In heaven it is 50/50

During last year's Almedalen Week, we, a few female industry colleagues, sat late one evening and relieved some of the pressure of our frustration with all these largely all-male panels and seminars. How used we are as women to being in the minority, sometimes completely alone, in industry contexts. Both during Almedalen and the rest of the year. That it feels a bit lonely sometimes, and it's so nice to have the chance to talk about everyday life with others in the same situation. Maybe we should do it more often? In a more organized way? Start a network? A club? Both to meet, but also to at least try to do something about the fact that the IT and telecom industry - which we think it is so incredibly fun to work in - consists of over 70% men and has less than 15% female CEOs.

Almost exactly a year later, at 7.55 pm on Sunday, I am almost moved to tears, standing in the doorway of Hästgatan 12 and looking at the queue that winds further down the street than I can see. So many nice happy expectant girls, women. In line. For the 5050 club's Almedal mingle. "What if no one comes" has been replaced by "How many will fit?" and "Will this be okay?".

Fortunately, it's mostly the guests who make the party - and what a party it was! Good meetings, laughter and conversation, good food and drink, music and dancing (!) long into the night. And not least, incredibly appreciated pep by our simply super awesome invited speakers!

For those of us who organized it, it is still a bit surreal what a successful evening it was, and what a positive response - and attention - we received afterwards. Both for the mingle and for the 5050 club itself. To have been able to walk around and see 5050-tattooed hands, arms and necks everywhere in Visby during the rest of the week and to have had so many opportunities to talk about what we want to achieve has felt fantastic!

To then be named by Westander as one of five finalists for Hetast i Almedalen 2015, with the motivation "The 50/50 Club's mingle kicked off the week, made an impact on the skin and accelerated the gender equality debate" was an incredibly rich icing on the cake. Not least for the extra attention it gives the 5050 club and our goal. Which was exactly what we wanted to achieve (in addition to having a j-t fun evening with a lot of great people): more and more conversations about gender equality in Almedalen that hopefully awaken thoughts and ideas to take home.

Personally, I don't believe in heaven or hell, but to paraphrase Madeleine Albright's oft-quoted statement: there is a special place in heaven for women who help each other! And for men who also see the inequality, want to understand, learn more, change. Themselves, their organizations and companies, their industry. They actually exist too. I have met several of them.

Ps. Join the 5050 Club, or the 5050 Club Support on Linked In - and follow us on Facebook!