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Lightning in a Bottle

AlterConf is a conference free of the restriction of geography known to stationary regional conventions. Traveling city to city, it recruits local speakers and freelancers to create half-day conferences, where personal narratives and actionable advice are the order of the day. When you sit among your fellow attendees at AlterConf, you're looking at members of your local community; it's entirely likely there will be faces you don't know. In that way, AlterConf does double duty, not just as a skill-sharing conference, but as a way for community members to find each other. If you're burnt out on the parachute-in nature of most conferences, the realization that you'll be surrounded by people from the same city could be more than a little intoxicating. Talks in Seattle covered setting values, chronic illness, social justice, and a lot more.

Before diving into the talks, I feel like it's important to talk about how AlterConf is staged.

When I came in that morning, there were a number of things I wasn't expecting, because I'd never seen them properly instituted at a conference. Areas of the floor were taped off to create a separate a lane for those using mobility devices. Though I wasn't using my cane that day, I still felt far more relaxed and included in the space by seeing that. If one of my friends had been able to go, she could have easily used one of the taped-off areas so we could sit together. The live-captioning provided felt a little like a religious experience. Though the captioner was on the East Coast, they spent the day with us virtually, and their work was projected at the front of the room in large, legible text. The projection screen for PowerPoint decks was easy to locate from my seat, the microphones never died, and speakers repeated questions from audience members (enabling more people to hear the question, or see it on the caption projection). If I was wondering about whether a particular speaker didn't want to be tweeted, or have audio or video taken, we were clearly given that information at the head of each talk, and the video bans were clearly tagged online. The announcement of trigger warnings came at the start of talks if the speaker had flagged their talk as having possible triggering content, and the setup of the room made it easy to leave for whatever reason. Together, these accessibility measures made it easier not just to physically get around and to take in content, but to focus. I was sitting in a room of people interested in learning new things, and the conference was staged in a way to make that possible. 

But the talks. If they weren't applicable to you directly, it was easy to think of a friend who would need to see a talk later, or a coworker who would benefit if you took notes. Even talks I knew would probably feel applicable to me had new things to say, or think about, or information I had no clue about. I have disabilities, have worked as a freelancer for years, and had no idea how much disability insurance could have done for me when I left my corporate job behind. Disability insurance was a substantial part of Anna Zocher's talk “Resisting the Tidal Wave: Making Sure Chronic Disease or Disability Doesn't Upend Your Career.” It meant a lot to me to be able to listen to someone who'd had so much life/career change happen to them because of a sudden health change. Resisting the Tidal Wave shared a lot of the emotional ground covered in Whitney Levis' “Updated Spoon Theory for the Tech Industry.” Where Zocher's talk pulled on self-advocacy that people need to do for themselves, Levis was breaking down spoon theory for people who don't have to consider it. I've shown people spoon theory so many times, but I'd never thought of drawing on the extremes of experience someone could have to explain it. (Levis compared being out of spoons to the moment people hit their limit, after a loss of job, a life changing illness, etc.) Though many of her personal endeavors were ones disabled listeners could easily empathize with, I felt like it was a talk that was just as important to be heard by people without disabilities. The bus pass, remote work, and other measures her employers take give Levis the tools to be as effective as she can. 

Ijeoma Oluo was in her early teens when her mother brought home an Apple IIe. That early influx of tech stays with her, and she wound up working in telecommunications. The racism and sexism she dealt with didn't keep her doing her job, but the silence she was confronted with all around her after Trayvon Martin was killed drove her to write about it, and that led to even more writing. Her life ran on different tracks; social justice was one, and her day job in tech was another. “How The Tech Industry Made Me A Social Justice Writer” is going to be a life story we hear with increasing frequency as time goes on. Oluo closed by saying that we all have privileges that we can leverage to improve our communities, and that being a good person isn't enough. You have to use your voice. 

Moving sideways from Levis' talk and how her company is savvy in putting the tools she needs in her hands, Donte Parks’ “Breaking Down Diversity in Tech One Company At a Time” was a broad-level tree of how to bring a company or organization into becoming more diverse *and* inclusive. Parks pointed out that hiring isn't fixed when you manage to bring in diverse candidates who leave immediately because of a toxic, closed-off environment. His eight steps aren't a manual, but they're a starter tool for the process of making what you're a part of more diverse. Samantha Kalman's “Invisible Arcade: Video Games as Rock Concerts” also touched some on themes of diversity and inclusivity, but in the case of Invisible Arcade, managing inclusion in an event which only exists as a physical place for a few hours at a time. When that embodiment happens, Invisible Arcade is a place for all, but it's also a very queer space. When it's Invisible Arcade, the organizers and artists outside that space, how to keep that space open and inclusive is a part of how it's run.

Yvonne Lam's talk “So You Want to Contribute to Open Source: Advice for the Non-Normative” could be a basic primer to work in any edge of tech, games or media right now.  Thinks that stuck with me was that joining in on Open Source work is signing up to be a minor celebrity. People know you by your work, but not necessarily as you, the person.  Doing some thinking about privacy, how much access to you that you're willing to give to others, navigating tech's odd social-professional mixing, these are all things I don't see enough people thinking about early on in tech work, but also in media. The closest I've seen to this kind of advice is in Booklife, which is aimed at authors working within the publishing industry. 

In terms of applying directly to the very city we live in, Monica Thomas' talk “Tech Money, Gentrification, and the Policing of Blackness in Capitol Hill” did so with a succinct and much-needed breakdown for anyone unfamiliar with how tech money and gentrification feed the policing of black communities (in this case Capitol Hill). For all the personal opportunities tech money affords to many of its employees, there is no widespread realization that comes with it that people have to step out of the tech bubble and examine what their impact is on the city they live.

Elaine Nelson's “Establishing Your Core Values” has so much potential for application to so much of tech, games, media, nonprofits. While the very heroic and attractive mission statement of an organization sounds cool, it's not a great guideline for every conceivable team keeping so much of the core and backend of an organization going. Nelson focused on how values scale, from your personal values and work-related values, to team level, organization level. Your team has values chosen as a group that express its focus and priorities. There has to be room for dealing with the different priorities and needs of anyone not on your team, but if you make your values and methods known, you give everyone else the tools to understand your work. This can lead to fewer angry emails, to cherry-pick a single good reason to communicate how you work to people outside your team. 

Kevin Stewart's “Managing While Black” is one of the talks I strongly felt people needed to hear.  Stewart said something about hiring that made me want to cheer -- that hiring is fundamentally broken--  and covered racism and under-representation, the behavioral policing for people of color when it comes to promotion, and a delightful analogy about hiring involving American Idol and The Voice. His PowerPoint was also full of Samuel L. Jackson, and I for one agree that Nick Fury is a fantastic manager. 

From start to finish, AlterConf was a day for ideas you may not have considered, information you could have never found on your own, and some incredible PowerPoint chops on everyone's parts. I left feeling smarter, wanting to think about what I'd heard, and to consider things I could apply to what I'm doing, right now. After this experience, I'd recommend to anyone to watch any AlterConf talk you can find on the website, and to go to one in your area. If fear of any kind has held you back from giving these kinds of talks, and you've been unable to find another space to give that talk, apply to speak at an AlterConf. They have captured lightning in a bottle, and I can only hope that others see how valuable and needed what this conference is doing really is.

 

 

Reimagining Tech at Alterconf Austin

Alterconf Austin, held on April 25, 2015, strengthened community around marginalization in the tech industry, and helped us all become better activists and allies.

AlterConf - April 25, 2015 - Austin

Image text: AlterConf - April 25, 2015 - 2015 Austin

Each speaker presented differently. Some talks were intensely personal while others were more strategic. All spoke to the shared experiences of audience members. I heard many people come up to speakers to thank them for validating their lived experiences and continue the conversation. 

I was impressed by the creativity in the presentations. One speaker poignantly compared his experience dealing with microaggressions with a heart attack. Another framed her story of being a junior female developer in a "Choose Your Own Adventure" format but pointedly deprived the audience of any choices. Other speakers referenced pop culture, or used GIFs to make fun and engaging slides. Everyone kept it real.

Talks centered on inequalities in the tech world and the pain speakers experienced as they came up against them. Instead of stopping there, each speaker offered ways to make the tech community more inclusive. 

Sketchnotes - Our Internet, Ourselves & Discussion Practical Inclusivity

Image text: @andreagrimes/Andrea Grimes. Our Internet, Ourselves. Do reproductive justice with the web. Not just "pro-choice", it's intersectional. Activism. 1. Go to the legislature (or online, use the internet!) - tell your stories. 2. Share stories. 3. Stick to your root cause! When you screw up - you likely may - just take ownership and apologize. Learn from it. Don't spam people! Watch out for Trolls! Trolling for good: use the hate as an example of what needs to change. Treat yourself.

@transition/Kojo Idrissa. Discussing Practical Inclusivity. Diversity ≠ Inclusion. Diversity: measurable, can become a checklist. Inclusion: making people feel welcome, constant effort & vigilance. Every org needs a variety of skills & backgrounds - more help can always help. An inclusive environment helps avoid assumptions. * If someone doesn't feel included, they're not going to file a bug report. If you're trying to grow a technical community, the best way is to introduce non-technical people. If your community needs a certain skill, you'll need to look outside the community.

While the diversity and inclusion initiatives of large corporations are often the focus of mainstream media's conversation on diversity in tech, I believe that solutions must come from the marginalized community. Alterconf is a space for the community to gather and constructively reimagine inclusion within the tech world.

Two talks discussed why inclusion is valuable in the tech and gaming industries. 

Photo of Mario Jara

Mario Jara, a healthcare professional and gamer, gave an emotional talk discussing privilege in the context of public health knowledge and the game industry. 

Jara said that the heart attack symptoms disseminated by public health officials (chest pain, arm pain, jaw pain, and/or shortness of breath) are specific to men. Women experiencing a heart attack, he said, might only have symptoms of back pain or nausea. This possible misdiagnosis shows that, "the choice to have white males as the default is hurting all of us," Jara said.

Jara also shared a personal story of microggression, tearing up and taking a moment to collect himself. "Microaggression is a symptom", he said. "The root is ignorance and being oblivious to privilege, and it is a killer of diversity." This ignorance of privilege invalidates the experiences of the marginalized groups in the games industry. According to Jara: "As the industry fails to address diversity, diverse talent walks away."

Photo of Kojo Idrissa

Kojo Idrissa, a former university instructor transitioning into the tech world, discussed the business case for inclusivity.  He chose the term inclusion over diversity because "diversity is easy to measure but doesn't get at the issue." Inclusion suggests a culture that is welcoming to all sorts of people.

Idrissa argued that the business case for inclusion is that "inclusion maximizes the number of contributors." He suggested that we check our assumptions, get out of our bubbles, and be empathetic. "Good communities require continual effort," he said.

Three other speakers discussed inclusion within the workplace-- in hiring, onboarding, and retaining diverse talent.

Sketchnotes - Toward Structure & Disambiguation and Industry Signs & SymptomsElze Hamilton walked us through a compelling second-person narrative on being a junior female developer in tech. Hamilton framed her story in a "Choose Your Own Adventure" format, with slides like: "Weeks go by-- you can't gain any traction in the company, and you can't significantly contribute to any project."

Photo of Elze Hamilton

What can companies do? Hamilton said that having structure and process are the key. "Have beginner friendly bugs and starter projects," she said.

A woman in the audience shared her own similar experience and said: "For a while, I thought it was just me."

Photo of Shelly CarpenterShelly Carpenter, VP Engineer at Black Locus, discussed the psychology behind subconscious gender biases in tech, and her experience hiring and creating an inclusive company culture.  She cited unconscious biases such as stereotype threat and impostor syndrome, which can cause women to be reluctant to speak up in meetings, to take leadership positions, and to be overly harsh on their own work.

Carpenter suggested tackling institutional barriers at different levels-- in hiring, task assignment, performance review, and promotion. Her suggestions included masking resume names, rewriting job descriptions to not include terms like "ninja" or "rockstar," more inclusive socializing events, recognizing that promotion criteria are modeled on senior male leaders, and balancing our unconscious biases with conscious ones.

Sketchnotes - Board Rooms & Crop Tops and Unconscious BiasesRachel Gollay works at Big Cartel, helping artists make a living doing what they love. Her talk empowered listeners to respond to unethical questions in job interviews. Questions about any of the EEOC protected classes, which include race, religion, gender (including pregnancy, gender identity and, in some states, sexual orientation), national origin, age (40 or older), and disability may be unlawful if those answers are used against a job applicant.

Photo of Rachel Gollay

"Go with your gut," she said. Uncomfortable questions that do not pertain to one's ability to do the job should be addressed. Suggestions include: asking why the question is relevant, not answering the question, ending the interview, emailing the recruiting team afterwards, or filing a complaint with the EEOC.

Two talks described the experiences of the speakers dealing with harassment and erasure, as well as their work in building more inclusive environments.

Photo of Rin Oliver

Kiran Oliver, a freelance writer and PR director, spoke about a need to build a gaming environment more inclusive for individuals on the Marginalized Orientation, Gender Identity, and Intersex (MOGII) spectrum.

Oliver cited the example of women role playing gay, bi, pan, poly, and trans men in the gaming community. They were shut down when they expressed concern that this behavior co-opted and fetishized the experiences of these men.

They spoke about the need to "design safe spaces," and the importance of guild leaders dedicated to inclusivity. "Combating erasure starts with all of us," they said.

Sketchnotes - Erasure from Within & Job Candidates

Kassandra Perch, a web developer, spoke about publicly reporting harassment in tech, and how to respond respectfully as a bystander.

 "This makes me really angry, but I'm not angry with y'all," Perch said, speaking with lots of emotion. She said that after a report of harassment, two groups form: the denial group and the shocked group.

Photo of Kassandra Perch

Perch explained that the denial group tries to silence the person who experienced the harassment, which can be nearly as bad as the harassment. However, the shocked group is paralyzed by inaction. Instead, Perch says: "Be disgusted. Be angry."

Perch gives bystanders advice to not demand proof, as we "are not entitled to the experiences of anyone else." She calls on bystanders to support victims and respect their space, but to "not trivialize lived experiences."

Lastly, two talks discussed using traditional and social media to organize and tell stories that subvert tech stereotypes.

Sketchnotes - We need to get beyond shock & denial when hearing about harassment

Photo of Andrea Grimes

Andrea Grimes, a political reporter and activist, directed the audience to "treat the Internet as a place where we actually live." People use the Internet to socialize, talk, and organize. 

With this framework, Grimes shared tips from her experience using social media to advocate for reproductive rights. Social media can help activists connect to communities they would have never reached otherwise. She suggested that activists use personal storytelling and "emotional truths."

Other tips include: don't spam, how to deal with trolls, growing your stakeholder base, create memories and debrief after events, and treat yourself to self-care.

Chelsea Maxwell, a user interaction designer at ACTIVE Network, gave a fun talk about how the media portrayal of young boy geniuses is problematic. "Our ideas of ourselves are confirmed by media," Maxwell said. She discussed the ageism and sexism inherent in this tech stereotype. While men often wear nondescript hoodies or t-shirts, for women "no option reads nothing."Photo of Chelsea Maxwell

What can tech do? Be more aware and more professional. Maxwell believes we should "make more media of women in tech." To subvert the stereotype that men start programming at a much earlier age, Maxwell cited developing her Neopet's pet page as her first wireframing experience. The myth of the young tech bro had "totally invalidated" her own experience. She now owns that her experience in tech started with the Neopets wireframe: "That [specific male programming narrative] wasn't me-- you gotta do your own thing."

Reimagining Tech at Alterconf Austin

Alterconf Austin, held on April 25, 2015, strengthened community around marginalization in the tech industry, and helped us all become better activists and allies.

Each speaker presented differently. Some talks were intensely personal while others were more strategic. All spoke to the shared experiences of audience members. I heard many people come up to speakers to thank them for validating their lived experiences and continue the conversation. 

I was impressed by the creativity in the presentations. One speaker poignantly compared his experience dealing with microaggressions with a heart attack. Another framed her story of being a junior female developer in a "Choose Your Own Adventure" format but pointedly deprived the audience of any choices. Other speakers referenced pop culture, or used GIFs to make fun and engaging slides. Everyone kept it real.

Talks centered on inequalities in the tech world and the pain speakers experienced as they came up against them. Instead of stopping there, each speaker offered ways to make the tech community more inclusive. 

While the diversity and inclusion initiatives of large corporations are often the focus of mainstream media's conversation on diversity in tech, I believe that solutions must come from the marginalized community. Alterconf is a space for the community to gather and constructively reimagine inclusion within the tech world.

Two talks discussed why inclusion is valuable in the tech and gaming industries. 

Mario Jara, a healthcare professional and gamer, gave an emotional talk discussing privilege in the context of public health knowledge and the game industry.  

Jara said that the heart attack symptoms disseminated by public health officials (chest pain, arm pain, jaw pain, and/or shortness of breath) are specific to men. Women experiencing a heart attack, he said, might only have symptoms of back pain or nausea. This possible misdiagnosis shows that, "the choice to have white males as the default is hurting all of us," Jara said.

 Jara also shared a personal story of microggression, tearing up and taking a moment to collect himself. "Microaggression is a symptom", he said. "The root is ignorance and being oblivious to privilege, and it is a killer of diversity." This ignorance of privilege invalidates the experiences of the marginalized groups in the games industry. According to Jara: "As the industry fails to address diversity, diverse talent walks away."

Kojo Idrissa, a former university instructor transitioning into the tech world, discussed the business case for inclusivity.  He chose the term inclusion over diversity because "diversity is easy to measure but doesn't get at the issue." Inclusion suggests a culture that is welcoming to all sorts of people.

Idrissa argued that the business case for inclusion is that "inclusion maximizes the number of contributors."  He suggested that we check our assumptions, get out of our bubbles, and be empathetic. "Good communities require continual effort," he said.

Three other speakers discussed inclusion within the workplace-- in hiring, onboarding, and retaining diverse talent.

Elze Hamilton walked us through a compelling second-person narrative on being a junior female developer in tech. Hamilton framed her story in a "Choose Your Own Adventure" format, with slides like: "Weeks go by-- you can't gain any traction in the company, and you can't significantly contribute to any project."

What can companies do? Hamilton said that having structure and process are the key. "Have beginner friendly bugs and starter projects," she said.

A woman in the audience shared her own similar experience and said: "For a while, I thought it was just me."

Shelly Carpenter, VP Engineer at Blacklocus, discussed the psychology behind subconscious gender biases in tech, and her experience hiring and creating an inclusive company culture.  She cited unconscious biases such as stereotype threat and impostor syndrome, which can cause women to be reluctant to speak up in meetings, to take leadership positions, and to be overly harsh on their own work.

Carpenter suggested tackling institutional barriers at different levels-- in hiring, task assignment, performance review, and promotion. Her suggestions included masking resume names, rewriting job descriptions to not include terms like "ninja" or "rockstar," more inclusive socializing events, recognizing that promotion criteria are modeled on senior male leaders, and balancing our unconscious biases with conscious ones.

Rachel Gollay works at Big Cartel, helping artists make a living doing what they love. Her talk empowered listeners to respond to unethical questions in job interviews. Questions about any of the EEOC protected classes, which include race, religion, gender (including pregnancy, gender identity and, in some states, sexual orientation), national origin, age (40 or older), and disability may be unlawful if those answers are used against a job applicant. 

"Go with your gut," she said. Uncomfortable questions that do not pertain to one's ability to do the job should be addressed. Suggestions include: asking why the question is relevant, not answering the question, ending the interview, emailing the recruiting team afterwards, or filing a complaint with the EEOC.

Two talks described the experiences of the speakers dealing with harassment and erasure, as well as their work in building more inclusive environments.

Kiran Oliver, a freelance writer and PR director, spoke about a need to build a gaming environment more inclusive for individuals on the Marginalized Orientation, Gender Identity, and Intersex (MOGII) spectrum. 

Oliver cited the example of women role playing gay, bi, pan, poly, and trans men in the gaming community. She was shut down when she expressed concern that this behavior co-opted and fetishized the experiences of these men.

She spoke about the need to "design safe spaces," and the importance of guild leaders dedicated to inclusivity. "Combating erasure starts with all of us," she said.

Kassandra Perch, a web developer, spoke about publicly reporting harassment in tech, and how to respond respectfully as a bystander.

 "This makes me really angry, but I'm not angry with y'all," Perch said, speaking with lots of emotion. She said that after a report of harassment, two groups form: the denial group and the shocked group.

Perch explained that the denial group tries to silence the person who experienced the harassment, which can be nearly as bad as the harassment. However, the shocked group is paralyzed by inaction. Instead, Perch says: "Be disgusted. Be angry."

Perch gives bystanders advice to not demand proof, as we "are not entitled to the experiences of anyone else." She calls on bystanders to support victims and respect their space, but to "not trivialize lived experiences."

Lastly, two talks discussed using traditional and social media to organize and tell stories that subvert tech stereotypes.

Andrea Grimes, a political reporter and activist, directed the audience to "treat the Internet as a place where we actually live." People use the Internet to socialize, talk, and organize. 

With this framework, Grimes shared tips from her experience using social media to advocate for reproductive rights. Social media can help activists connect to communities they would have never reached otherwise. She suggested that activists use personal storytelling and "emotional truths." 

Other tips include: don't spam, how to deal with trolls, growing your stakeholder base, create memories and debrief after events, and treat yourself to self-care.

Chelsea Maxwell, a user interaction designer at ACTIVE Network, gave a fun talk about how the media portrayal of young boy geniuses is problematic. "Our ideas of ourselves are confirmed by media," Maxwell said. She discussed the ageism and sexism inherent in this tech stereotype. While men often wear nondescript hoodies or t-shirts, for women "no option reads nothing." 

What can tech do? Be more aware and more professional. Maxwell believes we should "make more media of women in tech." To subvert the stereotype that men start programming at a much earlier age, Maxwell cited developing her Neopet's pet page as her first wireframing experience. The myth of the young tech bro had "totally invalidated" her own experience. She now owns that her experience in tech started with the Neopets wireframe: "That [specific male programming narrative] wasn't me-- you gotta do your own thing."

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