Hi All

We had a fabulous day visiting Microsoft with the young women and teachers from Sealth and Garfield High Schools. The young women were wonderful and patient as we visited the Home of the Future in 2 groups, for a half hour each. They love seeing that exhibit, it is always a thrill for them. Then we met with the wonderful women from Microsoft and what an amazing turnout of women!! There were so many types of careers represented and the young women were so fortunate to get to ask questions and get them answered. The women did such a great job interacting with the girls in such a caring and thoughtful way, and everyone got to talk and ask their questions. It was such a great experience to have so many Microsoft people clearly interested and passionate about helping the girls understand about all of the opportunities open to them in their future.

I want to thank everyone who took part in this very successful day. I want to thank Cathy Swenson who spent her day with us from beginning to end. She had such a great story to share as well. Thank you Cathy for caring so much and helping us with every aspect of our visit. It was really special to have you with us for the entire visit. Thank you to Janice Hunter for setting up our room and ordering the great lunch for everyone,

Thank you to the welcoming staff at the Home of the Future, Rita Simmons and Lisa Williams made us feel so comfortable at our first event of the day. Thank you to our tour guide Dave, who really did such a great job, and I can tell that by all the smiling faces as they emerge from the Home of the Future.

I want to thank all the talented women who spoke at lunch and really made such a great connection with the girls. It is really nice to have so many people who care show up to spend time with the girls. More people means we have more variety of careers to learn about and more opinions and stories to learn from. So that is really nice and we appreciate that so much. Each women spends about 5 minutes telling the girls about their journey to Microsoft, what were they like in high school, how did they end up choosing a high tech company to work for, what were some obstacles they faced along the way, and what they do now. These stories are the heart of our success, because the girls learn so much, like these careers are possible for them and they can do it too. Such an important message that they walk away with, to believe in themselves and that it is possible. Thank you to Sharon Carroll, , Juzen Ruelos, Sue Kurian, Rekha Nair, Katy Jo Meyer, Mickey Pierce, Betsy Norton-Middaugh, and Shelby Reed. There were so many kinds of jobs, developers., technical writers, job recruiters, HR managers, Program Managers, software testers, and sales., It was so great.

Thank you to the wonderful staff from Garfield and Sealth that worked so hard to make this happen. Thank you to Shirley Osara, Sam Reed, Leanne Hust, and Karin Engstrom .and Mary Detridge. You all do such a great job with the students and we are so lucky to have you.

Of course there are so many people who also work behind the scenes to make all these events work so I want to thank everyone involved in ignite. Here are the comments from the girls survey forms, so we can see how they felt about this day.

• I liked all the different information I gained. The tour was especially amazing , it really made me think of how technology has improved so much. I think this event was really good.
• I liked the Home of the Future tour because it was great experience to see what many homes will be like. I also really liked the question and answer part of the lunch. I learned that you can learn on the job and its not always the experience that gets you the job.
• Meeting women who have the same interest in terms of areas of study that I would like to take part in, as well as the input of professional women in the position that I see myself in four years from now. All the connections!!!!!
• The panel discussion was the best part.
• The Home of the Future tour was great. It was so interesting and I liked learning about the technical parts of it. I loved the panel discussion, how women inspired me so much about the technical part of it. Great event.
• I liked hearing all the differences between the women and the different degrees that they had. All of my questions were answered. More events such as this.
• Today's event really gave me a better look at what it would be like working in a technical place. The most interesting thing I learned today was how broad the high tech industry is and how many things I can do working at Microsoft. More events like this one.
• I liked the home of the future exhibit. Talking with Microsoft employees really open my eyes to all the possibilities and positions that are in high tech and at Microsoft.
• The best part was talking to the Microsoft employees and asking questions. I wish we had more time to talk with them. I look forward to more ignite events.
• My favorite parts were the Home of the Future and the panel of women.
• I enjoyed the House of tomorrow and learning about women's jobs at Microsoft. The event was great.
• I thought the most interesting thing I heard today was that here at Microsoft that women are treated equally to men, with the same pay, It was great to find out what these jobs are really like, they don't sit all day behind a computer and some of them get to travel.
• What I liked best about today's event was the information they discussed with us about their jobs and how they work. the home of the future was pretty awesome too!!
• I learned a lot about the different career paths that you can have. This is an awesome program and so inspiring.
• I liked the tour of the home. I loved the discussion part where the women shared their personal experiences . I learned that not all the women have a technical background too. It was so interesting that I wanted the presentation part to go on longer.
• I loved seeing the home of the future. I thought it was amazing. I thought the most interesting part of today was that most of the speakers had no idea they would pursue a career at Microsoft. I loved the Q and A session.
• The best part was hearing the women's panel. It was so great about the details of the career choices.
• I liked viewing the home of the future. I really liked hearing the women's stories. The most inspiring and most interesting thing I heard today was the great variety of things I can do in the future. I loved this experience and want to do more.
• The best thing I liked today was going to see the future house. It amazed me that there are different technology to one specific thing. I also learned that when you shoot for a career path you can make a difference. the event was wonderful.
• I learned that I can achieve what I want to learn and go toward my goals
• I absolutely loved the tour of the future home ! I did not realize how fast technology can grow in such a pretty short time ! Also the most interesting thing I heard today is how you can put up personal projects to improve another's life. It is amazing how people who work at Microsoft can ask or tell the boss that I need to save time for my family and that I am working too much and the boss will actually help!! that is amazing to me. More tours and more events like this one.
• This event helped me to learn more about these kinds of jobs. and about Microsoft. I really was excited that if I am not the top student in math or science I can still pursue this career path.
• How they were so open minded about their life and they could answer questions we asked them, that was the best. I learned that there are many ways to have a career in high tech and there is no right way or one way. I think it was great, you did a great job on this event.
• All of what I heard was the best part.
• Going into the Microsoft home , was great. Just knowing how cool you could make a home, was interesting. I liked when the ladies talked about their careers.
• It was so interesting that most of the ladies did not expect to be where they are today. That really makes me wonder.... about my life. I think this event is perfect. I would go to all ignite events in the future.
• It was so interesting to hear about the different career choices. I think the event couldn't get better. The home was awesome too.
• Today I liked the discussion best because it answered a lot of the questions I had about careers at Microsoft.
• The most interesting thing I heard today were the backgrounds of the different women. I lot of them had not specifically wanted to pursue a career in technology, but because of the great opportunities at Microsoft they were roped in.
• I liked looking at the cool house place! there were so much cool things to see. I liked learning that some women get to do work at home. The talk was cool.
• I was really surprised at the different reactions to the home, it will certainly change my view of technology. I wish there were a graphic designer here, although that isn't strictly technical :)
• I liked going to the Home of the Future because it was very interesting and it amazed me how fast technology was advancing. I really thought hearing the women was interesting and so many different backgrounds and yet they all work at Microsoft. I wanted to see the office of the future
• Today the thing I liked best was when the women came up and talked about their jobs. I also liked the guy in the future house telling us about the technologies of the future.
• I liked the home of the future. It was amazing!! I also enjoyed listening to the women at Microsoft talking about their experiences. I would like to be a part of Microsoft one day. You don't have to be a math genius to be working there . I was amazed at that. Digigirlz sounds exciting.
• Learning more about computer software design and programming. It was all great.
• I loved when the women talked to us and the home tour. I really learned a lot listening to how the women got here and how some of the technical things work in the home tour.
• The best part was the diverse background of the speakers and the home tour.
• The home tour was crazy., and I thought it was so cool that men and women get paid equally.

Thank you all for making this wonderful event possible. WE do make a difference.

Thank you!
Cathi