Girls in Tech's mission is to create a world where every woman is accepted, confident, and valued in tech—just as they are. The organization’s events bring that mission into the “real world,” creating engagement and training opportunities for its multi-faceted and diverse audience.
The organization's events attract women in all job functions at all career levels, including college students, engineers, product marketers, data scientists, founders, investors, and Fortune 500 executives. Through hand-on training and keynote speeches, Girls in Tech’s events inspire women to pursue their dreams, prepare them to succeed, and connect them to a broader community.
The Challenge
For years, Girls in Tech has hosted incredibly aspirational in-person events. However, as the organization has grown into an international organization with chapters in North America, Europe, Asia, the Middle East, Africa, and South America, the organization needed to begin hosting virtual events to connect a global community.
To accomplish this goal, Girls in Tech needed a virtual event platform to gather its thousands of members for a day of conversation and action on tech industry issues.
The Solution
Girls in Tech worked with BigMarker to create its first virtual event, focusing on programming to address women’s workplace issues, an interactive experience for exhibitors to connect with members, and an exciting milestone--live recording of Girls in Tech’s first podcast episode.
The virtual conference hosted female trailblazers across industries, including Poppy Northcutt, the first woman to work in an operational role in NASA’s Mission Control Center, and Lesley Slaton Brown, the Chief Diversity Officer of HP.
Their stories, along with sessions on racial and gender diversity in tech, provided role models and roadmaps to women in tech. In a uniquely challenging time for professional women, this event rallied women from across the world around the cause of their own empowerment and development.
Girls in Tech's virtual event program blended the inspirational and the practical: During interactive workshops on branding and creative development, guests gained actionable skills that they could apply to their future work. This also helped participants network in a more informal, experiential setting.
Between-session meditation breaks, networking and musical performances created an empowering, communal atmosphere conducive to goal-setting and self-discovery, which was reflected in above-average engagement and interaction across the entire event.
Notable Speakers
- Lesley Slaton Brown, Chief Diversity Officer of HP
- Poppy Northcutt, Engineer, NASA
- Janelle Gueits, Award-winning Film Director
- Raquel Tamez, CEO, Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers
- Sigal Cordeiro, Global Innovation Leader, General Motors
Results
Girls in Tech's virtual event welcomed women from around the world where participants gathered to find community, sharpen their skills and learn how to thrive in tech. The virtual conference was the highest-attended event in the organization's 13-year history with more than 6,000 people registering to attend the event.
