Here are some sample letters you can customize to apply to the event that is missing voices of marginalized groups.
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Dear ,
When I saw the announcement for I went to your website to see who would be speaking/presenting. As I looked through the list of talks and speakers I did not see speakers who are . The presence of additional voices will spark conversations and insights that wouldn’t happen without the presence of .
There are a variety of ways in which unintentional bias can lead to homogenous speakers at an event. There are also a variety of concrete ways to change this including . For further information please check out which has a variety of resources to help organizers increase diversity
While I attended last weekend, I was disappointed to notice the oversights in your speaker line up leading to it being made up of nothing but .
Perhaps your prioritization of people with their own books to sell led to inadvertent systematic discrimination, as you were reliant on the discriminatory publishing world and more generally on people without significant non-work-related demands on their time. Since I was also disappointed in how much of the conference devolved into the speakers plugging their own books, I am confident you could kill two birds with one stone by instead seeking out the most qualified speakers.
Perhaps your selection process produced a skewed pool of potential speakers, but it is disappointing that when you saw that outcome you did not step back to consider which speakers were missing from your consideration.
Perhaps your inability to cover even conference expenses, much less compensate your speakers, led to only people with the support of a company being willing to parcipate, leaving you vulnerable to the discriminatory policies of those companies. Even if you do not routinely cover expenses or provide compensation, consider reaching out directly to speakers that would enrich your program and offering to compensate them.
You should consider adopting an anti-harassment policy and reaching out to a more diverse group of potential speakers. This could increase attendence, both because more people will feel comfortable attending but also because your attendees will have the opportunity to hear from the excellent speakers you have thus far obviously overlooked.
This impression has a direct impact on your event. When I was trying to build a group from to attend this event, it was difficult to generate interest among some people who would normally be enthusiastic about attending an event like this. Without any speaking , there was no evidence that there would be other members of the marginalized group there or that the organizers of this event see members of the marginalized group as peers. Experience has taught that this attitude is likely to be reflected in the attendees of your event, cultivating an atmosphere that supports microaggressions and potentially outright harassment. It can also signal that any complaints about the conference or behavior of attendees will be brushed off as disruptive to the existing exclusionary atmosphere that it appears this event has cultivated.
Going forward, if I see another line up of all privileged Group speaking at your conference, I will have to assume you are actively working to run a conference to alienate members of the marginalized group. Since I’m not interested in that environment, this may be my last event name; I could instead have attended where I know I and my peers would both have felt more welcome.
Dear
I saw the announcement for and was interested in attending. When I looked over the list of speakers I noticed there was a lack of speakers who are . This was disappointing because I find that having more voices sparks conversations and insights that wouldn’t happen without the presence of .
I am both a member of this community and marginalized demographic. I find it discouraging to not see my presence reflected in the speakers.
There are a variety of ways in which unintentional bias can lead to homogenous speakers at a conference. Mentioning diversity in calls for speakers, performing active outreach to marginalized groups, and encouraging new people to become speakers are all methods of increasing the effectiveness of recruitment.
It is necessary to take concrete steps to counteract bias in order to have a conference that reflects the strengths of our diverse community. For further information please check out which has a variety of resources to help organizers increase diversity
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