Technically Women

The largest number of women to attend Kinnernet, photo by Barak Berkowitz

It’s a fact. When you look at the agendas for top tech gatherings – whether social media focused or not – there are blessed few women on the stage. Period. Though this issue has percolated to the top of the meme stream of late, thanks in part to this post by TSG (about which I’ll comment more specifically a bit later in this post) the idea that this is somehow new or different is far from true.

What is true, however, is that it’s time to stop talking about it, and take action. Big time.

No matter how you slice it this is a complex topic and one with which I have found myself confronted very directly in the last several years in my role helping produce/content curate for a number of major technology gatherings. On more than one occasion I have found myself torn because while I am as big a proponent as any for supporting women in business, the plain fact is that it’s a numbers game. There are just fewer women from whom to choose. I’m not suggesting there aren’t smart, accomplished, capable women available to speak on pretty much any topic, but let’s face it. When you look around any given room at any given conference and do the math – apart from BlogHer or other gatherings by women-inclined organizations – if you find a room where the percentage of female presence is anything more than 5% to 10%, I’ll buy you lunch.

Then there’s the other math – qualifications. For several years I had the pleasure of working with Loic and Geraldine Le Meur on their LeWeb conference. When it came time to pick speakers for the stage, the first criteria was putting the most well-versed, articulate and, yes, entertaining, speakers on the stage. They were equally as concerned that those speakers represent a solid cross-section of the best voices possible. Many of those speakers were men, but in any and all cases where there was a chance to book a qualified woman, it was done.

In looking at the LeWeb agenda for this year (for the record, I’m not working on the 2009 conference, but will be in attendance and who knows, if there’s an appropriate fit maybe I’ll get to speak ), along with that of the upcoming Supernova, you might say, “Um, Cathy … the numbers still look pretty small overall, are you suggesting that there aren’t more women than this?”

I’m not suggesting that at all, but as I’ve said, and as was also stated in this comment by Jen Pahlka, posted by Tim O’Reilly in response to the WomenWhoTech petition, it’s about quality first.

So that’s the part of my post where I acknowledge that we can’t change several hundred years of Old Boy Network behavior overnight, that we *have* made progress and that when it comes to booking speakers it’s most important to first ensure you have the best voices.

And this is where the gloves come off.

For starters, while the numbers are small the qualified women do exist and for any conference organizer, or speakers bureau, to claim ignorance that there’s an overall lack of women on stage … is a joke. One need only attend a few tech-oriented gatherings to immediately sense the gender imbalance. It also doesn’t take long in any of those rooms to recognize that the depth of knowledge at any given geek fest is not gender exclusive – especially when it comes to social media.

I’m going to eschew any further debate about whether TSG did or didn’t or they have or haven’t. Bottom line is that TSG’s list was weak, they’ve acknowledged as such, and at least as seen in this Q&A with a Technically Women pal and ZDNet Journalist, Jennifer Leggio, they seem to be at least making noises about doing the right thing moving forward.

Great.

So now what?

As another Technically Woman colleague and social media leader who should have (in my opinion) been on that TSG list, Maggie Fox, articulates in her post here, some baseline criteria are a good start. It’s also important, as it is for any minority group, both to circle the wagons and support each other. Frankly I think for the most part women have the circling the wagons part pretty well in hand. The part where I believe change must take place is the same spot that most minorities fall down, and that is in reaching outside of their group, forming bridges to all those “other” – you know, the ones whose numbers shadow them?

This isn’t just about women stepping up, speaking up and breaking old conventions to do more self-promotion. This is also about those who are our allies making sure they’re looking out for us too.

Before you tsk tsk me and say that sounds awfully like I’m going all doe-eyed and asking for the men to help us … well … I am … I’m asking them to help, but I’m certainly not batting my eyelashes when I do it.

This isn’t about beseeching the boys, this is my strident call to action saying: step up or step off.

By step up, I mean more than just commenting on blog posts or writing posts of your own. These things are great and are incredibly helpful, but they are merely part of the equation. How about opening up your own platforms to their voices, just as you know they would do for you? Case in point, after talking with Brian Solis at Twiistup about this very subject, Brian thought for a moment, said he’d like to help and then asked if I would be willing to contribute to his blog and bring the conversation there. So that’s precisely what I’m going to do.

Here’s another idea … if you wish to truly walk the walk and talk the talk that you support more women on the stage, the next time you find yourself invited to be on a panel, perhaps one of the questions you can ask is whether there are any women (or any other minorities for that matter, if you happen to also be a white male) are included. If there aren’t and if you know of someone who fits the bill, perhaps you can suggest her.

Ready to be a bit more bold? How about next time you find yourself on a pre-panel conference call or email thread and see that there’s an embarrassing gap where a woman’s voice might be relevant, you say that unless the panel gets a bit more diversity, you’ll graciously decline participating.

Oh, and as for that step off part, I think that’s pretty self-explanatory.