Project Leader: Gloria Childress Townsend
The project impetus stems from witnessing women experience the isolation of computing life in rural Indiana in the early 1990s. I wish to eliminate isolation by the lacing together of small pockets of scattered Indiana women for a strong alliance, support and encouragement. My vision lies in completely covering a map of the United States with Small Regional Celebrations, so that no young woman is "left out" of opportunities for support and encouragement. I want every single woman in computing to have a low-cost way to network with other women in her own "neighborhood".
The following goals provide additional rationale for the Regional Conferences projects:
| 1 | Create connections among women and underrepresented groups in computing |
| 2 | Provide role-models and mentors |
| 3 | Destroy myths about computing |
| 4 | Encourage women to stay in computing |
| 5 | Give information/help with opportunities such as graduate school, scholarships, fellowships, workshops, conferences, etc. |
| 6 | Build community (inter and intra) |
Please help us accomplish a similar plan for your state or region, so that we are another puzzle-piece closer to spanning the US with Small Regional Celebrations. Email: gct@depauw.edu for information.
Other sources of help:
1. Peruse the Web sites of Regional Celebrations for inspiration and
helpful tips for organizing a celebration of your own! There is a
great deal of variety among the following sites: For example, one
celebration spans the entire Midwest; one branches out to Australia.
| Central Indiana 2004 | http://www.cs.indiana.edu/cicwic/ |
| Ohio 2005 | http://www.cse.ohio-state.edu/ocwic/2005/index.html |
| Indiana 2006 | http://www.cs.indiana.edu/inwic/ |
| Midwest 2006 | http://www.cs.indiana.edu/midwic/ |
| Australia 2006 | http://www.ozwit.org/version_three/ |
| Ohio 2007 | http://www.cse.ohio-state.edu/ocwic/ |
| Michigan 2007 | http://www.egr.msu.edu/~msuwic/cgi-bin/micwic.php |
| Indiana 2008 | http://www.csc.depauw.edu/inwic/ |
| Colorado 2008 | http://www.cs.colorado.edu/conference/ccwic/ |
| Ohio 2009 | http://www.ocwic.org |
| Michigan 2009 | http://www.egr.msu.edu/~msuwic/cgi-bin/micwic.php |
2. Email gct@depauw.edu or bbair@cse.ohio-state.edu to receive a "how-to" book, which they co-authored.