Every year, our support team get to attend a number of online and in-person events. As well as an opportunity for growth, they’re also a chance for our team to get together and catch up. This month, Teresa and Emily attended the European Women in Technology conference in Amsterdam and they have shared their experiences below.
Emily – Customer Success Engineer – European Women in Technology 2022 attendee
As this was my first event, to say I was excited to go to European Women in Tech is an understatement. It was such a pleasure to head to Amsterdam for this experience and to visit the city. I went a bit early to do some sightseeing, visiting the Anne Frank House and the Moco Museum between eating stroopwafels and trying Dutch beer. Meeting my colleague, Teresa, was one of the highlights of the trip, as I finally got the chance to buy her that after-work drink! We even got away to the small town of Haarlem where we visited another email-geek, Yana Torry Aspraki, who showed us around the town while talking about all things inbox-deliverability.
As the tech industry is a space where women only occupy a mere 29%, it was great motivation to see so many women in respected and influential positions. Alison Tierney at Snowflake was especially inspiring to me as she made it a priority to close the gender gap in leadership roles while relocating her family from the United States to Amsterdam. The talks covered everything from gender equality and empowerment to cyber security and data analysis. We also prioritized exploring the booths at the event where we snuck in some virtual reality video games and free donuts!
European Women in Tech left me walking away feeling ready to conquer the world. I also leveled up on street-crossing, looking right and left and then left and right again to avoid any trams, bikes, or canals. The evening was filled with fondue, nice talks, and restful sleep at our comfortable hotel. I am already so excited for the next event and meeting more of my colleagues and sharing more laughs and drinks and cheese!
Teresa – Customer Success Engineer – European Women in Technology 2022 attendee
This is the fourth time I have attended an event in Amsterdam and each time, Amsterdam has given the event that extra little something special. It’s a beautiful city with lots to explore which is great for when we finish up for the day. This was the first time Emily and I had met, so when I arrived (a couple of days after Emily), we swiftly went up to the hotel roof terrace to pop open a bottle of prosecco and to get to know each other a little better. That same day, we had made plans to meet a friend (the biggest #emailgeek I know and founder of Email Consul) at a town nearby, Haarlem, which was a quick stop on the train and was the perfect way to start our trip. We went for a delicious dinner and she showed us around, it’s an idyllic town and a little less busy than Amsterdam, so we enjoyed the stroll while “peering” into houses to see families having dinner and couples watching TV. We were told that people do not usually have or close their curtains which stems from the Protestant religious tradition of Calvinism, insisting that honest citizens have nothing to hide.
The next day, we went to the conference buzzing and ready to go! There were so many talks that we both wanted to see which overlapped, so often Emily and I would go to different talks and share notes. Similarily to Emily, I was also inspired by Alison Tierney at Snowflake and her decision to put her desires first and relocate her family to Amsterdam from the US for her dream job. I also loved Patricia Walsh, the Senior Head and Global Head of Commercial Technology at Novartis. Her energy was infectious and I just wanted to be her (just a little bit). Away from inspiring talks, the event also had a lot of exhibitors that went all out to entice you to their stands, such as VR games, gadgets, and cakes (to name just a few) which were a great way to spend some downtime.
After the event each day, we’d find somewhere to have dinner, and on the last day, we even decided to walk back to the center from Rai as the sun was shining, and we stumbled across an authentic market where we enjoyed some delicious Poffertjes (dutch pancakes).
I just love Amsterdam and hope to visit again soon. Until next time. 👋
