Saying no to “Spamels”

In January 2013 I posted a note on the BillBlog to say that I had decided that I’d no longer sit on men-only panels at conferences. Because I was working at the BBC I acknowledged that there might be occasions where I had to do so but they would be exceptions, although since then BBC R&D where I sit has adopted its own policy around diversity which means that it’s also backed up by the office and it I don’t think it’s happened once. My pledge: I will not speak on/moderate all-male panels at conferences. It was a time when we all believed that things were getting better, and that it was important to put down markers of our progress as we marched towards a better future. Around the same time hashtags like #allmalepanel and #manel started being on Twitter to embarrass those organisers who persisted in claiming they just couldn’t find good women to appear. Of course it turned out that we were planting flags in sand, and the tide rolled in and washed many of the things we thought marked a…