Introduction
I attended the Women in Tech 2021 conference this week. It didn't exactly live up to what I hoped for even though there were glimpses of radiant talk.
Women in Tech 2019 is the best tech conference that I've ever visited. The speakers were often young, truly innovative, and very much against supporting big business and instead creating stuff yourself; There was a very vivid sense of do-it-yourself, supporting each other, and can-do.
Women in Tech is about empowerment but less now than before. I've submitted feedback to the organisation in regard to their 2020 conference (which I've written about here) and also in regard to the 2019 conference, so I've not just secretly been hoping for change. Anyway, here I go in commenting this year's conference:
Table Of Contents
My tweets from during the event
These are my thoughts as they appeared throughout the event, chronologically listed, top-bottom, oldest-latest:
https://twitter.com/pivic/status/1369556678006431746
https://twitter.com/pivic/status/1369575231610892293
https://twitter.com/pivic/status/1369576070861758467
Men don't need thanking for being decent; this feeds into anti-feminism.
https://twitter.com/pivic/status/1369578189060767744
https://twitter.com/pivic/status/1369579746003140608
She was a truly interesting and valued speaker.
https://twitter.com/pivic/status/1369580304864788481
https://twitter.com/pivic/status/1369585080373551114
https://twitter.com/pivic/status/1369586966849679361
https://twitter.com/pivic/status/1369587146647027713
Shit like this needs to be called out, really.
https://twitter.com/pivic/status/1369594349353336833
The technology around the conference was excellent.
https://twitter.com/pivic/status/1369604210774450178
During breaks in the conference I discussed apartheid violence with students who'd just been shot at during the Wits University Protests.
https://twitter.com/pivic/status/1369626325821054976
https://twitter.com/pivic/status/1369628323815493633
https://twitter.com/pivic/status/1369629037618954241
https://twitter.com/pivic/status/1369629939411152897
I didn't attend and I suppose this was in jest.
https://twitter.com/pivic/status/1369632152070062086
https://twitter.com/pivic/status/1369633722325233664
https://twitter.com/pivic/status/1369634081034633216
https://twitter.com/pivic/status/1369635290453786632
Linnea Soumenniemi had a lot of good points.
https://twitter.com/pivic/status/1369635746240491520
https://twitter.com/pivic/status/1369636777590456324
https://twitter.com/pivic/status/1369637396569071617
https://twitter.com/pivic/status/1369638819125936130
This turned really hellacious even though you see I had my hopes up. I hope CryptoChicks is revamped after this.
https://twitter.com/pivic/status/1369639325168701446
https://twitter.com/pivic/status/1369641810604220417
https://twitter.com/WITsthlm/status/1369661354488041478
This is WiT's response. Weird. 'We're feminists, and here's some anti-feminism! #girlpower', like.
https://twitter.com/pivic/status/1369663271733780495
https://twitter.com/pivic/status/1369664642566520833
https://twitter.com/pivic/status/1235960380977041414
I retweeted by old dream. It didn't come true. Next year, perhaps?
https://twitter.com/pivic/status/1369668955724513283
https://twitter.com/pivic/status/1369672207983665155
https://twitter.com/pivic/status/1369672832096034829
My feedback to the Women in Tech 2021 survey
There was a survey sent out about the event yesterday evening, which I responded to. I won't publish the questions in their entirety, but I've listed a few of them in the top paragraph (which is curt, I admit, but I have little time for ill-concieved surveys):
First, the questions in this survey are often not phrased properly, which often make results a shambles; an example of this is the following question: 'Did the platform ADD TO THE EXPERIENCE compared to other webinars?' - Which experience? My personal experience or the one I imagine for any group of attendees? Linguistically, the sentence is wrong, as 'THE EXPERIENCE' has not been mentioned before, in this survey. Also, 'Did you EXPERIENCE THE EVENT IN A MORE PHYSICAL WAY thanks to the platform?' is a ridiculous statement in more than one way, it really is; consider the fact that the conference has never been more physically split-up, and you'll possibly partially see what I mean. Also, the question 'Which parts of the conference did you find most relevant?' doesn't work at all, because the values people can make don't relate to the question; for example, what does 'Very relevant' actually mean in relation to the question? You cannot possibly be able to engage with the response in a serious and truly valuable manner. Also, 'Was it easier to GET IN TOUCH WITH PARTNERS/COMPANIES compared to a regular webinar?' is obligatory to respond to, even though I didn't even attempt to get in touch with partners/companies. I strongly recommend to have professionals write your survey for next year, if you truly want results that you can rely on.
I recommend to not engage potentially anti-feminist speakers, like Elena Sinelnikova from CryptoChicks, who started by saying 'I'm not a feminist' and then not explaining her statement but instead feeding into the old misogynist trope that is 'Women who complain that they're being discriminated against are just not performing well enough'. This is simply unacceptable to me.
I would like to end by saying Women in Tech 2019 was the best tech conference I've ever visited. A lot of the speakers were grass-roots involved, truly innovative, and spoke out against the business and systemic anti-feminism in both constructive and innovative ways. This time around, the conference (to me) felt like pandering to its sponsors far too much. I rarely heard pragmatic talk about 'These are the systemic problems that women face' and any kind of solution around that; instead, there were individualistic talks that centered around how women should individually act. Sure, there's strength to be found in examples, but to me, this was like having a fire-fighters conference without discussing the fundamental problems that come with excessive heat.
There were some radiant speakers and teams that briefly spoke truth to power. I enjoyed hearing Lola Akinmade Åkerström and Storytel's design team mention how they have powered through anti-feminism and COVID-19, respectively, in building a positive future.
For next year, I really, really hold my fingers crossed for speakers like Shoshana Zuboff and Naomi Klein, why not writers like Roisin Kiberd? In other words, powerful non-males who truly work for a better future in tech and life (as though the two are separable).
I wish I'd remembered to add Gina Rippon and Megan Condis.
Unless Women in Tech 2022 is a changed conference and/or contains some mind-blowing speakers, I won't attend it. I've not got time for a conference with as little value and ethics as Women in Tech 2021 was.