AlterConf is a traveling conference series that provides safe opportunities for marginalized people and those who support them in the tech and gaming industries. 🗽
Name
Organizer
AlterConf
Location
Microsoft Headquarters – Times Square
Date
December 11th, 2016
Role
Freelance Blogger, Participant
About
AlterConf is a traveling conference series that provides safe opportunities for marginalized people and those who support them in the tech and gaming industries.
About a month ago, I was honored to have the opportunity to freelance blog for AlterConf NYC in December 2016. The conference left me inspired and less alone, as technologists from all walks of life surrounded me throughout the conference.
Indeed, AlterConf was hands down the MOST diverse conference I have ever attended and I find this aspect to be more important than ever, especially considering what the year 2016 has brought us.
Given that I was hired as a freelance blogger for this conference, I’ve published onto LinkedIn, and my personal blog already about my experience at AlterConf and what it entailed.
AlterConf NYC 2016 🗽
AlterConf is a traveling conference series that provides safe opportunities for marginalized people and those who support them in the tech and gaming
AlterConf | NYC 2016 🗽
This conference was held at Microsoft’s headquarters in New York City at 11 Times Square on December 10th, 2016 from 10 am to 5 pm. About a month ago, I was honored to have the opportunity to freelance blog for AlterConf NYC.
I was honored to have the opportunity to freelance blog for AlterConf NYC.
Below is the freelance blogging I provided to them.
AlterConf is a traveling conference series that provides safe opportunities for marginalized people and those who support them in the tech and gaming industries. By highlighting the powerful voices and positive initiatives of local community members, we build hope and strengthen the community’s resolve to create safer spaces for everyone. This conference was held at Microsoft’s headquarters in New York City at 11 Times Square on December 10th, 2016 from 10 am to 5 pm.
About to give my talk on hacking harassment – the internet is for everyone at #MicrosoftNYC for #AlterConf
12 Likes, 2 Comments – Alexandra Bowen (Brower) (@alexshmoopie) on Instagram: “About to give my talk on hacking harassment – the internet is for everyone at #MicrosoftNYC for…”
HOW TO BE BOSS WHEN YOU’RE NOT THE BOSS: EFFECTIVE LEADERSHIP STRATEGIES FOR EVERYONE!
Natali Wachtman Perilo, @NataliJewel
The most effective leaders are those who can rely on others to execute confidently and independently. Leaders are measured by how others perform.
Natalie uses applied behavioral science strategies to understand why people do things and how we can prevent common issues when communicating, negotiating, motivating, and leading while working collaboratively on teams.
IT’S NOT LIT: STRATEGIES FOR EXPOSING AND ELIMINATING CULTURAL APPROPRIATION IN MARKETING
Candace Williams, @teacherc
From tweets written by agency agency staffers, to tech talk slides and “witty” café chalkboard signs, the use of appropriated artifacts and slurs has been normalized in product and service marketing.
In this talk, Candace identifies examples of this issue and leads a brainstorming session. The talk covers practical strategies marginalized folks and accomplices can use to expose and eliminate these practices in their place of work.
❗ Trigger Warnings: Images of appropriative marketing materials may be shown during this talk. Examples might relate to race, ethnicity, national origin, gender identity, sexuality, and other aspects of identity.
babashookt trolley on Twitter
Why is Twitter using African American Vernacular English when only 2% of its workforce is black?” @TeacherC #alterconf
BATTLING UNCONSCIOUS BIAS
Neem Serra, @teamneem
Unconscious biases affect our perceptions, decisions, and interactions every day. How do we address biases if we don’t know about them?
In this talk, Neem talks about how to recognize and counter the biases that play a part in interviewing, creating a product, and day-to-day interactions. She goes in depth on biases beyond sexism and racism and hopes to help the world become a more magical place!
yvonne on Twitter
More biases to consider during the hiring process. #AlterConf by @TeamNeem
HOW A PERSONAL CHATBOT CAN MAKE YOUR LIFE BETTER
Lauren Golembiewski, @laurengolem
Chatbots are re-emerging as a technology that can be used to automate businesses, give big brands more customer touch points, and help individuals better communicate.
In her talk, Conversational Designer, Lauren will be diving into the exciting opportunities personal chatbots bring individuals, and how she believes they will ultimately make our lives better.
She’ll also be discussing Ghostbot for Burner, a chatbot she designed that aims to make dating better for those that receive harassment while online dating.
❗ Trigger Warnings: Lauren will be discussing online sexual harassment in this talk, but she does not cite any specific examples. She will also be calling out sources where users can seek out examples of harassment that are vulgar and sometimes violent, but will only reference the source and give me warnings as to what can be found there. She will also be discussing how harassment affects women and other marginalized groups online and will cite some statistics around that concept.
THE CULT(URE) OF STRENGTH
Emily Gorcenski, @EmilyGorcenski
“Strength,” “Courage,” and “Bravery” are virtues often heaped upon individuals undergoing hardship. These compliments come from a deep-rooted cultural value that sacrifice should be praiseworthy and that performing in the face of difficulty is a sign of virtue. In tech, strength is valued to the point of caricature, creating a culture of depersonalization and overwork that disproportionately affects people who exist on one or more axes of inter sectional marginalization.
This talk explores the culture of strength through the lens of my 15 year journey through the STEM pipeline, intersecting on ability, gender, mental health, and race. Emily also provide tools for effectively recognizing, handling, and talking about hardship in the workplace or community.
This talk made me shiver — it was so powerful!
The YouTube video was made private.
Tech @ Simple on Twitter
We are so lucky to work with you @EmilyGorcenski! Thank you for using your voice to make tech a better (and safer) place ❤️ #AlterConf //t.co/Fd6OiYg34Q
Candace Williams on Twitter
@EmilyGorcenski’s talk is the best I’ve seen in my whole life. #alterconf
“YOU MAKE EVERYTHING ABOUT RACE” — AN APPEAL FOR EMPATHY IN DISCUSSIONS OF RACISM IN AMERICA
Kareem Francis, github.com/kareemf
This talk highlights select instances in media, pop-culture, and forums for technologists where the depiction of people of color is generally glossed over by the population at large, but may be problematic to people of color, though discussion of these issues are often relegated to discussions in safe spaces.
This talk also seeks to encourage guests to identify and avoid pitfalls common in cross-cultural discussions of race. This will include encouraging people of color to recall that, when engaging members of other races on the topic of race, we are often challenging their world view.
Kareem goes on to encourage non-colored guests that the most prevalent and exhausting forms of racism are not outright bigotry, but microaggressions.
❗ Trigger Warnings: Race, racism, microaggressions.
INCREDIBLE WITNESS: FINDINGS FROM THE PUBLIC LABORATORY
Allison Parrish, @aparrish
Clarinda Mac Low, @adniralc
Lauren Bierly, @l_bierly
Incredible Witness is a public laboratory created by these three ladies that asks: how can people ever be “credible witnesses” when even the most basic perceptions, such as color vision or spatial awareness, differ drastically from person to person?
We live in a historical period where many traditional binaries are breaking down. Some of the most basic assumptions about social life and hierarchies are fragmenting–ideas around gender, race, sexuality, and ability are being questioned and re-framed.
Incredible Witness seeks to encourage this disintegration, and find ways of learning to accept each other fully, beyond the categories.
In the Incredible Witness laboratory, they invite people into unusual perceptual worlds to bring home viscerally how different each person’s experience of the world can be, using games and game-based environments. The talk will review the results of their participatory experiments and point to future activities.
DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION IN TECH THROUGH A HAMILTON LENS
Lizzie Siegle, @lizziepika
Though both diversity and inclusion are important, it’s not enough to be in the room where it happens, which is like diversity. You want both the Adams Administration as well as Washington on your side, which is like inclusion. The latter breeds the former because even on a diverse team, you could still be uncomfortable and helpless.
After attending and speaking at tech Meetups and conferences on both American coasts, Lizzie realized that companies should initially focus on inclusion, which will in turn lead to diversity. Lizzie realized that the diversity initiatives were successful because of the empowering and supportive atmosphere and that that same atmosphere is also obtained through inclusion and not necessarily diversity.
So what’s the difference between the two? Lizzie uses Hamilton lyrics to go over similarities, differences, and the importance of both.
babashookt trolley on Twitter
Eat, Sleep, Code” is an unhealthy and unreasonable attitude for CS students and engineers alike @lizziepika #Alterconf
Get Involved with AlterConf
- Facebook AlterConf
- Twitter @alterconf, tweet using #AlterConf
- Website alterconf.com, NYC 2016
- Video Recordings are on YouTube
- Closed Captions bit.ly/nyc-captions, the founder of the technology behind this awesome transcription tool, Mirabai, was actually present at AlterConf!