snipeyhead

And frankly, the entire point of that blog post was that "giving women in tech a voice" shouldn't always mean having them talk about women in tech, but it should also be about actual tech. The meta conversation is useful, but cannot be the only thing. When the only time men (and women) see women presenting is on topics about women in tech, I think it's damaging. As if we're allowed to exist in the tech space, but not because we actually solve difficult technical problems, but because of moral obligations.

Try "or something". Re-read the piece. I never called them dum-dum, I said I was disappointed that they assumed that because I am female, that's a topic I would want to talk about. If you were going to bring in a keynote speaker, wouldn't you check that they are an expert - or have at least presented about - a topic before you schedule them? They didn't, and assumed that just because I'm female, I obviously must present on women in technology. I had no problem with their WIT keynote theme. I was aggravated because they seemed to assume that any chick would do.

I had thought about it, trust me (in very much the way you're describing, funnily enough) :) But ultimately, it's their conference, and they do have the right and the responsibility to schedule the sessions they feel will be most valuable.

Not to mention that if I pulled that stunt off, I probably wouldn't be invited to speak at many conferences anymore, because organizers aren't fans of loose cannons. But really, I didn't feel the need to be a dick about it. Their loss. I give a pretty good presentation. shrug

Precisely. I'm an expert on being this particular woman in tech - which is a far cry from knowing what it's like to be other women in tech. Our stories are widely varied, and my experiences are not an accurate reflection of many other women in tech. I do not speak for them, only for myself.

Yeah, I wasn't offended. I was disappointed.

>> people who really care about promoting women in tech >> should just hire her to talk on whatever she normally talks about at tech conferences. In some sense, hiring women to only talk about "women in tech" is keeping them in a pink collar ghetto. It sort of assumes she has no real expertise to offer that would matter to REAL tech folks: You know, successful MEN.

Pretty much this. (I wrote the article in question.)

I'm not even saying we shouldn't talk about women in tech. I have absolutely no problem with - and in fact encourage - discussions about ways to improve diversity at conferences, online, wherever we can.

You're absolutely right, vor_. That's precisely what I was reacting to.

Right??

I am not an expert on diversity. If I was an expert on women in tech, or diversity in general (although I care deeply about it and would have been willing to put together something great for that), it wouldn't have been weird for them to ask me to speak about it at their conference.

That's sort of the point of the article. I am an expert on many things - women in tech isn't one of them (other than the fact that I have been one for a long time). But there mere fact that I'm female seemed to dictate to them that I would want to and would be qualified to speak about it.

The problem is, women in tech isn't a topic I speak on, so by your logic, they should never have reached out to me in the first place.

I don't believe they were arrogant chauvinist pigs. I believe that they wanted to make sure this important issue was covered in their conference, which is their right and not a bad thing, overall. I did find it weird that my offer for a talk about diversity in tech wouldn't work for those purposes.

I didn't actually know what the previous speaker was scheduled to speak on. I never thought to ask. I recently spoke in Paris as a pinch-hitter for someone who couldn't make it last minute, and they asked me what I could speak about. That's pretty common, in my experience. Last-minute replacements don't always have to speak on the same topic, as long as it's a valid topic for the conference itself.

In retrospect, women in tech may well have been the original topic, but I never thought to ask, since I have never presented about women in tech before, so why would I be selected as a replacement if it was?

I am the author of that post - and yes, you nailed it. :)