Gender Issues in Web 2.0 Careers: A Discussion

Suw Charman-Anderson is a leading social software expert, specialising in the use of blogs and wikis in business. She works with companies around the world, from sectors as diverse as technology, finance and public relations, to help them understand how social software can be used both behind the firewall and for customer communications.

After a short stint working as a freelance music journalist in the late 90s, Suw became a freelance web designer and project manager. In 2002, she launched her own internet start-up which she ran for two years.

She started her first blog, Chocolate and Vodka, in 2001, and began working as a social media consultant four years ago. She recently co-founded Fruitful Seminars & Events, covering Web 2.0 subjects, with Lloyd Davis and Leisa Reichelt.

A passionate digital rights advocate, Suw founded the Open Rights Group in July 2005, with the aim of raising awareness of digital rights issues, running campaigns and supporting grass roots activism. As Executive Director, Suw was responsible for ORG’s responses to the APIG public inquiry into Digital Rights Management and the Gowers Review of Intellectual Property.

She writes regularly with her husband, journalist Kevin Anderson, about social media, journalism and related subjects on their blog, Strange Attractor, and has recently written about social networks for CIO Magazine and about the psychology of email for The Guardian.