A couple of months ago, a bizarre story circulated amongst high-profile tech industry executives and eventually throughout the broader business community. A well-known high-tech conference, DevTernity, that drew leading engineers from the likes of Google, Microsoft, and Amazon Web Services (who each paid over $800 to attend) abruptly canceled after nearly half of its 23 speakers withdrew. Why? Because the conference organizer was found to have used AI to generate a fake female presenter in order to check the box on gender diversity.

While the conference organizer fessed up on X (and claimed the fake woman was simply a “placeholder,” not an intentionally misleading dupe), DevTernity’s credibility quickly cratered altogether. A popular tech industry newsletter, The Pragmatic Engineer, further investigated and leveled charges that the conference organizer had been repeatedly posting “fake women” as speakers at previous and future events.

In-depth research on the topic of underrepresentation of female speakers at professional gatherings was conducted by the Society of Human Resource Management (SHRM) just prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. (In the same year, by the way, Greta Gerwig was famously omitted from the Oscar’s “Best Director” all-male nominated category; I’d say she made up for it with “Barbie.”) The analysis reported the gender gap between male to female speakers at exclusive executive summits as 70%, while the same gender gap at more widely-attended conferences and conventions was 32%.

Presentation topics also revealed gender disparity. More women tended to speak about human resources (69%) and make fundraising pitches (58%) than did men. Among industries, the educational and HR sectors featured the most women speakers, while the financial services, IT, and industrial/mechanical engineering fields featured the least. The SHRM study found that globally, the percentage of women speakers at professional gatherings in 2018 was in the low 30%; in the U.S., that rate was 25%.

Similar to the printing industry, the high-tech engineer/software developer sector predominately employs males (according to AnitaB.org women make up 29% of the tech workforce). And – as the DevTernity conference debacle demonstrates – that sector is sensitive to its disparity in gender representation. Having spent the past year traveling and speaking with printing industry execs (both male and female), I’m heartened to report that our industry, too, has taken note that increasing gender equality, diversity & inclusion is a legitimate goal with both societal and business benefits.

Major printing industry conferences are increasingly featuring women (of the actual living, breathing variety) as presenters and panelists. For example, multiple women led educational sessions and technical demos on the show floor at the most recent PRINTING United Expo. However, the strange tale above is a reminder to be mindful of designing industry events with diverse speaker rosters. Such events may range from global expos to smaller, company-focused user conferences or customer orientations that are popular with OEMs in the printing industry.

As we head into the 2024 industry events season, Women in Print Alliance is sharing the following tips to help event organizers and employers promote a more inclusive lineup of speakers. These tips include:

  • Set a realistic goal for gender diversification amongst presenters. Clearly, the printing industry isn’t 50/50 when it comes to C-Suite or employee gender, so it’s okay to not have total gender parity in a speaker roster – but zero or next to zero is no longer considered acceptable. (Side note: Consider goals for other inclusion factors, too, such as race or ethnicity. It can only help broaden sponsor or attendee appeal, as pointed out below.)
  • Be aware that prospective attendees may base their decisions to register in part on speaker diversity. Scott Hanselman, a Google exec who pulled out of the DevTernity conference, said he did so because he had “rules for participating in conferences,” such as “inclusive speaker lineups.” Research commissioned by tech company Ensono found that 76% of women surveyed were “more likely to attend a conference that features a woman as a keynote speaker or panelist.”
  • Support female employees who are invited to speak at industry events. This can include: time off or time set aside from regular job duties to use for speaking preparation, providing technical or material production assistance, and allowing access to company resources like PR or communications staff who can provide public speaking tips or training. (Consider offering to fund outside training if your company does not have in-house expertise. This doesn’t have to be expensive; for example, Udemy offers many online courses for under $100.)
  • Highlight women who are featured as speakers at industry events. Invitations to speak are often considered an honor; companies should treat it as such. Promote the fact (with photos!) that a CEO/President or employee participated as an industry event speaker in company newsletters, at annual recognition celebrations, and on social media channels. Highlighting these women creates a mentorship pipeline that allows female employees in junior positions to know who to connect with to develop their own potential speaking skills and to learn more about industry engagement opportunities.
  • Finally, as a conference organizer, be prepared to pay women speakers what they’re worth. Yes, gender pay inequity amongst industry event speakers is a thing. Wall Street Journal best-selling author and professional speaker Randi Braun stated, “There’s a difference between checking the DE&I box and writing a check.” She recounts being “hounded to lower her rate” at a conference, only to learn that her male keynote counterpart had been paid $50,000 for a 30-minute keynote. If all speakers or presenters are speaking gratis or as a chance to gain “exposure,” that’s different. The key here is to ensure paid speaking engagements pay a woman based on her talent, skills, or expertise using the same compensation rate offered to male counterparts.

Printing industry events – expos, summits, conferences, customer seminars, and on down the line – are some of the most dynamic and innovative of any economic sector. By focusing on expanding the voices and faces of speakers at these events, we can keep the industry moving in a future-forward direction.