Find Your Voice: Presentation from Blogworld NY

Jill Foster of Live Your Talk and I presented at Blogworld NY last month, and the topic was a bit different for Blogworld fare. Our session title was Speak Up: Empowering Women to Find Their Voices.

This session was the culmination of a brainstorm with Deb Ng and Rick Calvert of Blogworld after I shared with them the vision for Chain of Daisies: To empower more women to pitch to speak at major tech, business and venture conferences and be a pipeline for conferences looking to diversify their speaker lineups.

The session was packed with mostly women (one or two men did attend), and the interactions were high energy and dynamic.

Here are the slides we started out with to get the dialogue rolling:

View more presentations from Aliza Sherman

A Conference With a Diversity Statement: Web 2.0 Summit

Wow, just saw this (brought to my attention by Lucretia Pruitt). The Web 2.0 Summit has a very explicit statement about diversity on it’s website:

Federated Media, O’Reilly Media and UBM TechWeb believe in spreading the knowledge of innovators. We believe that innovation is enhanced by a variety of perspectives, and our goal is to create an inclusive, respectful conference environment that invites participation from people of all races, ethnicities, genders, ages, abilities, religions, and sexual orientations.

We’re actively seeking to increase the diversity of our attendees, speakers, and sponsors through our calls for proposals, other open submission processes, and through dialogue with the larger communities we serve.

This is an ongoing process. We are talking to our program chairs, program committees, and various innovators, experts, and organizations about this goal and about ways they can help us achieve it.

Check out the actual steps they suggest to achieve this aim.

This is phenomenal.

I know that there was a verbally spoken diversity statement last year (I believe Shireen Mitchell was part of that conversation) made by O’Reilly and rumor had it, the directive came from Tim O’Reilly himself. Yet when I had a heated discussion with someone from Web 2.0 Expo, I was given the usual excuse of “we just couldn’t find any women qualified to speak” when I pointed out the continued lack of diversity at Web 2.0 Expo (even as I was totally grateful to be given my first opportunity to speak there).

It is amazing to watch the folks at Blogworld take actions toward diversity and then see O’Reilly put it into words. What next? Actual diversity in the presenters at these influential tech conferences and other conferences following suit?

Wow! What a concept.

What other conferences are you aware of that are actively paying attention to their speaker diversity?

Nice to See Gender Diversity in a Speaker List

Am really pleased to see the mix of speakers coming to Blogworld East in New York City. Men…AND women. It just feels balanced and representative of the population at large.

Not to diminish this incredible progress – AND a very active effort on the part of the folks at Blogworld – but there is another next step to take:

More diversity of color.

Keep on keeping on.

Do you feel represented when you look at speaker lists at top business, technology and venture conferences? If not, what are you doing about it?

Can You Get Work From Speaking Engagements?

I subscribe to a smart enewsletter from “Your Marketing Mentor” Ilise Benum, and in this week’s, she made a provocative statement:

I’ve seen people present to a group and not make the most of it. They think, I’m going to talk, and they’re going to come rushing the stage before I’m done, brandishing contracts and checks. I’ve never seen that happen.

I’m not sure I agree with her although I do agree with her next statement:

Action needs to be taken, on your part, to make the most out of these situations and find your best prospects in the audience.

She goes on to give three solid tips for taking action to get more out of your presentations post-event and these are:

• Offer to send your PPT.
• Raffle something off.
• Offer a free something.

Each action becomes a way of appropriately obtaining someone’s contact information and a good reason to follow up. All excellent tips.

But I’d also argue if you do a “knock-your-socks-off” presentation – not with bells and whistles but with clear, concise, thoughtful know-how, you can get immediate benefits bestowed upon you from members in your audience. I give each of my presentations everything I’ve got, prepare for them to make sure I’m providing tangible value, get psyched up for them, and then come away from them feeling like I’ve run a marathon.

And you know what? Treating presentations like an important job and privilege can pay off. Often after presenting, I’m offered new speaking opportunities – and this is where follow up is key. I’ve also received inquiries about consulting (it is not always obvious that I consult because I make a point not to promote my company or services when presenting) and have been all but hired on the spot. And in several cases, I received an inquiry about writing a book (neither turned out to be a fit, but it was exciting to get the queries).

I don’t think these kinds of results from speaking engagements are unusual if you work hard at what you doing. Presentations shouldn’t be after thoughts. The material you present should not be commercials for you or your company. The information needs to be easy to understand and digest with actionable items for the audience to take with them and deploy right away.

How are wowing your audiences with substance and getting not just the kudos but the offers you deserve?

Speaking Opps at Upcoming Conferences

We’ve started compiling a list of upcoming conferences where there are calls for speakers. Here are some fast-approaching deadlines if you are interested in submitting something.

April 9-10 Green Festival, San Francisco, CA
Link to Call for Speakers
Deadline: Not mentioned
Speakers at Green Festival® are articulate, powerful advocates for a just and sustainable world. From authors and filmmakers to politicians, musicians and scientists, these renowned individuals inspire packed audiences with their expertise—one of the most compelling draws to Green Festival® since 2002.

May 14&15 Green Festivals, Chicago, IL
Link to Call for Speakers
Deadline: Not specified

May 24-26 Blogworld Expo East, New York, NY – DETAILS TBA

June 21-23 mLearnCon, San Jose, CA
Link to Call for Speakers
Deadline: APRIL 15
mLearnCon 2011 is where every aspect of mobile learning will be explored in-depth. From the management strategies to the best practices to the technical details, you’ll find the answers you need here. Whether you are working in an academic, corporate, government, or military setting

June 23-25 Type-A Parent Conference (Formerly Type-A Mom Conference), Asheville Renaissance Asheville, NC
Link to Call for Speakers
Deadline: Not specified
For parents looking to take blogging/social media to the next level.

July 7-9 EVO Conference, The Canyons Resort Part City, Utah
Link to Call for Speakers
Deadline: Not specified
Join us for evo ’11—a conference that blends workshops, networking, parties and the wind-in-your-hair relaxation that can only be found by spending summertime in the mountains.

8/4/2011 Women Create Media 2011, Joan B. Croc Center For Peace Studies San Diego, CA
Link to Call for Speakers
Deadline: Not specified

OCT 12-14 IABC New Orleans – International Association of Business Communicators,  New Orleans, LA
Link to Call for Speakers
Deadline: APRIL15
Founded in 1970, The International Association of Business Communicators provides a professional network of about 15,000 business communication professionals in over 80 countries.Speakers from all over the world are welcome to submit their information to be considered for this event. Potential speakers need to submit the form by April 15, 2011. If you have any problems with the file, please email Courtney at clsnola75@gmail.com.

And if you’re looking for some advice for submitting, here are some Tips for Proposing a Panel for Blogworld 2011 from Deb Ng that can apply for most conferences where you can pitch panels.

Where are you speaking this year or where have you proposed to speak?

SheCon: The New MEdia Expo – Call for Speakers

Quick post to let you know about this speaking opp:

For the past year, SheBlogs.org has been connecting an amazingly diverse group of female bloggers with some the best-known and hidden gem brands in the country. After a successful year, we’re taking our community out of the digital world and taking over Ft. Lauderdale, FL for the first ever SheCon!

Call for speaking proposals is now open.

A Call for Speakers: Announcing @BrandsConf

Entrepreneur and all around mensch Jeff Pulver has announced a new conference:

@BrandsConf, a conference taking place in early December 2010 that will explore the “Humanization of Brands” and the underlying effects this is having on business.

If you are interested in speaking at: @BrandsConf, please submit your speaking proposals over at: http://brandsconf.com. The deadline for speaking proposals is: Friday, November 5th but the first to submit will be the first I consider for the event.  You can also feel free to please tweet speaker nominations/suggestions to #BrandsConf.

From his announcement:

After watching thousands of brands become alive on twitter, rather than just being an observer of such trends I thought the time was right to invite up to people to come forward and participate in the discussion.

With today’s “Call for Speakers” I am looking for creative, out-of-the-box thinkers to come forward and pitch me something relevant they would like to discuss from inside the respective worlds of the business segment they are operating in. Brands transcend business sectors and my hope is to have a variety of industries represented at our first event.

In the tradition of the #140Conf events, individual presentations will be 10 minutes long and panels will run 15 to 20 minutes.

The conference will explore a range of topics from best practices to the legal issues to the natural conflict of personal and corporate branding. Plus a wide range of related topics that I hope to hear from the people who come forward to speak at this conference. I’m looking for first-hand accounts of how the humanization of branding is being applied and the impact it is happening in across the business world. My goal is to bring together a great group of Characters to both lead and contribute to the discussions.

The take-aways from this event will provide the attending delegates knowledge, perspectives and insights to the next wave of effects the real-time Internet will have on brands and business.

CALL TO ACTION:

Think about what YOU could contribute to the dialog, and who you may know who would be interested in being part of this exciting event.

If you are interested in speaking at: @BrandsConf, please submit your speaking proposals over at: http://brandsconf.com. The deadline for speaking proposals is: Friday, November 5th but the first to submit will be the first I consider for the event.  You can also feel free to please tweet speaker nominations/suggestions to #BrandsConf.

#BrandsConf is the twitter hashtag for the event. Help spread awareness of this new conference.

Posting a Rejected Speaking Proposal

I’m going to start posting winning and rejected proposals on this blog to try to paint a clearer picture on what works and what doesn’t – although I’m not sure it will actually bring clarity but hopefully will bring some learning. Below is my most recent submission to Blogworld that was not accepted. I’m not going to make any commentary or assumptions at the moment about why it wasn’t. I just believe there is value in publishing all of the pieces to the equation of “getting more women speakers into biz/tech/venture conferences.”

Please note: I’m not picking on Blogworld in any way. I just have more immediate experience working with them – I spoke at Blogworld 2009 and have had ongoing conversations with Rick Calvert and Deb Ng – and they are willing to participate in addressing any real or perceived imbalances in thoughtful ways. I appreciate their candor and support.

I do have some theories on what works and doesn’t in terms of bringing more women to the fore at major biz/tech/venture conferences. I’ll be blogging about those thoughts later along with interviews of conference organizers; keynoters and other speakers, both male and female; and conference attendees to share all sides of this picture.

This proposal was based on two blog posts I wrote for Web Worker Daily:

How to Know a Good Fan on Facebook
How to Convert Your Facebook Superfans Into Brand Ambassadors

The Birth, Care and Feeding of Your Social Media Superfan

What is a Superfan in social media? And how can you tap into their power to enhance the value of your social media marketing efforts?

Superfans can provide us with Attention, Participation, Interaction, Loyalty, and Evangelism but how do we tap into those qualities in appropriate and effective ways?

Many of us are building our presences in social media channels, but we aren’t considering what we can provide to our Friends, Fans and Followers (FFFs) and what we’d like to get in return. We need to understand how to leverage the power of the Superfan.

Learn how to:

• Recognize your Superfans;
• Reward your Superfans;
• Leverage the power of Superfans;
• Avoid Fan backlash; and
• Convert your Superfans into Brand Ambassadors.

You’ll hear examples of companies that have leveraged their Superfans with solid and positive impacts on their social media marketing efforts.

Learn how to develop your own Social Media Superfan and Brand Ambassador programs including:

• What to monitor in Social Media to find your Superfans;
• How to vet your Superfans before approaching them;
• How to properly approach your Superfans;
• What to offer Superfans and when to do it;
• How to elevate Superfans to Brand Ambassadors.

Also learn best practices for avoiding backlash including how to engage transparently.

My proposal followed the guidelines of the Blogworld submission process and were written as components submitted into a submission form. There was also a section for biography which I submitted although I don’t have a copy. Chances are it was based on this bio.

Would you be willing to share your accepted and/or rejected speaker proposals and any learnings you’ve gained from the speaker submission process? Please feel free to share in the comments here or get in touch with me through this blog.

On GeekFeminism: Finding more women to speak at Ohio LinuxFest

Here’s a post outlining a clear process for getting more female speakers at a tech conference.

Given Terri’s recent post about the same few women always being speakers, I thought this would be a good place to write about how one conference I help out with, Ohio LinuxFest, has tried to expand their array of women speakers. For those interested in pretty graphs, I’ve been graphing women speaker proportions at various LinuxFests on the GeekFeminism Wiki. This post was co-authored with Moose J. Finklestein, the Content Chair.

Some conference organisers will say “we didn’t get any submissions from women” to explain the lack of women on their stages. As of two years ago, the Ohio LinuxFest was in that category. With a little outreach effort, and embracing diversity as a core value, the Ohio LinuxFest has successfully recruited more women to share their experience at OLF.

Read more…

I’ll Take Chris Brogan’s Cast Offs

Chris Brogan recently announced that he’s cutting back on speaking engagements. He blogged:

In 2011, I’m cutting back my amount of time on the road. My family has been lovely at letting me get out there as often as I have been, but with new company obligations and with my family wanting me home a little more often, I’m going to pull back some of my availability on the road. Here’s how that will work.

Every month, I will be available for a total of three (3) paid speaking engagements, and (1) industry event (meaning something that pertains to my industry – like BlogWorld Expo). Thus, if you’re holding an event in January, and you’re interested in getting me there, I currently have 2 slots left, as I’ve booked one already. These will be handled first-come, first serve. My fees aren’t very negotiable.

I sent in a comment that I know many speakers – especially female ones – who would gladly take his speaking engagement cast-offs (including me).

Chris has been speaking publicly since 2006 and gets primo engagements, and not just the tech industry events but business and corporate as well. Many female speakers with comparable or even longer speaking resumes still struggle to get booked. I’ve been speaking professionally – and represented by agencies such as Greater Talent Network and more recently The Speakers Group (although I just noticed I’m still not listed on their site. Hmmm…)- since 1995.

In the 90s, I was blessed to be invited to speak globally including for an NGO gathering at De Haag; at an educational technology conference in Stockholm; at a women’s leadership conference in Wellington; and a women’s business summit in Buenos Aires. That was on top of corporate appearances such as symposiums at Arthur Anderson (now called Accenture), internal events at Kraft, and an array of national conferences for organizations such as the Association of Small Business Development Centers and the University Continuing Education Association.

I continue to work diligently to build my professional profile, publish widely (including my 8th book coming out Spring 2011 about crowdsourcing), social network with the best of them, and try to translate that into more paid speaking engagements. But the engagements that are well-suited to my background – and especially those that pay – are predominantly covered by male speakers.

This is not an attack on male speakers – and certainly not on Chris Brogan who is a lovely human being and an engaging presenter. This is just to state a reality that many female speakers face: even after years presentation experience at the keynote level with high ratings and reviews, we still have to fight tooth and nail to get a gig, and most often are offered a fraction of our male counterparts. I’ve had speaking agents tell me flat out that there are very few women on the professional speaking circuit today who can “break $10,000,” but getting $10,000 or more for even a novice male speaker is an easier sell than a seasoned female one. I kid you not.

In the spirit of full disclaimer, I haven’t yet broken $10,000, but I’m close. However, speaking gigs at that level are rarely found in the social or new media industries so my main focus of opportunities are outside of technology. There are many verticals where an expertise like mine in Internet marketing that spans 20 years can bring valuable insights to anyone regardless of if they are selling widgets, booking travel, building green buildings, or manufacturing toilets. (Yes, I’d be honored to speak at the Japan Toilet Association‘s annual conference or the World Toilet Summit in Philadelphia.)

So I’m willing to put myself out there and say to Chris Brogan “I will take your speaking cast-offs,” and if I am not qualified or available, I will gladly share the opportunities with other dynamic, experienced speakers. And yes, I’ll probably refer a lot of awesome female speakers I know who are in the same boat as me. Because we have to stick together. And if I have something to share, I will share the wealth. That’s just the way I roll.

What have been your experiences getting booked as a speaker or finding and booking speakers?