Full Circle Associates

Blogher Nicole Simon has been posting podcast interviews with presenters at December's LesBlogs 2.0. This is a great way to prime the pump for a conference. It gives people a taste -- which is good if the presenters are great -- and helps build excitement. If people listen and use the comment feature, they can begin connecting -- even better. LesBlogs is fortunate to have Nicole do this.

Now for my snarky comment to the folks organizing Les Blogs. I'm sorry. I've been resisting but it is late at night and I'm giving in...

First a disclaimer. I wrote to Loïc Le Meur, the prime Les Blogs organizer, and offered to speak as I was possibly going to be in Europe at the time. In my offer, I also pointed to a few other very cool women and said I could find more if he needed it. He responded quickly and said he'd get back to me. Never did. Pfft. I probably should have written to Elisabeth Albrycht who I later learned was also a co-organizer. Maybe I would have gotten more traction for the plea to have more women at the podium. I don't care if they didn't want me -- in truth I believe they are much better served by European speakers. But I did care that people follow up as they suggest the would. Ahem. (yeah, it's late... my snarky side, which I usually repress, is in full bloom.)

In they end, the Les Blogs organizers did a wretched job tapping into the diverse set of women blogging talent in Europe. And they were not the first. This fall a blogging conference in Portugal noted that half the bloggers in Portugal are women. Yet there, few women were speaking. An event in London earlier this year (I need to mine the link) had the same issues.

What gives? I am beginning to believe that blogging conference organizers think blogging is a male sport with a few token women (usually the same ones, no offence, sistahs) tossed in to say they tried. Come on guys, we have been offering you suggestions in the comments of your speaker list. There is a women's speaker wiki. There is no excuse for the feeble ration of women to men (by my count 7:44) presenters. There are tons of fabulous women doing cool things in Europe. It is hard to keep giving you guys the benefit of the doubt. If you don't have the contacts, ask some women. Remember, we're great networkers! (snarky face)

The Bottom Line
There are financial implications to the short sightedness of conference organizers. We have economic clout and we are not going to spend our bucks on your conferences if you keep ignoring us. You are not only losing by not having more, great, women speakers presenting more diverse ideas. You are losing seat sales. Look at the participant list at Les Blogs. Mostly men. Look at the market you are missing and connect the dots. We want to see ourselves represented in your offerings, not the same old boys.

Come on, take a risk. You will win. And if you need our help, we're happy to offer it.

What does it take to turn the tide?

Categories: lesblogs, blogher, podcasts, NicoleSimon, unconference