World Internet Summit came to London earlier this month. I have been wanting to go for some time, and was pleased to be there at last.
As a marketer I am always interested in how events and people communicate their brand. Quite apart from the training (which I will save for another post) I did have two overwhelming impressions even before the first speaker spoke the first word. The list of speakers was announed on a video screen, and I watched in amazement as man after man was announced.
All the speakers were men. Every single one.
Once I had got over that, I was intrigued by the one-liner underneath each picture. In the vast majority of cases the speaker was presented as the expert in a particular aspect of internet marketing which was briefly described, followed by the word “guy”. So we had the webinar guy.. the easy cash projects guy.. the lead generation guy etc.
What a nice easy word “guy” is. It sounds warm and approachable but with a hint of ruggedness and reliability. It is more relaxed than “man” and even “gentleman”.
Even if there had been female speakers wall to wall what is the equivalent modern word for women? I don’t think there is one . Which is why there is a whole slew of “divas” and “queens” and goddesses”. There simply isn’t a relaxed word. “Gal” or Girl is OK for someone younger, Chick can give the wrong impression, Lady is very formal, Woman sounds too dull.
C’mon guys ( I mean women / gals / you gorgeous ladies what can we call ourselves?