EMDC

I submitted a proposal for the 2011 South by Southwest Interactive Festival. You can read all you want about what the Panelpicker is, exactly. The short version is that the general public gets to submit ideas which are vetted by SXSW staff, whittled down, and then turned back over to the public for voting. Panelpicker votes, however, are only worth 30% in the selection process. The remainder comes from SXSW Interactive staff (30%) and an advisory board (40%).

My panel proposal is entitled How to Ensure a Diverse Tech Event:

Description
Social networking is supposed to be the ultimate facilitator of grassroots interaction between producers and consumers. In the tech space, these online interactions go offline at conferences and unconferences around the world. Social networking is supposed to level the playing field, but it’s still the rare tech conference that accurately reflects its real audience – the users, the consumers, the benefactors of technology. Are you hoping to attract more diverse audiences to your existing programming or are you tailoring your programming to diverse audiences? How can your product appeal to a diverse audience if you don’t have a diverse group developing it? Does your event allow affinity groups to connect in a meaningful way? Individuals, organizations, conference organizers, sponsors and bloggers will walk away with actionable steps they can take to diversify events. We’ll explore what event organizers like O’Reilly are doing to encourage new people to attend. We’ll explore the barriers individuals face when joining new online communities and when transitioning into offline participation, as well as opportunities for contribution within the community.

Questions Answered

1. Why is it not good enough that I already know the best and smartest people to speak on a topic?
2. How can I get diverse representation without merely showcasing a token?
3. How does diverse programming and attendance translate to a better event? i.e., Why should I bother?
4. What are event organizers sure that they’re doing right that they’re actually doing very wrong (and what should they do instead)?
5. Why are we even still talking about this?

So if you’d like to help me out and/or believe in the cause of expanding representation in the field of technology, click through, sign up/log in, and click the thumbs up. Thanks in advance.

(I have feelings about this whole thing.)

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