CALL FOR PAPERS
Celebrating the Achievements and Legacies of Ada Lovelace
18 October 2013
Stevens Institute of Technology, College of Arts and Letters (Hoboken, New Jersey, USA)

An interdisciplinary conference celebrating the achievements and legacies of the poet Lord Byron’s only known legitimate child, Ada Byron King, Countess of Lovelace (1815–1852), will take place at Stevens Institute of Technology (Hoboken, New Jersey) on 18 October 2013. This conference will coincide with the week celebrating Ada Lovelace Day, a global event for women in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM). All aspects of the achievements and legacies of Ada Lovelace will be considered, including but not limited to:

• Lovelace as Translator and/or Collaborator
• Technology in the Long Nineteenth Century
• Women in Computing: Past/Present/Future
• Women in STEM- Past/Present/Future
• Ada Lovelace and her Circle

Please submit proposals or abstracts of 250-500 words by 14 May 2013 to: Robin Hammerman (rhammerm@stevens.edu).

Submissions are still open, and organiser Robin Hammerman shares more about the conference and her interest in Ada Lovelace:

Q. Tell us a little about yourself.

Robin: I teach Literature and Communications at Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, New Jersey. Most of our students major in STEM. To me, it is amazing to see how well our students build on their strengths and face their challenges in humanities courses. We are a relatively small school of only around 6,000 students with a strong spirit of collaboration. Our College of Arts and Letters is an ideal venue for hosting the upcoming Ada conference. We are a warm and welcoming part of the Stevens community, dedicated to mindful exchanges and – in my estimation – a perfect match for the Ada world. My research interests include science fiction, comics and graphic novels, and British Romanticism. I am chiefly a Byronist, so my initial connection to Ada was forged through my exposure to her father’s life and works. Additionally, it has been my honor to serve the Byron Society of America as its Director of Membership and Academic Services since 2007. As you might imagine, we have many Ada fans in our membership!

Q. What motivated you to create a conference about Ada Lovelace?

Robin: The time is definitely right to bring Ada to campus. Stevens was a male-only school until 1971 and now we have a flourishing community of women on campus. We are constantly generating fantastic opportunities for women so that they might thrive here, and it has definitely been working. Within the College of Arts and Letters alone we developed an excellent Gender Studies program, and our new program for Science and Technology Studies – also within CAL – strongly anchors women in STEM. Additionally, in 1982 Stevens became the first major educational institution in the U.S. to implement a personal computer requirement for its students. Back then, a pioneering technology project resulted in the networking of the entire Stevens campus, creating one of the nation’s first Intranets. Clearly, Stevens is well-positioned to host a conference celebrating Ada’s legacies and achievements.

Q. Who should speak at or attend this conference?

Robin: I anticipate an interdisciplinary extravaganza of past/present/future with people of varying interests represented in the audience and the speakers. Really, all are welcome – faculty, students, independent and rogue scholars, enthusiasts…the call for papers is rather open. In addition to topics on women in STEM, the history of computing, etc. we are interested in developing panels on new media. I would really like to hear some work at the conference on Ada’s collaboration with Charles Babbage as well as Ada’s larger circle. She had some very interesting friends, including Charles Dickens. While we are on the subject of literary topics, we are developing a panel on Ada’s iconic status in Steampunk Literature – so you see, there is hardly a limit to what we might include. You don’t have to be a passionate supporter of women in STEM to attend or speak at this conference, but it helps!

Q. What is your favorite Lovelace fact or story?

Robin: To me, the coolest ever Lovelace fact is that NASA named its first computer program after her. As a Byronist, I think that Ada never meeting her father is an interesting part of her story. Nevertheless, this fact seems to say more about her father than it does about her.

Q. What are your plans for next year?

Robin: I am interested in seeing how our Stevens community and beyond will be enriched by the conference proceedings. Next year will provide us with unique opportunities to expand our Ada-inspired knowledge bases. If it seems appropriate, perhaps we might consider developing a publication including papers from the conference. Most of all, this conference will bring together people who might otherwise not have met. From this act of coming together, I anticipate long-term benefits in our collective thinking about what it means to have true, interdisciplinary engagement.

Happy AdaCampers

Here’s a few of our success stories:

• Netha Hussain ran edit-a-thons to increase women editors and women’s biographies in Malayalam Wikipedia, gave her first three talks, published an article in Forbes Online, and learned how to program
• Tamara Manik-Perlman won an internship at Code For America
• Stephanie Alarcon first learned about the GNOME Outreach Program for Women at AdaCamp – and then won an OPW internship with the Open Technology Institute

We especially encourage applications from people living in the San Francisco Bay area who could not otherwise afford to travel to AdaCamp. AdaCamp registration fees vary from $0 to $250, depending on financial need, so if you can get to downtown San Francisco, you can afford to attend!

AdaCampers (c) Mairin Duffy 2012

Learn more and apply here. AdaCamp San Francisco will be another amazing event, don’t miss it!

We thank our gold level sponsors Mozilla, Automattic and Google Site Reliability Engineering; and our silver level sponsors Linux Foundation, Red Hat, Intel, and Puppet Labs; for their support of AdaCamp San Francisco.

Heroku is the first AdaCamp supporting sponsor. Heroku is a cloud platform that allows app developers to spend their time on their application code, not managing servers, deployment, ongoing operations, or scaling. They’re presently hiring for roles from marketing to security and support engineering.

O’Reilly is the second AdaCamp supporting sponsor. O’Reilly has been chronicling technology since 1978, and spreads the knowledge of innovators through its books, online services, magazines, research, and conferences.

The Python Software Foundation (PSF) contributed $750 towards travel scholarships for Python community members. (Please note that applications for travel grants closed on April 12, the PSF grant will be awarded to existing applicants.) The PSF manage the open source licensing for Python version 2.1 and later and own and protect the trademarks associated with Python; run the North American PyCon conference annually, support other Python conferences around the world; and fund Python related development with their grants program. In late 2012, the PSF announced that all PSF-supported events needed to implement an anti-harassment policy, making their community more accessible and safe.

On behalf of women in open technology and culture, we thank Heroku, O’Reilly, and the Python Software Foundation for their generous support.

Why AdaCamp?

Why is AdaCamp so important to women in open technology and culture? Because AdaCamp measurably increases women’s participation in open technology and culture – in an environment that more often pushes women towards the door.

Most women who attend AdaCamp “lean in” to their careers and community work after AdaCamp. In our post-conference survey, 92% of survey respondents said AdaCamp increased their commitment to open technology and culture.

AdaCamp also increases women’s professional connections: 100% of survey respondents said AdaCamp increased their network in open tech/culture. Several AdaCamp attendees landed new jobs in open tech/culture through the connections they made at AdaCamp, and at least two won prestigious internships with Code for America and the GNOME Outreach Program for Women. One of the benefits of attending AdaCamp is joining the AdaCamp alumni mailing list, which members use to recruit job applicants, advertise events, and share career advice.

AdaCampers learn new skills at AdaCamp as well. Past AdaCamps included tutorials in Wikipedia editing, Python programming, and other open tech/culture topics. The tutorials were so popular that we are expanding them this year, and adding a “hackathon” (for all open tech/culture projects, not just coding).

Sponsorship

Your organization has the opportunity to join Automattic in sponsoring AdaCamp San Francisco, and reach 250 women leaders and future leaders in open technology and culture. Contact us at sponsors@adainitiative.org for more information about becoming a sponsor.

Apply to AdaCamp

Applications are open to attend AdaCamp San Francisco, to be held on Saturday June 8 and Sunday June 9 in San Francisco, California. All women who are interesting in meeting other women in open technology and culture, and learning and sharing about efforts to improve women’s participation in and the community environment of open technology and culture, are invited to apply. An allies track open to attendees of any gender will be held on Saturday June 8.

We thank our gold level sponsors Mozilla, Automattic and Google Site Reliability Engineering; and our silver level sponsors Linux Foundation, Red Hat, Intel, and Puppet Labs; for their support of AdaCamp San Francisco.

If you haven’t heard from us yet

Applications are being reviewed progressively. If you haven’t heard from us yet, we have not reached your application in the review queue. (It definitely does not mean you’ve been rejected.) I apologise especially for the delay in notifying travel grant applicants.

We are working to the following timeline:

• applicants who asked for international travel grants (applicants outside the USA, Canada and Mexico) will be notified today, May 1
• applicants who asked for domestic travel grants (applicants from the USA, Canada and Mexico) will be notified by Friday May 3 at the latest
• other applicants who applied before April 14 will be notified by Friday May 3 at the latest
• applicants who applied between April 14 and April 30 will be notified by Tuesday May 7 at the latest, sooner if we can
• applicants who apply between May 1 and May 6 will be notified by Tuesday May 14 at the latest, sooner if we can

Please contact adacamp@adainitiative.org if you were expecting a notification and have not received one by the dates above.

Childcare requests

AdaCamp is providing limited free childcare places for attendees. We need to finalise childcare numbers very soon, and therefore unfortunately need to close applications for childcare earlier than the May 6 deadline. If you want to request a free childcare place for AdaCamp, please apply by Friday May 2. After this, no more childcare requests can be taken.

If you have already applied and asked for a childcare place, our event planner will be in touch late this week or early next week to confirm your childcare needs.

Travel and accommodation information

If you have been accepted to AdaCamp, you may be interested in accommodation options and venue and transport information.

If you are interested in sharing a room with another attendee, and are willing for your name and email to be shared with other attendees for this purpose, please email adacamp@adainitiative.org.

We thank our gold level sponsors Mozilla, Automattic and Google Site Reliability Engineering; and our silver level sponsors Linux Foundation, Red Hat, Intel, and Puppet Labs; for their support of AdaCamp San Francisco.

Puppet Labs is our newest Silver level sponsor, and one of the original four founding sponsors of the Ada Initiative, all the way back in April 2011. Puppet Labs’ open source IT automation software is familiar to nearly every software administrator and developer working today, and used by companies like Twitter, Yelp, eBay, Google, and Disney. Puppet Labs is based in Portland and was recently named one of 25 Enterprise Startups To Bet Your Career On by Business Insider. Learn more about working at Puppet Labs here.

On behalf of women in open technology and culture, we thank Puppet Labs for their generous support.

Why AdaCamp?

Why is AdaCamp so important to women in open technology and culture? Because AdaCamp measurably increases women’s participation in open technology and culture – in an environment that more often pushes women towards the door.

Most women who attend AdaCamp “lean in” to their careers and community work after AdaCamp. In our post-conference survey, 92% of survey respondents said AdaCamp increased their commitment to open technology and culture.

AdaCamp also increases women’s professional connections: 100% of survey respondents said AdaCamp increased their network in open tech/culture. Several AdaCamp attendees landed new jobs in open tech/culture through the connections they made at AdaCamp, and at least two won prestigious internships with Code for America and the GNOME Outreach Program for Women. One of the benefits of attending AdaCamp is joining the AdaCamp alumni mailing list, which members use to recruit job applicants, advertise events, and share career advice.

AdaCampers learn new skills at AdaCamp as well. Past AdaCamps included tutorials in Wikipedia editing, Python programming, and other open tech/culture topics. The tutorials were so popular that we are expanding them this year, and adding a “hackathon” (for all open tech/culture projects, not just coding).

Sponsorship

Your organization has the opportunity to join Puppet Labs in sponsoring AdaCamp San Francisco, and reach 250 women leaders and future leaders in open technology and culture. Contact us at sponsors@adainitiative.org for more information about becoming a sponsor.

Apply to AdaCamp

Applications are open to attend AdaCamp San Francisco, to be held on Saturday June 8 and Sunday June 9 in San Francisco, California. All women who are interesting in meeting other women in open technology and culture, and learning and sharing about efforts to improve women’s participation in and the community environment of open technology and culture, are invited to apply. An allies track open to attendees of any gender will be held on Saturday June 8.

We thank our gold level sponsors Mozilla, Automattic and Google Site Reliability Engineering; and our silver level sponsors Linux Foundation, Red Hat, Intel, and Puppet Labs; for their support of AdaCamp San Francisco.

Happy AdaCampers

Apply as soon as you can! We’re extending the application deadline because some places remain, but applicants who meet our criteria will be accepted in order of application.

Here’s a few of our success stories:

• Netha Hussain ran edit-a-thons to increase women editors and women’s biographies in Malayalam Wikipedia, gave her first three talks, published an article in Forbes Online, and learned how to program
• Tamara Manik-Perlman won an internship at Code For America
• Stephanie Alarcon first learned about the GNOME Outreach Program for Women at AdaCamp – and then won an OPW internship with the Open Technology Institute

We especially encourage applications from people living in the San Francisco Bay area who could not otherwise afford to travel to AdaCamp. AdaCamp registration fees vary from $0 to $250, depending on financial need, so if you can get to downtown San Francisco, you can afford to attend!

AdaCampers (c) Mairin Duffy 2012

Learn more and apply here. AdaCamp San Francisco will be another amazing event, don’t miss it!

We thank our gold level sponsors Mozilla, Automattic and Google Site Reliability Engineering; and our silver level sponsors Linux Foundation, Red Hat, and Intel; for their support of AdaCamp San Francisco.

If you identify as a woman, genderqueer, or genderfluid, have ever wanted to learn to develop the Linux kernel, and have the free time to work on the internship, you should apply now! The deadline to finish your application is May 17, 2013, but please start your application by May 1.

Not sure you can write a good application? Lots of help is available: you can join a mailing list, ask questions on IRC, or email the mentors directly. You are encouraged to start your application now, and finish it by May 17th using any of these avenues for help.

We’re thrilled that the Linux Foundation and their mentors are taking this major step towards increasing diversity in the Linux kernel development community. Thank you, Linux Foundation, for creating these internships!

Back in February, Google Site Reliability Engineering (SRE) joined AdaCamp San Francisco as one of our first sponsors. We’re now thrilled to announce that Google SRE has made a further generous contribution to AdaCamp, becoming our third gold sponsor and our opening reception host. Thank you Google SRE!

AdaCamp is the only conference for women in open technology and culture, which includes open source software, Wikipedia-related projects, open data, open geo, fan fiction, remix culture, and more. AdaCamp is a unique opportunity to meet, collaborate with, and reach out to women in all of these communities. AdaCamp San Francisco will be held on June 8 and 9, 2013.

Interested in sponsoring AdaCamp? Email us at sponsors@adainitiative.org for more information. AdaCamp San Francisco will be the first AdaCamp in the Silicon Valley area, the heart of the open tech/culture revolution. Don’t miss this rare opportunity!

Interested in coming to AdaCamp San Francisco? AdaCamp SF is June 8-9, 2013. AdaCamp attendance is invitation-only with an open application process. Apply today! Applications will be closing shortly.

We thank our gold level sponsors Mozilla, Automattic and Google Site Reliability Engineering; and our silver level sponsors Linux Foundation, Red Hat, and Intel; for their support of AdaCamp San Francisco.

GitHub changed how open source software is developed, making it easier than ever before for people to post their code, send changes to other people’s code, and get their code reviewed. GitHub gives anyone unlimited free public code repositories, but charges for private repositories, which only selected people can see. This encourages GitHub users to use open source software licenses and share their code with other people.

In working with women in open source, the Ada Initiative found that many women are reluctant to post their code publicly when they are first getting started in open source software. This reluctance has good reasons behind it: fear of being told they are bad programmers, fear of being publicly mocked or harassed, and even fear of losing job opportunities. All of these are greater risks for women on average than men. But the best way to get better at programming is to collaborate with and get review from other programmers, which is far easier to do with a shared repository like those provided by GitHub. Unfortunately, private repositories are too expensive for most women just getting started in open source software.

We went to GitHub with our dilemma, and they immediately offered us unlimited free repositories on the Ada Initiative GitHub account. GitHub is a long-time supporter of women in open source, and sponsored both AdaCamp DC and AdaCamp San Francisco. We’re thrilled to offer women in open source private repositories for the purpose of learning open source software development. To get a private repository, email the Ada Initiative GitHub team members with your GitHub account name and ask. If you run a women’s open source programming group or event, such as PyLadies or Women Who Code, and could use some private repositories, please ask to become a team member for the Ada Initiative repository so you can create private repositories for your event.

Thanks again to GitHub for their generous donation and support of women in open technology and culture!

Happy AdaCampers

Here is what previous AdaCampers had to say about AdaCamp:

Netha Hussain

“It was fantastic, not in the least because the organizers had explicitly invited people from fannish backgrounds and created a very welcoming atmosphere. That enabled us to launch right into talking about fan culture and open stuff without any of the non-fannish people questioning whether we belonged at a “techie” unconference.” Nele Noppe, transformative works researcher

Leslie Birch

And just a few of our success stories:

• Netha Hussain ran edit-a-thons to increase women editors and women’s biographies in Malayalam Wikipedia, gave her first three talks, published an article in Forbes Online, and learned how to program
• Tamara Manik-Perlman won an internship at Code For America
• Stephanie Alarcon first learned about the GNOME Outreach Program for Women at AdaCamp – and then won an OPW internship with the Open Technology Institute

We especially encourage applications from people living in the San Francisco Bay area who could not otherwise afford to travel to AdaCamp. AdaCamp registration fees vary from $0 to $250, depending on financial need, so if you can get to downtown San Francisco, you can afford to attend!

AdaCampers (c) Mairin Duffy 2012

Learn more and apply here. AdaCamp San Francisco will be another amazing event, don’t miss it!

We thank our gold level sponsors Mozilla and Automattic; and our silver level sponsorsGoogle Site Reliability Engineering, Linux Foundation, Red Hat, and Intel; for their support of AdaCamp San Francisco.