The Association of Computing Machinery’s New York Celebration of Women in Computing is coming to Poughkeepsie for the first time this weekend.
This conference, on Saturday, April 11, and Sunday, April 12, is focused on celebrating women in the field of computing via talks, workshops and panels.
It will be held at the DoubleTree by Hilton, located at 40 Civic Center Plaza in the City of Poughkeepsie.
The conference is geared toward women, particularly undergraduate and graduate students in computing fields from colleges and universities across the state. Academic faculty and people from the industry can also attend.
According to the general chair for NYCWiC 2025, Chris McEvoy, who is a chief programmer at video game company Velan Studios, the choice to move the event originally held in Lake George to Poughkeepsie began in 2020, but the COVID-19 pandemic got in the way.
“It is very important to us that NYCWiC is accessible to our primary audience, students,” McEvoy said in an email statement. “Being in Poughkeepsie, closer to the city and with a train station right here, makes it much easier for many students to travel to the conference.”
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The first NYCWiC was in 2011 and was held every other year. In recent years, it has been held annually, making the 2025 conference the twelfth.
Chairs and volunteers run the conference each year, and “every spring we start from zero,” said McEvoy, who started volunteering for NYCWiC in 2018.
For McEvoy, seeing underrepresentation of women in the video game engineering space is what drew him to NYCWiC and its mission.
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NYCWiC aims to be a conference for students who have never attended one before, with its main goals being experience building, networking and inspiration, “to encourage women to stay in computing,” McEvoy said.
According to McEvoy, many students attending will be presenting their research at NYCWiC, following submission of their abstracts in the fall. Students will also have the ability to connect with peers, industry and academia mentors, potential employers and a broader community.
Speeches will be given by successful women in technology and workshops by professionals and academics in the field will also be held.
Additionally, there is a focus on academic and professional growth. NYCWiC works to provide opportunities for students interested in both career tracks. The career and graduate school fair has a mix of employers from the industry and graduate schools.
“Fifteen different employers and graduate schools will have tables at the fair this year,” McEvoy said.
Students will have an opportunity to meet with employers and graduate schools over the 90-minute fair, as well as the hour-long social following to make further connections.
“As the months progress, it’s exciting to see a new NYCWiC become steadily more real, but the best part is that Friday and Saturday in April when it all comes together,” McEvoy said. “The new connections being made, the quality of the technical posters and presentations, the energy of the career fair, the inspiring keynotes — it’s all worth it.”
“And then it’s time to start again,” McEvoy continued, for the next year’s conference.
Registration is $25 for students, $100 for recent graduates, $150 for faculty or non-profits and $200 for industry professionals.
For more information or to register, visit nycwic.org.
This article originally appeared on Poughkeepsie Journal: Networking event for women in computing industry coming to Poughkeepsie, with lower cost for students
Reporting by Nickie Hayes, Poughkeepsie Journal / Poughkeepsie Journal
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