[Inpycon] google-sponsorship update.

[स्वक्ष]

On Wed, Jun 9, 2010 at 18:13, Noufal Ibrahim <noufal at gmail.com> wrote:
> On Wed, Jun 9, 2010 at 10:35 AM, स्वक्ष <vid at svaksha.com> wrote:
> [..]
>> 1. http://wiki.europython.eu/GoogleDiversity was something I had asked
>> for Pycon India. Does anyone have thoughts on this? Will keep the list
>> posted if I hear budgets for 2010 are still available.
>
> I'm not opposed to it but I wouldn't really consider it a priority.
> Based on the feedback from last year, the quality of talks was low.

Do you mean the talks given by women? I couldnt attend last year, so
cant comment. However I did have some general points:

On average, the percentage of women _attending_ such (i'd have used
'floss' but this isnt one) conferences or tech-events** is low, much
less as _speakers_ on a technical subject.  There are a number of
factors that one could cite but it would still be speculation as each
individual is different.

A majority of us can talk. Standing on stage and talking confidently
about a technical topic in front of an audience which could have your
peers or other experienced industry folks, is very different from the
school/college presentation we did as students or a daily banter on a
technical subject.

I've seen male speakers with excellent technical knowledge getting all
flustered, or stammering or forgetting parts of their presentation
when audience member(s) walk out of their talk. No names please. This
can happen to anyone of us but its harder for a first time speaker.

Finally, travelling to conferences has its intangible costs, Time-- a
scarce commodity when you are balancing a career and a home, unless
your employer sponsors you.  Or as a technical student, some  women
may not get permission to travel outside their city for a less known
conference like pycon-india. There may be more but I dont know all the
issues that other women face.

At this point pycon-india is establishing itself --a good opportunity
for a new speaker to make their mark, so to speak. I would not call it
a priority to encourage new attendees or speakers (irrespective of
gender) but if Google (or any other sponsor) is willing to lend a
helping hand in whatever way they deem fit, it isnt something to be
ignored. I would be willing to help out if a sponsor expresses
interest in sponsoring women attendees or speakers. Anyone else
interested is welcome too.

** Even an unconference like barcamp-bangalore, which impo is quite
chilled out, so to speak, didnt have a flood of women speakers, albeit
higher than the norm.

</thinking out loud>

-- 
vid || http://svaksha.com