Serrie and I really enjoyed our first Bristech annual conference, especially the thoughtful conversations we had with such a range of people – from individual women to companies interested in our ideas on practical ways to increase the number of women working with them. We felt very welcome and are delighted with the positive feedback and the number of people wanting to keep in touch ~ we were handing out halloween sweets and WTHub coasters to people who visited our stall but many were stopping by to chat even without bribery.
Now we are working our way through the list of people and conversations to see where we go next, tailoring our responses according to need.
We are steadily signing women up to our database of individual members – this is not just a list of women who are looking for work or re:boot/training but aims to be a pool of potential speakers. If you are interested in contributing to more diversity at conferences or other events then head to our Joining Page and add your name. We ask conference and event organisers for a small donation to WTHub coffers in return for sharing their calls for speakers and participants with our members.
We were pleased with the level of interest in our re:boot scheme for women who might need a bit more support as they come back to work in tech or make the transition from other fields. Matching women with companies wanting to take on more experienced interns is one of the services we offer corporate members to help them recruit and retain women – it can be as simple as looking at the language used in a recruitment advert, or how a company culture is perceived by potential candidates, and working out what might be stopping people applying for jobs there.
Suffice to say our heads are full, our throats were sore from talking to so many people, and we are really pleased to feel part of the local tech scene, surrounded by people who want to increase diversity in tech even if they are not sure where to start. We look forward to working with Bristech in 2017 to keep these conversations going.
We are planning a range of sessions and events for members so join WTHub now, or at least sign up for our newsletter to keep in touch ~ email info@wthub.org