Almost 1,000 people attended the 2022 Melbourne Business Analytics Conference today, which is really cool. And almost all of those who registered turned up, which is even cooler.
Photo of a very large auditorium that’s almost completely full, with people sitting on many rising rows of chairs. In front of the audience is a stage and a massive, cinema-size projector screen.
One of my favourite things about this conference is the breadth of attendees. You can tell that from how people are dressed: they’re wearing everything from jeans, t-shirts, casual dresses, and denim jackets all the way to formal dresses, formal pants, blouses/dress shirts, and suits.
Importantly, you can’t tell by what people are wearing whether they’re a CEO, middle manager, or specialist data analyst.
You can spot the students and fresh uni grads though. They’re so young and fresh-faced! Also, some of the junior managers stand out — with their sport coats/jumpers and cool but comfy shoes :)
Only 2-3 folks at this year’s conference were wearing ties with their suits, by the way. I think that shows just how much more comfortably people want to dress these days, now that we’ve all had a taste of working from home during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Benefit of registering early
One of the benefits of registering early for this conference is that I got a copy of ‘Decisions over Decimals’ by Christopher Frank, Paul Magnone, and Oded Netzer, which I’m really looking forward to reading.
(Professor Netzer was one of the speakers at the conference.)
Photo from the point of view of a seated person looking down at their lap. The photographer is holding a bright yellow hardback book in their hand titled ‘Decisions Over Decimals’. In the photo you can also see a Melbourne Business Analytics Conference badge that they are wearing on a lanyard around their neck.
Proportion of women on the stage
One of my rules for speaking at (and now even attending) conferences is that at least 40% of the people on the stage should be women or non-binary folks. And I track this number at all the conferences I attend.
Since I’ve attended every single Melbourne Business Analytics Conference since 2017, I have the data on how they’ve managed to improve – and, since then, maintain — a decent gender split in their speakers and panellists.
This year, for example, 43% of their speakers were going to be women. But, due to a couple of last-minute cancellations, that dropped to 40% — which is still acceptable. Good job MBS!
Columns chart titled “% female speaker, panellists at #MBAC22”. The chart shows five columns with values above them. The 2017 bar has a value of 31%; 2018 has 39%; 2019 has 51%; 2021 has 42%; and 2022 has 40%.