Alison Gianotto wrote a great post after she was invited to speak at a Linux conference, and assigned the topic of women in technology.  Since that’s not a topic that she’s interested in talking about, and she has lots of things that she would like to speak about at a Linux conference, she gave some other ideas.  They passed.

The whole post is awesome.  These two paragraphs match my philosophy about speaking at tech conferences:

My position is that the best way for me to be a role model for women (and men) in technology isn’t to give talks about being a woman in technology, but to kick ass and take names at being a technologist, and to give great presentations on technology topics. This is my way of showing men and women in technology that women are as capable and badass as the bros.

It’s the same reason I always agree to speak at conferences even when I know I’m a token. I frequently spend my own money to fly out to speak at conferences that can’t afford to fly me out or cover my hotel, and I do this because it’s important for men and women to get used to seeing women at the podium, demonstrating their skills as an authority in technology. If we can get a few more women on that stage, maybe we won’t feel like such a rarity anymore, and the perceptions of us in technology will shift.

At MacIT 2014, she gave a great talk about security.  She knows her stuff, and she knows how to talk about it in such a way that other people will get it too.  I’m so glad she was one of our speakers, and I’m glad that her talk was a topic that she’s an expert in and that she’s passionate about.

Maria Klawe, president of Harvey Mudd College, talks about impostor syndrome in Impostoritis: A Lifelong, but Treatable, Condition.  I like this paragraph the best:

Now I wake up most days with a voice on the left side of my head telling me what an incredible failure I am. But the voice on the right side tells me that I can change the world—and I try to pay more attention to it. My life goal in changing the world is to make the culture of science and engineering supportive of everyone with interest, ability, and willingness to work hard, independent of race, gender, sexual orientation, other interests, or anything else. For that to happen, we need more women, people of color, poets, artists, ballroom dancers, and football players to enter, succeed, and persist in all areas of science and engineering.

I like that she discusses not just entering the field, but succeeding and persisting in it.  We’re still losing so many people after 10 years in the field.  It’s got to stop.