Making It Matter: Amplifying Voices at the MongoDB World IDEA Lounge

MongoDB World — an event for the creators, disruptors, and transformers of tomorrow — is more than just a technology conference. People are at the heart of transformation, digital or otherwise, and that’s why MongoDB World is hosting its first IDEA Lounge, whose purpose is to engage with the issues of inclusion, diversity, equity, and accessibility (IDEA). The lounge aims to amplify historically marginalized voices as well as provide accessibility accommodations to attendees.

At the IDEA Lounge, attendees can learn from and socialize with other tech professionals who represent the LGBTQIA+, women in tech, and BIPOC communities. Over the course of the three days of MongoDB World, the lounge will welcome all attendees to enjoy talks, workshops, and entertainment. It will also provide a quiet space to decompress between sessions.

Sharing different perspectives

Building Databases Using Python, With Rob Koch of Deaf in the Cloud
June 7 at 3 p.m. and June 8 at 1 p.m.

Rob Koch is a Seattle-based principal data engineer who is deaf. After years of experience as an AWS Data Hero and Kubernetes aficionado, Rob founded Deaf in the Cloud, a virtual user group that welcomes all deaf people and signers; he also runs an engineering blog and teaches coding to deaf children.

During his IDEA lounge sessions, Rob will use American Sign Language to show attendees his course on how to connect to both a relational database (SQLite) and a document database (yours truly, MongoDB). The course will walk learners through steps to make their Python code connect to a database. This is useful to help you start your first data-related project or if you need to see how it is done using Python.

#iamremarkable Executive Panel
June 8 at 8:20 a.m.

Join Google Cloud and our partner executives to discuss how Google is empowering women and other underrepresented groups — and how to celebrate their achievements in the workplace and beyond.

The panel will consist of:

• Google Cloud’s Kayla Spiess, head of North America partner, field, and solutions marketing

• Susan Kunz, director of American field marketing for Confluent

• Naomi Klamen, head of customer engineering, New York financial services, Google Cloud, and #IamRemarkable Cloud Lead U.S.

• Rett Monson, director of global strategic marketing at MongoDB

Listening to distinct viewpoints

Our Journey: Being Black in Tech
June 7 at 1:30 p.m.

This panel discussion, featuring MongoDB employees Garaudy Etienne, Isabella Nyakundi, Lakuan Smith, Bryan Spears, and Courtney Turner and hosted by MongoDB’s employee resource group TUPOC (The Underrepresented People of Color), will provide an open and transparent discussion about similarities and differences in the experiences of Black professionals in technology.

The Many Crossroads of Intersectionality
June 8 at 3:30 p.m.

MongoDB’s Séan Carroll and Cara Silverman will lead a panel discussion along with May Petry, VP of digital and growth at MongoDB, and Bryan Spears, senior technical recruiter at MongoDB, on intersectionality — exploring what it is and how it can bring better insights into being a better ally. This session will include time for an extended Q&A with the panelists and moderators, as well as an interactive activity.

Mix and mingle

Also on the agenda for the IDEA Lounge are trivia sessions, a dueling pianos performance, a book club with Ania Kowalcuzk, and Happy Hour Drag Bingo with Megann Reigns at 4:30 p.m. on June 7.

All events will take place on various floors within New York City’s Javits Center. If you have questions about where to locate the IDEA lounge or need assistance, an IDEA lounge concierge will be available throughout the conference to help.