If I had to assign the last week one overarching theme, there’s no question that it would be diversity.
It started with Sunday afternoon thoughts about one social media heavyweight who just does not seem to get the credit she deserves, Corvida Raven. I could try to describe her, but I think she does a better job in her twitter profile:
- - Oprah of the web
- - @MrTweet blog editor
- - New Media Specialist
- - Awesomesauce
She was on USTREAM not too long ago talking about issues she had with the social media tweetups and other events being held in the Atlanta area. Her main concern seemed to be that the events were all being held in places convenient to a certain circle of people. This normally meant that events were held in a section of Atlanta that was:
- Close to that circle of people (work and/or home)
- In places (bars/restaurants/meeting spaces) that they and their group frequented
- Not *reasonably metro accessible (long travel time or just inaccessible by normal standards)
She noted that she makes an effort to go whenever possible but can’t always go mainly because of number 3. One thing that is apparent when she does go is that she sees the same faces all the time. My guess is that those are faces unlike hers. There are several questions that come to mind, but they are tied to my next “diversity week” event, Women Who Tech.
Every month, DC Tech Titan Jill Foster holds great sessions at NPR as a part of her DC Media Makers series. The July meetup included a presentation from fellow Tech Titan Allyson Kapin, founder of Women Who Tech. Without mincing words, women are underrepresented in the tech industry and often are nowhere to be found when you look at speaker panels at major conferences. Women Who Tech was created to “to break down the barriers and showcase the brilliant talents of women who tech out” and also to “create a database of women technology experts to be used as a resource for the media and tech conference organizers.”
I agreed with everything that Allyson had to say until she said that she’s begun to boycott sessions that aren’t representative of women in the industry in terms of panels and attendance. I didn’t agree with that because I thought that she was contributing to the problem by not participating, but event attendee D.C. Hughes hit her with one better. He said, “I look around and see five black males [in a room of about 40]. If I were to apply that here, I’d boycott this event.”
I couldn’t help but laugh because of the way he said it, but he was right. The entire time I sat there listening to Allyson’s issues and the steps she was taking to address them, I was wondering if there was a way to transfer that and if someone should take up the charge to work towards equal (or at least more equal) representation for people of color in the Tech, PR and Social Media sectors. The clear answer is yes.
However, addressing the diversity issue will not be as easy and clear cut as the picture I included above. There are several questions that will need to be answered in order to get to the roots of the *problems* helping diversity remain an issue.
Now that I’ve had my say, I’d like to do my part, but I can only do that with your help.
Here’s what I need from you.
- If you’re even remotely interested in this issue, email me at james.walker@prprescriptions.com.
- If you’re not interested but think this might be of value, please tweet this, forward the link out to your networks, send smoke signals, messenger pigeons…you get the idea!
- If you know people I should be reaching out to, feel free to email or include their info in a comment below.
Good calls Jay. Thanks for participating at DC Media Makers last week and continuing the topic here.
One factor that stood out at last week’s meetup with Allyson (and continues to be evident at like conversations) is the group dynamic of those participating in the talks. People voiced tough and sometimes different concerns on diversity in the sector yet people listened, looked eachother in the eye, extended respect. I was more eager to continue talking afterward for this reason – and motivated to take actionable steps toward potential solutions – based on that conversational dynamic that was exercised.
Of note to your point here, Shireen Mitchell has launched a strong online resource on women of color in social media ie http://www.socialmediawoc.com/; it’s a good hub for social tech conference organizers seeking diverse representation for their events.
Hi Jill. You’re right. The discussion was a tough, honest and respectable one.
I definitely should have highlighted Social Media Women of Color. Thanks for sharing that.
I took some good mental notes on the reasons why many think that women are underrepresented in Tech and Social Media. I’m curious to see what others have to say about this as it relates to the larger group.
What are the barriers to increasing representation? Is there a lack of interest? If so, why is that?
How do the varying factors (salary, company or industry culture, etc) affect recruitment and retention?
I’ve seen or read about the general discussion on diversity many times and people always seem to come to the conclusion that:
1. It’s an important issue.
2. It will be difficult to address.
3. We all have part to play.
But after that, things just seem to return to normal. I’d like to dig deeper much in the way that Allyson, Shireen, you and others have done to identify specific things and work to correct them. That session, in a way, re-ignited the flame. We’ll see what happens.
Either way, I’d love to chat with you further about this and definitely will be reaching out to Shireen soon.
Jay, thank you for writing this post! I have noticed this for awhile and I want to thank you for addressing this issue. I agree with you. There are so many talented people of color that are doing amazing work in social media, but are not being recognized and this should not be the case. I think acknowledging that there is a problem is a huge step in the right direction. Finding the answers to resolving this problem is going to be difficult, but I do not think it is impossible. Thank you Jay and Jill for giving me two new websites (socialmediawoc and Corvida Raven) to add to my blog roll. Great post!
SOme things to contemplate both in terms of “diversity” and/or people on panels (which takes time as well as pre- and post-prod):
“Some people see things as they are and ask, ‘Why?’
Some people dream of things that never were and ask, ‘Why not?’
Some people have to go to work and don’t have time for all that.”
–George Carlin
“My mother said to me, ‘If you become a soldier, you’ll be a general; if you become a monk, you’ll end up as the pope.’ Instead, I became a painter and wound up as Picasso.”
–Pablo Picasso
@LaTosha Thanks for commenting. I’m going to start reaching out to people to see what their preferences are, but I’d really like to see a series of dialogues take place that unearth the root causes to the problem. I suspect some new things that people don’t generally think of will come to light. I’ll keep you posted.
@DC Points well taken!
Do you know Kelly Wickham or Stefania Pomponi Butler?
I just checked them out briefly. Think they would be interested in this? I can reach out to gain their perspective. Thanks David.
Hi, James! If you want help on the academic side, count me in. I have some colleagues who might want to help as well. I just tweeted your blog post.
Hi Tiffany,
Thanks for sharing the post! I might need some help on that end. I’ll send an email with more info.
James