I've recently attended Mastering SAP Technologies 2012 in Sydney, Australia. In such an event, if you are a first-time attendee or going alone without knowing anyone , it can be quite daunting or awkward especially if you aren't a networking expert. I attended this event couple of times alone for the past few years and I have to say Eventful Management always did a great job in making me comfortable with their friendly event co-ordinators, good food, music and comfortable environment. However, apart from that, it's really important to find someone that you could talk and discuss (or network) with during that two, three days. You can get to know alot of skillful people, hear their experiences and gain useful SAP knowledge just through conversations.
I'm a female SAP Basis person and I often find it a challenge to know another female who also works in SAP Basis/Netweaver space. This year, I have been lucky. I managed to connect with two ladies whom work in the same space as me. One from IBM whom I had already met in previous SAP events and another lady whom works in the government sector. It's a great feeling to know that we are not the lonely ones among the males in SAP technical space. We shared our opinions and knowledge on work and life, these indeed make attending such event enjoyable.
During our conversation, I raised this question "Where are the rest of females working in SAP Basis/Netweaver area?". Obviously, three of us have no answer and I said "Perhaps I should create a female space in SDN!", so here I am writing this here.
I went on to hear Gregor Wolf who is a SAP Mentor speaks about "How to Benefit From Community Contribution." I raised to him on the thought of creating a space to connect female SAP technical professionals and how should I go about doing it if I intended to. Interestingly, he asked about why is there a need for this space. I explained that there will be topics that raise more interest to women than men, for example, "How do you juggle between your SAP career and your family life?". I believe such conversation can provide support and bonding for female SAP professionals.
Are you a SHE in SAP World?
If you are, regardless whether you work in techincal, functionality or business area, you are welcome to drop a 'Hi' here and perhaps state where you are and share with us your situation.
I suppose this will be a good start if we all could know someone before the next event comes and get us into the car or flight.
