Australian talent bureau Enhance Entertainment is taking a stand to promote gender balance in business events. For the entire week of International Women’s Day, 4th to 11th March 2019, the Enhance website will showcase only female speakers and entertainers.
Alison Clarke, CEO of Enhance Entertainment, says the company was first prompted to act for gender equality several years ago when their Tweet, featuring an all-white, all-male cast of speakers, copped a negative spray from some respected industry leaders..
“It was a big oversight on our part and we acted immediately to change it. We’ve since created our own Diversity Statement that emphasises gender equality, to keep ourselves, our clients and our suppliers driving more balance for women in business events.” (https://enhancentertainment.com.au/about/diversity/)
Industry statistics:
A UK survey showed that while 80% of event management graduates in the UK are female, only 27% of women sit at CEO or MD level. It’s a similar story in the Australian events industry, where female employees predominate but men hold more C-suite and Board positions than women. Only 1 in every 6 CEOs is a woman. Recent Australian workplace statistics show that on average men take home $25,717 pa more than women. Clearly there is work to be done to achieve better balance.
Clarke says, “There’s an abundance of brilliant female speakers and entertainers, and we’ve now increased our connections with them.”
By showing only female talent for the week of International Women’s Day, Clarke hopes to puts the spotlight on gender disparity and to urge all events industry players to strive for equality.
Clarke is aware the company might lose business that week, but is prepared to take action to “move the world closer to gender equality.”
Clarke adds, “Times have changed, and audiences are demanding balance. Our advice: don’t be a dinosaur, and keep an eye out for the rise and rise of female talent.”
Author: Adam Parry
Adam is the co-founder and editor of www.eventindustrynews.com Adam, a technology evangelist also organises Event Tech Live, Europe’s only show dedicated to event technology and the Event Technology Awards. Both events take place in November, London.
