Engineering Women: IBC Plays Host to a Powerful Force for Change

At IBC in Amsterdam earlier this month, I had a chance to witness firsthand the power of networking.

Two different gender-specific events took place during the show, and I was lucky enough to represent 流媒体 at happy hour held by Women in 流媒体 (WSM), an organization our editor Eric Schumacher-Rasmussen first 写了在去年的IBC之后.

作为四个创始共同主持人之一流媒体高级论坛(SMAF) 每月的网络直播, I’d been familiar with WSM through the conscious choice made by Eric, 马克东, and Dom Robinson—the other three founding co-hosts—and myself to fill half the guest slots with WSM guests over the past year. 这种努力符合我的个人哲学, having three bright biological daughters that I’ve encouraged to pursue any technical goal they set their minds to, as well as a fiancée who—together with her late husband—were both graduates of mathematics programs and parents of two bright young daughters that share their aptitude for math.

然而我并没有准备好, when my fiancée and I stepped off the elevator at the IABM suite at RAI Amsterdam for the WSM event, 看看我们在过去的一年里取得了多大的进步.

出席WSM活动, 如附图所示, 非常强大, and the list of companies represented reads like a “who’s who” of the streaming industry.

艾丽西亚普里切特, WSM总裁, noted that the next event—to be held in New York City, 9月下旬，已经有250个注册.

普里切特, 以及她的联合创始人Peggy Dau, noted that there’s also no exclusivity to the WSM brand in terms of events. 事实上，在IBC的活动中. Dau encouraged women in attendance to host their own WSM events around the world.

“We encourage women interested in facilitating events/meetups in their cities and around events they are attending to reach out to us to help make introductions to other women to support,Dau说。.

The biggest news from WSM at IBC was the launch a mentoring program.

“Nandini森, PBS媒体服务架构总监, 梅根·瓦格纳, 维蒙德的销售副总裁, have founded Women in 流媒体's first Mentorship Program,普里切特说. “在发布日期, 9月26日, Megan and Nandini will host a webinar to walk through the program details and formally begin the program. We will provide updates on progress throughout and present a final report after the 6-month program duration.”

就我个人而言, having been mentored in both technical and professional fields, 同时也是别人的导师, this approach seems to be one of the better ways to help grow new talent within the streaming industry. It also solves a longstanding problem that I saw not only in streaming, but also before that in the videoconferencing and non-linear editing: how to connect islands of capable female engineers and managers who felt isolated from one other.

While 瓦格纳 was not able to attend the IBC event—she told us on SMAF that she is expecting in October, so was unable to travel abroad in September—her enthusiasm for the program was palpable.

“We are so honored at the caliber of women who have committed to devote their time and efforts to this program,女士说。. 瓦格纳. “We can't wait to see the positive impact this mentorship program will have on all of those involved.”

除了9月底在纽约的聚会, WSM is also hosting a breakfast at Demuxed on Oct 23 from 8-9am. 有关该组织的更多详细信息，请访问 womeninstreamingmedia.org.

In addition, 创作 also sponsored a gender equality happy hour at IBC, and has launched a 请愿书 calling for companies in the video sector to make gender equality a focus. 流媒体 is a supporting partner of the 请愿书, and we'll have a follow-up report on the initiative soon.

图片由艾丽西亚普里切特提供