That’s me in the spotlight, holding the mike. How did I end up on stage at Blog08?
Great conference, lively, entertaining and informative – but why were all the speakers, except for one, male?
It’s a fair question and one I could not help voicing. So, when charismatic compere, Patrick de Laive, introduced the afternoon panel, I asked from the floor (front row): “More guys?”
And got me a spontaneous invite to join the boys on stage.
It was a blogging moment. Express yourself – you never know who is listening and where it will lead.
Real Food Lover 
BE YOUR OWN MEDIA!
I completely agree with your comment, Elisabeth, at Blog08 conference, and so glad you spoke up about the androcentric panel. What is the point of free media if half of the population, i.e. women, are apparently so unimportant that they can’t be on a panel? Or non-whites? The Blog08 all-white, all-male panel was a disgrace. But I’ve heard that the web/computer world is orientated towards this type of elite, viz, the CEOs of the internet. At least, the organizers reacted pretty fast when you pointed out the discrepancy. To go back to the blogosphere, I would like to comment that this is part of an amazing revolution in the media. I call it the BE YOUR OWN MEDIA revolution. Basically, we have been fed a load of lock-step drivel by the media corporate monoliths which have marched us into wars and economic depressions in a blink of an eye. Media should be a public good, in the same way health care or education is, and bloggers et al should get paid. Objectivism (in science ‘positivism’) is more or less rejected by academia. I tell my students no one is ‘objective’ including their professors. They all look shocked at this…a professor admitting to bias? In my current Global War on Terror class (yes I am teaching that, for my sins), I have assigned students to create a youtube.com video based on the concept, ‘my global war on terror’. To me, youtube.com and the blogosphere are exactly, as Elisabeth says, overt opinion contextualizing fact-telling, and that’s a good thing.
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Blog08 was really great.
Congrats on getting on stage! I’d think if there was more ambition there can quite easily be more representation of multitudes in the wild. That won’t be enough, but ambition is a start.
Just keep on beating the drum.
bye
Andraz Tori, Zemanta
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well done for speaking out and getting a woman (albeit only one – what?????) up there on the stage. Totally agree with Philippa about the all-white panel too – it shrieks! You are part of an amazing revolution – well done you!
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It was my pleasure to ask you on stage. How could I ignore a well spoken woman like you..?
Glad you enjoyed Blog08.
Chau, Patrick
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There was one other woman (publisher at Sanoma Belgium), but all other speakers were male indeed. As a result, the discussions mostly lacked a female viewpoint. Thanks for adding that, Elizabeth!
Best regards,
Your photographer 😉
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Hi, thanks, Jeroen. I have edited my original ‘bar one’ to ‘except for one’ to make clearer, and also linked to Clo Willaerts (from Sanoma Magazines) and her blog. Thanks for being spontaneous photographer. The pic above is by Anne Helmond. Yours heads up the next post.
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Well done, Elisabeth.
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