Selling Electric Dreams: 100 years of the Electrical Association for Women

The IET Media Technical Network is delighted to be partnering with the IET Archives team to deliver a fascinating talk at this year’s Radio TechCon. 

How did the Electrical Association for Women, founded in 1924, use new broadcasting technology to push its message about electricity in the home? And how did it explain these new technologies to its members? This talk draws on the EAW archives held at the EAW and the newly digitised Electrical Age journal, first published in 1926.

Anne Locker, Library and Archives Manager at the IET will delve into the history of women in communications as we celebrate the centenary of the foundation of the Electrical Association for Women.

We’ll also be displaying some of the IET’s unique archival items on our exhibition table as part of the main conference. Anne will be there to discuss some of the items and you’ll also have the chance to meet some if the Media network exec committee volunteers and hear about their activity.

Radio TechCon is an annual one-day conference aimed at broadcast engineers, technologists and anyone with an interest in radio, audio, technology and engineering – including programme-makers and managers. It takes a deep dive into the technical challenges and opportunities facing the radio and audio industry, as well as celebrating technical achievements and remaining as accessible as possible to all.

This year Radio TechCon will be taking a virtual tour around The Lantern, Bauer’s new UK HQ, as part of this year’s technical and engineering conference. Earlier this year, Bauer moved from Golden Square to The Lantern complex near King’s Cross. This involved building dozens of new studios and overcoming numerous technical challenges, all while keeping the old building on air. 

Hearing the behind-the-scenes insights is just one of the sessions attendees will enjoy. Additional sessions announced today include a celebration of 100 years since the founding of the Electrical Association for Women, with insights and stories from archivists at the IET, as well as the University of Sheffield presenting their latest research on speech-to-text technologies. 

Tickets are on sale now and IET members are eligible for a discount. To receive your discount code please email Gemma Hadley ghadley@theiet.org with your membership number.