Representation Matters
April 22, 2025Tags: community, careers
I’m normally not this fired up unless something really irks me. I heard this news earlier today and am still seething late in the day. Time to blog.
Why Representation Matters - Getting It Wrong
Today, I heard about a conference’s social media post that showcased 10 of their speakers. Of those speakers, many were well-known names in the industry with a lot of fanboys. 1 out of the 10 was not a male presenter.
Now, as a woman who’s been in this field forever and is used to the numbers being skewed, I would expect this kind of behavior from those conferences who struggle with diversity. There are still plenty of conference organizers that struggle in that realm, and there’s no excuse for it. If you’re one of those who isn’t sure how to get a better line-up, reach out to me over on LinkedIn! I can hook you up with a Slack community of tech event organizers from throughout the world who learn from each other!
However, what’s more maddening is that this conference actually has a diverse line-up. At a quick glance, I counted:
- 4 keynotes by women
- 2 workshops led by women, solo!
- 7 other women speakers
That’s a lot of women for that kind of line-up! And if you knew who the women are, you’d know that they’re amazing speakers and well-accomplished professionals as well.
So for only one to get mentioned in that post - are they catering to the fanboys? Is this intentional or yet another oversight? Do they even realize what that representation - or lack thereof - says about their event?
And if you’re about to point out the anti-DEI stuff going on in America, know that this isn’t an American-based conference. So what better way to remind underrepresented groups that they can are staying underrepresented than by writing social media posts like that?
Representation matters. If you want a more inclusive audience, you need to be welcoming and celebrating the inclusivity of your community. You need inclusivity in your speakers and in your staff - that goes a longer way than you could imagine. The representation in your marketing, social media presence, and communities will say a lot about your conference.
I’m not going to name the conference where I saw this. I can say that it’s a well-known name in the conference scene. As a community conference organizer and speaker, I expected better from them. But that post said enough.
Getting It Right
Now I will call out a couple conferences that I’ve been to that have done it right - CodeMash and Stir Trek. These conferences are about the same audience size and age as the other conference.
I’ve been involved with Stir Trek and CodeMash at some point throughout the past decade, so I know the hard work that goes on behind the scenes to create events as welcoming and supportive as those. It isn’t easy, and you have to actively reach out to the community to make it happen. You have to put yourself out there and sometimes reach out to other communities to help grow your event. This has to be done by the whole team - it’s not just a 1-person valiant effort.
Now I haven’t been involved with Stir Trek in a number of years, and I know there’ve been changes in people as well. However, they’ve been doing a fantastic job of talking about the speakers and sponsors for this year’s event! It’s been great to see the various speakers they have coming from all walks of life, various roles, various industries. It’s good to see longtime supporters who came back.
The thing is - these events not only have the welcoming communities, but they demonstrate it in their marketing as well as in the way they execute the event.
Conclusion
After more than two decades in tech, I wish I could say we’ve come farther. But too often, the same mistakes keep showing up in new clothes.
It’s not about checking a box. It’s about sending a signal: You belong here. And when conferences - even the ones doing the work behind the scenes - don’t reflect that visibly, it tells a different story.
We can all do better. And the ones doing it right? They prove it’s possible. We don’t need perfection. We just need intention. And visibility. And the willingness to care about what - and who - we choose to spotlight. We get to shape this field. Let’s not just make it technically excellent. Let’s make it truly welcoming and inclusive.