Let’s face it: planning a great networking event is no picnic. Securing the venue, finding the right speakers and ensuring the event is well-attended requires a lot of work. Zoom and GoToMeeting, by introducing new technical twists, don’t make event planning any easier.
Plus, the most time-consuming aspect of event planning remains the same: finding the right speakers.
Does this sound familiar? You know the event topic. You need to find people who can speak on it. You look through your LinkedIn connections to see if you know anyone. If yes, you contact them to see if they’re available and interested. Otherwise, you have to scour your second-degree network to see if your friends know the right people, ask for intros, gauge interest and confirm availability.
This process is an inefficient use of time. It also limits the pool of qualified experts you can access. All our networks tend to be more homogeneous than we’d like. Oftentimes, we know more people who look like us, went to the same school(s) and work in similar roles than people whose backgrounds differ from ours. This means that our second-degree networks are likely to be just as homogeneous as our personal networks, and the type of people we have access to will not change that much.
That’s why so many events look virtually the same, either with the same speakers multiple times over or with a panel that’s anything but diverse.
Over the past few years, many event organizers have become increasingly aware of the value diversity brings to their events. People from different backgrounds have different viewpoints and perspectives, which makes for a richer, more interesting conversation. However, most events still recycle the same speakers, most of whom are white and male. This means that more often than not, the audience doesn’t get to hear from experts whose paths are less conventional, who look differently from the majority of conference speakers and who aren’t well-known yet. Such people are typically less likely to be of European descent, which further contributes to their lack of representation in leadership positions.
If there was a time diversity and representation really mattered, it’s now. The lack of visibility for experts from underrepresented backgrounds — especially people of African descent — is contributing to inequality and injustice.
While accomplished people can and do come from anywhere, it is rare that underrepresented innovators get the attention and recognition awarded to their white (and typically male) counterparts. This is not because event organizers don’t want to put underrepresented experts on stage. In fact, a lot of them are quite aware of the problem and actively trying to close the gap. The problem stems from heavily relying on personal networks to find speakers.
It’s hard to plan a diverse event when our networks are full of people who look like us. As long as we keep relying on people we know to find the speakers, diversity will remain elusive, and talented people with fresh perspectives wouldn’t be included in the conversation because they don’t know “the right people.”
If we want to create more inclusive events, it’s time to look beyond our networks and give opportunities to people whose voices might not be heard otherwise. And in case you’re wondering how to find such folks, we can help.
Leia Ruseva is the co-founder of EllisX, a B2B multi-sided platform that matches startups with media and event organizers based on mutual interest.
