Welcome to our Women of Sitecore live chat. The transcript below has been lightly edited.
JaxBaxter [Jacqueline Baxter, Digital Strategist]: Welcome to the first ever Women of Sitecore live chat! In honor of this momentous occasion, we’ll be discussing Sitecore Symposium 2018, which took place in Orlando, Florida in October. Easy question to get the ball rolling – how did this year’s Symposium compare to other years?
Sandy Foley [Sandy Foley, Technical Lead]: This Symposium was the best yet for me (5 attendances under my belt); not necessarily because of the session content but because of the camaraderie and bonding with the Women of Sitecore. What a nice change! At tech conferences, in general, I tend to be a loner. This is perhaps due to being a minority and thinking I don’t have a lot in common with the male-dominant attendees.
Kelly [Kelly Brennan, Solution Architect]: I agree with Sandy, WoS made things so much easier for me in regards to socializing and feeling more comfortable.
Hetal Dave [Hetal Dave, Technical Lead]: I came back feeling empowered and inspired!
Kelly: Last year I was so angry with the lack of women on stage!
JaxBaxter: That was a glaring miss last year for sure. I was glad to see Sitecore making a concentrated effort to close the gender gap
Francine Anthony (Sitecore) [Francine Anthony, Head of Global Partner Marketing]: This was my first Symposium and thus I’m already spoiled. I’ve been with Sitecore almost 6 months and boy, what a fantastic welcome to Sitecore and the WoS
Amy [Amy Winburn, Sitecore Architect] Also the best one for me – I haven’t been in a few years and it’s really stepped up since the first Symposium/Dreamcore days. Also loved getting to meet people I’ve only spoken with online and make some new friends.
Deepthi [Deepthi Katta, Technical Lead]: This was my first ever Symposium. And I bet based on other’s feelings, I should say this is the beginning of many more awesome symposiums to come. I enjoyed every bit of it in awe and meeting all the women for rehearsing for the panel was the best experience. It was filled with fun and laughs.
Francine Anthony (Sitecore): And to Kelly’s point, I had heard about last year’s Symposium
Amy: There were no women on any stages at the prior Symposiums I’ve attended.
Sandy Foley: Remember how you and I met in 2017, Kelly? My icebreaker with Kelly was that I was trying to be the ‘first woman MVP’ to finish the SC9 test but she finished it first! It’s hard to find moments like this sometimes.
Kelly: Haha and when we finished the test we got a t-shirt. And I asked if they had women’s ones
JaxBaxter: “Unisex means men’s” was the tweet of the conference for me!
Kelly: I don’t have the body shape for unisex t-shirts
Deepthi: On that note, I loved wearing the special T-shirt for our panel discussion. We got so many compliments for that shirt including Paige
Amy: Very limited-edition shirt as it turns out!
Kelly: But I also loved getting to know new people this year. And meeting people in person finally. I loved hearing people’s stories on stage at the move the dial panel has well. I wish it was longer and we had more time to talk!
Amy: Yeah, I felt the same way about the MVP panel – there was a lot to be said and not enough time, but that’s why we have these spaces now.
JaxBaxter: Exactly. In that same vein, there was definitely a level of camaraderie and ease this year that I attribute almost entirely to the Women of Sitecore group. And that makes sense, since this was the first official year of Women of Sitecore; is there a memory associated with it that really stands out in your mind?
Sandy Foley: Getting to meet everyone in the Speakers Lounge and practicing. I truly listened during that moment and welled up with tears a few times.
Amy: I mean, I’ve just been thrilled at everyone getting involved. I saw someone walking around with one of our pins and I had no idea who they were…it just made my day.
Deepthi: Yes, and the morning breakfasts were fun too, although woke up late and could not join them all
Amy: I was really glad we could get that organized and going! Next year I hope we can take up a ton more tables
Kelly: Mine was the Champagne toast we had on Wednesday before the party. I wish we could have all made it! (Next year?)
Sandy Foley: We definitely need to plan a few small gatherings next year.
Amy: Ooh, Kelly – that too. I have a lot of great memories, and it’s entirely due to this group
Deepthi: Yes, I would have loved to join. It is just hard to get out of the room once in PJs
Kelly: Oh! and the women I met who told me how much they enjoyed our panel and how they felt encouraged and inspired
Francine Anthony (Sitecore): The positive vibes of pulling together the Women in Digital panel is something that still stands out for me
Sandy Foley: Oh yes! It was shocking to me to be at a conference and see the room filled with a majority of women. Definitely different energy.
Amy: It was great. I was so excited to see representation and discussion around it!
Francine Anthony (Sitecore): WoS energy was palpable! I met so many new friends. So many hugs, warmth, and inspiration.
Hetal Dave: For me it was just cool hanging with all the awesome ladies! This was my fifth Symposium and the BEST one so far!
Francine Anthony (Sitecore): Ditto Hetal!
Deepthi: Move the Dial was also a great event to bring of us together
Amy: (also, this glass water bottle is my most used swag ever)
Deepthi: I have that bottle next to me now, it helps me drink more water everyday
Hetal Dave: I broke my water bottle at the airport. A kid rrraaaannnnn into me.
Amy: oh noo
Hetal Dave: But he was soooooo cute…I did not get mad! I was like…eh…it’s okay!
Deepthi: That is sad, I had left mine under the lunch table and I think Una gave one to me after the panel
Amy: I packed mine carefully…though I regretted not keeping the box to help just in case
JaxBaxter: Every year I think “this time my suitcase will be lighter coming home from Symposium” and every year there’s so much cool swag that it never happens.
Hetal Dave: I know right? I loved the bag though…. super cool. My son was like – why they had to put Sitecore MVP on it? And I was like your mommy worked hard for it.
Amy: I was super jealous of the bag. But the jacket is nice!
Sandy Foley: Didn’t go home with a Hedgehog 🙁
Hetal Dave: Me neither!
Amy: Jax hooked me up…and now I have one beside the one from.. the first symposium;)
JaxBaxter: I can maybe hook you up too Sandy. I have connections….
Hetal Dave: Added to the list for next year – steal a pillow and whatever else needs stealing!
Deepthi: Yeah I actually missed on some good goodies like the Hedgehog. And Sitecore pillow.
Amy: Yes, I had no idea the pillows were meant to be taken, and I didn’t want to steal
Francine Anthony (Sitecore): Hetal, you’ll have to fight me for that pillow – he he… OK a WoS logo pillow!
Amy: Haha, Francine, I can hook us up there!
Sandy: We definitely need WoS pillows!
JaxBaxter: I would DO BATTLE for a WoS pillow!
Amy: Consider it done! You won’t need to battle!
Deepthi: Everyone gets one, unlike Sitecore pillows
Hetal Dave: Oh yeah…WoS pillows please! With that same cool logo we had on the T-Shirts! The pillow itself would say like: DO NOT MESS WITH ME!
Amy: I’ll get us pillows!
JaxBaxter: YAY! Ok, every year Symposium raises the bar in some way (or in several ways). This year I thought the presentations particularly were stellar. Did you have a favorite? And what made it stand out? (yes, that is me pulling us back on track)
Hetal Dave: So true! I came back with so much learning and my heart filled with the memories of my newest coolest friends!
Sandy Foley: I’m so bad at picking sessions! There were so many that I wished I would have attended. For the ones that I did attend, it’s a toss-up between “NetCore and 9.1 architecture” and “Where Machine Learning Meets Social” … Netcore: I liked the history of the Sitecore architecture and better appreciate the move to NetCore. For Una’s ML session, I left the session more interested in diving into data science and marketing, in general.
Hetal Dave: I have that feeling always…no matter how much I try to go to them all! Wish I could clone myself! And then merge back too!
Amy: My favorite was the MVP panel. Aside from that, I really enjoyed Una’s session Sandy mentioned ‘Where machine learning meets social’ – and combined with Jason St. Cyr’s panel on Ethics around it all – it was really informative and gave a ton to think about.
Hetal Dave: Right….the #MoveTheDial lunch and Women MVP Panel were just so inspiring! I still get goosebumps!
Francine Anthony (Sitecore): Regrettably I missed a lot of the sessions due to legwork for my session and partner meetings. ☹
JaxBaxter: Seconded on Amy’s presentation picks – both of those were highly informative and brought new perspectives to my thought process.
Kelly: The MVP panel was an all-round highlight for me.
Deepthi: I loved the MVP Summit and of course our panel
Francine Anthony (Sitecore): At #MoveTheDial remember the young lady who spoke up asking for a mentor has reached out to me and we had our first session yesterday. So the goodness continues for me
Kelly: I’m organizing a webinar for her and her coworker Courtney on the 19th as well for anyone that wants to learn about Glass. I’m typing up the promos for approval today. I’m so glad you had your first session Francine!
JaxBaxter: That’s fantastic! It’s really wonderful to see the ripples from the event continuing to spread out
Francine Anthony (Sitecore): I’ll also be at the #MoveTheDial conference next week and will see Jodi, Heather (Sick Kids) and Allison (Valtech, Sitecore MVP and fellow panelist) The gift that keeps giving
Amy: I think you’ll have a great time, I’ve really enjoyed attending conferences focused on women in tech – it’s a very different set of attendees and very cool vibe.
Hetal Dave: Wish I could join too….next time!
Francine Anthony (Sitecore): Yes. The livestream is happening though. Paige will have a feature. Join if you can
Hetal Dave: Yes. I am going to. Just listening to these conversations give me fire to keep running for a higher goal! :fire:
JaxBaxter: It was such a great Symposium for so many reasons: I personally adored spending time at Hogwarts. Best Symposium 2018 memory overall? Ready, GO!
Sandy Foley: Hanging with Hetal at the parks!
Hetal Dave: I loved the lazzzyyyyyy sailing in the Cave of Pandora…Thanks to Sandy and Liz Spranzani!
Amy: Ooh, that’s hard.. I’m gonna go with champagne with Kelly
Kelly: I can’t pick one. I say Symposium and MVP Summit 2018 was my highlight 😛
Sandy: Deepthi, Isabel and I left the hotel and had South Indian … so good! We have to go off-site as a group next year!!
Hetal: You are making me miss you all over again Sandy!
Francine Anthony (Sitecore): There was so much that I loved about Symposium! The keynotes. Seeing my rock star CMO in action. Women, women all over
Deepthi: Loved Paige and her appreciation to the panel at several occasions
Amy: Haha yep, it was great – this is the first time i was sad a conference was over! 😉
Hetal Dave: I loved all the sessions…especially the commerce ones by Dan, Kelly and Ishraq. Some of them were nice but not for me…you know what I mean!
Deepthi: I liked Una Verhoeven’s session as well, she was awesome
JaxBaxter: Ok….last question. What advice do you have for women who’d like to present at Symposium 2019?
Sandy Foley: I haven’t presented yet (fingers crossed for 2019 …) but I understand that it’s necessary to present at least some version of your SYM presentation at user groups once or twice before submitting.
Amy: Do it! Women generally don’t apply for things unless they’re certain of success. Apply anyways and take the chance! Though, that’s not true actually, Sandy – some of my coworkers were accepted without ever presenting anywhere
Sandy Foley: good to know!
Amy: But probably not a bad idea to help
Kelly: I haven’t done much presenting either. I submitted mine on a “I might as well” whim
JaxBaxter: I submitted to my first SUGCON because I couldn’t get any of my co-workers to throw their hat in the ring. They all said, “if it’s so easy, you do it!” So, I did. Being brave is key.
Sandy Foley: For 2018, Deepthi and I gave a lot of thought to what we wanted to present and went back and forth with Jason a few times to try to better our chances; we weren’t selected. We’ll try again next year!
Amy: I’m hoping to present next year. I’ve been on super-secret projects until now, so I’ll finally get to be more public about whatever cool things are happening!
JaxBaxter: I think that’s the key – to put your name forward and don’t stop trying. User groups are a great way to practice public speaking skills. And I would say this – there’s a tendency to believe that the things you have to say aren’t interesting or useful. I have never found that to be true. You have something valuable to add
Amy: And we’ll have online user groups with this group people can present through also!
JaxBaxter: I am VERY excited about that! And on that happy note, this concludes our first live chat. Thank you everyone!
