ACM-W Europe continues with the collaboration of its chapters as the buddy system campaign started by ACM-W. The second chapter buddies of ACM-W Europe happened between two professional chapters which are Trondheim ACM-W and The Greek ACM-W.

Two chapters had their first physical meeting at Trondheim during the 10th ACM Celebration of Women in Computing  womENcourage^TM . Maria Roussou and Anna Szlavi, the representatives of ACM-W Greece and ACM-W Trondheim (respectively) met to exchange ideas and discuss further collaboration. The womENcourage conference in Norway marks the first instance of collaboration as buddies, as Athena Vakali from ACM-W Greece was one of the invited keynote speakers of the event hosted by ACM-W Trondheim. For 2024 the buddies are planning to make further steps to strengthen their connection, possibly through a workshop at the 6th Summit on Gender Equality in Computing to take place in Cyprus.

Are you an ACM-W Chapter in collaboration with another ACM/ACM-W chapter? We love to hear from you! And if you don’t have a collaborator, partner, or a buddy, it’s time to find one! ACM-W has started a new campaign in December 2022 and is encouraging all ACM-W chapters to partner with other ACM-W chapters from the same/different state, country, or region to become a Buddy. Your partnerships can be created to achieve some common goal, be it Academic, Social, Professional or Service. We invite you to tell us how, as ACM-W chapter buddies, you work towards a common goal and provide a shared experience for your diverse community members. To be part of this campaign, you can work with local, country, regional or global buddies. See our December 2022 post for more information.

ACM-W has started a new campaign. The aim of this campaign is to encourage all ACM-W chapters to partner with other ACM-W chapters to become a Buddy for collaborative works. As ACM-W Europe, we announced the new campaign of ACM-W with our chapters, and we are so proud to share that we have one student chapter buddy and one professional chapter buddy already. This month we would like to share with your our student chapter buddies. ATU ACM-W Student Chapter which is at Atlantic Technological University, Ireland, and ACM Bilkent, which is at Bilkent University, Turkey became our first student chapter buddies!

ACM Bilkent started its journey as an ACM-W Student chapter called BILWIC (Bilkent University Women in Computing)in 2004. BILWIC, “Bilkent University ACM-W Student Chapter,” has the first international ACM-W identity. BILWIC, which has both national and international identity, is the first ACM-W Student Chapter in Turkey, with 181 and more other students. To reach out to more students, the chapter switched to ACM Student Chapter in 2019. ACM Bilkent is organizing talks, workshops, and social activities to bring together various intellectuals while easing access to a wide variety of resources and ultimately acting as a collective voice for its members and chapters.

Our first students’ buddies will collaborate on ACM Celebration of Women in Computing: Bean Feasa (wise woman), which will be co-located with the Cyber Research Conference Ireland (Cyber-RCI), which will provide an opportunity to meet with researchers and industry alike. The bean feasa can choose a path in computing, engineering and related fields with the support of the university. This event will include guest speakers and a panel on career pathways. The 1st celebration occurred in 2017 with  Dr Toni Collis as our keynote speaking about high performance computing. In 2018 we were delighted to have a number of workshops from industry with representatives from Microsoft, Pramerica and Klarna. As ACM-W Europe, we are proud to sponsor two members from ACM-W Bilkent to join the ACM Celebration of Women in Computing: Bean Feasa event physically. We hope to see more collaboration soon!

Thank you to our ACM-W Europe Chair, Dr Rukiye Altin, for providing us with the information in this post!

Nine Tips for Growth and Maintenance

The Ohio State University Student Chapter of the ACM-W was chartered on May 13, 2003 and is one of the oldest continuously operating ACM-W Student Chapters.

This chapter annually hosts 40+ events that include trips to the Grace Hopper Celebration, the Ohio Celebration of Women in Computing, company visits, socials, and workshops. They have around 50 active members, and they serve a total community of about 200 students. They often send many Ohio State students to the Grace Hopper Celebration, and can provide financial support for travel and registration costs to most of these through chapter fundraising efforts.

The Ohio State ACM-W Student Chapter has developed nine tips which they use to grow and maintain their chapter. These tips range from having a Mission Statement to Member Recruiting and Fundraising.

In this series of videos you can learn how to build, maintain and grow a strong ACM-W chapter from The Ohio State’s ACM-W Chapter Leaders. Each link below will take you to a page that has a short video and discussion about the tip that is being presented.

1. Mission Statement – Explain why your ACM-W Student Chapter exists and how it will function.
2. Goal Setting – Having goals ensures that you stay on track while you plan for future growth.
3. Executive Board – You can’t do it alone. Also, it’s no fun trying to!
4. Event Planning – How to connect with your community and keep members coming back.
5. Member Recruiting – Build a cohesive brand through flyers, posters and online communication
6. Funding – You can run your chapter for free, but companies and schools can often help with expenses.
7. Company Relationships – Company partnerships are beneficial to you and them.
8. Community Involvement – Look for fun activities that help your members bond with their community and give back.
9. Sustainability – Always be thinking of ways to make it easier for next year’s members.

Step 9 – Sustainability

The Ohio State University Student Chapter of the ACM-W was chartered on May 13, 2003 and is one of the oldest continuously operating ACM-W Student Chapters. This chapter annually hosts 40+ events that include trips to the Grace Hopper Celebration, the Ohio Celebration of Women in Computing, company visits, tech talks, socials, and workshops. They have around 50 active members, and they serve a total community of about 200 students. They often send more than 50 Ohio State students to the Grace Hopper Celebration, and can provide financial support for travel and registration costs to 35 of these through chapter fundraising efforts.

Learn how to build, maintain and grow a strong ACM-W chapter from The Ohio State’s ACM-W Chapter Leaders.

In this segment, ACM-W OSU Chapter Officer, Courtney, talks about the importance of planning for the continued success of your club. She says that the key is to make it is easy for your incoming officers to find the resources they need. Transparency is key. One thing she recommends is having a single location, like a google drive, to store all your meeting minutes, archived communication and contact lists.

What is your chapter doing to help the next year’s officers to be successful? Do you have a shared drive or repository for your worksheets and letters? What other things could you do to make sure that your chapter continues to serve your school’s women in computing community?

Let us know by interacting with us on Twitter, Mastodon or Facebook. Use #BuildYourACMWChapter and our handle @OfficialACMW Want to know more about how to start an ACM-W Student Chapter at your school? Here’s the quick-start guide.

This is the last article in the series. Please read the other tips in this series:

1. Mission Statement
2. Goal Setting
3. Executive Board
4. Event Planning
5. Member Recruiting
6. Funding
7. Company Relationships
8. Community Involvement
9. Sustainability

Step 8 – Community Involvement

The Ohio State University Student Chapter of the ACM-W was chartered on May 13, 2003 and is one of the oldest continuously operating ACM-W Student Chapters. This chapter annually hosts 40+ events that include trips to the Grace Hopper Celebration, the Ohio Celebration of Women in Computing, company visits, tech talks, socials, and workshops. They have around 50 active members, and they serve a total community of about 200 students. They often send more than 50 Ohio State students to the Grace Hopper Celebration, and can provide financial support for travel and registration costs to 35 of these through chapter fundraising efforts.

Learn how to build, maintain and grow a strong ACM-W chapter from The Ohio State’s ACM-W Chapter Leaders.

In this segment, ACM-W OSU Chapter Officer, Vicky, talks about the importance of engaging with your campus and community with your club. She says that this is a great way to create shared experiences among the members of your organization. She shares some of the things that the Ohio State University ACM-W Student Chapter has done. For example, they have hosted coding workshops at local middle schools and volunteered at the Center of Science and Industry in Columbus, Ohio.

Has your chapter ever done a coding event with a local school? How did it go? What kinds of outreach activities are possible in your area?

Let us know by interacting with us on Twitter, Mastodon or Facebook. Use #BuildYourACMWChapter and our handle @OfficialACMW Want to know more about how to start an ACM-W Student Chapter at your school? Here’s the quick-start guide.

This series continues. Please read the other tips in this series:

1. Mission Statement
2. Goal Setting
3. Executive Board
4. Event Planning
5. Member Recruiting
6. Funding
7. Company Relationships
8. Community Involvement
9. Sustainability

Step 7 – Company Relationships

The Ohio State University Student Chapter of the ACM-W was chartered on May 13, 2003 and is one of the oldest continuously operating ACM-W Student Chapters. This chapter annually hosts 40+ events that include trips to the Grace Hopper Celebration, the Ohio Celebration of Women in Computing, company visits, tech talks, socials, and workshops. They have around 50 active members, and they serve a total community of about 200 students. They often send more than 50 Ohio State students to the Grace Hopper Celebration, and can provide financial support for travel and registration costs to 35 of these through chapter fundraising efforts.

Learn how to build, maintain and grow a strong ACM-W chapter from The Ohio State’s ACM-W Chapter Leaders.

In this segment, ACM-W OSU Chapter Officer, Amy, talks about building relationships with company partners. She explains that companies benefit from having a partnership with your ACM-W student chapter, so the relationship is beneficial to you and them both. One way to get started is to invite recruiters to give a tech talk, resume review or career planning workshop. If the first session is a success you can invite them back the following year and ask them to provide swag or food sponsorship.

When you are looking at companies, don’t feel like you need to just talk to the major tech firms like Microsoft and Apple. Remember that IT is a part of every company. In Columbus, there are many insurance companies that hire many CSE students every year.

And remember to reach out to your alumni members. They are often working with companies that would make good partners. They may want to come back to your chapter and do an event.

What companies are in your area? Does your school do a job fair? Have you ever invited a recruiter to talk to your chapter? Can you think of reasons why a company would want to partner with your ACM-W Student Chapter?

Let us know by interacting with us on Twitter, Mastodon or Facebook. Use #BuildYourACMWChapter and our handle @OfficialACMW Want to know more about how to start an ACM-W Student Chapter at your school? Here’s the quick-start guide.

This series continues. Please read the other tips in this series:

1. Mission Statement
2. Goal Setting
3. Executive Board
4. Event Planning
5. Member Recruiting
6. Funding
7. Company Relationships
8. Community Involvement
9. Sustainability

Step 6 – Funding

The Ohio State University Student Chapter of the ACM-W was chartered on May 13, 2003 and is one of the oldest continuously operating ACM-W Student Chapters. This chapter annually hosts 40+ events that include trips to the Grace Hopper Celebration, the Ohio Celebration of Women in Computing, company visits, tech talks, socials, and workshops. They have around 50 active members, and they serve a total community of about 200 students. They often send more than 50 Ohio State students to the Grace Hopper Celebration, and can provide financial support for travel and registration costs to 35 of these through chapter fundraising efforts.

Learn how to build, maintain and grow a strong ACM-W chapter from The Ohio State’s ACM-W Chapter Leaders.

In this segment, ACM-W OSU Chapter Officer, Mary Catherine, talks about how to raise funds for your chapter’s activities. As Mary Catherine says, you can totally run your chapter for free. If you have a few members, your goals might be modest: to have regular meetings and occasional faculty-led tech talks. But if you want to grow your chapter, it really helps to have financial support.

Often your school will have a group that helps student clubs. They might have places for you to meet, to make copies of your posters, and they might have drinks and snacks. They may even have small grants that you can apply for.

Mary Catherine says your school may also have a diversity and inclusion committee that can connect your group with funding resources.

One of the best ways to get support is to develop relationships with companies. For example, when you invite them to talk to your members about careers, ask if they can provide refreshments. Once you have some history and trust, you can ask for bigger donations, to help send a group of members to a conference, for example.

Most importantly, don’t be afraid to ask for donations. All of these organizations have been asked for funding many times. They won’t be surprised to get an ask from you. And even if they can’t help you themselves, they can often put you in touch with someone who can.

What has your chapter done to raise funds? Have you ever had a bake sale or pet wash or other kind of fundraiser? What was something that you found surprising or interesting about asking people for money?

Let us know by interacting with us on Twitter, Mastodon or Facebook. Use #BuildYourACMWChapter and our handle @OfficialACMW Want to know more about how to start an ACM-W Student Chapter at your school? Here’s the quick-start guide.

This series continues. Please read the other tips in this series:

1. Mission Statement
2. Goal Setting
3. Executive Board
4. Event Planning
5. Member Recruiting
6. Funding
7. Company Relationships
8. Community Involvement
9. Sustainability

Step 5 – Member Recruitment

The Ohio State University Student Chapter of the ACM-W was chartered on May 13, 2003 and is one of the oldest continuously operating ACM-W Student Chapters. This chapter annually hosts 40+ events that include trips to the Grace Hopper Celebration, the Ohio Celebration of Women in Computing, company visits, tech talks, socials, and workshops. They have around 50 active members, and they serve a total community of about 200 students. They often send more than 50 Ohio State students to the Grace Hopper Celebration, and can provide financial support for travel and registration costs to 35 of these through chapter fundraising efforts.

Learn how to build, maintain and grow a strong ACM-W chapter from The Ohio State’s ACM-W Chapter Leaders.

In this segment, ACM-W OSU Chapter Officer, Vicky talks about recruitment and advertising. She says that advertising your club is an ongoing effort that helps recruit members and creates a recognizable brand for your organization. While the ACM-W OSU chapter uses many traditional approaches, like posters, flyers and emails, they also make personal appearances in classrooms. Every semester, chapter officers visit incoming CSE majors in their classes to tell them about ACM-W and invite them to attend the first meeting. Vicky talks about the chapter’s weekly emails that advertise upcoming events, and she recommends using the Mailchimp app to manage these promotions. She also recommends using Canva to develop a consistent look for your posters and emails.

What have you done to encourage students to attend your meetings? What worked well for you and what didn’t? Does your club have a logo or mascot that you use consistently on your posters? Did you know that you can use ACM-W branded graphics for free? Check it out.

Let us know by interacting with us on Twitter, Mastodon or Facebook. Use #BuildYourACMWChapter and our handle @OfficialACMW Want to know more about how to start an ACM-W Student Chapter at your school? Here’s the quick-start guide.

This series continues. Please read the other tips in this series:

1. Mission Statement
2. Goal Setting
3. Executive Board
4. Event Planning
5. Member Recruiting
6. Funding
7. Company Relationships
8. Community Involvement
9. Sustainability

Step 4 – Event Planning

The Ohio State University Student Chapter of the ACM-W was chartered on May 13, 2003 and is one of the oldest continuously operating ACM-W Student Chapters. This chapter annually hosts 40+ events that include trips to the Grace Hopper Celebration, the Ohio Celebration of Women in Computing, company visits, tech talks, socials, and workshops. They have around 50 active members, and they serve a total community of about 200 students. They often send more than 50 Ohio State students to the Grace Hopper Celebration, and can provide financial support for travel and registration costs to 35 of these through chapter fundraising efforts.

Learn how to build, maintain and grow a strong ACM-W chapter from The Ohio State’s ACM-W Chapter Leaders.

In this segment, ACM-W OSU Chapter Officer, Laura, talks about planning effective events for your club. She says that the best way to grow your club and your community is through events. Consider hosting a back-to-school social at the start of the semester, tech talks with professors, and networking events with company recruiters. To plan your event, think about these three event basics: your venue, menu and calendar.

Venue: The size of your room should reflect your expectations about the number of attendees.

Calendar: Having consistent regular events (weekly, monthly, etc) will help your members plan ahead to attend. If your club is new, you may only have a few meetings a semester.

Menu: Students like food, so try to have something for them. Check with your school to see if they have funding that can be used to provide drinks and snacks. Or, if you are hosting a session for a company recruiter, see if they can provide refreshments.

Does your chapter have regular meetings? Where do you meet and how often? What kinds of snacks do your members like?

Looking for ideas for ACM-W Student Chapter events? ACM has sixty-two suggestions for you!

Let us know by interacting with us on Twitter, Mastodon or Facebook. Use #BuildYourACMWChapter and our handle @OfficialACMW Want to know more about how to start an ACM-W Student Chapter at your school? Here’s the quick-start guide.

This series continues. Please read the other tips in this series:

1. Mission Statement
2. Goal Setting
3. Executive Board
4. Event Planning
5. Member Recruiting
6. Funding
7. Company Relationships
8. Community Involvement
9. Sustainability

Step 3 – Executive Board

The Ohio State University Student Chapter of the ACM-W was chartered on May 13, 2003 and is one of the oldest continuously operating ACM-W Student Chapters. This chapter annually hosts 40+ events that include trips to the Grace Hopper Celebration, the Ohio Celebration of Women in Computing, company visits, tech talks, socials, and workshops. They have around 50 active members, and they serve a total community of about 200 students. They often send more than 50 Ohio State students to the Grace Hopper Celebration, and can provide financial support for travel and registration costs to 35 of these through chapter fundraising efforts.

Learn how to build, maintain and grow a strong ACM-W chapter from The Ohio State’s ACM-W Chapter Leaders.

In this segment, ACM-W OSU Chapter Officer, Amy, explains the importance of Finding Executive Board Members for your club. The ACM only requires that you have a president, vice president to start a chapter. Amy explains that you can (and should) have many other executive board members. The exec board is the heart of your club. Some positions to consider are treasurer, event coordinator, media coordinator, website manager , community outreach and company liaison. Some positions may be strategic, like funding or sponsorship development to help support activities in the following years. Think about your exec board as being an extension of your ACM-W mission to support, celebrate and advocate for women in computing. The student chapter officers should have positions that help them grow while helping your club grow as well.

What officer positions does your chapter have? How did you find people to lead your chapter?

Let us know by interacting with us on Twitter, Mastodon or Facebook. Use #BuildYourACMWChapter and our handle @OfficialACMW Want to know more about how to start an ACM-W Student Chapter at your school? Here’s the quick-start guide.

This series continues. Please read the other tips in this series:

1. Mission Statement
2. Goal Setting
3. Executive Board
4. Event Planning
5. Member Recruiting
6. Funding
7. Company Relationships
8. Community Involvement
9. Sustainability

Step 2 – Setting Goals

The Ohio State University Student Chapter of the ACM-W was chartered on May 13, 2003 and is one of the oldest continuously operating ACM-W Student Chapters. This chapter annually hosts 40+ events that include trips to the Grace Hopper Celebration, the Ohio Celebration of Women in Computing, company visits, tech talks, socials, and workshops. They have around 50 active members, and they serve a total community of about 200 students. They often send more than 50 Ohio State students to the Grace Hopper Celebration, and can provide financial support for travel and registration costs to 35 of these through chapter fundraising efforts.

Learn how to build, maintain and grow a strong ACM-W chapter from The Ohio State’s ACM-W Chapter Leaders.

In this segment, ACM-W OSU Chapter Co-President, Courtney explains the importance of Setting Goals for your club. She advises you to create two lists of goals: practical and aspirational. Dream goals will help your club visualize its future and give direction to your day-to-day operations. Having big dreams allows you to recognize opportunities when they present themselves. Your ACM-W Student Chapter should pick a few achievable goals for your first year. Accomplishing these small steps will give you the energy to take on incrementally greater things later. For example, you might set a goal to have one tech talk and one social per semester in your first year. Next year you might set a goal to have one more event. Build on your successes!

Does your chapter have formal written goals? Are they tactical or strategic? How are you planning to accomplish them? What’s your chapter’s dream goal? And how does it help drive your club’s activities?

Let us know by interacting with us on Twitter, Mastodon or Facebook. Use #BuildYourACMWChapter and our handle @OfficialACMW Want to know more about how to start an ACM-W Student Chapter at your school? Here’s the quick-start guide.

This series continues. Please read the other tips in this series:

1. Mission Statement
2. Goal Setting
3. Executive Board
4. Event Planning
5. Member Recruiting
6. Funding
7. Company Relationships
8. Community Involvement
9. Sustainability

Step 1 – Formalize Your Mission

The Ohio State University Student Chapter of the ACM-W was chartered on May 13, 2003 and is one of the oldest continuously operating ACM-W Student Chapters.

This chapter annually hosts 40+ events that include trips to the Grace Hopper Celebration, the Ohio Celebration of Women in Computing, company visits, socials, and workshops. They have around 50 active members, and they serve a total community of about 200 students. They often send more than 50 Ohio State students to the Grace Hopper Celebration, and can provide financial support for travel and registration costs to 35 of these through chapter fundraising efforts.

Learn how to build, maintain and grow a strong ACM-W chapter from The Ohio State’s ACM-W Chapter Leaders.

In this segment, ACM-W OSU Chapter Co-President, Emily explains the importance of having a formal Mission Statement for your club. A mission statement will help you explain why your ACM-W Student Chapter exists and how it will function. It will inspire you and provide guidance to your members. Having a mission statement helps you recruit members, create community, foster corporation relations, and raise funds for activities.

Does your chapter have a Mission Statement? How did you create it? And how does it help drive your club’s activities?

Let us know by interacting with us on Twitter, Mastodon or Facebook. Use #BuildYourACMWChapter and our handle @OfficialACMW Want to know more about how to start an ACM-W Student Chapter at your school? Here’s the quick-start guide.

This series continues. Please read the other tips in this series:

1. Mission Statement
2. Goal Setting
3. Executive Board
4. Event Planning
5. Member Recruiting
6. Funding
7. Company Relationships
8. Community Involvement
9. Sustainability