Sterling Rose Design Blog

I was fortunate to run into Ray Hightower as we both left the TDD BoF at 10PM one night. I was pretty wiped out by that point, but was still excited to find out that I was talking to the man behind Windy City Rails.

We had a great discussion on our way to the elevators, about conferences and how to get more women in attendance at them. I mentioned one thing that had come out in the Women in Rails panel as a suggestion: childcare at events. I am of the opinion that having childcare available at conferences, workshops, and other events will be a huge win for families in general, and perhaps women in particular. Ray was very enthusiastic about the idea, and actually followed through on researching childcare alternatives for WCR!

The Westin – which is hosting the conference in September – partners with two childcare centers! Now, it’s not inexpensive, but what is when it comes to conferences? Here is the information Ray gave me:

American Child Care 312-644-7300
18.50/hr 4 hour minimum
20.00 agency fee
75.00 cancellation fee if cxl’d within 24 hrs

American Registry 312-475-1515
11.50/hr 4 hour minimum (new recession price- was 18.50/hr)
30.00 agency fee
10.00 transportation fee after 10pm
Cash only.

I am so thrilled that Ray took a simple suggestion for making conferences easier on families and actually followed through on it. He didn’t hide behind the usual excuses of “too hard”, “unproven”, and “not my problem” and he is to be commended for it.