It's honestly too late this year to change the entire scholarship system. I don't disagree that it would be awesome to have scholarships for everyone who has some sort of economic need, and this is a conversation that should be had. But there's a lot that goes into opening something up based on economic status, and while that work would be valuable and awesome, it's a little late in the game for 2014. There's also the consideration of when to offer both gender and need-based scholarships, since the number of scholarships are variable and if there are only two to be awarded then the historic trend of ethnic/gender based awards should probably be carried forward. Or not.
I would like to point out that for a lot of white men working in the tech field, going to a local user group or conference is an easy thing and you get to see people like you who do the things you do. I had to go to Chicago last year (I live in SC - and I was a scholarship recipient) in order to see women doing the same thing that I do. And it was pretty awesome. So I would vote for always having the ethnic/gender based scholarship simply for the connection it can give people - it honestly isn't something that be described. I went from having no cultural touchstones in this area of my life to having several. Hopefully this will help turn the tide from "rabble rabble rabble" to thinking about ways to add to the system - not just overhaul the whole shebang. I would suggest that some of you who are upset about how things are run sign up for the Scholarship Committee next year and do some work from the inside. Because, again, you should have raised your concerns before we sent out the call. The scholarships happen every year. Sarah > Date: Mon, 25 Nov 2013 22:09:23 +0100 > From: [email protected] > Subject: Re: [CODE4LIB] Code4lib 2014 Diversity Scholarships: Call for > Applications > To: [email protected] > > Interesting discussion. May I suggest we level the playing field by moving > next year's conference to South Central Europe, say Pristina, Kosovo, or > Sarajevo, or Zagreb? We'd reach a whole new level of inclusiveness. > > Carol Bean > > > On Nov 25, 2013, at 9:46 PM, Jonathan Rochkind wrote: > > >> Finances are a limiting factor on conference attendance for people of all > >> demographic groups, and I would endorse plans to surmount that. > > > > Code4Lib is, of course, one of the least expensive conferences you'll find. > > And the community and organizers care a lot about keeping it so -- there > > are sometimes disputes in a given year about whether the organizers could > > have kept it even less expensive. But it's still, every year, one of the > > most affordable conferences around. > > > > Which is pretty darn awesome, and important. > > > > That's pretty much what we do try and increase financial accessibility for > > people of all demographic groups. We also try to switch the regional > > location around the country every year, to even out transportation costs > > for for people in different parts of the country. > > > > If you can afford to go to any conference at all, you can afford for > > Code4Lib to be that conference. Of course, there are people who can't > > afford to go to any conference. Which is unfortunate. But I'm not sure > > what, if anything, is being suggested we could do about that? > > > > If you have or can find a source of funding willing to pay registration, > > hotel, and transportation for anyone who can't afford it, then please feel > > free to organize it to happen. > > > > That's what the people who organized, and continue to organize, the > > diversity scholarships did. They just organized it. > > > > Jonathan
