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Ready for WE20? Here’s What to Know Before You “Go!”

As you know, this will be our first fully virtual WE conference and we want you to have the best experience possible. Read on for some helpful hints and tricks for navigating and getting the most out of your virtual WE20 experience!
What To Expect At We20: Mega Sessions
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Experiencing WE20 Virtually

As you know, this will be our first fully virtual WE conference and we want you to have the best experience possible. All content on the virtual event platform will be available for you for one year after the event; so, even if you cannot make a session, you’ll still be able to benefit from it later. In addition to our tutorial video below, we recommend downloading our WE20 Virtual Conference Attendee FAQs.

Please note, all conference scheduling is listed in the Central Time Zone in the United States. On 1 November, the Central Time Zone will roll back 1 hour when daylight savings time ends. We recommend that you verify the time of sessions in your local time zone using an online converter.

Registration & Platform Access

Access the platform via this link: https://we20.vfairs.com/ 

WE20 attendees will use the email address used during registration as their login to the virtual event platform. No password is required. 

Those who registered after 10/26/2020 may not yet be in the virtual platform system, but will be added by 11/2/2020. If your email is not allowing you to login to the virtual event platform, please double check to ensure you are using the email you used to register and then forward your event registration confirmation to conferencemanager@swe.org if you are still unable to login.

Don’t Forget! – Upload Your Resume in Two Places

Ready For We20? Here’s What To Know Before You “go!”Post your resume to SWE’s Career Center to land virtual interviews at WE20. All exhibitors have access to SWE’s resume database. Make sure your resume is up-to-date so that recruiters and hiring managers know you are available to them. 

Flag your resume to indicate that you are attending WE20 and catch the eye of employers before you get to WE20.

During WE20, attendees will also need to add resumes to their profile within vFairs, the virtual hosting platform for WE20. Resumes can be updated or edited at any time throughout the conference. To edit, click on your profile icon in the top right corner, and select ‘Update CV’ in the drop down menu. We highly encourage you to do this before the Career Fair opens on November 4th. 

Please note there are three different career fair floors:

  • CPC Career Fair Floor​: This floor is for the SWE Corporate Partnership Council (CPC) members. You can click on the lobby banner to see the current CPC members or visit here. 
  • Academic Floor​: This floor is for exhibitors with academic institutions. Explore graduate programs or careers in academia.
  • General Career Fair Floor​: This floor is for all non-CPC, non-academic exhibitors. Full list of all exhibitors can be found here. You can also use the search bar in the virtual platform to search for a specific organization.

Career Fair Etiquette

Participating in video chat is not required, however, some organizations in the career fair will be conducting video interviews. It is encouraged to appear and interact in a professional manner whether you are using video, audio, or text chat. 

As a courtesy to other attendees, recruiters and to avoid overcrowding the direct message system, be sure to close chat windows by clicking the red x of the direct chat or of the booth lobby if you are not actively chatting or in a specific booth. These will appear on the left hand panel of the chatrooms.

The Career Fair is a great place to connect with global companies that conduct business in your local city or country. Please note, however, that the majority of participating companies will be seeking candidates for US-based positions.

Still have questions on how to make the most of the Career Fair? We recommend downloading our WE20 Virtual Conference Attendee FAQs.

How to Find Live, Semi-Live & On-Demand Content 

SWE will host a variety of Live (conducted live on the platform), Semi-Live (pre-recorded sessions with the opportunity to ask speakers chat questions during the scheduled time), and On-Demand sessions (pre-recorded sessions available to play when your schedule allows) in the virtual event platform.

To access content:

  1. Click on Auditorium
  2. Click on main screen
  3. View sessions & click ‘Join’. (You will be able to filter by track to narrow down your search.)

Need help picking sessions? Check out this blog post on the most highly anticipated WE20 experiences recommended for global attendees.

WE20 auditorium

PLEASE NOTE: SWE will be posting all live sessions as on-demand content before the end of each day. Morning sessions will be available by mid-day following their broadcast and afternoon sessions will be available by the end of each day.

 

Connect in Our Virtual Networking Lounges

WE20 will have several designated Networking Lounges that feature chat-based networking with the option to break out into one-on-one video chat sessions, and some group sessions provided by SWE Affinity Groups, the BOD, sponsors and other SWE members. A variety of programming, networking events, and meet-ups are scheduled in these rooms and promoted via the WE20 schedule and on this All Together blog post.

WE20 networking lounge

All networking rooms are chat-based. Select networking hosts may have set up external meetings (via Zoom/Google Hangout) and will place the link to the external meeting in the networking room to invite attendees to externally hosted meetings.

Get to Know Our Keynote & Mega Session Speakers

Curious to learn about our WE20 presenters? Make sure to check out our SWE Diverse podcasts and read bios to get to know our speakers—and get a sneak peak of their sessions!

WE20 speakers

PLEASE NOTE: SWE will be posting all live sessions as on-demand content before the end of each day. Morning sessions will be available by mid-day following their broadcast and afternoon sessions will be available by the end of each day.

Drop-in Coaching at WE20

SWE’s Leadership Coaching Committee (LCC) will be hosting drop-in coaching sessions for attendees interested in career coaching from SWE’s seasoned leaders. Sign up in advance is required. Request a session.

WE20 Social Media Tips

Do:

  • Use hashtags #WE20 and/or #PracticeCuriosity in all your social media posts!
  • Make sure your content is appropriate for sharing.
  • Take as many #SWEselfies as possible. We will be retweeting and featuring them.
  • Visit the WE20 Photo Booth in the lobby!
  • Upload a photo of your finished origami to social media tagging #LifeIsOn 

Don’t:

  • Use hashtag #SWE20.
  • Misrepresent SWE’s mission on social media.
  • Post content that violates SWE’s social media policy.

General Tips:

  • Sign in the first day and spend 10 minutes navigating the virtual conference center (the platform is very user-friendly).
  • Check the agenda and note the live and semi-live sessions you want to see (especially if you want to join chat).
  • Be sure to check out the daily Keynotes and/or Mega Sessions.
  • Be especially attentive on Career Fair Days and be sure to spend time visiting the booths. You may view the participating companies at we20.swe.org.
  • Network, Network, Network….Don’t miss out on networking opportunities!
  • Visit the Awards Hall to see (and congratulate!) our WE20 award recipients.
  • Have some FUN! Participate in games and activities like:
    • Scavenger Hunt: The first 3 people to locate the 10 icons (listed in the ‘scavenger hunt’ tab) hidden throughout the conference space will win a sweSwag gift box and special surprises from our sponsors!
    • Leaderboard Challenge: Attendees will automatically accumulate points as they visit different areas of the conference. Top five (5) attendees will win free registration to WE21!
    • Virtual Photo Booth: Select a background and some props, then snap some fun pics! Make sure to share to social media with #WE20 and #PracticeCuriosity so we can share your pics on SWE’s social platforms!
    • Daily Yoga and Meditation: Take a break—and a deep breath—with daily guided yoga and meditation.
    • sweSwag Shop: Get your gear on in our virtual sweSwag shop! Load up on clothes, office supplies, home goods and more!

Can’t wait to see you at WE20!

More WE20 content:

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ABOUT ALL TOGETHER

All Together is the blog of the Society of Women Engineers. Find stories about SWE members, engineering, technology, and other STEM related topics. It’s up-to-date information and news about the Society and how our members are making a difference everyday.

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