OtherThanThat

When I was asked to moderate a discussion at Twiistup 7 about women and entrepreneurship I was glad to do it. When I found out that I’d be talking with Lisa Stone of BlogHer and Bambi Francisco of Vator.TV, my joy increased. Both of these women have accomplished great things in their careers, becoming strong role models for how a woman can excel in business – while avoiding playing by the boy’s rules.
At least that’s what I thought.
During the panel there was a very awkward moment when Bambi revealed that she is not “allowed” to do business dinners with men. Now that’s a very simplistic description of the scenario, but the gist is this. She’s married and her husband seems to have an issue with her having business dinners with men. Now I can understand if perhaps there’s one particular man who seems to always want to meet with her for a dinner meeting, but to put blanket moratorium … that seems not only extreme but frankly, ridiculous.
In the interest of avoiding more discomfort than was already apparent, we shifted the topic towards business … but the moment left a strange feeling for me … and a bit of sadness for Bambi, whose professional acumen is something I quite respect. I hate the thought that her potential is being limited by such a chauvinist mentality.
Here’s the video of the session … the moment I describe is about 1/2 way through.