Update: All-Male New Media Delegation Considered "Microcosm" of Industry

category: News

Published April 24, 2009 @ 01:55PM PT

Nancy Scola over at TechPresident gives an update on the State Department's New Media Delegation that went to Iraq. You may recall that I scorned the trip earlier this week due to a major lack of diversity within the list of all-male attendees who allegedly represent the new media-technology world.

The updates from the attendees are mildly insightful and interesting until we get to Jared Cohen's remarks where he pretty much insinuates that this all-male delegation is a "microcosm" of the technology and new media industry:

Remember, you know, each member of our delegation was chosen because of their expertise. What you have here is a microcosm of the industry. You know, the industry is gigantic and, you know, we wanted to bring, you know, individuals that represent, you know, different types of platforms. But again, they came in their expert hat, not in their business hat. So the purpose of this trip was not to make deals, but to, you know, have a conceptual partnership.

So if you're going to talk about any kind of partnership, it really is conceptual at this stage, because again, this is the first of what we hope will be an ongoing engagement and dialogue between the American technology industry and the Government of Iraq, all on the conceptual side to help them think through how to expand and leverage these platforms, so yes, eventually down the line on how they can use these platforms to achieve tangible results on the ground.

I'm sorry, but this just needs to stop. Wake up Jared Cohen - the American technology industry is made up of A LOT more people besides men. Remember these ladies?

Gina Bianchini, Caterina Fake, Eileen Gittins, Sandy Jen, Elaine Wherry, Mary Lou Jepsen, Tina Sharkey, Rashmi Sinha, Mena Trott, Louise Wannier, Genevieve Bell, Sandy Carter VP, Safra Catzm, Susan Decker, Andrea Jung, Julie Larson, Ann Livermore, Marissa Mayer, Sheryl Sandberg, Stephanie Tilenius, Padmasree Warrior

When will those in the government get a grip and realize the when you add women, you will not only garner a greater range of opinions, but ensure success from both a female and male point of view.

Talk about innovation.

(Photo by Scott Heiferman)

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Comments (3)

Microcosm my ass.

Well, yeah, it is a slightly-exagerated microsocosm of the almost-all-male world where these guys spend most of their time, but to attempt to foist this off as a microcosm as an industry ... pathetic.

And it's disappointing that Nancy Scola didn't include any women's opinions in her article. Sigh.

jon

I thought it

Posted by Jon Pincus on 04/25/2009 @ 10:53AM PT
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I'm not, as you might suspect, unsympathetic to the concern over the all-guy nature of this trip, but can we pick our battles here? The post Jen links to is selected comments from the delegation's debrief. I didn't quote any "women's opinions" in that roundup because, as we're all clear on, there weren't any women along on the trip to participate in the debrief.

Posted by Nancy Scola on 04/27/2009 @ 08:26AM PT
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Yah - the gripe isn't with you Nancy, it's with the people who made the choice to send all men over in the first place. Reporting on a #diversityfail is once thing, being responsible for it is another.
I would like to give Cohen & others the benefit of the doubt that they tried to get women to go, but haven't heard anything from them on that front.

Posted by Jen Nedeau on 04/27/2009 @ 09:31AM PT
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Jen Nedeau is a social media consultant, progressive activist, feminist speaker and writer. She currently lives in New York City, where she works full-time as the Director of Digital Strategy at Air America Media. In August 2008, Nedeau was selected to be the Editor of the WomensRights.Change.Org where she facilitates daily discussion about the feminist movement. Additionally, Nedeau volunteers as the Chief Technology Officer for New Leaders Council, a non-profit that offers exclusive training for young leaders. You can follow her on Twitter @HumanFolly or learn more here: www.jennedeau.com.