Are Blogging Conferences Just For White Guys?
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May 16th, 2006 by Vince Chan ::
May 16th, 2006 by Vince Chan :: Just participated in the
Someone noticed [on the Mesh blog] a visible audience limitation in cultural, ethnic, or socio-economical make up. Even in a culturaly diverse city such as Toronto. And it took a person named “Lee” to notice it. Guess what, nobody responded to that comment .
All right, ’nuff said. I’ve given you the topic, now discuss amongst yourselves because I don’t have the answer.
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7 Responses to “Are Blogging Conferences Just For White Guys?”
I don’t think it’s intentional, but I saw it at Barcamp (didn’t atend Mesh). It doesn’t surprise me these days, but I do wonder what the reason is for it.
I agree that it’s not intenational and serves me right for not attending Mesh or BarCamp. I’m part of the problem, not the solution.
But still, it’s funny to see nobody wanting to touch that subject with a 10 foot pole. It’s kinda like that Seinfeld episode where you have to be Dentist to make jokes about dentist. Otherwise, you might be an anti-dentite!
Nah, that just means only geeks go to blogging conventions. :)
It might be funny that no one wanted to touch the subject but I don’t find it surprising. I also agree that such things aren’t overtly intentional. But the question does raise issues of not only accesability or prejudice but the ways in which overt forms of racism continue to effect with whom and how we associate and network.
I wonder are there subtle ways white bloggers might exclude others? Is there a chosing to stay away because of this or other reasons? Are there economic reasons?
Though that such things are remarkable shows how we still live in the shadow of a time in the not so distant past of overtly racist society and social clasification.
Which leads me to wonder if whites have fully come to grips with how we still have a certain privilage that remains even as we attempt to be more open and irradicate racism.
good question.
I went to the Podcast and Portable Media expo in Ontario, Calirfornia last fall. Lots of girls there, even some running around in body paint (which upset many of the women that were not).
That said, I blog with hundreds of Mommy bloggers (maybe thousands) I suspect that the less geeky mommy bloggers do not have the time, so you lose that block at some of the conferences.
Interesting query.
As a black blogger, I’ve kinda wondered the same thing.
I’ll let you know when I finally go to one of those shindigs…
Being Black in the blog world I never really gave it much thought because I haven’t been to a shing dig yet. However, I will be making one Lord willing very soon. I think its easy to hide behind the net because TEXT is so powerful and has the ability to overshadow race. I also think that the true test comes after my brand has become well known and I show my face at a shing digg….thats the real test.