The ACM-W award gave me the opportunity to travel to New Zealand to present the conceptual overview and preliminary findings of my PhD dissertation at the 25th Australasian Conference on Information Systems. At this conference, I received valuable feedback concerning my work from experienced scholars in the discipline. While the practical contribution of my research, which concerns the impact of food safety knowledge optimization in consumers, was easily recognized by the audience; the theoretical contribution required detailed explanation. Based on the feedback received, I was able to understand the need to articulate the theoretical foundation of my research more clearly. The most surprising experience I had at the conference concerns the amount of encouragement and supportive comments I received, as the experts in the field indeed requested to be informed about the outcome of my research. This interest in my research facilitated the expansion of my academic and social network. Therefore, through this conference, I have been able to make new friends within my contemporaries and senior colleagues.