When The Speakers Group recently posted a Top 10 list of social media speakers they really put their foot in it. Not only were there no women listed, they were accused of moderating out comments critical of the list. NOT mind you, that the list didn’t have some amazing speakers on it, or that women should have been included whether they were worthy of the honor or not.
The fact is there are some amazing women who speak about social media. Some are members of The Speakers Group like Jennifer Leggio, who was told in this interview that “Women will be better represented” in the list in the future and more women are being added to the roster. Good.
Yesterday (8/11/09) I listened in on the BlogTalk Radio show- Social Media Hour and a really good discussion (at around 30 min in) around why women are not well represented as presenters on the topic of social media and what we should be doing about it.
Overall I’m impressed the discussion wasn’t to say women have to be represented at all costs, but that women should gain visibility based on their skills and knowledge of the industry so we start finding more women on the rosters of conferences in our field. We need to earn our chops and make sure we are represented when conference organizers are putting together their lists. We need to recommend each other and it would be great if other speakers also stepped up and suggested more women to round out the roster at events. We also need to be creating an environment where women can learn from and help each other grow as presenters and leaders in our industry.
The discussion sparked me to take action and set up a Linkedin group for women presenters where we can share opportunities and help educate each other on techniques, find inspiration and mentor younger speakers as well. If you’d like to support seeing more women presenting, join us! Here’s a short list of women I admire who should have been on that list (in no particular order). I invite you to think of them the next time you’re building a presentation roster, and to add other names to this list.
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