Only The Lonely

“Come meet us at the XYZ trade show” the email read. This video player company was inviting one of our Innovation Women speakers to connect with them at a conference. She could schedule a meeting or just drop by. But as she scrolled down in the email, she was greeted by eight smiling faces. Yup, the all-male trade show team.
We had to see if this was representative of the entire company so we clicked through to the website (“Engage with us” said the website) and looked up the team. Meet our leading players – eight (different) smiling male faces.

It took some digging but finally we found her — the company had one “featured” woman on the careers page, a UX designer. Emboldened, we kept going, the company has many many openings for new employees – sales, engineering, finance, even internships. Checking out the candid pictures – Halloween, parties, playing Foosball in the office, even some volunteering. Still a lot of “bros” but it became quickly apparent that the UX designer wasn’t completely alone, just outnumbered. But why were none of the other women featured?
Most of the time, people won’t bother to dig as deep as we did. The initial impression is enough to send a very clear message.
Event managers – what message are you sending with your #allmalepanels? And, when you are marketing your shows, conferences and other events, who do you highlight in the email blasts? Is it the same voices or are you offering a diverse smorgasbord of perspectives?
Talk to us and we can help you find the awesome speakers you need.