Posts tagged ‘women’
This March, I’m heading to the Wine Sisterhood Gathering in Napa. The event is organized by one of my digital marketing clients – the Wine Sisterhood – with a goal to educate, empower and inspire women through their community, content and other digital initiatives.
The Gathering blends a wine and food tasting experience throughout the Napa Valley with workshops about digital, social and mobile media. I’ll be teaching a workshop about using mobile apps for community building and marketing and Danielle Smith will be leading a session on digital video and media training. Not to mention a wine and cheese tasting workshop and other tasty – I mean educational – learning opportunities.
Here are 6 reasons why I love the Wine Sisterhood Gathering and am so excited to be there again this year. Read more
Today, Edward Boches posted the question “Where are the women?” and he poses some specific questions about why many panels and presentations at conferences are made up of mostly white males:
So what’s going on? Are we witnessing an outright prejudice on the part of event organizers and award shows? Do we simply perpetuate the problem when men invite men who invite more men?
Or is it just the natural outcome of inviting whoever is top of mind when we make lists of leading talent, selecting the people we already know and with whom we’re comfortable?
What IS going on? For every conference that consciously and conscientiously looks to bring more women speakers into their event (and hopefully more ethnic diversity, too) like Blogworld Expo, there are many others that say “well we tried to book some women speakers but just couldn’t FIND them.” And still others that respond to this question with, “Huh?”
As a woman speaker who used to be on the tech speaking circuit in the 90s, I find it to be quite a struggle these days to get to speak at conferences in my industry for a myriad of reasons. My appearances this year at conferences are the culmination of almost three years of pitching and building relationships.
If the issues are related to the conferences, I ask questions of the organizers and learn how to pitch better speaking topics in more effective ways. I also offer to introduce them to my network of amazing women speakers (see Chain of Daisies) because there ARE great women speakers who just need an intro.
But then there are those internal issues – the things in my own life, in my own head that keep me from “going for it.” I’ve summarized 5 things that keep us from pitching to speak at major tech, business and venture conferences and 5 things we can do to overcome those things, and I’ll be presenting these along with Jill Foster of Live Your Talk at Blogworld Expo on Thursday, May 26 at 9am.
After this workshop, attendees will walk out with a draft of their awesome pitch for Blogworld Expo LA or a conference of their choosing. Here’s the session description (yes, men can attend):
Speak Up: Empowering Women to Find Their Voices
Despite all of our best efforts, there is still a dearth of female speakers at business, tech and venture conferences, particularly keynoters. But we can all do something about this imbalance, including women themselves. This workshop is a dynamic, interactive session about overcoming fear in public speaking and taking deliberate steps to craft speaking proposals.
Everyone weighs in about the issue of the lack of women speakers at conferences. I just say: “If a problem exists, find ways to fix it.” Please support our workshop by sharing this post and information with anyone you know who is at Blogworld Expo. We appreciate your support! Let’s DO something.
Where do you stand on the “lack of women speakers at conferences” debate & what are you doing about it?
I’ve been asked numerous times over the last several years, “Why do you wear that tiara and boa?” I often vary my answer depending on mood and context, and all the answers I give are valid because the reasons are many.
Over time, I’ve learned that the reasons people ask are many as well, and in some cases, people seem to be waiting to see what I say before they make a final decision about what they think of my accessories. That’s fine. I appreciate that my choice of adornment hits people in different ways so I expect the myriad of reactions. In general, however, they have been overwhelmingly positive.
My First Time
Here is the backstory to when and why I adopted this “look.”
I was given my first “official” boa at BlogHer years ago and swiped a pink tiara from my then 3-year-old’s dressup trunk and brought them to Blissdom two years ago when I co-presented with Maya Bisineer of MemeTales. We taught a Wisdom Workshop for women about finding one’s voice. Both Maya and I stood in front of a room full of women telling our stories, some difficult and painful ones, putting ourselves out there and encouraging other women to be in touch with their life stories.
My premise for the workshop was that each of us has powerful life stories, experiences that give us a wisdom that we don’t give ourselves credit for, and by telling our stories to others – other women especially – we empower ourselves and empower others. I could almost hear women cringing inside with the on-the-spot writing assignments I was giving but when women began to share their stories, the energy was off the charts.
In honor of one woman really digging deep and being vulnerable and strong in front of us all, we adorned her with a tiara and boa and honored her courage. (Footnote: She told me recently that it was that experience that gave her the seeds of strength to leave an abusive husband. I am humbled by the power of what we were all able to do for her and what she was able to do for herself.)
As I left the workshop, I started to remove the tiara and boa, but as I exited the session room, people turned and smiled in my direction. It put me in a great mood so I kept both of them on the rest of the conference. When I was preparing for the next conference that year, I purchased a new metal and bead boa so my daughter could have hers back and promptly tucked it into my suitcase (it was conveniently bendable) along with a boa.
Before I put them on at the next conference (I think it was Web 2.0 Expo – a decidedly non-female event), I was terrified. “What are you THINKING?!” that little voice of self-doubt demanded. But then I shut that negative voice out and went out in full regalia. The response was fantastic and positive. I decided that I’d wear them at every conference and create a sort of trademark look for myself.
And you know what? It has worked wonders for me business-wise in ways I never imagined. Yes, business-wise. I’ve attracted more business and clients with this “look” than ever before – and all the RIGHT kinds of clients, the ones who “get it” and who appreciate strong branding, attracting attention, being out there and being visible.
I’ve realized over the last few years that the naysayers are probably people who I don’t want to do business with and probably don’t actually want to know. They aren’t “my kind of people.” I don’t need stuck-in-the-mud fuddy duddies or uptight types in my work or life – life is too short to worry about them. Don’t get me wrong – I honor the fact that everyone is entitled to their own opinions, but frankly, I don’t need someone telling me what is right or wrong for me or to criticize what I do when it is so positive on so many levels – and not just for me. How, you ask? Let me explain further…
Why I Do It
Here are just some of the reasons I wear a pink tiara and boa to conferences that I attend:
1. It makes people smile.
2. It starts conversations with interesting people.
3. It is easy to find me in a crowd.
4. It gets people out of their shell.
5. It makes me feel bold and in the moment.
6. It generates excitement and papparazi moments.
7. It helps me show other women that it is okay to draw attention to oneself in a fun way.
8. It helps me show other women that we don’t have to be so serious (or like men) to get taken seriously by men. (Just today, I had a number of men say “Now THAT is smart. I had no trouble finding you in a crowd.” Then we proceeded to have conversations about high tech and business.
9. It gives others permission to be silly.
10. It opens doors, literally and figuratively.
Again, not everyone likes my tiara and boa, but you know what? That’s their problem, not mine. And for every stuck-in-the-mud potential client I lose because they don’t like my getup, I get many more fantastically adventurous and bold clients who are fun to work with – not to mention new friends who are a blast to be with – so I’m not worried.
If I make 1 person frown while making 100s of people smile with my faux royalty wear, I think I’m doing okay. Don’t underestimate the power of a tiara and boa. And if you don’t like it, you can always mind your own business, right?
What do YOU do to be bold and get noticed in a crowd?
I’m still thinking about mobile and looking for ways to better illustrate my thoughts so I put together a slideshow. I’m also working on a broader presentation with a presentation expert to pull out all the stops and push forward the message that mobile is more than apps – it’s about a platform, a gateway, about convenience, community, connections and more.
What are your thoughts on mobile? What are you doing in the space so far?
As a busy working woman and mom to a 4-year-old daughter, I’m constantly using my iPhone and relying heavily on apps to get things done; to keep my daughter busy and entertained; and yes, for my own entertainment as well. Finding great quality apps is getting harder and harder as more and more of them flood the apps stores. So we’re here to curate and review apps, profile apps developers who are producing apps specifically with women or kids in mind, and report on interesting developments in apps. And yes, we’re launching our own set of apps soon, too, so stay tuned!
