Why you should create a Black, Indigenous, and/or People of Color in Tech (BIPoCiT) Space at your next event

Being one of our founding customers, JSConf EU and its companion event CSSConf EU have always been close to our hearts here at Tito.

They have always led the way for diverse, safe and transparent conferences. This year—the last edition of the event in its current form—they introduced a space dedicated to Black, Indigenous, and/or People of Color (BIPoCiT).

Our intention is to create a safer space for those who are underrepresented and/or marginalized – a place for retreat, conversation, networking, and exchanging knowledge.

The creation of this space is a collective result of previous and ongoing discussions by BIPoC communities and groups that came before us.

As far as we are aware this was the first attempt to bring this type of a space to the predominantly white tech scene within Europe and the US.

How did it go? Well, the BIPoC attendees loved the space. But unfortunately, and disappointingly, a number of entitled white folks felt they were being excluded from the space (how’s that for irony?) and took to social media to air their complaints.

This only goes to prove that these spaces are desperately needed. And as event organisers, you can make this happen. It will be a bumpy ride at first but changing the status quo isn’t going to be easy.

Essential follow-up

READ: A retrospective of the JSConf EU BIPoCiT Space from those who created it: https://medium.com/bipocit/bipocit-space-what-happens-when-you-disrupt-white-tech-ff528f770919

LISTEN: Simone Haas, one of the JSConf EU and CSSConf EU organisers, talks to Kim Krayton on her podcast about the BIPoCiT Space: https://hashtagcauseascene.com/blog/simone-haas/

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