Conference Connect

Not too long ago I was talking to someone about Conference Connect and I started to tell them the "Why" behind creating the website. After I finished telling them, they suggested I should share this story with everyone. So here goes.

I originally came up with the idea of Conference Connect when finding a Conference online that I had never heard of before. The conference was expensive and across the country (another added expense) so I then proceeded to look for reviews to see if it was worth the spend. After an hour of searching I turned to my husband and said, "Wouldn't it be great if there was a website that listed all conferences and there were reviews attached to each conference so you had some confidence before buying a ticket?" His reply, "There must be one already", to which I said, "I have been searching for over an hour and I can't find any good options."

If you know me, I come up with a new idea every minute of the day, and my husband, who I affectionately call 'My Dream Crusher' does just that. He kills the idea before I even have a chance to brainstorm it further. This time was different though. This time, he pestered me for the next few days saying he couldn't find a site like the one I was describing and he thought I was on to something. This time, though, it was me who was skeptical about the idea.

A few days later I was convinced it was a viable idea, and I immediately started working on building out what I had envisioned. So what had changed?

As a regular conference speaker myself, I consistently notice the lack of diversity on stage. Rarely do I see a minority or female keynote. When I first started attending conferences, if I saw a woman on the speaker line-up it was only when she was on a panel. I also noticed this lack of diversity transcended into the audience. I have not studied whether it is due to a lack of diversity on stage or a lack of visibility of the conference itself to a more diverse group of perspective attendees. I do, however, believe it needs to change.

I may have come up with the idea of Conference Connect due to my own needs, but the why behind the actual buildout of Conference Connect was to create a more inclusive environment to help everyone. To help attendees discover new and amazing conferences, to help organizers access a more diverse audience to showcase their events and to help organizers connect with more diverse speakers, and for speakers to have a platform that they can be discovered and also find new conferences they can reach out to and request to speak.

The ultimate measure of success will come when someone discovers a conference or a speaker through Conference Connect that results in increase of knowledge, networking and opportunities. Because that is what conferences do. They create value in people's lives and it is time for that value to be experienced by everyone.

I hope you enjoy the site. Until next time…Get Connected, and Stay Connected.

-Ashley Wilson