Scale8x talk. More context: http://bit.ly/dBjDTo

1. Moving the
Needle
How SF Ruby
got to 18%
http://www.flickr.com/photos/lwr/839344289/
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2. About me
sarahmei (twitter, github)
Photos copyright (clockwise starting from left) Christian Mehlfuhrer,Yukihiro Matsumoto, me, Pivotal Labs
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3. SF Ruby Meetup
• Big!
• Active!
• http://meetup.com/sfruby
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4. The Problem
2%
98%
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5. Jan 2009 Jan 2010
2%
18%
98% 82%
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6. Jan 2011??
50% 50%
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7. Coming up...
• Our process
• What we’ve gotten out of it
• Why is it so hard?
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8. XTREME
COMMUNITY
1. Set goals
2. Do events
3. Cultivate people
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9. XTREME
COMMUNITY
1. Set goals
2. Do events
3. Cultivate people
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10. Set goals
Focus on something
you can fix.
Be specific!
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11. Do Events
Target
Do the right
kind of events. specific
audiences.
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12. Tie in your goals
http://www.flickr.com/photos/limonada/214375219/
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13. Logistics
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14. Logistics
The easy part!
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15. Logistics
• Offer childcare
• Offer nursing/pumping space
• Get sponsors
• Have an afterparty
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16. MEN
• Yes!
• Get them involved
• They make great volunteers
• Give volunteers drink tickets for the
afterparty
• W2.0 attendance model
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17. Cultivate people
• Both sides of the pipeline
• For women who’ve come to an event:
• Follow up!!
• Plan a series
• Recruit women from the 1st to help with #2
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18. Get new women in
• Talk your events up, to everyone you meet
• Buy a domain, throw up wordpress...UPDATE it
• Print business cards, give them out constantly
• Blog about it on your technical blog
• Talk about it on facebook & twitter
• Do talks, BoFs, meetups, etc., at conferences
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19. Get new women in
• Be visible in your community
• Put your name on events
• Contribute to the mailing list
• Ask questions after talks
• DO TALKS!
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20. http://www.flickr.com/photos/davemorris/6057980/
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21. What did we get?
Expected:
• More women at monthly meetups
• Some who haven’t come to a workshop
(critical mass!)
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22. What did we get?
Unexpected:
• More active & lively mailing list
• More varied & interesting talks
• More women volunteering to GIVE talks
• MEN feel comfortable not knowing all the answers
• More newbie-friendly events, by and for all genders
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23. Why is this so hard?
• You need a woman (or 2) willing to be
visible.
• You need leadership who thinks it’s worth
doing (or at least, won’t get in the way)
• It’s a social problem.
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24. Why is this so hard?
• You need a woman (or 2) willing to be
visible.
• You need leadership who thinks it’s worth
doing (or at least, won’t get in the way)
It’s a social problem
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25. Questions
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