EXPEDIA GROUP TECHNOLOGY

I joined Expedia Group™️ members attending the Women of Silicon Roundabout conference last week. If you haven’t heard of it, it’s the UK’s largest tech event for women, it also attracts women beyond traditional tech (including XD, ProgramM and Product) from all of Europe.

I have been lucky to join this event for many years! I find it a great opportunity to network, hear about other industries, learn new things, and potentially attract more women in tech to Expedia Group.

This year we were one of the big sponsors… thanks to Abi Wadley, Ramnath Shanbhogue, Liv Wild and others who pushed for it to happen! Maud Larpent represented EG with a keynote on the big stage… Veronica Riccio did a talk on mentoring and how it enables us all… and we also had a great workshop on Expedia Group’s Native Mobile technologies by Sarah Rosie, Tarsha Souza, Yulia Pichugina, Liz Whiting and Hannah McGarty… plus many others also participated at the Expedia Group stand talking to many people about our company, our strategy, values and open roles :) .

Here are things that caught my eye, either observations or statements from presentations:

• One of the speakers suggested: Ask for advice and not feedback, it becomes less formal or confrontational, and you may get a more candid response
• Topics that people asked about when I was at the stand: the company’s strategy, sustainability agenda, accessibility approach in coding, product decision-making style, and open roles for remote workers (in Europe)
• A big tip shared by one of the keynote presenters: In order to be more resilient to change, companies should invest in generalists, they adapt to change faster and tend to appreciate change for the learning opportunity it brings. It doesn’t mean we should only have generalists, but spreading people with this mindset around teams is the key!
• Never stop broadening your skill set, especially don’t specialise too soon, as you may restrict your career opportunities
• Time spent on internal politics is time not spent on driving business and the company’s purpose forward
• Focus on your own well-being!!! You have to put your oxygen mask first before helping others
• Think big, start small, scale/learn fast
• 2019 … was the first year equal pay statistics (male vs female) have been shared!! … this reminded me how there is still a way to go before women are seen as equal in the workplace and I must continue to do what I can to help on this agenda for the sake of my own daughter
• Your truth and beliefs are there to keep you safe/survive but that can sometimes be limiting and prevent you from taking bold moves, especially in a career context
• Don’t think about what you are worth, think about the value you bring!! Especially when asking for pay rises or writing your CV/LinkedIn profiles… :)

I hope this can be inspiring to you all too. Thanks for reading!

Learn more about technology at Expedia Group!