Is this the Face of Canadian Marketing?

I also considered titling this post "Kate Continues to Beat a Dead Horse."  or "Three Guesses as to Which Canadian Marketing Conference These Guys are Keynoting at?  That's right ALL OF THEM!"

Actual answer - First Annual Canadian Marketing Week sponsored by Marketing Magazine.  No link love b/c I'm in a cranky place.

I know that my continual posting about the serious dearth of women speaking at conferences like this is almost self-parodying at this point.

But I'm going to keep posting about it.

I attended BlogHer08 recently and I wasn't going to write about it because it was such a strange, oddly ambivalent experience.  It wasn't a good conference fit for me from the perspective of my skill level or my interest (significant focus on mommy bloggers this year - even the "Childless Bloggers Panel" somehow turned into a mommy blogger fest.  Which is NOT to say that it wasn't a good fit for at least 75% of the other women there.).  I'm probably better off attending BlogHer Business.

However, three things stood out for me about BlogHer:

1. The best keynote panel for me, hands down, was hearing Redbook editor-in-chief Stacy Morrison, Essence Communications Director of Digital Development, Lesley Pinckney and Bravo TV's Senior VP of New Media and Digital, Lisa Hsia talk about the future of media.  This was truly an inspirational panel - women executives sharing their stories and talking about hybrid media.  Awesomeness!
2. The networking that happened in between the sessions was quite good.  I made a number of business and personal contacts and probably learned more "helpful" stuff there than in sessions.
3. There is something fundamentally profound about attending a conference where every speaker is a woman.

Oh, and to the folks who are going to say "I want to hear quality speakers - gender is irrelevant.  Don't put a woman on there just to have a woman." .. Look, I partially agree.  I want quality speakers at these events too.  And I don't think putting just any woman on a speaker roster is a good idea.

But diversity is never irrelevant.

I learned something when I recently sat on the organizing committee for the CMA's Word of Mouth conference.  There is a perception that unless the speaker has a "name" then they will not be a "draw" to the conference.  They won't get butts in seats.  For example, a book was recently co-authored by a man and a woman.  The male author is the better known of the duo.  We looked into getting him as a keynote.  Either booked or expensive - I can't remember why we didn't go with him.  I suggested the woman.  Nixed because it was perceived she wouldn't be a draw.

So, what can we do?

Two things:

1. Tell the conference organizers that diversity and freshness of voice is important to you and will drive your conference attendence.  It doesn't matter if a speaker is super-popular from a "rockstar" perspective.  If they are a quality presenter (and I am a firm believer in that someone needs to have seen them speak before) and have relevant, timely information that appeals to your audience - they should be considered.  Your $$ get you a voice and a vote.  Speak out!

2. Share your speaker ideas here.  Name one woman that you have seen present before who is interesting and engaging and relevant.  Help me make a list.   I know there are smart, savvy, entertaining women in our fields of marketing, communications and social computing that have great stories and experiences to share!  Let's help conference organizing committees identify and find these speakers!