Invite-Only Oceanside Conference Vows to "Reset the Agenda for Women"
Makers began as a documentary about the history of women's equality developed by AOL and PBS, but seems to have morphed into a brand of its own. Next week, Makers is hosting a three-day conference where Sheryl Sandberg, Eric Schmidt, Tim Armstrong, and others plan to "reset the agenda for women in the workplace in the 21st century."
Where does one gather to hit restart on the stagnant wage gap and institutionalized sexism for the next 86 years? At "the picturesque Terranea Resort, located on a breathtaking stretch of Pacific coastline," of course. The revolution also has time for "Sunrise Yoga" classes in the morning. Work-life balance, ladies and billionaires.
Like all great equal rights initiatives, this one is also invite-only:
Participants include: Sheryl Sandberg (COO, Facebook), Gloria Steinem (activist, author), Eric Schmidt (Google), Gabby Giffords, Martha Stewart (founder, Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia), Tim Armstrong (CEO, AOL), Christy Haubegger (Founder, Latina Magazine), Anne Fulenwider (EIC, Marie Claire), Chelsea Handler (TV host, author), Megan Smith (GoogleX) [Ed. note: Kara Swisher's wife], Val Demings (Orlando's Chief of Police), Bob Moritz (CEO, PwC), and many more. The conference will be emceed by tectonic thinker Kara Swisher, Silicon Valley's leading journalist and co-creator of Re/code (formerly The Wall Street Journal's 'All Things D').
Obviously no one's resetting any kind of agenda without a late night talk show host and the CEO of an accounting firm. That's just Feminism 101. But Washington Monthly points out that Makers might have missed a spot:
But funnily enough, do you know who was not invited to lollapalooza that's going to like, totally, revolutionize women's working lives? Labor unions, that's who!
That doesn't make Makers' mission any less ambitious. Sessions include "Brand Maker: Living IN Your Brand," "The Third Metric: Mindfulness," and "Getting Out of the Box," which does not appear to be a double entendre.
Although Makers the documentary was a joint project between PBS and AOL, it looks like the latter is running the conference. Questions from Valleywag to registration@makers.com got a bounce-back from postmaster@teamaol.com informing us that: "Your message can't be delivered because delivery to this address is restricted."
Man, these new top-down, corporate feminist movements really don't care to hear from those of us at the bottom.
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