There have been waves of interest in women as participants and influencers in the tech industry, especially as panelists and speakers at conferences. The arguments run the gamut, some arguing that there simply aren’t as many women in tech as there are men, some claiming that conference coordinators should aim to have an equal amount of male and female speakers and panelists.
I’m wondering why this is even a debate. First, let us consider a few facts.
-Girls represented just 17 percent of Advanced Placement computer science (CS) exam-takers in 2008; that’s the lowest female representation of any AP exam.
-In 2008 women earned only 18 percent of all CS degrees. Back in 1985, women earned 37 percent of CS degrees.
-Women hold more than half of all professional occupations in the U.S. but fewer than 24 percent of all computing-related occupations.
-Only 16 percent of Fortune 500 technology companies have women corporate officers.
-A study on U.S. technology patenting reveals that patents created by mixed-gender teams are the most highly cited (an indicator of their innovation and usefulness); yet women were involved in only 9 percent of U.S. tech patents.
-National Center for Women & Information Technology’s
Obviously, there are fewer women in the tech industry than there are men. By the numbers, it seems that about 1/5th of the tech industry is female, the other 4/5’s being male. Thus, it’s true: the pool of female talent to pull from is significantly lower than the men’s techy talent pool. If speakers and panelists are the top in the field (let’s just say they’re the top 5th percentile of the industry), it’s reasonable to think that just about 1/5th of that group will be women.
Long story short, it’s slim pickin’s as far as qualified female speakers and panelists are concerned. However, that’s not to say that the female tech base isn’t an incredibly qualified group of women.
My personal thought is that the people who speak should be chosen based on their merits. Cast gender aside and pick the person who is best for the job. Of course I believe you can go half and half, getting the top women and men, without compromising quality. However, I really wish we were beyond this point, expecting that people will make the exception and cut someone else of quality out of the picture just to “level the playing field.”
If we were really to level the playing field, skill, experience and understanding would override any gender biases.
What are your thoughts?
Last week, Vanity Fair published an article hailstorm of insults about 6 notable women on Twitter and the rise of Twitter as a platform for massive outreach.
As though it wasn’t hard enough already to discuss and demonstrate the value of Twitter to non-users.
I have a lot of frustration left in me, but I won’t write another diatribe on the matter. Instead, I’m going constructive. You can anticipate my opinion on women in tech this week, but in the meantime, I’m sharing some links that I found encouraging and passing along a few more responses to the Vanity Fair misfire.
First:
Notable Women On Twitter
14 Power Women to Follow On Twitter
30 Women Entrepreneurs to Follow On Twitter
Second:
Responses to Vanity Fair’s “America’s Tweethearts”
By a couple of the women featured:
Disappointment by Felicia Day on feliciaday.com
There’s More to a Tweetheart by Amy Jo Martin on thedigitalroyalty.com
By a few other women
Vanity Fair on Twitter Fame: Twembarrassing by Caroline McCarthy for CNET News
Hot For Twitter! Vanity Fair’s “Twilebrities” Have Sexy Legs by Rachel Sklar for mediaite.com
Why Does Vanity Fair Hate the Women of Twitter? by Kiala for GeekWeek.com
AAAANNND The Geek Girl Diva Series:
Tweethearts? Oh Vanity Fair! You Slay Me!
Less Rant, More Rationale: My Letter to the Vanity Fair Editor
and
Gawker Says the Twinternet Is Tweaking Out?
Finally…
I want to share the links to these women’s Twitter accounts, since they’re all awesome and Vanity Fair neglected to display their usernames.
Julia Roy: @juliaroy
Sarah Evans: @PRsarahevans
Stefanie Michaels: @adventuregirl
Felicia Day: @feliciaday
Sarah Austin: @pop17
Amy Jo Martin: @digitalroyalty
Don’t get me wrong: this isn’t a feminism sort of thing. I’m just not one to stand by and watch someone else take a beating because she OR he is successful.
Not. Cool.
Around Christmas time, my boss ordered a new Dell laptop for his wife. Unfortunately, on the date it was supposed to arrive, he found that the order had not been processed. Additionally, he hadn’t been contacted about the matter. WTF!?
He spent the morning on the phone getting bounced around, placed on hold and over all getting no help. He asked me to find their Facebook or Twitter and see if there was anything I could do.
I was FLOORED to find that Dell IS on Twitter with dozens of accounts, featuring information like deals, new technology, the latest in fashion and music, and their efforts in environmental sustainability. What floored me is that not ONE of the 34 accounts listed was customer support or feedback.
Sure, they list @TeamDell, an account for all the Dell team members who want to be recognized for being Twitter users. But @TeamDell doesn’t tweet. They tweeted twice in June 2008.
Now that’s not to say they don’t have team members in customer support that actively seek and converse with Twitter users who are complaining about their Dell experience/products. However, if they do, Dell isn’t doing anything to help us find them.
What does that mean for Dell?
That means I’m going to complain about the craptacular experience I just had and my apprehension at EVER ordering a product from them again.
Not that I’d ever order something from Dell anyway, but you get the point.
The long and short of the issue is they’re opening themselves up for negative public feedback instead of providing an outlet for help, support and ORM.
So I started thinking about what I expect from corporate Twitter accounts. I know that it varies from business to business, but if it’s a service or a company I buy a product from, I expect a few things.
1. Let us know you’re on Twitter!
Include a Twitter icon or a “Follow us here” or “Hey, we’re on Twitter” type of badge or a visible link SOMEWHERE BEFORE THE BREAK of your site. Don’t make us scroll down to your footer links- give us something at the top of the page. Additionally, make sure it’s CLEAR that you’re on Twitter. Saying community, in my mind, sounds like a forum or entire social network in and of itself.
2. Talk to us!
Now, responding to followers doesn’t have to be an obligatory, “every time someone tweets our name, we have to tweet back at them” type of thing. However, if you’re tweeting ONLY as a one-sided marketing tool, you’re missing the point. If someone asks a valid question, acknowledge it. Even if you don’t have an answer, we like to know you’re listening (and really, we do appreciate it).
3. Keep us in the know!
I LOVE seeing messages like:
“We’re going down for updates in a couple minutes – sorry for the inconvenience, but we’ll be back up within the hour”
It tells us the service that is going down is keeping us in the loop. They want to make the service better, of course, and though it’s an inconvenience at the time, they give a warning that it’s happening or they advise their us that there’s nothing catastrophically wrong.
Now of course there are times when we want a solution. However, if there is some information that would better help us understand what’s going on, you’re making a great start.
4. Don’t spam us!
Seriously, do I even have to say this?
This includes mass @ messages (consisting of only usernames with no message) and tweeting the same message to different people over and over, among a multitude of others.
5. Be human and be honest!
Let us know who’s we’re talking to, whether it’s a team or an individual. It’s really simple. We understand the difference between a company that says it cares and a company that actually does.
I want to be clear – these are the absolute bare-necessity basics and I’m only scratching the surface. But they are a few things that I’ve come to expect from my favorite brands and businesses on Twitter.
What do you expect from businesses on Twitter?
I just wanted to end 09 on a high note and the guys at Thymer (a product by Stunf) gave me some great fuel for it.
If you dont know what Thymer is, its an incredible new productivity tool that I was lucky enough to try out in its beta phase. Its, in essence, a simple, collaborative to-do type project manager. Ive loved it from day 1 because its SO ridiculously simple and wonderfully intuitive.
They are SUPER awesome and sent me a HAND WRITTEN card for the holidays.
From the Netherlands.
THAT, ladies and gentlemen, is customer care.
I hope 2009 was a great year for each of you and I know that youll make 2010 even better. Its a new decade and I know weve paved paths for great things. Now is the time to use them.
Make history. Be inspired.
Cheers!
Ohh 2009. It’s been an interesting year. And by interesting I mean the general consensus is that 2009 was a growing year. And by growing year I mean it sucked.
However, 2009 did produce a couple awesome goodies to compensate for it’s general suckitude.
Therefore, it is my absolute pleasure to present to you:
The Top 10 Super Awesome Geeky Fun Things of 2009
These adorable, squishy testaments to our mass addiction to our social networks were a sign storm siren that our virtual lives are rapidly bleeding into our real lives. But they’re so cuuuuute!
Price: $15.99-$19.99
Geeks of the world were shocked and awed by the genius of the Tauntaun sleeping bag. I mean, it’s like LIVING one of the most awesome parts of Star Wars. Except you don’t have to deal with the mess. Or the smell. Or the arctic tundra that is Hoth.
AWESOME!
Price: $99
Since we’re on the topic of living out Star Wars, the Yoda Plush Backpack must be addressed. Flash back to Dagobah Swamp… You’ve just met this strange little wrinkly dude who mixes his parts of speech and kinda seems like an all out pest.. little did you know he would groom you to meet your potential as the most powerful Jedi knight of all time! Meanwhile, you’re stuck giving him a piggy-back ride through this God-forsaken swamp.
Fulfill your destiny one humble step at a time.. or just show the world how big of a geek you truly are.
Price: $34.99
(Amazon link)
Not necessarily as geeky as Star Wars gear, but I still think it qualifies as geeky. I love The Beatles. I love Rock Band. So I got The Beatles Rock Band, complete with instruments modeled after John Lennon’s Rickenbacker 325 guitar, George Harrison’s Gretsch Duo Jet guitar, Paul McCartney’s Höfner bass AND Ringo Starr’s classic “The Beatles” bass drum cover. When I heard that this would be released (I heard about it something like a year ago?), I was stoked. However, The Beatles wouldn’t be The Beatles without super catchy harmonic lines, too. Guess what? THREE PART HARMONY SUPPORT!! It’s like the video game gods smiled on the music geeks of the world (although you could argue that the music from Halo, Zelda and Super Smash Bros Brawl is the gaming world’s contribution to music).
Anyway, Beatles Rock Band? Heck yes!
Price: $59.99 (Game Alone)-$249.99 (Bundle with game, mic, drums & guitar)
Who doesn’t love Legos? Lego already has an awesome line of video games out there, so taking on Rock Band was obviously the next natural step. Unfortunately, they didn’t make super mega awesome Lego controllers. Get on it, Lego-maniacs!
Price: $49.99
Please don’t disown me, but I don’t eat pig meat. Pork, ham, piggy bacon, and all other piggy parts make me very very ill. Additionally, piggy parts are all a bit too heavy & salty for me.
HOWEVER, I do recognize the geek world’s fondness, nay obsession, with bacon. Hell, even I like bacon on occasion (just not the piggy kind – I’m not exactly what you’d call a masochist). Thus I recognize the geeky miracle that is Bacon Salt.
Yes. Bacon Salt is bacon flavored salt, so you can make everything taste like bacon. You can find it at most major grocery stores or online.
Price: $4.49-$5.99
I know they’re all sold out (believe me, I really want one), but it’s still hilariously awesome. It’s a cuddly Steve Jobs, ready for travel, fun and adventure! I can’t describe him nearly as well as Tomi of PodBrix does, so I’ll let you read what he has to say:
Plush Jobs loves you. Cuddle up with him and pretend he’s whispering corporate secrets in your ear. Jobs enjoys hanging out with your other stuffed animals… also he adores Barbie. But please keep him away from computers running Windows, he hates those.
Plush Jobs would like you to know that he is completely handmade and that his glasses are constructed from wire. He also mentions that even his shoelaces are hand stitched. Plush Jobs says that he is quite tall at 43cm (17″ inches) high. He thinks it would be very nice to live at your house.
Plush Jobs is not for children. Unfortunately he is a choking hazard. Please be 18 or older to handle Jobs responsibly.
Beautiful.
Price: $27.99, but sorry! It’s sold out
A coworker of mine actually owns one of these beauties, and it is as amazing as it sounds.
Seriously, though. It’s a Chia Head made in the likeness of the POTUS. How awesome is that?
Additionally, in writing this post, I discovered that there is a set of 4 patriotic Chia Heads including George Washington, Abraham Lincoln and Lady Liberty AND they make a Hillary Clinton Chia Head. Lemme tell you, Hillary Clinton with a green Chia ‘fro is a sight to behold. And by a sight to behold I mean hilarious.
Price: $19.95 a piece, $7.95 S&H (order more than one and they wave S&H, though)
One of the keystones of geek culture is reignited in the form of a 2 hour badass-fest. Trekkies and non-Trekkies alike rejoiced in the revival of one of the greatest, geekiest icons of all time, ushering in a new generation of Star Trek fandom.
Rife with homages to the original series (think red-shirts dying first), eye candy, and action, Star Trek not only satisfied the geeky masses, but converted a new era of former non-geeks. WIN!
Price: $15.99-$20.99
To finish off this amazing list, I had to pull out the big guns, and 2009 made it a very easy choice. With no further ado, I present to you:
(Amazon Link)
Betcha forgot about this one, didn’t you?
Ok, so maybe not so much forget as block from your memory.
Too bad! This epic, magical shirt is, in reality, neither epic nor magical. However, it’s Amazon reviews are. The hundreds of hilarious reviews earned this shirt a place in the meme hall of fame, and in the closing spot on my list of the Top 10 Geek Toys of 2009.
Price: $9.95-$19.99
So there they are! My picks for the most hilarious and/or awesome contributions to geek culture of 2009! What would YOU add to the list?
