RICA LACENTRA
THE XX FACTOR
Virtually, Still A Boys Club Digital conferences don’t level the field for women. They might even make it worse. BY ERICA LACENTRA | CONTRIBUTING WRITER, NATIONAL MORTGAGE PROFESSIONAL
W
ith COVID-19 putting a damper on in-person events this year, many conferences turned to a virtual alternative. With virtual exhibit halls, chat and video-based networking, live or recorded speaking sessions and many of the other hallmarks a live event offers, the thought is that virtual conferences can be a just as good as the real thing and achieve many of the same goals for sponsors and attendees alike. Well, maybe. While I truly admire the effort of conference coordinators to pivot and still try to offer value to their clients, what I have found (and commiserated about with numerous folks in the industry) is there really is no substitute for the real in-person event. However, I would be lying if I said that there weren’t some real advantages
to a virtual event, and many of those advantages go beyond simply being able to generate business from the comfort of your own home. As someone who has worked in the mortgage industry for just over seven years now, and traveled to more conferences than I can count, there is something invigorating about attending live events. Nothing beats being able to get away from the office, look for fresh ideas and inspiration on the trade show floor, meet with old friends, and cultivate new business. However, being a woman in the industry adds a whole different level of pre-event mental preparation. The boys’ club mentality that exists within the mortgage industry means that before I go to the trade show floor every morning, I prep myself to be ready to handle any attendees or fellow exhibitors that are rude, demeaning, or inappropriate. I still have to remain professional, avoid being in any unsafe situations such as walking or sitting alone even at trade show sanctioned events, and navigate a multitude of other situations that no male colleague would ever have to worry about. To say it can be
exhausting is an understatement, and there are many times when I question if the pros of attending truly outweigh the cons.
SEARCHING FOR E-EQUALITY This is precisely why virtual trade shows and conferences appealed to me. Being in a virtual exhibit booth with other members of your company meant there was little to no chance of an attendee treating you like a piece of meat and being inappropriate or harassing you. Even if they were, you could simply boot them from the video chat, a luxury you don’t have in person. After attending several virtual conferences though, I realized that they, too, posed unique challenges for women sponsors and attendees. Mainly that the “men know better” mentality that exists in our industry has also pervaded this platform. Attendees were not only not talking to me or the other female staff members at our virtual booth, they were completely ignoring us and going straight to male team members to start a oneon-one conversation. Now you’re probably thinking, that’s crazy, it’s got to be in your head. I assure you this is not a case of paranoia. I have attended about
“Of all of the potential challenges of participating in a virtual conference, I did not think my biggest obstacle would be sexism.”
