Getting event planners to look at a calendar
July 12, 2019 10:05 AM Subscribe
How do you effectively push back when people schedule events or professional conferences on Jewish, Muslim, etc. religious holidays?
Grace Hopper Conference is scheduled on Rosh Hashanah this year and when I emailed them about it to let them know and ask if they'd consider looking at an interfaith calendar for next year, they responded: "While we understand the dates of GHC this year conflict with the Jewish Holiday, we are restricted to dates by locations of venues and their availability to hold a conference as large as ours. We thank you for your support and understanding as we always try to provide the best experience for our attendees. Thank you for understanding!"
I've also brought it up in the past when my employer scheduled intern recruitment events at Boston University (which has a large Jewish student population) and new hire orientation on the High Holy Days, as well as heavily-food-based intern events on Ramadan (many of our interns were Muslim). I always get the same "thank you for understanding" reaction and no promise to do better in the future.
What's the best way to generate change, as someone who's very much a small fish? Is there a way? All they have to do is look at a freaking calendar.
Grace Hopper Conference is scheduled on Rosh Hashanah this year and when I emailed them about it to let them know and ask if they'd consider looking at an interfaith calendar for next year, they responded: "While we understand the dates of GHC this year conflict with the Jewish Holiday, we are restricted to dates by locations of venues and their availability to hold a conference as large as ours. We thank you for your support and understanding as we always try to provide the best experience for our attendees. Thank you for understanding!"
I've also brought it up in the past when my employer scheduled intern recruitment events at Boston University (which has a large Jewish student population) and new hire orientation on the High Holy Days, as well as heavily-food-based intern events on Ramadan (many of our interns were Muslim). I always get the same "thank you for understanding" reaction and no promise to do better in the future.
What's the best way to generate change, as someone who's very much a small fish? Is there a way? All they have to do is look at a freaking calendar.
Response by poster: Just heading this off: I don't work at a university; I work at a tech company that recruits heavily from universities.
posted by marfa, texas at 10:31 AM on July 12, 2019
posted by marfa, texas at 10:31 AM on July 12, 2019
I might try to frame this as a red flag for a bigger audience than they realize. I'm not Jewish, but I know when Rosh Hashanah is, and if I were a recruitee and realized a company was doing a big event on that day, I would be skeptical from the get-go about what else they are kind of shruggo about in terms of inclusivity.
Your org might be thinking, small-picture, "oh well, we'll try to get some Jewish students next year!" but the big picture is actually "anyone in a marginalized group who sees what you did there is going to get a sour first impression about your commitment to diversity."
posted by nakedmolerats at 12:20 PM on July 12, 2019 [17 favorites]
Your org might be thinking, small-picture, "oh well, we'll try to get some Jewish students next year!" but the big picture is actually "anyone in a marginalized group who sees what you did there is going to get a sour first impression about your commitment to diversity."
posted by nakedmolerats at 12:20 PM on July 12, 2019 [17 favorites]
Depending on the various calendars you have access to/share your own calendar with you can also include it on yours.
posted by raccoon409 at 12:33 PM on July 12, 2019
posted by raccoon409 at 12:33 PM on July 12, 2019
The venue availability situation can be tough to navigate. I've been involved with a games festival here that's run by a Muslim man, but due to availability + not wanting to conflict with other games events internationally (which will affect speaker availability and attendees) it's been held during Ramadan the last two years, so the poor guy's been trying to manage chaos while fasting. Ramadan tends to move around the Gregorian calendar more than other religious/cultural holidays (for instance, Chinese New Year tends to always be around Jan/Feb) so hopefully in future years that'll be less of an issue.
Maybe this can be a wider discussion about forward planning, especially if they're trying to take other industry events into account?
posted by divabat at 9:15 PM on July 12, 2019 [1 favorite]
Maybe this can be a wider discussion about forward planning, especially if they're trying to take other industry events into account?
posted by divabat at 9:15 PM on July 12, 2019 [1 favorite]
It's pretty common for large conferences to contract multiple years in advance for a venue, if that is the case it's very unlikely that they will be able to change the date for next year.
Even though you are getting a boilerplate response, I think continuing to make these requests, and ask others to point this out as well does get some traction in the longer term. Next time they are negotiating a contract for their venue, which could very well be a few years in the future, hopefully they will keep it in mind. Change is slow.
posted by yohko at 3:18 PM on July 17, 2019
Even though you are getting a boilerplate response, I think continuing to make these requests, and ask others to point this out as well does get some traction in the longer term. Next time they are negotiating a contract for their venue, which could very well be a few years in the future, hopefully they will keep it in mind. Change is slow.
posted by yohko at 3:18 PM on July 17, 2019
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However, at the university where you work, it could be quite different. Finding some administrators that agree with you can be a good path. Keep reminding people when they do stuff like this - it doesn't just go into the abyss. There are administrators who care and there are administrators who want to look "with it/woke." With Ramadan in particular, given its current timing (this year it lined up with the end of the academic year), I noticed that there was a TON more discussion among academics about accommodations for exams, awareness about food-oriented events, etc.
Talking to the presidents/heads of the various student clubs/associations can help too. Some administrators are quicker to respond to student feedback than employee feedback.
At my U, there have been a lot of initiatives to have more inclusive calendars and awareness of such things. I don't know how far it is sinking in, but I am hopeful! Does your U have a big master calendar of holidays? They may not.
posted by k8t at 10:22 AM on July 12, 2019 [1 favorite]