Following the success of their event at IMEX America in Las Vegas this year, event tech entrepreneurs Leonora Valvo and Marie-Claire Andrews launched womenineventtech.org—a new website and online community created for “women trailblazing new products and services in [meetings] and event technology.”
“I truly believe every woman in our industry, as they climb higher in the ranks, should be looking about her to reach down and pull up the next wave of female leaders,” Swoogo Founder and CEO Valvo said. “My passion of course is event technology—I’ve been inspired by some fantastic females around the world on my journey, and want to pass on that privilege.”
In addition to her CEO role with Swoogo, an event management software platform, Valvo was also a pioneer of the Event Tech Tribe collaborative group, the founding CEO of etouches and an investor in multiple event tech organizations worldwide.
“I scan the event tech landscape continuously as part of my role with the Event Tech Tribe—and it’s worrying to see how few women there are leading or developing either within established companies or the new innovations.” said Andrews, who is director of operations for the Event Tech Tribe. “I just think it’s twice as hard—being a woman in the events industry and being in tech doubles the challenges.”
The site womenineventtech.org, calls for participation and support so that its founders can assess the right time to engineer a conference and gauge interest in other products/services. The future will bring meetups, investor introductions, peer to peer coaching, “and naturally an event!” Andrews added. "It’s not just for founders, we want to reach women in all facets of event tech from engineers to entrepreneurs and from sales to support."
Valvo and Andrews are working closely with the Association for Women in Events in their efforts.
