Let’s talk about this, shall we?
New York Times best-selling author, world-renowned speaker and digital strategist Luvvie Ajayi (Awesomely Luvvie on Medium, @luvvie on Twitter) isn’t the only one, the first one, or the last one.
Ad consultant, writer, and @ifwerantheworld and @makelovenotporn founder Cindy Gallop (@cindygallop on Twitter) isn’t the only one, the first one, or the last one either.
I’ve seen more and more examples of this, and the worst part is — this isn’t new at all: speakers (usually women) not being remunerated for their time on stage. Being asked to speak for absolutely zero.nothing.zilch. Being asked to pay their own way to speak on stage about (insert topic here) in exchange for exposure, while their more privileged counterparts take home the money. It’s worrying. It’s infuriating. It’s also normalised in so many companies, which makes this even more worrying and infuriating.
I’ve spoken to a few people who’ve experienced this or share similar worries. I’ve also looked at the replies to Luvvie’s + Cindy’s threads, and countless other threads. This confirmed my fear: this issue mostly affects women and/or young folks perceived as “new to the game” (often new graduates and graduands) and/or minorities.
There’s a reason why you see less of these on stage at conferences: just check the last 5–10 conferences, meet ups, or events you’ve been to. Check the speaker’s list. How many of them fit that description? How many of them do you remember seeing on stage vs the rest? Exactly.
So, here are the main 3 takeaways:
- FACT 1: the gender pay gap for speakers at conferences (especially tech/marketing ones) does exist.
- FACT 2: minorities (generally people with less privilege) have a hard time at these conferences too, both in terms of representation and remuneration.
- FACT 3: younger folks (especially graduates and graduands) face difficulties too, being perceived as “new to the game”, thus gullible to the “do it for the exposure” line.
This raises 3 questions:
- (Q1) How bad and widespread is the issue of women and minorities not being given their due for their work?
- (Q2) How do we dismantle this toxic behaviour? This question isn’t really for those affected, but it’s directed at the men and people of privilege in position of power — the conference organisers, the people sitting on the budget etc.
- (Q3) How do we equip up-and-coming speakers with the tools they need to be ready for speaking opportunities? (e.g. how do you decide how much to charge? How do you decide what to offer?)
Well, I’m going to do my part. So, I’ve built this survey to quantify the current pay-gap situation, to answer Q1. If you’re a speaker (full-time, part-time, freelancing, or just the occasional speaker), please fill this in.
If you’re not a speaker, forward this to whoever you think may find this useful.
Whether you’re a speaker or not, please share this far and wide — share it, retweet it, forward it, quote it, write about it, send it… I’m giving this form a full week, so I can get as many responses as possible by March 21st. I’ll share the results shortly afterwards.
In the meantime, I’m building a resource to help women, up-and-coming speakers, and minorities — underprivileged and underrepresented — with the needed info and equipment. It’ll have guidance on things like finding the ideal price range for your services, or guidance on how to approach the “money-talk” with event organisers. More importantly, it’ll also serve as a directory for other resources that these communities may find useful — from forums and blogs, to groups and Slack channels. This answers Q2.
This resource serves another purpose: it’s also going to be for companies, brands, agencies — basically, people asking speakers to speak at their events. It’ll offer the tools and guidelines they need to dismantle this toxic “traditions” from within. This answers Q3.
The timeline for Q2 and Q3 is by the end of March. If anyone wants to chip in and help, it’d be much appreciated. My DMs are open, as always.
I’ll end with this — if you’re in a position of privilege, it is your duty to speak up, call out, do something. Silence is deafening, and it spells complacency.
Don’t say you want change unless you work for it. Don’t say you want change unless you’re ready to make change happen.
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UPDATE (21st March): the survey will stay open until Friday 12 AM BST / 7 PM ET / 4PM PST.
