DZone
Thanks for visiting DZone today,
Edit Profile
  • Manage Email Subscriptions
  • How to Post to DZone
  • Article Submission Guidelines
Sign Out View Profile
  • Post an Article
  • Manage My Drafts
Over 2 million developers have joined DZone.
Log In / Join
Refcards Trend Reports Events Over 2 million developers have joined DZone. Join Today! Thanks for visiting DZone today,
Edit Profile Manage Email Subscriptions Moderation Admin Console How to Post to DZone Article Submission Guidelines
View Profile
Sign Out
Refcards
Trend Reports
Events
Zones
Culture and Methodologies Agile Career Development Methodologies Team Management
Data Engineering AI/ML Big Data Data Databases IoT
Software Design and Architecture Cloud Architecture Containers Integration Microservices Performance Security
Coding Frameworks Java JavaScript Languages Tools
Testing, Deployment, and Maintenance Deployment DevOps and CI/CD Maintenance Monitoring and Observability Testing, Tools, and Frameworks
Partner Zones AWS Cloud
by AWS Developer Relations
Culture and Methodologies
Agile Career Development Methodologies Team Management
Data Engineering
AI/ML Big Data Data Databases IoT
Software Design and Architecture
Cloud Architecture Containers Integration Microservices Performance Security
Coding
Frameworks Java JavaScript Languages Tools
Testing, Deployment, and Maintenance
Deployment DevOps and CI/CD Maintenance Monitoring and Observability Testing, Tools, and Frameworks
Partner Zones
AWS Cloud
by AWS Developer Relations

How Do You Work Towards a More Diverse, Inclusive Tech Conference?

If you do the work and set the right tone, the benefits will go far beyond just being able to pat yourself on the back; the ideas and conversations will be richer for it.

Kin Lane user avatar by
Kin Lane
·
Nov. 12, 16 · Opinion
Like (2)
Save
Tweet
Share
3.32K Views

Join the DZone community and get the full member experience.

Join For Free

The 7th API Strategy and Practice Conference happened last week. While I wasn't fully engaged throughout the planning process for this edition, due to my summer being disrupted, I wanted to take the time to share some of what happened to make it more of an inclusive technology event. There are a lot of people who are "interested" in making their events more diverse and inclusive, but APIStrat is "committed" to this (thanks, Charles Ashley III). Here's some of what we did.

  • Strong female lead. Put a woman in charge. Period. She will set a good tone.
  • Invite women to speak. Work to only invite women when getting started.
  • Invite people of color to speak. Work to only invite people of color when getting started.
  • Have a code of conduct. Make sure there is a well-communicated code of conduct present.
  • Enforce code of conduct. Sadly, we had to do this round, but it sets the right tone.
  • Panels: Do not have any panels where you only have men.
  • Numbers: Know your numbers and work every moment to increase them wherever you can.
  • Repeat and rinse. Repeat all of this at all levels, session chairs, keynotes, reg counter, etc.

We are nowhere near where we want to be with making #APIStrat a truly inclusive event, but we are making improvements each time it's held. We have our checklist and have been building on it with each event. It takes a leadership team that is committed to this. Steve, Lorinda, Amelia, and the team delivered this round — I wish I could take credit. I saw more women, diverse faces, and topics at #APIStrat this round, leaving me very pleased.

If you are running a tech conference, please put in the extra work. You can't just give this 5% or 10% effort. You literally have to invite no white men to your event for the first couple of waves of outreach. You need to do some serious homework on the women and people of color who are making an impact across the space. If you do the work and set the right tone, the benefits will go far beyond just being able to pat yourself on the back; the ideas and conversations will be richer for it.

Published at DZone with permission of Kin Lane, DZone MVB. See the original article here.

Opinions expressed by DZone contributors are their own.

Popular on DZone

  • Apache Kafka Is NOT Real Real-Time Data Streaming!
  • 10 Easy Steps To Start Using Git and GitHub
  • Cucumber.js Tutorial With Examples For Selenium JavaScript
  • GitLab vs Jenkins: Which Is the Best CI/CD Tool?

Comments

Partner Resources

X

ABOUT US

  • About DZone
  • Send feedback
  • Careers
  • Sitemap

ADVERTISE

  • Advertise with DZone

CONTRIBUTE ON DZONE

  • Article Submission Guidelines
  • Become a Contributor
  • Visit the Writers' Zone

LEGAL

  • Terms of Service
  • Privacy Policy

CONTACT US

  • 600 Park Offices Drive
  • Suite 300
  • Durham, NC 27709
  • support@dzone.com
  • +1 (919) 678-0300

Let's be friends: