I’m Diana Shaw, and I am the Lead for WiBD, Alberta Chapter. On 25th October, 2018, we formally launched the Chapter, at the Data Management Conference Canada. This was the ideal event to officially launch the Chapter since the keynote presenters included Radhika Rangarajan and Azadeh Yazdan, who added their voices to help promote the newest addition to WiBD. It was such a pleasure to meet Radhika and Azadeh, and discuss the process of establishing a new Chapter – plus receive my WiBD scarf – thank you, Shala!

I was MC for the two day conference and launched the WiBD Chapter during my opening remarks on the morning of the first day, with further promotion of WiBD during Radhika’s presentation. For the next two days, any time I left the theatre, I was sought out by attendees wanting to volunteer, participate, sponsor and/or partner. Their enthusiasm and interest were incredible and infectious!

My next steps are to build on this initial momentum; engage volunteers to support my efforts in establishing the Chapter community and Meetup forum, maintain and grow the connections with sponsors and partners, and then guide the first Chapter events in Edmonton and Calgary.

I am excited to join this inspirational community and to learn from you all, to connect with other Chapters globally, and locally to mentor members to realize their true potential and achieve success.