March 31st, 2010
I get to speak at several conferences each year, and conferences are good for me. They provide me with the opportunity to introduce myself and my work to new groups of people and I am always grateful when I am invited to contribute to conference. A number of the conferences that I speak at are focused on Human Resources, but I also speak at a variety of other types of conferences. Because they are a big part of what I do, I pay attention to conferences and I pay attention to conference agendas.
And I have some issues.
If your organization or association truly values diversity then it should show up at your conference. Your conference is a perfect place for us to look for evidence of your alleged fondness for diversity and community. Diversity should show up in the form of content on your conference agenda, and it should also show up in the speakers delivering that agenda and it should show up in the audience.
A couple of things…
Having one Person of Color on your agenda or one woman on your agenda does not show me that you seriously value diversity…it shows me that you value covering your ass…especially if that one Person of Color or woman on your agenda is there to speak about diversity. Lazy. And not cool.
I do not care what your organization or association does, diversity and inclusion are important topics worthy of space on the agenda…they are that fundamental. Diversity and inclusion is also a very broad a body of work, and it is still poorly understood. If your conference is big enough, make it a track and include a variety of topics and speakers in that track.
In addition to focusing on diversity as a topic area, make sure that you are reaching out to a diverse set of speakers on all of your topics and on your keynote sessions. I do not care what your organization or association does there are a lot of different people out there that have something valuable to say to your members. If you are not connected to or are not reaching out to a diverse group of potential speakers that it is an indication to me that your network is anemic and maybe not relevant. Be proactive, reach out to people and ask for help. Social media tools provide you with a lot of new ways to spread the word and reach out to people.
I have nothing against straight white guys. I happen to be one myself. Not only am I a straight white guy, I am also a speaker and would love to be on your conference agenda, but there is really no excuse for your speaker lineup to not have a good deal of racial, ethnic and gender diversity. Lazy. And not cool. If you are not continuously bringing more diversity into your relationships and reach, you should be concerned about your own ability to stay relevant and to be a part of a generative network.
Your conference should also have some diversity of perspective…do you have speakers on your agenda that have radically different points of view? That would be a good thing…attendees could do some thinking and come to their own conclusions! Also, some professional diversity or diversity of discipline…speakers from outside your profession might have powerfully valuable perspectives.
And be intentional about bringing some new voices into your agenda each year…I know that the people who have written books seem like a safe draw, but some of them just plain suck as speakers and taking the safe approach is highly overrated. Focus on value rather than popularity. Value is much harder to identify and sometimes it is negatively correlated to popularity, but it is worth the wrok. Find new voices saying new things, different things…again, outside of your profession might be where you find some of this.
Bring new perspectives on to your planning team and task them with seeking out new perspectives for your conference agenda.
Your members, your employees, your community all have access to a great deal of information today. They do not need to attend your event to know what Jack Welch has to say. What Jack Welch has to say is available everywhere. If you want to provide a unique experience and make a real contribution to your body of work make serious commitments to diversity and value in building your conference agenda and in finding people to deliver that agenda.
Be good to each other.
Well said. I attend conferences to get a diversity of thought. It only seems logical that this comes from having a speakers from different generations, genders, cultures, etc. Conference planners need to be more aware.
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Joe:
Very well said! Sorry I’m so late responding to this.
I’m seeing an interesting trend occur at conferences and events that don’t intentionally embrace diversity. The audience begins a revolt in Twitter. In the last three months I’ve attended six conferences and in two cases, I saw general session panels that were nothing but white males. The audience immediately began calling out the conference organizers for their lack of diversity and the buzz continued in the hallways. In both instances, people continued the dialogue in blogs.
Let’s hope that attendees will continue to announce their distaste for the lack of diversity in conference speakers. Ultimately, we want conference organizers and event professionals to be more inclusive.
Thanks again for continuing to raise this issue.