Behind the scenes at BOOM!

I have been behind the camera or laptop for every keynote since the beginning of BOOM! This means many of the sessions have made a lasting impact. One of the reasons that I love working with the diversity, equity and inclusion team, especially around BOOM!, is that during every single event I learn something new or am challenged to think about something in a way that I never have before. 

The funny thing is, during the live event, I usually have to spend more energy paying attention to the technology running the event, so I never really get to fully absorb the impact of the event while it is happening. For me, the learning happens in post-production after the event is over. While editing the video, I will end up watching the footage at least two or three times. This gives me the opportunity to really sit with the content and think about it. 

As we are approaching the tenth BOOM! conference, I was asked to reflect on some of the things I have learned over the years. And this led me to start thinking about some of the BOOM! events that have stuck with me.

2019 — Barbara Smith ’69, Beverly Guy-Sheftall and Raquel Willis

I believe this was our first keynote panel discussion, as well as my first time working with Barbara Smith. As someone who has a deep appreciation for history, I have been able to learn a lot about civil rights and social movements over the years from events like this. And learning about a part of that movement that I had not really heard about before and that the foundation for it started at Mount Holyoke was one of those things that just stayed with me. 

2021 — Clint Smith: How the word is passed

Clint Smith is such a talented writer and was a super interesting Twitter follow (at least until I deleted my Twitter account). But the part that I have not forgotten to this day was actually kind of an unplanned moment. Clint’s son came into the room while Clint was talking about him, and Clint handled it with such calmness that it almost felt like a natural part of the talk. 

It was 2021, and most of us were still working from home full time and spending a lot of our day on Zoom. So it was not unheard of for disruptions like this to happen, but he handled it so gracefully that it really made me appreciate him even more. 

2021 — Filmmaker Q&A: Coded bias with Shalini Kantayya

The discussion with Shalini Kantayya was really eye opening at the time, as AI and machine learning were just starting to really take off and become mainstream. This was my first time learning about how bias exists within algorithms. And now especially thinking about how in the five years since that talk, how relevant that conversation is to what is happening today.

I have been lucky to be a part of so many amazing BOOM! events over the last decade, but these were some of the ones that have had lasting impressions on me. I am really looking forward to this year’s event.