Sandbox Past Event Highlights
Google Sandbox: Atlanta | Mobile & UX
The Google Sandbox: Atlanta program dove into Material Design for mobile and UX strategy on the heels of the Android Lollipop release, and participants designed their own Android Wear apps.
Attendee Quotes
“I really loved hearing about Google work environment and culture. It seems like a company made just for me. Very positive experience for me.”
“I appreciate the overall effort Google is putting into expanding its code outreach to various demographics. I admire them even more now.”
“My favorite part was having the chance to really talk to employees and realizing that work at Google is actually an attainable thing.”
“Thank you so much for giving us an opportunity to be part of Google Sandbox. The event was outstanding! The crowd was super diverse, that I loved. Google Team rocked :)”
Google Sandbox: New York | Cloud, Ads, & Commerce
The Google Sandbox: New York program spotlighted our Cloud and Ads and Commerce product areas. Participants experienced a keynote from SVP and Google Fellow Urs Holzle as well as a panel moderated by engineering director Marcus Mitchell, and learned to use the Firebase platform to create web apps.
Attendee Quotes
“Thank you so much for opening the doors to us. Google’s way of life is fascinating and it’s always refreshing to see and hear about the innovation and diversity of thought taking place.”
“I got a chance to talk with intelligent people, share knowledge together. People are simply there to learn and I really ENJOYED the positive great vibe and atmosphere!”
“When is the next event? Is it possible to have this type of event more often?”
Google Sandbox: DC | Site Reliability Engineering, Platforms, and Hardware
The Google Sandbox: DC program shared more about Site Reliability Engineering, Platforms, and Hardware Operations at Google. Participants tried their hand at code labs and design sprints intended to simulate some of the technical problems Googlers solve every day.
Attendee Quotes
“I was unsure of what to expect from an event like this but I was incredibly happy with what resulted. I feel as though I have a better sense of what mentality Google is looking for in an employee and I was glad to have a chance to speak my fellow attendees and understand their broad array of backgrounds.”
“I thoroughly enjoyed my experience at Google Sandbox DC and would love to attend other sessions in the future.”
“Great event, very informative, excellent networking opportunity.”
Google Sandbox: Chicago | Virtual Reality, Android, and Google Play
The Google Sandbox: Chicago program cast a spotlight on virtual reality, Android, and Google Play product areas. Participants experienced tech talks on designing for VR, coding “in the flow”, and customer growth hacking through experiments.
Attendee Quotes
“As a Latina that has aspired to join Google for the past two years, this event was very motivating and interesting. I really appreciate how you give back to the community, particularly to minorities and women. The event truly was special and it was obvious that a lot of work went into the prep and execution. The event only deepened my excitement for Google and my yearning to help Google become more diverse.”
“I loved hearing about projects, and seeing the more imaginative side of things. I spoke one-on-one to some very friendly and kind Googlers. There seemed to be this "be yourself" culture, that I personally appreciate. I was pleasantly [sic] to meet/see other people who actively promoted/embodied diversity. I know this is something that is going to be core value in the rest of my life.”
“I thought the event was time well spent. I loved hearing more about Google products that I wasn't previously aware of, Tilt Brush specifically. I had never been very interested in VR until hearing Elisabeth Morant speak about it. The talk awakened an excitement in me for a new technology that I didn't even think was possible.”
Google Sandbox: Los Angeles | YouTube & Virtual Reality
At the Google Sandbox: Los Angeles program, participants enjoyed content focused on all things YouTube, including YouTube Sharing, Comedy, Living Room, and Virtual Reality. The program’s highlights included a lifestyle panel and a CodeLab learning experience.
Attendee Quotes
“The networking was definitely the best part of the event. Being able to talk to other Googlers, YouTubers, and under-represented groups in tech was nice. I especially enjoyed talking to other women and sharing experience with them.”
“I am amazed by the diversity of people working in Youtube/Google.”
“It was great to meet with Googlers and YouTubers and to hear them talk about their experiences at Google and YouTube, as well as some of the projects they worked on and the working atmosphere there.”
“I like the mixer part of the event before panels. And also the panels with a diverse background of people in different departments. And I really enjoyed the passion brought by the employees.”
Google Sandbox: Boston | Machine Intelligence and Cloud Machine Learning
The Google Sandbox: Boston program highlighted the Machine Intelligence and Cloud Machine Learning product areas, with a spotlight on Visualization for Machine Learning and a TensorFlow workshop, where participants learned how to work with a collection of operations combined to perform a rich set of computations.
Attendee Quotes
“Thanks for inviting me to the event! It definitely was fun and exciting to be part of it, and was a great opportunity to know how the life of engineers at Google looks like.”
“The diverse background of the panelists as well as the attendees was a nice touch.”“The introductions into the different teams on the first day were a great way to learn about the actual application of ML at google. I particularly enjoyed the visualization presentation.”
“Great event, very informative, excellent networking opportunity.”
Google Sandbox: Austin | Cloud Technical Sales
The Google Sandbox: Austin program highlighted Google’s growing Cloud business. The program featured a fireside chat with leaders within the Cloud organization, a deeper dive into what it’s like to work in Google Cloud with a Googler panel, and workshops focused on architecture design and sales skills.
Attendee Quotes
“The Sandbox event was wonderful! Ya'll did a FANTASTIC job! I really love that Google is genuinely interested in diversifying tech and starting in their own house by putting their money where their mouth is. Thank you for that! As a black woman in tech, I do not get to see many faces that look like my own. Over the last 2 evenings, I saw more black women in tech in 1 place in Austin than I have any other time in my 5+ years in tech. I took several things away from this event and one of them being that I need to do more to change that dynamic. Thank you also for everything you shared regarding Google culture - that it is truly great and it's designed so everyone is focused and driving hard to overachieve on their goals when working. It sounds like Google is even better than its reputation.”
“I truly appreciated the invitation from Google and thoroughly enjoyed my time at the event, both days, I appreciated the insight into life at Google and hope to continue the conversations started at this event.”
“This is one of the few tech events I've been to that had actual diversity. I felt energized and happy about this. Googlers felt open and honest with answers and content. The people in attendance were high quality and matched the purpose of the event."
Google Sandbox: Bucharest | Site Reliability Engineering, Security, and YouTube
The Google Sandbox: Bucharest program highlighted exciting work in the space of YouTube Content ID using neural networks as well as a deep dive into how Google protects its corporate security. Participants heard from engineers from across six European offices as part of the Engineering at Google panel and experienced product demos, including daydream.
Attendee Quotes
“To be able to innovate from any Google location... that is great. Everything that you do is visible for anyone in the company.”
“It was a pleasure for me to attend this event, the organisation was quite good, and the Googlers are really open people.”
“I had the opportunity to talk to the speakers and see that we have more things in common than I actually thought!"
Google Sandbox: Dallas | Testing & Infrastructure
The Google Sandbox: Dallas program highlighted the testing and infrastructure areas of Google. Participants explored topics such as the complexities and challenges of automated testing, cluster management, and testing hardware at scale, including a behind-the-scenes look at Google’s disaster recovery best practices.
Attendee Quotes
“For me, the event demystified Google and made the company and its employees seem extraordinarily accessible. Most of all, it was evident that the speakers had a passion for their jobs, and it’s rare to find a company that works to foster and maintain that enthusiasm.”
“I thoroughly enjoyed myself, I truly appreciated all of the insight, information, friendliness & goodies, and I would absolutely recommend anyone going to a Google Sandbox.”
“I hope that I get the chance to do this again. This experience really gave me a glimpse of where I would like to be. I really did enjoy the openness displayed by all of the speakers and I can’t help but wonder did Google have something to do with that. I think that Google did influence each one of those "Googlers" in some form or fashion. Thanks for having me.”
Google Sandbox: Seattle | Mobile, Ads, Maps, Cloud and Virtual Reality
The Google Sandbox: Seattle program focused on some of the exciting work being led by Google’s Seattle and Kirkland teams, with tech talks on topics as varied as automated testing, virtual machine migration, DIY artificial intelligence for makers, and fairness in machine learning.
Attendee Quotes
“I'm a CS student and for me, it was important to see such friendly and safe environment for everybody at Google Sandbox Seattle. This event inspired me and motivated to study even harder to achieve my ambitious goals. And of course, one of them is one day to be a part of such amazing community like you, Googlers :)”
“Yes, please have more of these type of events in Seattle (and elsewhere), that encourage diverse folks in tech that they too have a shot at getting into Google or just have the potential to be really great software engineers."
Google Sandbox: Raleigh-Durham | Site Reliability Engineering, Network Operations, Hardware Operations and Data Center Operations
The Google Sandbox: Raleigh-Durham program highlighted some of the exciting work being done by the Site Reliability Engineering, Network Operations, Hardware Operations, and Data Center Operations teams. These are the teams that keep Google up and running 24 hours a day. Participants were able to hear from various positions that make up our core infrastructure in order to maintain it in the most efficient, reliable, secure, and scalable way possible.
Attendee Quotes
"This was a great event, and you could tell all of the employees were happy to be there and answer any questions we had!"
"Overall it was a great experience, and I look forward to researching opportunities at Google."
"I enjoyed hearing about the lives of the Googlers. The mingle afterwards with Googlers was very helpful!"
Google Sandbox: Sofia | Search & Maps
The Google Sandbox: Sofia program gave participants a behind the scenes glimpse into Search Engine and the latest innovations in Google Maps for iOS. The program split into two tracks allowing participants to immerse themselves in the Google Innovation Lab focused on teamwork and design sprints, or the hands on technical TensorFlow workshop.
Attendee Quotes
"The networking and the Q&A with actual google engineers were the most valuable parts for me. Hearing things directly from them made me feel like I was getting inside info from the most credible sources :)”
"Amazing experience, I definitely learned a lot while also having fun! Thank you for the wonderful event!”
“I really appreciated hearing more about the speaker’s life and work at Google...meeting the people was the most valuable aspect of the event!”
Google Sandbox: Machine Learning Lab | New York
The Google Sandbox: Machine Learning Lab program allowed participants to dive into machine learning concepts and go through Google’s Machine Learning Crash Course with hands-on instructors. Participants applied machine learning concepts to data sets and worked in groups to demonstrate their learnings.
Attendee Quotes
"The networking and the Q&A with actual google engineers were the most valuable parts for me. Hearing things directly from them made me feel like I was getting inside info from the most credible sources :)”
"Amazing experience, I definitely learned a lot while also having fun! Thank you for the wonderful event!”
“I really appreciated hearing more about the speaker’s life and work at Google...meeting the people was the most valuable aspect of the event!”
Google Sandbox: Detroit | Hardware
The Google Sandbox: Detroit program shone a spotlight on Google’s work within the consumer hardware space. Participants watched tech talks focused on how Google’s hardware team researches, designs, and develops their products. During the networking reception, participants had the chance to chat with members of the hardware team and get hands-on with demos of the latest products.
Attendee Quotes
“Thank you for the opportunity to attend Google Sandbox Detroit! I have always loved Google; after attending the event, I am even more enthusiastic about the company. I really appreciated learning about Google's work environment and culture; it seems like the perfect company for me. The event gave me confidence that working for Google is actually an attainable goal.”
“The event was well organized from top to bottom. Having worked in the automotive industry for over 20 years, it was nice to be immersed into the google culture at least for one night. Thanks for the opportunity!”
“Thank you for coming to Detroit. I appreciate the resources and time Google spent to come to our city. All the Googlers were gracious with their time and sharing their experiences.”
“I enjoyed the friendliness and inclusion that all of the Google employees showed toward myself and others. It was a great atmosphere to be in.”
Google Sandbox: Denver | Google Cloud G Suite
The Google Sandbox: Denver program highlighted the teams that support G Suite — Google’s Gmail, Docs, Drive, and Calendar products for businesses. Through tech talks, panels, fireside chats, and workshops, participants got an inside look into the impact these products are having on the world’s businesses, as well as Google’s culture in the Boulder office.
Attendee Quotes
“I liked the gender, racial, cultural, etc diversity of the event. I'm a white guy, and I was outnumbered at the event, which is a rarity -- and a positive -- at tech events."
"I am truly excited to gain more exposure to the Google lifestyle and learn how I can be a critical asset to your team."
"It was a real pleasure to attend to the Google Sandbox event in Denver and an amazing opportunity to meet the recruiters in person. Thank you for putting this event together as it gave me the chance to get in direct contact with the recruitment team and understand what Google is looking for."
"I went in from interested to *extremely* interested: from the 20% projects, to learning what it takes to become useful and start contributing and making impact, this was a terrific event. And the Googlers were fun!"
"I met one person through the breakout sessions who I am hoping will become a mentor for me, and another person who I might potentially be able to mentor--so it was really wonderful!"