Know Before You Go Guide

 
 

We look forward to welcoming you to the 2023 WiDS Puget Sound Conference! The conference will be held on Tuesday, April 25, 2023. Our WIDS Puget Sound 2023 Conference will include:

  • 2 Keynote presentations

  • 20+ Technical talks

  • 3 Workshops

  • 2 Structured networking breakout sessions

  • Lunch

  • Happy hour snacks and networking

  • Sponsorship expo booths

  • Professional headshots

  • Free parking

Below are important details to prepare you for a day of exceptional learning and networking! Please make sure to read the instructions about check-in, travel directions and the conference schedule.

Registration & Check-In / Check-Out

Pre-conference actions needed

  • Tickets for the WiDS 2023 conference must be purchased via Eventbrite by April 19, 2023. There will be no ticket sales at the door.

  • Expedia Group requires all visitors to complete registration before visiting. You should have received an email from Expedia Group (no-reply@envoy.com) with a registration link. Please fill this out and plan to bring a photo ID to check in at the Expedia front desk. Attendees who registered after April 9th will receive this email from Expedia on April 23rd or 24th.

  • If you need to leave early / arrive late, please plan to leave some extra time to navigate to / from the conference center. Expedia requires that visitors must always be accompanied by an employee. Volunteers will be present to escort participants to and from the conference center at all times. If you know you will be arriving much later, please let the organizers know by email (team@widspugetsound.org) at the earliest so that we can plan for it.

  • If you are breastfeeding and would like access to rooms dedicated for pumping during the conference, please let us know as soon as possible via email (team@widspugetsound.org), so we can make arrangements.

Venue Check-In

  • Conference check-in starts at 8:00 AM. We recommend arriving early (or between 8:00 AM - 8:45 AM) to grab a cup of coffee and connect informally with fellow attendees before the scheduled events start! There will also be an early bird raffle for attendees present by 8:30 AM.

  • Please have a photo ID handy for the venue check-in. If you haven’t pre-registered with Expedia, you will have to do so upon arrival.

  • Upon check-in, you will receive a sticker badge from Expedia.

CONFERENCE CENTER CHECK-IN

  • After you have checked-in with Expedia at the main reception, you will be escorted by an Expedia employee to the conference center. Please do not go on your own to the conference center, visitors must always be accompanied by an employee.

  • Once at the conference center, check-in with WiDS using your last name and Eventbrite ticket to receive your conference badge.

CHECK-OUT

  • Please do not leave the conference center on your own, you must be accompanied by an Expedia employee. If you need to leave before the end of the conference, please reach out to the Q&A Desk so we can arrange for an Expedia volunteer to be able to escort you out.

  • The conference talks end at 5:10 PM followed by Happy Hour and Networking between 5:10 PM - 6:00 PM. Volunteers will be present to escort attendees back to main reception during this window where you can exit back to the parking garage / other modes of transport (no formal check-out process).

Venue & Travel Directions

EXPEDIA HQ, SEATTLE

1111 Expedia Group Way West, Seattle, WA 98119

 

Expedia’s headquarters is located in the Interbay neighborhood, which is just north of the downtown area and south of the Ballard neighborhood.

Directions

If you’re planning to drive, proceed to the parking garage, and park in the designated section. You can follow the directions given by Google Maps for the address “Expedia Group P1 Parking Garage, Alaskan Way West, Seattle, WA, USA” (link).

  • From Elliot Ave W. turn right onto W. Galer Street Flyover and keep left to reach Alaskan Way.

  • Turn right on Alaskan Way.

  • Drive straight at the stop sign and keep going straight until you reach the first “P Employee” sign (red star on map below).

  • Take a ticket and park in undesignated spots (designated spots are Vanpool, Carpool, and Reserved). You will not be able to enter the second “P Employee” entrance as there is no ticket dispenser.

  • After parking, exit the parking garage by one of the stairwells/elevators marked with colored floor numbers and walk to the main entrance near the large water feature/grove of pink-orange trees (red circle on the map below).

Campus Navigation Map (Please refer to this map for more details)

EXPEDIA PARKING GARAGE

Parking Validation

  • Take ticket from machine when entering garage

  • Get parking ticket validated at the main reception desk when you check-in in the morning (this is important as the desk will be closed at 6pm when the conference ends)

  • When exiting the parking garage, insert the validated ticket to raise the gate arm. You must exit the “P1” exit, not the “P2” exit, which doesn’t have a ticket machine so you will not be able to exit. 

For rideshare (Uber/Lyft) during business hours (7am to 6pm) please enter “Expedia Seattle” as the drop-off address. Have the driver follow the “Guests” signs to drop you off outside the main entrance, just before the water feature/grove of pink-orange trees. Please do not have them take you to the transit hub, as we will not have many volunteers waiting at that security entrance.

For public transit, the closest bus stop to Expedia is at Elliot Ave W and W Prospect St. The following bus lines serve the stop: 15, 17, 18, 19, 24, 32, 33, and RapidRide D. From the stop, then walk across the Helix Bridge and meet a volunteer at the South Gate, where you will be escorted to the main reception.

If you plan on biking you can lock up right outside the South Plaza Lobby. Once you’ve arrived, make your way across to the South Plaza Lobby to check-in and receive your temporary credentials.

Conference Details

conference schedule

WiDS 2023 Conference will have keynotes, talks and workshops held across multiple rooms. Please refer to the detailed schedule in the conference schedule page to view or create your personal schedule and make note of the room numbers. You can find talk abstracts and speaker bios on the website.

WIFI

  • You will receive an email from Expedia with the subject “Your Guest Account Credentials” from the sender “dihanson” a few weeks before the conference.

  • This email contains your username (email address you used to register for the conference) and password for the guest wifi at the Expedia campus.

  • Once on campus, you can connect to the “ExpediaGroup-Guest” network using your credentials.

Headshots

Do you need a professional headshot to update your LinkedIn profile or add to your personal website? Get excited because you will have that opportunity at WiDS Puget Sound 2023!

We will have a professional photographer throughout the day to capture those profile-worthy headshots. In order to reduce wait times, attendees will be able to collect a pass after check-in to reserve a spot in line during a specific window of time. Each time slot has limited availability, so arriving early will increase your options.

SPONSOR EXPO BOOTHS

We have a great line-up of conference sponsors setting up expo booths to interact with conference attendees. Expo booths will be open from 2:00 PM - 6:00 PM. Learn about Data Science at these companies, share your resumes and network with our sponsors.

  • Expedia Group

  • Seagen

  • Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

  • Unify

  • Nordstrom

  • Logic20/20

If you have questions about WiDS and would like to be involved in planning future conferences, reach out to our volunteers at the WiDS / Data Circles Expo Booth.

NETWORKING

We are excited to bring back WiDS Puget Sound 2023 as an in-person conference, and networking is an integral part of this experience! There will be both formal/structured and informal networking opportunities this year.

RAFFLES

We want you to have an engaging experience at the conference this year. Share your pictures from the conference using the hashtag #widsps2023. Be sure to follow Data Circles on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

Safety Guidelines & Privacy Notice

  • We ask for your assistance in hosting a safe event. We recommend that all attendees are vaccinated against COVID-19. If you are unable to be vaccinated, we request that you have a negative result for a COVID-19 test within 72 hours before the event.

  • We will have photographers at our conference taking pictures throughout the day. These photos may be used on our website and social media platforms for marketing purposes.

Code of Conduct

We are dedicated to providing a positive, harassment free community experience for all our participants regardless of gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, disability, physical appearance, body size, race, age, immigration status, educational level, work experience, or religion.