An open letter to Laura Kalbag, a woman who wants to be a token speaker.

http://blog.chrisleydon.com/2013/01/24/an-open-letter-to-laura-kalbag/

by chrisleydon • 14 years ago

21 23 14 years ago

blog.chrisleydon.com

mseebach2• 14 years ago

Does anyone have some context to this?

klaut• 14 years ago

i think this tweet started it: https://twitter.com/aral/status/294405484654501890

Peroni4• 14 years ago

In a nutshell:

* @laurakalbag previously spoke at @leydon's tech meet-up.

* She was involved in a twitter debate regarding gender equality in tech.

* @leydon chipped in with a comment meant in jest: https://twitter.com/leydon/status/294450249567711232

* @laurakalbag took offence and a twitter fight ensued.

For context, @leydon is an openly gay male who runs a small tech meet-up group that has had a large percentage of female speakers in the past.

largesse3• 14 years ago

I really miss the days when discussion about conferences was more about technology and content than gender and race kerfuffles.

jpdoctor3• 14 years ago

> I really miss the days when discussion about conferences was more about technology and content

It's time to face the fact that conferences are becoming antiquated by technology.

EDIT: Judging by the replies, apparently people think conferences are local get-togethers? The point of a conference used to be about exchanging ideas with people outside the neighborhood. It would roll in airline, hotel, $100s for attendence fees (because the venues are large and require organizers.)

Basically, these things turned into junkets in exotic locations. And then many companies decided they are no longer necessary in the age of the web.

largesse3• 14 years ago

Maybe. I think that people will like to meet no matter what. It's a very human thing.

Xylakant3• 13 years ago

So if I go to the euroko 2012 in Berlin, pay 50 euros and no hotel, airline etc. and get to see speakers and attendees from all over the world, including Yukihiro Matsumoto for the keynote, that doesn't count as a conference because it's local and organized by a crew of volunteers that don't need to reek in hefty profits?

tomjen32• 14 years ago

I understand your concern, but with the exception of Apple most of the interesting tech is talked about in blogs long before conferences and you can download almost any open source stuff and play with it from your home computer.

What then is left?

largesse3• 13 years ago

No concern, really. It was just an observation. I don't think tech conferences will ever go away unless travel becomes prohibitively expensive or there's some sort of a global pandemic. People in the same industry like to get together to discuss their work, and I think they always will.

EwanToo• 14 years ago

Site's down for me, Google cache link:

http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:http://...

quasque• 13 years ago

This guy appears to misunderstand the purpose of affirmative action / positive discrimination. It's not to make tokens out of people, but to try to remove systemic bias against groups underrepresented in a society or subculture - case in point, females being often underrepresented in tech conferences due to rampant sexism.

cantastoria• 13 years ago

females being often underrepresented in tech conferences due to rampant sexism

But females aren't underrepresented due to rampant sexism, there are fewer women at tech conferences because there are fewer women in tech period. Creating a preference/quota system (i.e. affirmative action) that tries to correct a imbalance due to lack of participation will only serve to further stigmatize and reinforce whatever negative attitudes exist about the group supposedly being helped. It may not intend to create tokens out of them but it does none the less. Although it does seem to make proponents of said system feel better about themselves which many will claim is its actual purpose.

DanBC2• 13 years ago

> But females aren't underrepresented due to rampant sexism, there are fewer women at tech conferences because there are fewer women in tech period.

Do you not think that there are fewer women in tech because of rampant sexism?

mseebach2• 13 years ago

No, he's questioning the effectiveness of it. Does putting someone on a panel because[1] they're female/GBLT/black etc. really empower the minority? Or is it merely a token gesture?

1: And by "because" I mean actual causation: the minority status of the speaker held significant weight in the decision.

An open letter to Laura Kalbag, a woman who wants to be a token speaker.

Related Stories