Women conversations

imgresMy friend and I were talking about women events and listservs and the conversations that take place on them this weekend.  Having just launched the Women’s Entrepreneur Festival applications for 2015 it was relevant to my personal reflections on the event each year.

I have been watching the conversations on the recently launched Women.com and have always been fascinated with the conversations that take place at the festival and listserv’s that I am on.  The topics are vast depending on the listserv.  I was expecting a lot more conversation around business and what I found is that those talks certainly take place but most of them are relegated to female fodder.  What I mean by that is anything from does anyone have a favorite cookware line to what is the right attire for a conference to best shopping sites to where to get a blow out in Chicago to how do I ask for a raise.

We are all looking for a connection to other women that we can talk about anything from where did you get those fantastic shoes to how do you get food in the fridge for your kids when you are in the middle of launching your start-up to damn I had a shitty day.  Finding those women who in the same space you are in your life is important or having women mentors who have been through it before.

I see it at the Festival because the ages span from 18-60+.  When you get a room of women together the conversations go everywhere and sometimes they are really taking a deep dive at your business and other times they are about the best place you just recently dined.

I guess I wonder if there were any listservs out there for men what kind of conversations would take place.  It probably would not be all business either but their fodder might be more relegated to sports, music or a good meal.  I am purely guessing here and perhaps being judgmental but I see those convos take place among the men I know.  They are generally not asking about where they got those amazing shoes.

Thinking of all of this at a birds eye view this is exactly why it is so important for companies to have an even balance of men and women in each area of the workplace because men and women both think differently, have different daily interests and are brains are just wired in a totally different way.  I just find it interesting.

Comments (Archived):

  1. awaldstein

    Having built probably 15 marketing and sales teams of true size, mostly in tech companies, this happened naturally in almost every case.I never thought about this as anything but the way it should be.

  2. LE

    It probably would not be all business either but their fodder might be more relegated to sports, music or a good meal. I am purely guessing here and perhaps being judgmental but I see those convos take place among the men I know. They are generally not asking about where they got those amazing shoes.”Metro” men might talk about clothing perhaps. (Or gay men obviously).When I was married to my first wife and had family visits (typical Thanksgiving, Passover etc.) each and every time the men would congregate in the den and watch “the game”. I don’t watch sports and never have so I would spend time up at the dining room table with the women. It’s been a long time but I don’t recall that they talked about anything that you have mentioned above and maybe that is because I was there and started the conversation in another direction. Could be only a single data point or could be that all that is needed – some kindling in the right direction.Along the lines of “kindling” I observed that a girl that I dated once and her mother were very outgoing and friendly and never at a loss for something to say. What I found is that they simply hijacked the conversation so they were never left out. So for example if you (Joanne) started to talk about your trip to France they would listen a short bit and then start to talk about some trip they were on or some restaurant that they ate at. My observation is that they weren’t interested in what you were saying but only looking for a launching point for themselves.That said you can’t choose your family. My ex brother in law worked for Apple and I always enjoyed it when there were family events and I could talk to him about “business”. Not the same at all with my current brother in laws at all.

  3. LE

    Thinking of all of this at a birds eye view this is exactly why it is so important for companies to have an even balance of men and women in each area of the workplace because men and women both think differently, have different daily interests and are brains are just wired in a totally different way. I just find it interesting.100% on that one for sure. (Kind of relates to my other comment..)

  4. Guest

    Care to share what listserves you’re on, Joanne? I’m always on the lookout for good ones. I’m female but hate when online group/list discussions trend to more mundane (for me) stuff like fashion/meals because I already have those convos in real life. I tend to seek discussions hard to get offline (eg startup founder at similar stage/challenge, female expat/traveler of X background in Y region, etc).

    1. Gotham Gal

      i am only on a few that are invitation only. i do find the curated lists seem to have a higher content value.

    2. Gotham Gal

      ten points for Amanda.

  5. pointsnfigures

    Last night I was on a panel with Amanda Lannert, CEO of Jellyvision. One of the female students in the audience asked her about life/work balance. She said, “Interesting you asked that of me and not the men on the panel.” Then she answered the question (and I agreed with what she had to say). Maybe men should be talking about work/life balance.