Introducing “Who-Is, I-Am": our speaker database for conference organizers

Hey friends, 

Today’s newsletter is a collaboration between Nexus Labs and our newest creator, Drew DePriest, Senior Director of Digital Facilities Management at CBRE. Drew and I are among the select few invited to speak at most smart buildings conferences. 

While we’re grateful for those opportunities, we believe the industry’s ability to address critical issues—like electrification, decarbonization, and healthy buildings—will require a collaborative discussion involving every professional, not just a set of familiar faces. Today, we’re announcing a new effort to help promote the voices that don’t receive the same attention we do, but should. 

The role of conference organizers is challenging—they’re trying to thread the needle between financial targets, many jam-packed calendars, and audience experience. Nonetheless, real estate technology conferences have grown stale in recent years, with the same speakers (often from similar backgrounds and demographics) presenting the same content in the same format.

Increasing speaker diversity (gender, race, age) is an obvious path forward. For example, Drew’s analysis of CRE Tech-focused events in 2020, a year where virtual conferences dominated and "willingness to travel" didn't matter, showed that the total share of all speaking slots for women was 13.3%. From 2016 to 2020, throughout 60 events, women held just 28.5% of speaking slots.
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As discerning audience members, conference sessions lacking diverse perspectives are off putting. We want educational content that challenges the status quo, not reinforces or justifies it. We believe there’s no better way to increase conference attendance than investing in content with multiple perspectives. 

It’s a complex problem that will take all of us acting intentionally to see a change. We believe conference organizers hold a lot of power and the ability to make a positive impact. By creating new tools and resources, we hope to break the cycle and rewrite the industry’s future. 

For Conference Organizers

In the spirit of bringing solutions while raising challenges, we propose: 

• Published metrics—All conferences should set and publish targets for speaker equity across gender and race (at minimum, in line with the DICE Charter). Also, consider adding age, neurodiversity, education, and frequency of past appearance. 
• Performance—Besides publishing metrics on diversity of perspective, publicly report your performance.
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‍For Nexus Labs

In the spirit of putting our money where our mouth is, we’ll apply the same standards of published metrics and performance reporting to our work (coming soon), plus:

• Who-Is, I-Am Speaker Database—To help make this easier for conference organizers (and us at Nexus Labs!), we will curate a list of folks you might not have heard from in the past. Thanks to the first 8 speakers who applied. 
• Coaching—Because we’re suggesting new voices, we will offer to help them prepare for sharing their perspectives publicly, as we recognize not everyone’s brain is wired to do so easily.
• Additional talent pools—We’ll point you to other sources of speakers who can bring value to your conference, such as Women in PropTech.
• Format—We will also brainstorm and open-source a library of session formats that engage audiences more meaningfully than a traditionally structured panel discussion.
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Thanks for reading and supporting this vital initiative. 
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—James Dice, Founder and CEO of Nexus Labs, and Drew DePriest, Senior Director of Digital Facilities Management at CBRE

P.S. Interested in being a speaker? If you haven’t had much of an opportunity to share your experience in a public forum before, and you would like to, please fill out this application form. Or pass the baton and forward this email to someone that would be a great fit. 

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👋 That's all for this week. See you next Tuesday!

Whenever you're ready, here are 4 ways Nexus Labs can help you:

1. Join our community of smart buildings nerds and gamechangers  here  (nearly 500 members and counting)

2. (NEW) Our Foundations Course enrollment is now open. You'll get unlimited access to the course (and others we launch) and a Nexus Pro Membership. If you've been waiting to join now is your chance. Doors close this Wednesday, March 22nd.  Learn more. ​

3. (NEW) Our Partner Hub has officially launched! This is an opportunity to be featured on our website, get original content, and tap into the Nexus community. Visit our  partner page  or email us at partners@nexuslabs.online

4. (NEW) Join our Speaker Database, Who-Is, I-Am. If you haven’t had much of an opportunity to share your experience in a public forum before, and you would like to, please fill out  this application form .

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