tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6926041545494903652.post1516212912401879118..comments2023-10-16T10:11:32.142-04:00Comments on Quality Intelligence blog: Women and Conference KeynotesFiona Charleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05261957091656214838noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6926041545494903652.post-14877303287422375172018-05-25T09:15:44.444-04:002018-05-25T09:15:44.444-04:00Very Helpful post related to keynote speaker.Thank...Very Helpful post related to <a href="http://www.chartwellspeakers.com/" rel="nofollow">keynote speaker</a>.Thank you for sharing.Exaalgiahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14966446728005581740noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6926041545494903652.post-88361800503192673902015-04-11T11:35:09.578-04:002015-04-11T11:35:09.578-04:00Ooops - now I've published both your duplicate...Ooops - now I've published both your duplicate comments.<br /><br />Damian, I think we're in agreement about this topic conceptually, but disagreeing on the means to address it.<br /><br />But -- how shall I put this without sounding angry? -- I'm a woman. I believe utterly in universal human rights but I'm tired of women's rights always coming second to some greater good.<br /><br />Oh, the Bolsheviks said, women's rights. Yes, but just let us fix society first. And on and on it goes, in many different places.<br /><br />Someday, I hope we’ll reach a point where the issue of diversity of any kind on keynote platforms (or anywhere else in the world) is completely irrelevant. We’ll see conferences where the keynotes are given by any combination of qualified women or men of any colour, ethnicity or religion; or disabled people; or gay people, or… <br /><br />But we aren’t there yet. Meanwhile, I think conferences like EuroSTAR need to try harder. At the moment, I think the available talent pool in 50% (or is it 51%) of the population is a good place to start.<br /><br />You fight the battles you want to fight. I wish you all the best with that.<br /><br />I'm first going to carry on fighting this particular fight for the half of the population that has been put down for centuries. Fiona Charleshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05261957091656214838noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6926041545494903652.post-7749392327039255922015-04-11T10:41:28.190-04:002015-04-11T10:41:28.190-04:00(Unsure if my last comment was submitted successfu...(Unsure if my last comment was submitted successfully. In case, here it is again)<br /><br />Thanks for the prompt reply, and sorry for the personal tone. I intended to make it less so, but accidently posted an unedited version. Sorry for that.<br /><br />“But that's not what this post is about. As the title says, it's about Women and Keynotes.”<br /><br />That is one of my primary concerns. I think that “too few women speakers/keynotes at conferences” is, indeed, a problem. But, I also think it is just one symptom of a much larger problem. I’m not sure exactly what that larger problem is (or, obviously, what a solution might be), but some root cause analysis might help identify it. And if the underlying problem can be identified, addressed, and solved, it might also help solve the problem of “too few women speakers/keynotes at conferences”, as well as many others.<br /><br />So, focusing on the symptom seems like too narrow a focus, to me.<br /><br />I truly want to see more women speaking/keynoting at conferences. Or, to rephrase, “I truly want to see more people of diverse gender speaking/keynoting at conferences”. Equally as much as I’d like to see more people of diverse races, ages, industries, and many, many other attributes speaking/keynoting at conferences, as well. <br /><br />But, solving the problem for “women” alone might not help all the others.<br />Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07226270854530425839noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6926041545494903652.post-59299298693510606922015-04-11T10:12:43.150-04:002015-04-11T10:12:43.150-04:00Thanks for the prompt reply, and sorry for the per...Thanks for the prompt reply, and sorry for the personal tone. I intended to make it less so, but accidently posted an unedited version. Sorry for that.<br />“But that's not what this post is about. As the title says, it's about Women and Keynotes.”<br />That is one of my primary concerns. I think that “too few women speakers/keynotes at conferences” is, indeed, a problem. But, I also think it is just one symptom of a much larger problem. I’m not sure exactly what that larger problem is (or, obviously, what a solution might be), but some root cause analysis might help identify it. And if the underlying problem can be identified, addressed, and solved, it might also help solve the problem of “too few women speakers/keynotes at conferences”, as well as many others.<br />So, focusing on the symptom seems like too narrow a focus, to me.<br />I truly want to see more women speaking/keynoting at conferences. Or, to rephrase, “I truly want to see more people of diverse gender speaking/keynoting at conferences”. Equally as much as I’d like to see more people of diverse races, ages, industries, and many, many other attributes speaking/keynoting at conferences, as well. <br />But, solving the problem for “women” alone might not help all the others.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07226270854530425839noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6926041545494903652.post-36612082618995816392015-04-10T15:54:36.419-04:002015-04-10T15:54:36.419-04:00Thanks for your comment, Damian.
You wrote "...Thanks for your comment, Damian.<br /><br />You wrote "your view of diversity seems to end with gender". Well, no -- it doesn't, and I'm fully aware of the rich variety of humans encompassed by the term "diversity". Certainly I believe that all qualified humans should be considered on equal terms, whatever the position or speaking slot.<br /><br />But that's not what this post is about. As the title says, it's about Women and Keynotes.Fiona Charleshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05261957091656214838noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6926041545494903652.post-33492449503715912212015-04-10T15:32:32.964-04:002015-04-10T15:32:32.964-04:00"There's a whole pool of people we forgot..."There's a whole pool of people we forgot to consider, and we know we would do a better job if we were more diverse."<br />Indeed. Unfortunately, your view of diversity seems to end with gender.<br />Diversity means variety. It represents a range of different things. And there are countless ways that people are diverse.<br /><br />Consider diversity of race, religion, age, experience, sexual preference, industry, height (Wait, what? You mean that conference only selected short presenters?! How dare they!)<br /><br />And on and on and on... Balanced diversity isn’t possible. You can never please everyone.<br /><br />And so, when selecting presenters, rather than considering the myriad ways that people are diverse, perhaps consider only 1 factor: merit.<br /><br />It shouldn't matter if the presenter is male or female or old or young or gay or straight or in banking or retail or tall or short. The only thing that should matter is their message. If their message has merit (is worthy, deserving), then they should be chosen to present.<br /><br />If the pool of candidates to choose from stinks, then address that problem (you touched a bit on that in your post). If the selection process is broken (biased), then address that problem. <br /><br />But, suggesting that a presenter should or shouldn't be chosen because of their color (whoops, I mean gender), is silly. <br /><br />Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07226270854530425839noreply@blogger.com