December 29, 2022
We were thrilled to be part of the Rocky Mountain Celebration of Women in Computing Conference September 29-30, 2022 here in Boulder, Colorado!
Just a few years ago, we were gaining momentum on showcasing FreeBSD at women in computing conferences and university groups. But, that came to a standstill when Covid hit. We are now kickstarting that effort to attend more of these types of events, from meetups to celebration of women in computer conferences. So, I was thrilled when I saw the local Rocky Mountain Celebration of Women in Computing was taking place here in Boulder Colorado in September!
First, I love these events, because they are smaller and easier to talk to attendees about FreeBSD. This event brought in around 300 attendees from Colorado and surrounding states. I always love the energy of young folks as they meet others with similar interests in computing, while learning from amazing role models in various technology fields.
I had the opportunity to give a talk on Open Source, and why people should get involved. Of course, I used FreeBSD as an example of an open source project they should consider. After my talk, there was a career fair, where Justin Gibbs and I staffed a FreeBSD table, giving us the opportunity to talk to many of the attendees about FreeBSD. It was crazy loud, and everyone was wearing masks, so it was difficult, but we made it work. We had lots of attendees stop by our table to talk and ask us questions.
All in all, I’d say this was a great event for the Project, the students, and the Foundation. We always appreciate an opportunity to educate people about FreeBSD and encourage them to contribute to the project.
In 2023 we will be identifying a few women in computing conferences that we’d like to attend. Let us know if there is one you are familiar with that we should present at. Or, maybe you’d like to present at one and staff a table in their career fair. We’re here to support you if you choose that path!
– Contributed by Deb Goodkin
