To the hosts of TEDxVancouver:
Since the day I heard that a TEDx was being organized in Vancouver, I’ve waited with gleeful anticipation to learn who would be speaking this year. But with all due respect to the organizers, I’m disappointed and offended by the lack of women in the line-up for this year’s TEDxVancouver, and it’s because of this lack of egalitarianism that I’m choosing not to apply to attend the conference. I’m not alone in this sentiment, and I know that there are other men and women who are choosing to abstain from applying, for the same reason.
This is my list of grievances:
As much as I respect and admire the current line-up, and I mean no ill-will towards any of the speakers, I’m left wondering why the list is so disproportionately dominated by men. Though I believe that the speakers chosen are all quite qualified and will provide great insight on their subject matter, I don’t think that the current line-up is an accurate representation of Vancouver’s best minds.
One-half of this city’s population is being represented by only one speaker out of ten eleven. That’s an embarrassing percentage, especially when Vancouver is brimming with brilliant women entrepreneurs, scientists, artists and visionaries. Why are women so under-represented at this TEDx conference? The main TED website states that the lineup of a TEDx event should include “diverse demographics, ethnicities, backgrounds, subject matter.” Ten men and one woman doesn’t seem to fit that standard.
TED is a globally recognized conference, and it would be folly to think that Vancouver isn’t currently in the spotlight as well. If the intent of TEDxVancouver is to reflect on our current flock of imagineers, educators and technologists, it needs to be a true facsimile of our population- not predominantly white, and male. This city is beautiful in part because of its diversity, and has been constructed by the convergence of ideas that span all sexes, ethnicities and backgrounds.
I hope that future iterations of TEDxVancouver will include more brilliant and capable women at the podium.
Respectfully yours,
Stephanie Vacher
“If we are to achieve a richer culture, rich in contrasting values, we must recognize the whole gamut of human potentialities, and so we weave a less arbitrary social fabric, one in which each diverse human gift will find a fitting place.”
- Margaret Mead
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Comments ( 42 )
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On Keeping an Open Mind Toward TEDx Vancouver « books on the radio gave it a go on Nov 18 09 at 19:50I’m really glad you brought this point forward. It’s alarming how there hasn’t been much mention of this until now. I was pretty excited about TEDxVancouver, but this really throws a wrench into my excitement.
Erin added these pithy words on
Nov 17 09 at
23:49
+1. I’m occasionally willing to defend a male-heavy conference in the tech space, where there are simply way more men than women in the industry. That is obviously not the case for TEDx.
Add this to the list of gripes I’ve already got about TEDx. The TED conference is remarkable, but I’m not keen on the brand extension that all these TEDx conferences represent. They’re watering down the awesome.
Second, it’s deeply uncool that you have to apply to attend. That feels dreadfully elitist and judgmental. Plus, it’s pretty presumptuous to ask the ‘applicant’ to set aside “an uninterrupted hour to fill out the form” (and that ‘uninterrupted’ is really, really twee).
It’s possible to build a great community around an event without filtering out the unwanted and unqualified. I think we’ve done it with Northern Voice, and I know the conveners of Web of Change have done it.
Finally, why the late revelation of the speaker lineup? Most conferences manage to sort out the speakers several weeks or months ahead of time. There was no way I was going to spend an hour of my time applying for a conference based on the brand alone.
Ah well, if we ever do apply, I guess by your writing this blog post and my writing this comment, we probably guarantee that we won’t be permitted to attend future TEDx events in Vancouver. So be it.
Darren added these pithy words on
Nov 18 09 at
00:14
You’ve started something with this. The entire TEDxVancouver process has been cloaked in some kind of star-chamber secrecy; the lack of transparency has been worrying from the start.
I agree that this list is not balanced, but I’d further say that, however interesting the individuals may be, this is very far from the best that Vancouver can do. It’s gamer-heavy just as the gaming industry announces the largest layoffs ever.
Darren, you forget: TEDx is a franchise, and franchises are licenses up for renewal. Start saving your pennies.
raincoaster added these pithy words on
Nov 18 09 at
00:22
Yeah, I completely agree–and Darren, your point about the risks of the milking the TED brand is a good one. As fraught with transparency problems as TEDxVancouver is, it’s hard for me to see this as anything but a negative for the overall brand. I know I’m already warier of it than I was yesterday.
I’m very uncomfortable with what is implied by the gender imbalance in the speaker lineup. Nowhere in Vancouver’s media/marketing/tech/web/development sphere do we see events with that kind of ratio. Not at Northern Voice, DemoCamp, Interesting Vancouver, VanUE… even the Vancouver Drupal Users’ Group has more women participating and speaking than one in ten.
I really hoped for more from an event hosted under the TED banner.
Catherine Winters added these pithy words on
Nov 18 09 at
00:24
I do not think I could have said it better, Stephanie, so please add me +2 I had already chosen not to apply to attend (the application process I also saw as elitist). Early in the process, I asked questions about who was on the selection committee, who was speaking, etc. I think the questions I asked were legitimate questions. None were answered.
For those who might think I’m just taking an opportunity to vent because I didn’t speak or because none of the women I nominated to speak (yes, I only nominated women and yes, I can tell you their names because I thoroughly believe that their ideas are worth spreading – Isabella Mori and Airdrie Miller, without whom Mental Health Camp would have never happened), wrong – I have indeed been on the other side of things. And because I already have committed mistakes when organizing conferences, I *know* that in organizing a conference, I am also opening myself to criticism. That’s the nature of the beast.
I have, indeed, organized many conferences (more recently, Mental Health Camp). I have, indeed, received very harsh criticism. And I have, indeed, felt the lingering pain of said criticism. But you know what? You never learn from your successes. You learn from your mistakes. And my hope is that Stephanie’s letter and every one of the comments of whoever reads this post will be taken into account.
When I received negative feedback about MHC, I took a step back, swallowed my pride and realized that there were things we could have done better. And we will, on Mental Health Camp Vancouver 2010.
My hope is that TEDxVancouver will realize that many people (not only me) value a well-organized conference that is based on diversity, transparency, inclusiveness and openness.
Raul Pacheco-Vega, PhD added these pithy words on
Nov 18 09 at
00:28
I completely agree. I’ve seen scarce communication about the event, no questions addressed, and little diversity explored when, for all intents and purposes, that’s the main focus of the conference – in what I’ve been to lead to believe is one of the more diverse cities in Western Canada. My interest waned long ago, I’m afraid.
Great post.
Terra (aka Zoeyjane) added these pithy words on
Nov 18 09 at
00:38
I really appreciate these comments. I was excited when TEDx was announced, but by the time the line up was announced I’d made other plans for the weekend. As well, once I heard I had to be chosen to attend, I tuned out. But the first year of these conferences is all about trying new ideas, formats, etc., so these are just the growing pains I hope. Best of luck to the organizers & all the lessons learned.
Shawna Reibling added these pithy words on
Nov 18 09 at
00:39
Funny that in all of this – while I quite agree with it – no one mentioned what I noticed first (despite being myself a pale-skinned woman), which was that only two of the speakers were people of colour.
Vanessa LeBourdais added these pithy words on
Nov 18 09 at
00:39
I got turned off of TEDx Vancouver very early in the process when I learned that one had to apply. I still followed them on Twitter and FB to see what was going on. But now the one woman show has just added to the annoyance of this conference. Fortunately in Vancouver there are so many great people doing really great things in such a collaborative and inclusive environment. For example, today I participated in a FREE event hosted by City of Vancouver on drug prevention. Last month I went to Interesting Vancouver. It cost $20 but the richness and diversity and the excitement of the speakers as well as the audience was well worth it. Boo hiss to TEDx Vancouver… I hope they redeem themselves by posting the speakers’ talks on the web.
Stella added these pithy words on
Nov 18 09 at
00:58
Thx for stating what was on my mind Vanessa. It’s not just gender – its diversity. It’s reflective of the problems with our society, and it is also reflected in the roster of community events listed in previous posts. An all-white organising crew, a middle class organising crew is more than likely to identify and value people who share their world view. Throw in a splash of artists for colour, and you have pretty much the vast majority of conferences in this city. The issue with women’s representation was symbolic of a lot of other issues… one’s we (white folks) need to be constantly challenging each other on until our work reflects the diversity out in our communities. (class, race, gender)
Irwin Oostindie added these pithy words on
Nov 18 09 at
01:09
TEDxVan is so old, white and male that for a second I thought it was VANOC.
zing!
Parveen Kaler added these pithy words on
Nov 18 09 at
01:34
When is the Vancouver BIL conference?
http://bilconference.com/
Luke Closs added these pithy words on
Nov 18 09 at
01:46
While I was laying in bed not sleeping, I just had this lightbulb moment: MIAx Vancouver, the anti-TED. I was trying to think of a 3 letter girls name, and this one also (obviously) stands for “missing in action”. Speakers: 1 white male and 10 “minorities”. That could be kind of amazing, no?
Ariane Khachatourians added these pithy words on
Nov 18 09 at
02:05
I agree with @Ariane @Irwin and @Lorraine!
Especially in Vancouver- the most dynamic and world class city in the West Coast of Canada – I am very sad to see how FEW women speakers there are in TEDX Vancouver.
The women that I’ve met and worked with through all the conferences here in Vancouver are outstanding, brilliant and have much to share at events.
Thanks and I hope in the future things will reflect more positively to the diversity of what Vancouver has to offer.
April Smith added these pithy words on
Nov 18 09 at
02:30
Face it, there are enough interesting people and great speakers in Vancouver to fill ten of these conferences. I would much rather the organizers fill spots based on people’s ideas, originality and speaking ability than their gender or ethnicity.
I’m not sure who’s being elitist here. I’m getting a day off of my life to immerse myself in ideas, which is a rarity (I work FT w/ 2 young kids — I don’t get out much). I get to go to one conference a year. This year I have no budget, so here’s a one-day conference in my city that is free! Totally worth the 1-hour to sign up for me. Some of you are sounding pretty smug, like TEDx Vancouver is so totally uncool that only dumb white males will be going. Probably why I ended up with a spot, so thanks.
I think Raul has it right that the conference organizers are putting this together for the first time and need to listen to feedback. But I’m pretty thankful to them that they put together what looks like a pretty interesting list of speakers and allowed it to be open to anyone who cared to put enough effort into their application.
Anthony Hempell added these pithy words on
Nov 18 09 at
02:55
Can you list the women who were applied and excluded? Do you know how many women applied?
While affirmative action should encourage people to APPLY and be CONSIDERED for situations they may have been prevented or discouraged from participating in in the past, it doesnt mean you get free entry because you have to Y chromosomes.
In Richmond a few years ago, they made a push to hire from a certain ethnic group to better represent the community. How would you like it if your house was burning and you were to be rescued by not the best person in the graduating class, but the best person from an ethnic group who perhaps finished last in the entire class?
I look forward to the day when what’s in your pants, what colour your skin is or how you get your rocks off is last on the list of qualifications for anything.
SKILL matters. TALENT matters. ABILITY matters.
http://www.buzzbishop.com/blog/2008/08/29/america-dances-on-the-ceiling/
bz added these pithy words on
Nov 18 09 at
08:48
There’s the gender issue, which as you point out is a serious problem and completely inappropriate, and then there’s issue of public contribution and service. This lineup, while it does feature some very successful people, seems to have more to do with corporate and commercial heft than with any sort of sense of social advancement or with truly representing the excellence in our region, and that’s what you’d hope Ted would accomplish, despite the fact that it’s a franchise. Vancouver excels in environmental technology innovation, medical research and a dozen other things, but the Tedx lineup looks like a business meeting or PR grab in many ways, and is oddly slanted to entertainment and video gaming. It does make me feel embarrassed for Vancouver, but in many ways it’s representative of BC’s rampant privatization – privatization of even the idea of social contribution.
Lindsay added these pithy words on
Nov 18 09 at
09:47
The gender imbalance is ridiculous and is definitely worthy of criticism, but I wonder how people find the idea of applying to attend elitist.
Conferences are almost universally elitist in their speaker selection process, where many apply and few are selected. In the BarCamp model, everyone has a chance to speak based on interest, which strikes me as a non-elitist approach, and everyone who can get in is able to attend whether they speak or not. To extend the idea of selectivity and designing the attendance of a conference is only to extend the idea of speaker selection to attendees, just as BarCamp extends the idea of open attendance to speakers.
The organizers deserve questions and critique around the human balance of their speaker selection, but they’re looking to assemble a gathering around specific people, and that’s their call. It doesn’t make them any more elitist than a conference that rejects some speakers and accepts others.
Todd Sieling added these pithy words on
Nov 18 09 at
10:31
TEDx is strictly, very strictly, regulated by TED. Nothing occurs without approval. This being the first TEDxVancouver, the lengthy application process that people seem to find ‘elitist’ was one of those TED requirements. I’ve been told that future TEDxVancouver events will not have such measures.
Likewise, if you think TEDx is elitist, imagine if all we had were TEDtalks. I don’t even think you can apply to go to a TEDtalk – you’re pretty much chosen…
No local Vancouverite would be given the opportunity to participate, let alone speak. As far as I know, TEDxVan is going to be broadcast live on their website complete with a forum to field questions…I would argue this really brings things down to earth.
While I agree there is some gender inequity in the speaker lineup, if you’re concerned about representing diversity – consider the individuals who are presenting, such as Alden Habacon “the Manager of Diversity Initiatives for CBC Television and a sought-after national and international speaker and consultant on the topic of “Multiculturalism 2.0.”
Multiculturalism 2.0. I would say that carries some weight in representation…
Tyler added these pithy words on
Nov 18 09 at
10:48
In a city blessed with an amazing array of conferences and events each year, Vancouver often sets the bar for open-minded, all-inclusive dialogue. Given all the competition for busy business professionals’ and dynamic thinkers’ time and attention, TedXVancouver appears to have approached our market with a certain amount of arrogance. What were they thinking?
AngelaCrocker added these pithy words on
Nov 18 09 at
11:16
MIA x Vancouver would be a good idea. Feel free to use my list of TED x Vancouver speaker nominations… none of them were chosen.
kk+ added these pithy words on
Nov 18 09 at
11:23
What are all you people going on about!!?? In case you haven’t looked, attendance at the TED conference is $6000 per person with a discount for non-profits to $2000 – never mind that you need to be “chosen” to attend! Who has that kind of money? It’s absolutely inaccessible to anyone I know except for some Point Grey millionaires and sponsored academics. Never mind that there is gender inequity, it’s just another sideshow like the Olympics.
If you don’t mind, I’ll just watch it from my computer screen and cherry-pick the best of the talks from around the world.
M. David Eaman added these pithy words on
Nov 18 09 at
11:36
@bz: Women have two X chromosomes, not two Y chromosomes.
stephanie vacher added these pithy words on
Nov 18 09 at
12:01
@bz: There was, as far as I can tell, no transparency into the speaker selection process. So I’ve got to assume that they could have considered any Vancouverite for inclusion.
@Todd: You raise an interesting point. The selection criteria for attendees (as above with speakers) was opaque, but because the organizers were picking and choosing who attends, it reeks of elitism. Speakers obviously have a much bigger impact on a conference, per capita, than attendees, so I find the argument for filtering the latter pretty dubious.
@M. David Eaman: I think you’re conflating the official big TED conference with the local ones.
Darren added these pithy words on
Nov 18 09 at
12:35
Excellent letter. It seems that the TedX Vancouver organizers have totally missed the point of what TED is about.
Tim Q. added these pithy words on
Nov 18 09 at
12:37
@kk oh ya, i remember your list, it does have great people on it!
and i was just being snarky saying only one white dude. really what the point is, is that there are all these brilliant, progressively-minded, creative people in this city. they are the leaders i want to hear! while the TED talks are really interesting, they certainly do tend to have a narrow (call it elitist or not) representation.
Ariane Khachatourians added these pithy words on
Nov 18 09 at
12:41
amongst a lot of amazing support on the lineup, we’ve also been listening to your concerns.
http://tedxvancouver.com/2009/11/to-all-tedxvancouver-fans-enthusiasts-and-supporters/
Cyrus Irani (TEDxVan) added these pithy words on
Nov 18 09 at
13:27
David, the only people I know who DO attend TED regularly (and pay the full rate) are women.
raincoaster added these pithy words on
Nov 18 09 at
15:19
@Ariane I think MIAx is a brilliant idea, and one that could catch on around the world. ping me -> colleen (at) missmanifesto(dot) com. I’d be interested in seeing what we could cook up.
Colleen added these pithy words on
Nov 18 09 at
15:29
Since the organizers also hand-picked the attendees, I wonder if we can find out how many women will be at TEDxVancouver?
Tim Q. added these pithy words on
Nov 18 09 at
15:32
Honestly, people. Take a deep long breath. Yes, that’s BS you’re smelling.
Step outside of the situation, watch some TED, expand your mind and realize that this is a great thing that we get to experience (in person or on the web) and we will all be richer for the stories these people get to tell.
bz added these pithy words on
Nov 18 09 at
15:43
Since people asked, I nominated three women – Airdrie Miller (who originated the idea behind Mental Health Camp), Isabella Mori (who co-organized Mental Health Camp – full disclosure – I helped her organize it) and Glenda Watson-Hyatt (who blogs and speaks about accesibility – Glenda has cerebral palsy and has overcome incredible obstacles – she is very inspiring).
Since we don’t have the list of who were nominated, we can’t actually know how many women and/or people of color, etc. were nominated either.
I have to give props to Cyrus for responding to the concerns, in writing. If I can be so bold to ask, it’d be also great to know who was on the organizing committee and who was on the selection committee – you know, for transparency purposes.
Raul Pacheco-Vega, PhD added these pithy words on
Nov 18 09 at
15:45
Buzz, hon, can you stop dropping those spammy links? We KNOW where to find you if we want to.
raincoaster added these pithy words on
Nov 18 09 at
17:23
Well put Stephanie. That being said, they used to have 2 women speaking but one dropped out at the last min. Just read an article that clarifies their mistake:
http://tedxvancouver.com/2009/11/to-all-tedxvancouver-fans-enthusiasts-and-supporters/
They should publish the ratio of men to women who were nominated.
Leigh Christie added these pithy words on
Nov 18 09 at
17:41
Stephanie,
Thank you for your eloquent words and facilitating the intriguing commentary.
Growing up in the Women’s Lib. era, my reaction to the Tedx Vancouver’ speaker lineup was one of contempt for the hegemonic ideology that in 2009 still prevails as evident by the selection bias of gender and colour. My image of TED was/is deflated (I was a consummate TED fan, spreading the word everywhere I could), my perception of the public sphere arena know as TED is tarnished.
Also, Darren, thank you for your words and background update on the workings of TED. Watering down the awesome — well put.
I suspect that I have also lost any chance of an invite.
janicetomich added these pithy words on
Nov 18 09 at
19:11
@Anthony Hempell: You’ve hit the nail on the head, my friend. This whole thing sounds like much ado about nothing.
Seriously, why does everything in Vancouver have to be surrounded with controversy and protest?
1. I fail to see what is elitist about having an application process for a popular and FREE event. I guess we could just let people line up on a first come, first serve basis. But I’m sure we’d hear complaints about the waiting time!
2. From what I can see, nobody has any complaints about the quality or merit of the chosen speakers. They all deserve to be there, right?
Then can we not assume that we are seeing the best of the best? If not, then the criticism should be about the quality of the chosen speakers and the subject matter they present, not their gender. Geeez, talk about irony!
3. TED talks are about diversity in subject matter, not speakers. I’m not suggesting that the line-up of speakers should offer zero diversity. But why not reserve judgment and criticism until — hmm, I don’t know — actually HEARING one of the talks? If every single talk is generic and unoriginal, then, yes, we all have a right to complain.
Again, though, try and judge by the quality of the subject matter, not some predetermined bias or personal expectation.
Sure, we can all probably think of more women that could have been on the panel. But if we’re going to play that game, there will ALWAYS be someone left off the panel who probably could’ve/should’ve been there – regardless of race or gender.
Juan added these pithy words on
Nov 18 09 at
22:38
Juan:
Re: “if we’re going to play that game, there will ALWAYS be someone left off the panel who probably could’ve/should’ve been there”.
TED is supposed to be about advancing new ideas, which makes old-fashioned gender disparity in the speaker lineup especially ironic. Providing some semblance of gender representation in a general interest, non-technical conference isn’t that hard to do, so it makes sense to do it. I don’t see how anyone can fail to understand why it’s a problem to have less than 10% of speakers in a general interest, non-technical conference be women.
My guess is that the application form, which TEDxVAN apparently had to use as a condition of taking on the brand, likely deterred a lot of would-be submitters of both sexes and the organizers were forced to draw from a limited submission pool. When collecting talk submissions it makes sense to make the submission process as easy as possible so there are lots to choose from. Were this year 10 of TEDxVAN the heavy handed submission process might have been necessary, but, despite the use of the TED brand, TEDxVAN is a new conference. The lengthy application forms (even for attendees: two references needed to attend?!) seem a great way to filter out those who value their time.
Mike Cantelon added these pithy words on
Nov 19 09 at
02:02
Ariane, instead of MIAxVancouver, why not do a BIL Vancouver? BIL is the free and open analog to TED. BarCamp is to FooCamp, as BIL is to TED.
Anyone can hold one, they are open to any to attend, and most have an unconference structure – whether that means speakers sign up the day before, or the submission and admission process is completely transparent (last BIL we had online voting to choose the talks that made it in the main room).
If there’s anything I can do to help get BIL Vancouver going, let me know.
Bill Erickson added these pithy words on
Nov 19 09 at
06:46
In case, you didn’t know, TEDxVancouver isn’t the only TEDx event in town. There’s also a TEDx Terry talks hosted at UBC which looks like it focuses on student activism. Most of their videos are already up – you can start with the first talk by Jennifer Gardy (really cool one about open access and H1N1 research).
Juliet added these pithy words on
Nov 19 09 at
14:13
