.

Moderator: Robin Chalmeta (LGS Innovations)
Panelists: Sally Yoo (Hill AFB), Kristine Farley (Lockheed Martin), Melody Wheelwright (L3)

Kristi Farley assumed the role of the Test and Simulation Product Line and Technology Development Senior Manager in July 2015.  In this role she manages a Functional department of matrixed employees in this discipline, and acts as the Program Manager for the Space Vehicle Integration Laboratory (SVIL). She is chartered with shaping the future, leading a team focused on standard simulation and test products, technologies, processes, LOB support and advancing Enterprise and Engineering Strategic Threads. Her position oversees and owns design authority for all standard Test and Simulation Products, as well as responsibility for ensuring the technical integrity of the LOB/Program design baselines, and incorporation of best practices, model based engineering and common design. In addition, she sets the overall strategy for the SVIL as the Test and Simulation Product Line Development Center. Kristi has most recently served as the Engineering Talent Management Manager responsible for overall Engineering talent management strategy including staffing, knowledge management, workforce development and managing the SSC Fellows program, Rising Technical Talent Initiative,  Advanced Technical Leadership Program (ATLP) and the Engineering Leadership Development program (ELDP).  Kristi has 21 years of engineering experience in SSC and IS&GS.  

Kristi joined the corporation in 1993 as a chemical engineer with the Advanced Structures and Materials group, working on solar array development and shape memory metal mechanism design. She transitioned to software engineering in 2000 on the NES Program. After completing the ATLP program and a Technical Assistant (TA) rotation with the SSC VP of Technical Operations, Kristi focused on Software and Systems Engineering for various programs including Space Based Radar, Aerial Common Sensor (ACS), GeoScout, AMS-110 and GOES-R. Recently, Kristi was the Software Manager for the NES program before assuming the Deputy Program Manager role for the IESS/NES Sustainment Program in January 2013.

Kristi earned her bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Colorado at Boulder in 1993.  She graduated with a master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Denver in 1999 and a master’s degree in Computer Science from Colorado State University in 2001.  Kristi completed the Stevens Institute of Technology Systems Engineering and Architecting Graduate Course Series, a Corporate Pilot, in 2010.

In a world of social media and ever changing careers and career partners, your personal brand counts. Come visit with professionals who have developed their own strategies and how this helps you succeed.

Moderator: Amber Dixon (RizePoint)
Panelists: Andrea Allred (Sorenson Communications), Lori Lalonde (Solola Solutions Inc.), Julie Lerman, Pat Pepper (Argonne National Laboratory)

Once upon a time in a kingdom not far away, Andrea Allred was sick of answering phones and filing forms. Her kingdom was running low on gold and the wise wizard told her to find work that she loved and she would never truly work a day in her life. When she found the magical SQL Server, she knew it was the calling for her. She is passionate about SQL Server, “works” as a Database Administrator, is learning Sign Language, loves her #SQLFamily and finds joy in helping others find their passion too. She is princess to her handsome Prince Ryan and Mom to her two awesome teenagers. She loves music, concerts, snowboarding, climbing and acting. She has 16 years of SQL Server experience and is the SLC SQL Server User Group Chapter Leader. 

Lori Lalonde is an Apress author, consultant, blogger, international conference speaker, Xamarin MVP and Microsoft MVP. She began her career in software in 1997 and hasn't looked back since. Lori is actively involved in the local community, serves as the User Group Leader of Canada's Technology Triangle .NET User Group, participates in local Women in Technology groups, and belongs to a group known as the WesternDevs. Most recently she served as a mentor during a 6-week pilot program, HackerGrrlz, teaching young girls how to code. To keep up with her latest adventures, you can follow Lori on Twitter at @loriblalonde and check out her blog at solola.ca.

Julie Lerman is a globally recognized expert in Microsoft technologies.  She has been programming for nearly 30 years and has been an independent consultant since 1989.  Her path to this career started at a young age with her first mentor, Rhoda Lerman, who happened to also be Julie’s mother.  Rhoda was an acclaimed writer and instilled a strong sense of living life to its fullest and setting Julie on a path to be whoever she wanted to be. While pursuing a History major in college, Julie fell in love with Computer Science and this became her professional destiny.  Her path to becoming an independent consultant and a renowned conference speaker, grew from the Street Cred she carefully groomed.  This became one of Julie’s most important superpowers; and, it can be your’s too!  Julie will share her thoughts on Street Cred, why you need it and how to leverage it.  Wise use of your street cred can help you blow away career barriers, allowing you to be all that you can be.

Pat Pepper is the Mathematics and Computer Science division’s human resources representative of Argonne National Laboratory. Pat brings more than 15 years experience in the HR field to the laboratory. In her role, Pat participates in the establishment and maintenance of the level and quality of staff needed to meet division and laboratory objectives. She develops and implements improvement initiatives in the division’s administrative areas and manages and coordinates procurement and contracting activities for consultants. Most importantly, she manages the human resource activities in the division as well as provides advice to staff regarding HR policies and procedures. Pat overseas the division’s recruitment efforts and acts as the diversity officer.

ACM-W: Supporting, Celebrating, and Advocating for Women in Computing
Cecily Heiner(Southern Utah University)

Agile Development, Making Sense of Chaos  
Sage Henrikson (EMC / Dell)

Digital Inclusion - What Can It Mean?
Jacob Brace (Google Fiber)

How I Developed a Career in Visualization and What Is on Offer in the SHELL Viz Center
Emma Jane Alexander (University of Wyoming)

Learning Game Development in EAE
Tzu-Ying Diana Wang (University of Utah)

NCWIT: Supporting Change Leaders to Revolutionize the Face of Technology
Helen Hu (Westminster College)

Programming Exascale Computers
Mary Hall (University of Utah)

Searching for the Right Fit
Paige Smith (Hire Utah)

Women and Patents: The Uncharted Frontier
Mollybeth Kocialski (United States Patent and Trademark Office)

UWYO 3D Interaction and Agents Research Lab – Projects and Culture
Amy Banic (University of Wyoming)

Innovation, Creativity and Fearless Focus

Cydni Tetro works with the world’s largest brands, retailers and technology companies to deliver innovative technology products, drive execution and build high performing teams. She has worked with hundreds of companies including Disney, Microsoft, Marvel, Star Wars, Facebook, MLB, MLS, Warner Brothers, Dreamworks, NFL, Disney Stores, Target, Walmart and Toys R Us. She was founder and CEO of 3DplusMe, a 3D printing software platform, that was recently acquired by WhiteClouds. She spent 4 years at Disney as an EIR building technology businesses from R&D projects and launching those products into Theme Parks, ESPN, ABC and Interactive.  She is faculty for the Goldman Sachs 10k small business initiative where she teaches growth planning, leadership, sales and marketing. She is an Operating Partner at Mercato, a growth equity firm. She is founder and President of the Women Tech Council, a non-profit with more than 10,000 members in its community. Cydni holds a master’s degree in business administration and a bachelor’s in computer science from Brigham Young University.

We all have these moments and they continue to pop up. This workshop will deal with minor responses that aren't so minor, like "oh, I thought you were just the assistant"; "thank you for sharing your emotional state" - after calling an employee to task for missing deadlines and failing to understand their project; We will also deal with some of the more obvious inappropriate behaviors as well.

Juggling work and life is one of those topics everyone discusses and for an excellent reason. It is hard! Everyone's situation is different and as life progresses your need for balance does not diminish. To top that off, we often forget that adjustments are needed - more frequently than many of us allow.