Environment: FOO Camp, hosted by Tim O'Reilly at the gorgeous O'Reilly Media campus in Sebastopol.
Caveats: I counted by skimming over the photos taken at the
door; it's entirely possible that not everyone stopped to get their
photo taken.
Count:
Women: 46
Men: 225
Women at FOO Camp: 16.97%
Though this clearly still a minority, this number represents a great improvement over past years, and over other tech conferences that hover in the 5 - 10% range. Kudos to the FOOrganizers for making a proactive effort to broaden diversity.
Hi Christine,
I wanted to see if you'd contribute a podcast to the Office 2.0 Podcast Jam project (www.office20podcasts.com). I couldn't find your email here... contact me if you might be able to help; we'd love to get your perspective as an entrepreneur and nonprofit advisor on web-based office technology.
- Anne
Posted by: Anne Zelenka | September 12, 2006 at 08:34 AM
I was surprised by the number of women at Foo. It was really nice to go to an event where there were plenty of other women around, and Foo is such an amazing event. I met some amazing men and women over the weekend.
Posted by: Dawn Foster | September 01, 2006 at 01:50 PM
Have a safe trip and time at burning man. Beware the mud pits, seem to get worse every year.
As for your response on FOO, I think that it is all good to have a quiet get together within a safe environment. My suggestion is more that there are a tremendous amount of problems to tackle and I would want everyone to continue to be out in the storm taking on these challenges that the market has to offer. It is when institutions are formed that a relaxed mentality can ensue.
Best at Burning Man.
Posted by: Liam | August 30, 2006 at 09:09 AM
FOO didn't seem to be focused on Web 2.0 - more like Burning Man for Geeks, having fun with ideas and creativity within a space where it was safe to explore.
Note: this was a great weekend lead-in to the real BM...just a thought as I lob in a last couple of posts from the Truckee Starbucks. (A much better pit stop than Reno.)
Posted by: Christine | August 27, 2006 at 11:39 PM
Is this such an issue, the concern of men to women attending the FOO pep rally. I would really like to try and understand why 1) FOO is relevant to the world in general, 2) the proportion or demographics of either an event or industry in relation to male/female, 3) why innovation isn't recognized for it's value, rather than who or what group may have been responsible?
The sad fact is that for all that Web 2.0 has done, not much in the way of solid business numbers have been achieved. 2.0 faces the possibility of a lot of glimmer and noise, with very little substance.
It is only a matter of time before the social networking candle will finally burn out.
Posted by: Liam | August 27, 2006 at 11:24 PM
That's awesome, a great start. Thanks for the numbers.
Posted by: Marshall Kirkpatrick | August 27, 2006 at 05:48 PM