SWE PNW @ WE Local San Diego 2020

Contributor: Theresa Krack, FY20 President

We're excited to be heading to WE Local San Diego next week! And there are several things we wanted to pass on to you for helping support and engage with your fellow PNW SWEsters… so checkout the highlights below for some great information!

PNW Connections

Want to connect with your fellow SWEsters while at WE Local? Be sure to hop over and request to join our "SWE PNW @ WE Conferences" facebook group! There are a few question to answer to join (make sure to answer them or your request won't be reviewed until you do).

Here you can connect with other SWE PNW members that are at the conference, coordinate meet-ups both at session and outside of the conference, and share your WE Local stories!

You can find the group from our Facebook page or through direct link here.

Support your SWEster Presenters

Wondering what session to check out? Then take a look at some of the sessions being presented by your fellow PNW SWEster! Presenting and don't see yours listed? Send our Virtual Brand Team an email at swe.pnw.virtual.brand@gmail.com and they'll be happy to update to include your session!

Yoga for the Office Space 
Fri, Jan 31, 12:25pm - 12:45pm, Kat McCoy

As engineers, we all too often spend our days at our desks for hours at a time. This can leave us exhausted, stressed and sore. Taking short stretch breaks during the day can keep your mind relaxed and your body more comfortable so that throughout the day you can stay refreshed and your mind and body are ready to take on the challenges you are faced with. During this session, I will walk everyone through some breathing techniques and stretching exercises that can be performed at your office desk. Each of these exercises only take a few moments and as a whole routine can be performed in a matter of just a few minutes. Breathe in and stretch out at your desk.

Learning Outcomes
1. Establish good stretching routines for your daily life.
2. Practice breathing techniques for relaxation and focus.

Alone Amongst Many: Establishing Yourself in a New Community
Fri, Jan 31, 3:30pm - 4:30pm, SWE PNW Panel

Across your collegiate and professional career, you may be faced with the daunting decision of whether or not to move to a new area. Or you may find yourself in a new area, feeling very alone and wondering how to get connected with the locals. You may find yourself wondering, what can I do to establish my own new personal community? Our panel of speakers are all transplants, at one point making their home in the Pacific Northwest. They have moved city to city, coast to coast, and even country to country. The panelists will share what worked for them, what didn’t, and what they wished they would have done differently. And the look forward to answering questions to help you on your journey!

Learning Outcomes
1. Learn how to develop a strategic plan to be able to engage in the new community and make connections.
2. Learn to interpret the feedback from the panelist to their own unique situation to create an actionable plan in their new area.
3. Recognize and understand different approaches for making community connections so that they can tailor it to their own approach.

SWE Board of Trustees Overview and Endowment Basics
Sat, Feb 01, 10:00am - 10:45am, Ester Barbuto

This session will be an overview of the SWE Board of Trustees. At the end of the session, you'll have an understanding of what the group does, what an endowment is, and how to get involved.

Learning Outcomes
1.Explain Endowment basics.
2.Describe SWE’s Endowment Fund.
3. Describe the role and function of the SWE Board of Trustees.

The Next Evolution of Your SWE Section’s Digital Infrastructure
Sat, Feb 01, 4:15pm - 5:00pm, Theresa Krack

As technology evolves and new communication tools become available, SWE sections must continually reevaluate the best options to serve their local members. Adapting to technological change is a challenge in any local section, and affects both the section’s infrastructure behind the scenes as well as its public footprint.

This session will be an interactive workshop to help sections determine what the next evolution of their Section’s digital infrastructure will be and learn from one section’s path.

Theresa will first share her experiences developing, launching, and implementing a comprehensive, multiple year plan for the revitalization of the SWE Pacific Northwest Section`s Virtual Brand. She’ll share the lessons she learned, along with challenges and changes to the short and long-term vision. She will provide a space for discussion on both tools and techniques for deployment of a digital infrastructure for a section.

Learning Outcomes
1. Understand the advantages of laying out a multiple year plan for developing a virtual brand for the SWE section.
2. Grow awareness of key tools that can help support a Section’s virtual footprint/brand and infrastructure.
3. Apply shared lessons learned from the PNW experience to virtual brand development in other sections.

Be A Panelist on Alone Amongst Many

If you're heading to WE Local San Diego and want to try your hand at being a panelist, we're still looking for a few people to join our SWE PNW developed panel on the lessons learned when trying to establish a new community after a move.

If you've done a significant move (state to state, country to country, etc) and would interested in being on the panel, please email swe.pnw.panels@gmail.com no later than Tuesday, January 28, 2020.

Find your 'SWE PNW Member' Ribbons

We'll be having our SWE PNW Member ribbon hunt again at WE Local San Diego! Keep your eye on our Instagram for who to find to get them and for our lucky ribbon finders pictures!

Want to help hand out ribbons? Let us know! Email swe.pnw.president@gmail.com to help spread our ribbon fun!

Share & Tag SWE PNW!

Follow SWE PNW on our social media channels and tag us - you may even see your photo shared on our pages!

Instagram: @swe.pnw --> see all our live-time photo posting here!
Twitter: @swe_pnw --> we'll be tweeting friendly reminders and photos here
Facebook: @swe.pnw --> don't forget to keep an eye on our page for highlights in our WE Local San Diego album

WE Local Bellevue in Review, Part 2

Guest Contributor: Shari Wang

WE Local Bellevue, April 5 – 6, 2019

Overall, I really enjoyed the conference for its variety.  I attended sessions covering a wide range of topics, including diversity and inclusion, professional development, volunteering and good causes, financial independence, self awareness, etc.  Its contents and organization were similar to annual conference in many ways, but the networking was much more localized and rewarding.  Boeing subsidized the registration fees for many engineers, and it was great to meet and connect with others from my company.

Fem Finance – 7 Habits for Success (Leanne Plancic)

Leanne Plancic is a retirement planning specialist at AXA Advisors.  She is passionate about setting aside time each year to offer education and outreach to increase financial education and literacy within the community.  She helped to make the strategies simple, whether we were “math” people or not.

• 4 Buckets of Money (the basis of her session)
• Now: 1 year, cash on hand
• Short-Term: 1 – 10 years, brokerage accounts; Taxed on money going in, growth, and money coming out
• Long-Term: Roth, etc.; Taxed on money going in only
• Retirement: 401K, pension, etc.; Taxed on money coming out
• HSA: Bonus 5^th bucket; No taxes going in, growth, or coming out
• ID your financial goals: What does success look like for you?  Be specific.
• Live within your means
• Utilize compounding interest
• Take advantage of tax shelters
• Invest your HSA account, use Excel to track expenses, reimburse years later
• Control your future tax bracket
• Maximize social security
• Amount is very different if you take out at 62 vs. 70
• Should consider spouse when choosing an age to take social security
• Check your social security statement at ssa.gov and make sure your information is correct
• Leverage long-term care insurance

Leanne answered many questions, both basic and complex.  During this highly interactive session, the power went out in the entire hotel.  We, the amazing and diligent SWEesters that we were, continued discussions.  Leanne even pulled up the remaining slides on her smartphone!

WE Local Celebration

The hotel placed candles and string lights around the ballroom to accommodate for the lack of electricity.  It created an inviting and intimate ambiance for the celebration.  Each table had a different game, including Sushi Go and Scrabble, to initiate some conversations.  Food was served along buffet tables and by servers around the room.  Some of the most delicious food was the tandoori chicken skewers and the chicken samosas.

When the power came back on, Glowforge created custom name badges, luggage tags, and jigsaw puzzles on their 3D laser printers.  We drew our designs on cardboard and chose from a selection of woods, including maple, cherry, and walnut.  As the employees walked us through the program and the printer functions, we saw our drawings etched onto the wood piece line by line.

Successfully Returning to Work after a Career Break (Elizabeth Crain)

Elizabeth chose to take a career break for 2 years, and is currently a part-time plan review contract at FM Global.  She shared her reasoning, the planning she did before taking a break, what she did while away, and lessons learned after returning to work.  Below are a few of her suggestions.

• Consider finances, time, childcare, work opportunities (pro/con list, motivations, structure)
• Consider alternative roles/schedules (ex. full-time with reduced travel, flexible time, part time, contractor, sabbatical/hiatus, office hours)
• Continue updating your resume, network and stay connected, attend social events, develop yourself (ex. read, learn new skill, volunteer, try new things)
• Returning to work: Compensation, support (spouse, family), emotional and physical impact, childcare constraints, etc.

Plan ahead and act with intention.

Celeste Mergens of Days for Girls

Celeste Mergens described her life growing up, how she founded Days for Girls, and the experiences she’s had since its founding.  There was not a dry eye in the room after she described her journey.

Girls all around the world drop out of school due to lack of feminine supplies.  Some are forced to live apart from their families during that time of the month.  As she was preparing to return to Nairobi, Kenya in 2008, she woke up in the middle of the night with a nagging question: “What are girls doing for feminine hygiene?”  Her first attempt at creating disposable pads quickly evolved into kits that include washable, long-lasting pads.

Days for Girls has created of women and girls who sew the kits and educate the communities.  Celeste has changed how communities think of and treat periods.  There are so many ways to support the message and continue the impact worldwide.

The T about the T in LGBTQ+, A Beginners Guide to Transgender Inclusion (Natalie Vanderspiegel)

Living in Seattle, LGBTQ+ is a common topic.  We see it in the legislation that’s passed, the rainbow-painted sidewalks in Capitol Hill, as well as the Pride Parade every summer.  I sing with the Seattle Women’s Chorus, a voice for LGBTQ advocacy in the community and across the country.  However, there’s a lot of terms as you get more into the community, and I was interested in getting it all straight in my head.

Diversity and inclusion are often spoken in the same sentence, almost as if they were interchangeable words.  They are not.  “Diversity is being invited to the party, inclusion is being asked to dance.”

SWE has made great strides in increasing inclusion.  Some of it can be seen on the new name tags, with preferred pronouns prominently displayed.  Some of it can be seen in the subtle but powerful language changes in the official documents.

Natalie went on to describe the full spectrum for defining a person’s identity.

Source: The Trevor Project

She described the challenges of the community, and drew on her personal experiences with colleagues and friends.  I learned so much from the session and appreciated her candor and honesty in sharing.

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Shari Wang is a team member of the SWE PNW Virtual Brand Team. She is an Industrial Engineering Manager at Boeing, supporting Everett Site Operations through daily management, continuous improvement, and data analytics. Shari enjoys singing with the Seattle Women’s Chorus and volunteering for the Industrial Engineering University Relations Team at Boeing.

WE Local Bellevue in Review, Part 1

Guest Contributor: Shari Wang

WE Local Bellevue, April 5 – 6, 2019

Although I’ve attended annual conferences and regional conferences, WE Local Bellevue was my first conference since the format change to local conferences.

On the Sunday prior to WE Local, SWE PNW held a small session at Hot Cakes in Capitol Hill to provide some general guidance on the conference.  Dana Day, the WE Local Bellevue Chair, led the event and answered questions about navigating the conference, tips for preparation, etc.  The biggest difference between the local conferences and regional conferences was the level of standardization and the involvement of SWE Headquarters.  It was a casual event that helped me to prepare myself for volunteering and attending the conference.

I started my Friday morning by checking attendees (including myself) into the conference.  Beautifully prepared badges, lanyards, and pins awaited every attendee.

Source: Theresa Krack

The keynote speaker, Judy Twedt, started off the conference with a powerful perspective shift by demonstrating climate science through music.  She shared the musical interpretation of surface temperature rising and falling through the years as well as the sonification of the Arctic sea ice.  She posed a powerful question to start off the conference: How do you make the data speak to you and others? (For more information: https://www.judytwedt.com/)

Successful Transitions: Make the Most of Your Move (Anna Mary Mathew)

Anna Mary moved from Intel in Portland, OR to Microsoft in Redmond, WA.  She and her husband debated and discussed whether it was time to change, where to move to, and the logistics of making this transition before, during, and after.

• Conduct a career retrospection (goal, experiences, good/bad)
• Understand the landscape of your career field, future company
• Discuss your options with mentors for feedback and suggestions, including ones who have made a similar transition
• How do you pursue impact-driven positions and add value?

Creating Mid-Career Momentum: How to Accelerate Your Move into Senior Leadership (JeanAnn Nichols)

JeanAnn Nichols used to be Vice President and General Manager at Intel, before pursuing a career in exexcutive coaching.  Her session focused on tools and practical advice to assess your personal brand and compare that with expectations for senior leadership roles. (For more information: http://www.jeanannnichols.com/)

• Sketch out your career arc as a way to look at the bigger picture of your life and career
• Do you want to step back from higher-impact roles to travel, start a family, continue education, etc.?
• What type of impact do you want to make?
• What’s the value of the next promotion to you?  Cost and benefit?  Why? Desire?  Passion?

Source: www.jeanannnichols.com

• Personal brand: The way others perceive you
• Ask others: How am I known?  What do you come to me for?  (Adverbs & adjectives)
• Fill out the following table with tasks / characteristics and communicate to influencers

		ENJOY
		NO	YES
GOOD AT	NO / NOT YET
	YES

• To move into senior leadership, you need
• Vision: Articulate something unknown or fuzzy
• Advocate: Speak for something that’s not your expertise
• Systems thinking: Upstream, downstream, left, right
• Authenticity: Have an opinion and own it
• Executive presence: How do you show up?
• Emotional intelligence: How are my actions affecting your performance?
• Allies: Deeper relations
• Sponsor: Help your sisters, sponsor others from where you are
• Patient persistence (we know this all too well, ladies)

How to Thrive in a Competitive Environment (Priyanka Dobriyal, Jill Murfin)

Two women professionals speak to balancing and re-thinking life after children, redefining it as a collaborative rather than competitive environment.  Who knew a WE Local session could start in childcare?

• Find mutually beneficial relationships.  We are all working through the same issues and challenges.  Find friends at work, in childcare, etc.  Collaborate, don’t do it alone. 
• How do you re-see your interests to fit your current life?
• How to turn interests into benefit for the company? (ex. Love for volunteering with children + advertising maker kits for Intel)
• What does success really look like?  Happiness?

How to Build a Chatbot (Amara Graham)

Sprinkled among the professional development sessions were opportunities for me to learn something completely new.  Amara Graham, an IBM Developer Advocate, shared a great introductory and demo-filled session about using Watson Assistant to create chatbots.

High-level framework:

Source: Amara Graham

Guts of a chatbot

• #Intents: Goal of the user’s input (ex. order pizza)
• @Entities: Portion of user’s input that can provide a different response (ex. pizza toppings)
• Dialog: Return response to user’s input
• $Context: Keeps Watson aware of what has taken place in the conversation (ex. pizza size, pizza type)

How to be a Catalyst for Change in any Environment (Shawnlee Brown)

There are many types of change, some better than others.  There is ecstatic change, desired change, required change, and traumatic change.  Before asking others to “change,” we must evaluate our own perspectives and utilize innovative strategies to approach stressful and challenging situations.

• Say first what you fear most
• Next best action (don’t compound the mistake)
• Leave the baggage (active choice to leave the regret, guilt, etc.)
• “KonMari”: Learn from it, say thank you, and leave it
• Traumatic events can change your perspective, can being wrong also change it?
• When actuals deviate from the plan, don’t ask about how to get back on plan, ask what changed since the plan was created
• Leadership: Be the last to speak

A common theme throughout the entire conference, including this session, was asking for and offering help.  The people who become Navy Seals are not the ones who are the strongest or largest, they are the ones who ask for and help each other.  We are not alone.

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Shari Wang is a team member of the SWE PNW Virtual Brand Team. She is an Industrial Engineering Manager at Boeing, supporting Everett Site Operations through daily management, continuous improvement, and data analytics. Shari enjoys singing with the Seattle Women’s Chorus and volunteering for the Industrial Engineering University Relations Team at Boeing.