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4.5% of women speakers at Confoo.ca – what to do?

Published by at February 23, 2012


There’s drama on Twitter about the Women vs men ratio at the confoo.ca conference, due wednesday next week. There are 5 women speakers announced, vs a total of 109, which makes it 4.5%, a sad statement of the industry, perhaps discouraging even more women to enter the technology industry and tech entrepreneurship.

Leila Boujnane (@leilaboujnane), founder of popular Idée Inc, and also organizer of various community events in Toronto, and also Montréal, was surprised yesterday at the lack of women speakers at confoo. What started as a very simple statement was received as an attack on confoo, and Anna Filina (@afilina), Vice-President and main organizer of the conference, replied harshily to Leila.

Since then, others joined in the argument, David Crow (@davidcrow), Yann Larrivée (@ylarrivee), and many others. Leila Boujnane wrote about the issue, stating things need to be changed, and Anna Filina wrote also on her blog why and how they had so few women speakers.

The gender ratio issue is not new. Last year, FounderFuel was heavily criticized for not having any women mentor at launch, only to include Tara Hunt, CEO of Buyosphere, at the end. It’s the same for Startup Festival, which received negative feedback for lacking diversity. Startup Festival had then the creative idea to have a panel of grannies, which made finally headlines on the Gazette. For Startup Weekend Montréal, we had a partnership with Montréal Girl Geeks dinners, and also brought in Anna Goodson, who did a talk on women entreprenership Saturday midday, to inspire startup women.

I won’t comment on confoo: criticizing a conference is easy, especially if you check things out a week before the event. An event like confoo takes at least 6 months of preparation, and as Anna stated, it’s not an entrepreneurship, marketing conference or SXSW. Moreover, if you work in the industry, you know the numbers and what programmers focus on, and it’s not beautiful. I also agree with Leila though: confoo needs to open up, think about the value they really bring in, and agree it’s not all about numbers and how many speakers you bring in. If they do not care, other organizations working with them care, and Montréal also care.

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I am an electrical engineer who has 9 years experience in designing, developing and launching disruptive startups, media ventures, community building initiatives, and inspiring events. When I get involved, I believe I bring in big ideas, discipline, ability to decide quickly and to be always on top ...

  • http://davidcrow.ca/ davidcrow

    @heri:twitter conference planning is hard no one is arguing about the efforts that @afilina:disqus  and the #confoo team put into this year or over the past few years to build an amazing event. It really is an amazing event. 
    @SuzAxtell:twitter ’s comments on @OReillyMedia:twitter events and the need to actively participate in making the changes “If you want the tech community to have diversity, you need to be the change.” http://radar.oreilly.com/2011/11/public-speaking-diversity-tech-conferences.html struck home. Leila was trying to start a conversation to help participate in a solution. 

    And I was surprised at @afilina:twitter response to @leilaboujnane:twitter ’s comments. An immediate response that indirectly calls Leila a “IT feminist crusader” is not helpful to the conversation. And it is a surprise given the amazing work that#ConFoo has done this year and in the past.

  • http://twitter.com/afilina Anna Filina

    Debating over who said what on Twitter, in my opinion, is just a way to stir emotions. It does not get us closer to a solution of a deeper problem over which event organizers are powerless.

    When I first responded to Leila politely, she welcomed me with a “you’re not even trying”. Now this is not a good way to start a dialog, I was shocked. I had no interest in remaining diplomatic after that. As much as I like discussing this topic, I want to do it with truly open people, not people who pretend to be open. I do not know Leila, but this is the impression that she gave me. I do not regret my comment seen above, as I meant every word. When people have nothing constructive to say and no solutions to bring to the table, it’s better to just zip it.

    Leila chose to target my name in a blog post and mock the solution that I proposed on my blog, which was based on a AAUW research. If you want solutions, please visit my blog and post some more. Anyone can point fingers and critique. I challenge you to bring ideas and solutions to the table.

    • http://davidcrow.ca/ davidcrow

      Agreed, given a conference timelines it is incredibly difficult to make any changes. And @leilaboujnane:disqus ’s immediate characterization was probably unfair. I know the heartache in putting together an event and the challenges. And I know from my days in DPE at Microsoft the amazing event that you produce.

      I’m also blown away by the 62.5% vs 45.2% acceptance https://twitter.com/#!/afilina/status/172767004753788928

      I think there are a couple of things. One thought is “holding” a number of spots earlier in the speaker recruiting process and inviting speakers as opposed to relying solely on the submission process. @sarahm:disqus 
       and @ginatrapani:disqus 
       have suggested that there is a need to change the process itself 
      http://radar.oreilly.com/2011/03/would-i-attend-my-own-conferen.html

      “the traditional response is to explain (or complain) that very few women applied and to then call on more women to enter in the proposal system. Colleagues of mine, people I respect deeply, have gone this route.
      …
      Better instead, as Gina recommends, to change your system. For conference organizers, that means not just opening up a public call for proposals and asking Women 2.0 and Girls in Tech to tell their friends, but also seeking out and inviting individual women. That may sound inefficient, and it is time-consuming. But if your supposedly efficient public-call system isn’t yielding the desired results, then it’s simply failing efficiently.”

      This means changing the submission and recruiting process. 

      I don’t think it is as easy as a Twitter comment. And I don’t think the changes can happen overnight.

      I think your blog post presents one important solution. As a parent of 2 girls that I hope choose science, technology, engineering or math careers, I love to see local events like #ConFoo and MakerFaires and Ladies Learning Code. 

      Your blog post and the AAUW research matches the research I’ve read from ACM-W http://women.acm.org/ and other sources. 

    • http://twitter.com/afilina Anna Filina

      I personally consider that “holding” spots is unfair. I have no intention to promote favoritism, because then we will create more problems than we would solve. I promote equity.

      As for the recommendations to reach out, this has been done extensively. I have reached out to @MTLGirlGeeks:disqus since the day I learned about their existence. I have e-mailed countless women during the call for papers. I have attended events around the world where I invited women to speak. I have done workshops for women to get them into tech. I have participated in government and private efforts to get more women into tech.

      I did not simply Tweet about it. I believe that I have done everything humanly possible on my spare time. Some people might not know that, but none of us has been paid to organize these conferences since 2003. How much more sacrifice from my part will be considered enough?

  • http://twitter.com/startupfest Startup Festival

    Women in tech entrepreneurship continues to be a hot topic. Understandably.  Everyone appears to have the best of intentions, but the ratios are still very lopsided.  At Startup Festival 2012 we want women on stage, women led startups pitching and women in the audience. This is a call for great woman in tech entrepreneurship.  We want to hear from you.  Send us an email, nominate a super successful speaker or startup.  Anything that can get the best and the brightest of both sexes is welcome. We’re accepting grandmother judges again, adding teenage judges and all ages in between as well.  Don’t want to start the ageism debate.

  • http://twitter.com/afilina Anna Filina

    @twitter-237330000:disqus  I will definitely submit a few topics. Although I’m a bit on the geeky side of the field.

  • Pingback: So you want more women at your tech event? Don't have the porn industry sponsor your event. | chroni.ca | Women, technology, multilingualism, sustainability. 

  • http://wilmoore.com Wil Moore III

    It is completely unfair to try to pin the blame on conference organizers. In order to understand this, you need to be a part of the process or at least observe closely. 

    The fact is, Confoo 2012′s lineup was completely community driven (not sure if it was this way in previous years as this was my first time applying). The talks were voted on and those with compelling topics and descriptions were voted up. See for yourself:

    http://confoo.ca/en/2012/top

    Speaking from the perspective of another under represented group/culture, I have to say, there was no favoritism, bias, or other ill-will in the process. The two talks I submitted were vetted based on topic and potential content.

    This is to say that, before pointing fingers, we should really be doing our homework. It’s fine that the topic was brought up, but it isn’t cool to point fingers at those that don’t deserve the blame.

    Further, here is some advice for those that have a complaint (this is applicable in any scenario). Come to the table with the complaint, but also come ready to propose a viable solution that isn’t based on emotion and finger pointing but based on facts, logic, and overall a good heart.

  • http://wilmoore.com Wil Moore III

    It is completely unfair to try to pin the blame on conference organizers. In order to understand this, you need to be a part of the process or at least observe closely. 

    The fact is, Confoo 2012's lineup was completely community driven (not sure if it was this way in previous years as this was my first time applying). The talks were voted on and those with compelling topics and descriptions were voted up. See for yourself:

    http://confoo.ca/en/2012/top

    Speaking from the perspective of another under represented group/culture, I have to say, there was no favoritism, bias, or other ill-will in the process. The two talks I submitted were vetted based on topic and potential content.

    This is to say that, before pointing fingers, we should really be doing our homework. It's fine that the topic was brought up, but it isn't cool to point fingers at those that don't deserve the blame.

    Further, here is some advice for those that have a complaint (this is applicable in any scenario). Come to the table with the complaint, but also come ready to propose a viable solution that isn't based on emotion and finger pointing but based on facts, logic, and overall a good heart.

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