Feet of Clay
Personal heroes Eric and Tantek and Chris are congratulating themselves for being so open-minded that the lack of gender diversity in Web conference speakers doesn't bother them (because, you know, if we ignore the gender, race, or physical abilities of conference speakers, the discrimination associated with those characteristics will just go away). I didn't see their opinions about a similar lack of gender diversity in Web conference attendance, but I expect those are just as sanguine.
Plenty of people have disputed their points eloquently, in some cases pointing out that these guys benefit from a false meritocracy, in which the same few people get hired, get published, get speaking engagements, make hiring choices, make publishing choices, and make conference speaker choices. Is it any surprise that those of us with an atypical profile are looking for affirmative action from conference vendors? The feedback cycle's got to be interrupted somewhere.
I'm not an aspiring Web conference speaker, but rather an aspiring Web conference attendee. As a freelancer I have to pay the full cost of attending a conference, and that makes me very particular about which ones to go to. Yes, the subject matter of the conference is my chief concern. And if I look at the speaker list, and see the same guys who've been writing the blogs and books about the subject all this time, I'm not going to spend money on that conference. Hell, I could stay home and read the blogs and books.
But the female-consumer-me turn-off doesn't stop at the conference speaker list. Sometimes the event is so obviously geared to the 20-something white guy crowd that I don't regret a moment of not going to it. For instance, how come so many conferences have mixers or gatherings in noisy bars? Did the organizers really think all attendees would feel comfortable shouting over big-screen TVs and hooting, drunk sports fans?
You might think this is an insignificant point, but the conference organizers set these things up as "networking" events. Well, by holding them in venues where women's voices can literally not be heard, the conference organizers have pretty well kept the status quo-- for this conference, and the next.
Comments
As I've been saying, I wonder if someone's saying, "The reason that models are so tall and so skinny is because short, fat people aren't interested in being models."
I just went to one of the few conferences I attend that had a babysitting room as part of the event. I think even those of us who didn't have need for the room appreciated the effect it had on the entire conference.
Yes, as a non-parent I too would be intrigued by a tech conference which offered childcare-- that would be evidence to me that the organizers really thought about the cultural cues their event should offer to make all sorts of attendees feel welcome.
I keep thinking of Kathy Sierra's hilarious/infuriating take on the <a href="http://headrush.typepad.com/creating_passionate_users/2006/12/tech_tshirts_ar.html">(non)availability of conference t-shirts in women's sizes</a>.