Over 100 people attended WTIA’s 2nd Annual Debates & Drinks Holiday Party on December 1 at Big Fish Games. Civic Tech advocate Candace Faber emerged victorious, beating out Anthony Ambrose, CEO of Data I/O. In her closing statements, she turned to the audience and asked for their vote: “I really want that purple crown and robe. I want to win.” Voters responded with an affirmative. The 2015 Debates & Drinks Champion Ben Golden presented Faber with the crown. The audience chanted, “Long reign the queen.”

The eight leaders debated on a variety of topics that included whether edibles should be included in office kitchens and if pet parents should be granted parental leave. The interactive holiday party included audience voting and the audience suggesting debate topics for the semi-finals and final rounds. Cloutier and Ambrose faced off in the semifinals as did Duclos and Faber. Then the audience advanced Faber and Ambrose. The final topic was “every tech company should be converted into a non-profit.”

Here is a full list of the debaters:

Candace Faber, Civic Technology Advocate, City of Seattle

Priya Cloutier, Partner, Cloutier Global

Dr. Joseph Williams, ICT Sector Lead, WA State Dept. of Commerce

Andre Bearfield, Senior Technical Offering Manager, IBM & Co-founder, HERE Seattle

Erin McCallum, President, First Robotics Washington

Zeta Strickland, Education Program Manager, Pacific Science Center

Carolina Duclos, Sr. Business Development Manager, Logic 20/20

Anthony Ambrose, CEO, Data I/O

Bridget Quigg, a comedian, was the emcee.

For full bios, please read the original event page.

Photos by Eugene Hsu

None of the views expressed during the debates reflected the official opinion of the debater’s employers. Ticket registration fees were turned into donations that supported WTIA’s efforts to grow, attract, and retain talent in Washington. Want to do your part? Donate to Apprenti, a company that helps people find jobs in the Washington tech industry.