When it comes to the shortage of women being represented in technology, entrepreneurship, conferences, and coworking spaces, one thing there is no shortage of is examples:
At NWC, we’ve got a decent representation of female membership, but it’s honestly not nearly what we’d consider balanced.
So what can we do about it? Well, part of why NWC is here is to make it easier for people to lead independent lives and find what they need to find. So, for our potential female coworkers out there, I figured it wouldn’t hurt to make it even easier, and lower the barriers even more.
I want to offer up a day at NWC where women are encouraged to come cowork, free of charge, and the boys are only welcome if they bring a lady coworker with them.
Now, this would mean that regular paying members might not be able to use NWC on a day when they otherwise would have. This is something of an issue.
I believe, however, that it’s in everyone’s interests that we develop a more well-rounded community that encourages more female entrepreneurship and participation in the community. Also, since we also all have pretty flexible schedules, I figure with sufficient advance notice people can plan around a day when NWC will be unavailable.
So screw it… let’s do this.
Two weeks from now is Friday, March 5th. So says the Mayor, on March 5th, NWC is open and free to female coworkers and male coworkers bringing a female coworker with them. If you’re a guy and can’t find a lady friend who needs to get her cowork on, we’ll have a limited number of spots you can reserve ahead of time.
Update: Let’s call the date for this event TBD and give ourselves some time to figure out how to do this right. Check this wiki page for a current draft of the structure: http://nwc.wikidot.com/lowering-barriers-for-aspiring-female-independents
We’ll pause at lunch time (12:30) to have a discussion about what people are doing (and what more people could be doing) to lower barriers to aspiring female geeks, entrepreneurs, and coworkers everywhere.
I’m going to discuss this with more members to make sure this works OK enough for everyone, and then post up an RSVP next week.
Update 1:
Somebody very politely pointed out that “Ladies Day” is probably not the best name for this. I wholeheartedly agree. What should we call this thing?
Update 2:
Part of the challenge here is making it easier for more women to participate, while not singling out or segregating women from men. So the event should include a healthy balance of boys and girls.
