Excellent Speakers for Your Next Tech Event

Like many, I’m disappointed that gender—or ethnicity, etc., etc., etc.—should even have to play a role when it comes to selecting awesome speakers, but the reality is that the dais at most tech-related events and conferences is still occupied (largely) by white men. That needs to change. We’ve been very intentional with our programming of Code & Creativity, but it wasn’t like it was hard to find an incredible speaker lineup that also happened to be pretty diverse.

I applaud The Next Web for their recent list of “100+ tech & business women speakers you need at your next event”, but I’ve got a few more to add from the interactive/UX/web world. In no particular order:

I also highly recommend Molly Holzschlag. She’s currently on medical leave, but she is a-mazing. When she’s ready to get back in the saddle, she’ll bring a wealth of knowledge to your event from her decades of working in technology.

I’ve seen everyone on this list deliver incredible talks on technology, the Web, business, or all three; in some cases, I’ve even had the great privilege of co-presenting with them. I’m sure there are other’s I’ve forgotten on this dreary Chattanooga morning, so I will continue adding to this list over time. All would be fantastic additions to any tech event.

If you’re looking for an even more exhaustive list of incredible speakers, you should check out the Articulate Network on Lanyrd.


Webmentions

  1. That @AaronGustafson listed a great list of speakers to have at your event: aaron-gustafson.com/notebook/excel… - I can vouch for many of them, too.
  2. Excellent Speakers for Your Next Tech Event, From the Notebook of Aaron Gustafson aaron-gustafson.com/notebook/excel…
  3. Thanks @AaronGustafson for including our own @sharrush and so many other other #a11y practitioners and advocates on your terrific list!
  4. @jfc3 I had been limiting to it folks I’ve seen present. I know @marcysutton’s work, but haven’t watched a preso of hers yet. Any faves?
  5. hey @AaronGustafson you should definitely add @marcysutton to list of "Excellent Speakers for Your Next Tech Event". aaron-gustafson.com/notebook/excel…
  6. @jfc3 5 minutes into AngularJS Accessibility and @marcysutton’s going on the list :-) Great work Marcy!

    youtube.com/watch?v=dmYDgg…
  7. @AaronGustafson Thanks for including me in that most impressive list! I love that there are so many women w/ Philly connections on it! :)
  8. For your next tech event, consider these speakers bit.ly/1PTEgRT by @AaronGustafson <- glad to have met many IRL!
  9. Excellent Speakers for Your Next Tech Event, From the Notebook of Aaron Gustafson disq.us/8q7n3i
  10. List of the day: Excellent Speakers for Your Next Tech Event
    bit.ly/1XGQeja

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Comments

Note: These are comments exported from my old blog. Going forward, replies to my posts are only possible via webmentions.
  1. Ben Henick

    Cue Inboxnarok in 3... 2... 1...

    When we were pointing out diversity angles during OSCon 2015 selcomm discussions, "because we need to create an environment where women and PoC can find like minds who will value the similarities and damn to hell the differences" did not need to be stated.

    Then again, I think that statement needs to be made from time to time, just for the sake of reinforcement.

    On balance I'd say that our deliberate emphasis succeeded beyond expectations, at least in those spaces where we could maintain it and continue to take ourselves seriously.

    The keynotes that I attended, while illuminating, all showed a disturbing correlation: women tended to talk about past events, while men tended to talk about future plans. This was true not only last year, but the year before, when I gave a talk (awfully, so much pain) instead of participating in selections, while seeing women well-represented on the ballroom stage.

    That bifurcation represents a paradigm I'd love to see subverted...

  2. robin2go

    Wow. I am humbled to be on this list, Aaron — especially given that you yourself are high on my list of favorite speakers. The woman on this list are incredible, dynamic women with serious speaking chops. Thank you for such a high compliment.