Women Sound Off Festival Empowers Visionaries and Creatives

March 05, 2020

Announcing it’s 4th edition coming up this April 3-5th 2020, the annual Oakland-based festival WSO seeks to create the ultimate space for womxn & non-binary entrepreneurs.

Women Sound Off Festival will hold it’s 4th edition with a weekend-long line-up of events for womxn & non-binary entrepreneurs and creatives. At WSO Fest, attendees have the opportunity to develop their ideas, mold their vision and form community-driven alliances in an intentionally inclusive space.

This year’s festival will prioritize wellness and career innovation in tandem with 30+ inspiring speakers who are leaders in their respective industries. Throughout the weekend, the 1200+ attendees will participate in workshops, panels, wellness activities, markets, and performances. They will have the opportunity to learn from leaders like Athena Koumis of Twitch, Salome Asega of Ford Foundation, and Anna Bulbrook of Girls School LA, among many others.

Fault Radio had a chance to speak with Evangeline (Vang) Elder and Carmena Woodward (aka DJ Red Corvette) the two directors of Women Sound Off (WSO):

Interview

1) Tell us about your background, about WSO, when and why did you start it, and what’s behind the name?

Vang: I was born & raised in Oakland and work in the music business, in addition to Women Sound Off! We started WSO in December of 2016 and the platform was originally named Women in Music Festival but we changed our name to be more inclusive of womxn from all industries. We really started WSO to form an alliance and encourage other women to build horizontally and form alliances. We wanted to create intentional spaces where womxn felt comfortable being themselves and networking without all the anxiety. Our name comes from an article an old friend did about us “sounding off” and breaking up the boys club. When we changed our name, this was the only name that truly felt right.

2) In recent years there has been a growing awareness towards supporting women in creative fields; in the music industry alone we’ve seen a global movement with the establishment of organizations such as Women In Music, Discwoman, Girls School LA, shesaid.so, Women That Rock and more. Can you tell us how you see WSO fits in this landscape? How is it different from other projects and what is it about the Bay Area in particular that makes your initiative so important?

WSO: Women Sound Off is the platform that incubates other platforms. We’re different because we don’t want to dominate this field - we instead want the market of womxn-run platforms to multiply so everyone feels they have a place. Our platform also works with women from square one who doesn’t have the exact experience but have the drive — we really invest in the people on our team and we feel that we’re offering up a new & transparent method of being intersectional. Our staff is diverse from top-down, which is 100% intentional.

3) What’s your view on the state of women nowadays in the creative fields and how do you see WSO making an impact? Can you give an example from past years?

WSO: Women are killing it per usual but I still have major issues with the pay gap and lack of promotions. I want to see more women at the C-suite level across all fields, not just creative fields. I’m hoping we can create a pipeline for more womxn to see themselves as founders or at a C-suite level.

We see WSO making an impact by investing in the long term success of womxn in our community. There are volunteers who are now senior members of the team & have developed entirely new skill sets. That in itself is a testament to our impact.

4) After forming WSO, tell us about your experience, what has it been like to execute this event for the past few years. What was the feedback like? Were there any special collaborations that have been made? What has changed since the first launch?

Vang: It’s been a damn roller coaster! I’ve experienced extreme learning curves and there’s some lessons I’ll never forget. We’ve always gotten amazing feedback on programming and this year we’re leveling up on operations. We’ve had quite a few collaborations that were special, including our music panel w/ Pandora and our collab with Jack Daniels. I consider all of our speakers to be collaborators as well because they bring so much energy to the table. Since the first launch, we’ve changed our name and really expanded our mission. We’re constantly growing.

5) Tell us about the upcoming Festival, what should we expect from the 2020 edition. Are there any specific topics you want to highlight this year?

WSO: Expect 2020 to be the best festival year yet. We’ve doubled up on workshops and for the first time, we’re offering office hours and more dynamic programming.

6) What is your vision for Women’s Sound Off in the coming years?

WSO: We want headquarters. We want to bring a similar version of the festival to LA and NYC! We want to hire full-time employees.

To learn more about Women Sound Off and to attend their upcoming event visit womensoundoff.com

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