The old debate about the lack of women on the speakers rosters at conferences is doing the rounds again. Jeremy Keith has a good round up if you’ve managed to miss it.
For me, I’m going to think local for now. I’m going to put my hand up, I’m going to say yes when asked, I’m going to try to do a good job, and I’m going to keep looking for other great chick talent and to do what I can to make people who make the decisions know about the talent that’s out there.
What are you going to do?
(If you’re in London, you can come along and be a friendly and supportive audience member at the NMK Event ‘Usability: Whose problem is it anyway’ on Monday night (26/2) and witness my local action for diversity in action!).
I’ve always had a weird relationship with this issue. I work in a male dominated industry (IT) but my profession is probably tipped in favour of females. It’s certainly at least 50/50 if not more.
So, I’m going to keep doing what I’m doing. Hiring people because they are the best person for the job.
I started Make Me A Speaker! :-)
yay Meri! I was wondering who was behind that. Great idea :)
Hear! Hear! I agree with your approach totally. Lets not winge, lets just get out there. Getting more women into this space isn’t about forcing the issue, but about being an example that other woman want to follow, intriguing them with the fact its possible to be a woman in technology and that not be a negative thing.
i’m with Alex. Too much for me. If I was a stalker it might be interesting, but I was never much of a one for IRC – it simply requires too much time at the keyboard (thus, it’s most useful for programmers and students). I’m afraid the phone is a much more useful substitute in terms of really knowing what people want to tell you.