Social Media Roundup: Diversify Your Speaker Lineups

Associations that think their event speaker rosters are all set might want to take another look. Is your cast of contributors and thought leaders as diverse as it could be?

Also, get your social imagery dimensions nailed down in today’s Social Media Roundup:

17 Speakers And not a Woman in Sight

These blowups over white/male speaker lists are so common, I created a handy chart! #changetheratio  (opens in a new tab) pic.twitter.com/5ABmoMtjaT  (opens in a new tab)

— Amelia Showalter (@ameliashowalter) April 16, 2014  (opens in a new tab)

The Wall Street Journal kicked up controversy this week with the announcement of its “WSJDLive  (opens in a new tab)” conference lineup, continuing the trend of technology-oriented events criticized for their lack of diversity.

The event promises “provocative on-stage interviews, intimate roundtables with experts on cutting-edge topics, and interactive events.” But don’t expect any women to be speaking at the conference, at least not quite yet.

The lineup of 17 speakers is exclusively male  (opens in a new tab), a detail that was quickly noticed in the tech community  (opens in a new tab).

The inclusion of women and minority speakers and panelists has become an increasingly prominent issue  (opens in a new tab) for many tech conference organizers, who have long defaulted to the standard, largely white male  (opens in a new tab) lineup.

How does your association ensure that your conference lineup includes a wide array of diverse voices? (ht @ameliashowalter  (opens in a new tab))

Enter the Social Dimension

A Handy Guide to Optimizing Your Social Media Channels http://t.co/RLS8cLh8lr  (opens in a new tab)

— Kami Huyse | Social Media Strategist 🎯 (@kamichat) April 18, 2014  (opens in a new tab)

Erik Devaney over at HubSpot has a breakdown of some best practices to keep in mind  (opens in a new tab) when expanding your social media efforts. His insights are excerpted from HubSpot’s new ebook on marketing optimization  (opens in a new tab), but beyond that advice, the post contains a golden nugget.

Have you forgotten the image dimensions of the various profile photos, cover photos, and image posts for social profiles? Keep Devaney’s post handy for the next time your association wants to switch up some of its visual assets. After all, banner images were made for experimentation! (ht @kamichat  (opens in a new tab))

(Jacob Wackerhausen/ThinkStock)