Suw Charman-Anderson (born 15 April 1971) is the former Executive Director of the

Open Rights Group The Open Rights Group (ORG) is a UK-based organisation that works to preserve digital rights and freedoms by campaigning on digital rights issues and by fostering a community of grassroots activists. It campaigns on numerous issues including ma ...

, a campaign group based in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

. She is also a

journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...

social software Social software, also known as social apps or social platform, include communications and interactive tools that are often based on the Internet. Communication tools typically handle the capturing, storing and presentation of communication, usua ...

consultant,

blog A blog (a truncation of "weblog") is a discussion or informational website published on the World Wide Web consisting of discrete, often informal diary-style text entries (posts). Posts are typically displayed in reverse chronological order ...

ger and public speaker."Jack of all trades, master of the ORG" by Jane Dudman, Information World Review, Nov. 13, 2006.
/ref> Named one of the "50 most influential Britons in technology" by ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was fo ...

'', she has also worked to gain recognition for other women in technological fields, including by founding Ada Lovelace Day.

Career

Early career, blogging, and social software

Charman is a graduate of

Cardiff University , latin_name = , image_name = Shield of the University of Cardiff.svg , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms of Cardiff University , motto = cy, Gwirionedd, Undod a Chytgord , mottoeng = Truth, Unity and Concord , established = 1 ...

with a

BSc A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University of ...

Geology Geology () is a branch of natural science concerned with Earth and other astronomical objects, the features or rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which they change over time. Modern geology significantly overlaps all other Ear ...

. Early career projects included music journalism, web publishing, and providing web support to other learners of

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peop ...

. In her 20s, while working as an editorial assistant for a science publishing company, she chose the name "Suw" for herself after creating it as a typographical error for her short name, Sue. Her personal weblog, ''Chocolate and Vodka'', started in June 2002, features commentary on the

Blogosphere The blogosphere is made up of all blogs and their interconnections. The term implies that blogs exist together as a connected community (or as a collection of connected communities) or as a social networking service in which everyday authors can p ...

, social issues and politics growing her audience. Her professional

''Strange Attractor,'' was begun in July 2004 under the Corante label. She still edits and posts to both, the latter with her husband Kevin. Her work in

Social Software Social software, also known as social apps or social platform, include communications and interactive tools that are often based on the Internet. Communication tools typically handle the capturing, storing and presentation of communication, usua ...

consulting includes producing the BlogOn Conference in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, in 2005. She has worked for

MSN MSN (meaning Microsoft Network) is a web portal and related collection of Internet services and apps for Windows and mobile devices, provided by Microsoft and launched on August 24, 1995, alongside the release of Windows 95. The Microsoft Net ...

BUPA Bupa , legally British United Provident Association Limited, is an international health insurance and healthcare group with over 38 million customers worldwide. Bupa's origins and global headquarters are in the United Kingdom. Its main countrie ...

Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein Kleinwort Hambros is a private bank owned by Société Générale that offers financial services from offices throughout the United Kingdom and Channel Islands. Kleinwort Hambros focuses on private banking, providing a range of services for high ...

Socialtext Socialtext Incorporated was a company based in Palo Alto, California, that produced enterprise social software for companies. It offered an integrated suite of wiki tools and social software applications, including microblogging, user profiles, ...

, Jackie Cooper PR,

De Montfort University De Montfort University Leicester (DMU) is a public university in the city of Leicester, England. It was established in accordance with the Further and Higher Education Act in 1992 as a degree awarding body. The name De Montfort University was tak ...

and

BBC News Online BBC News Online is the website of BBC News, the division of the BBC responsible for newsgathering and production. It is one of the most popular news websites, with 1.2 billion website visits in April 2021, as well as being used by 60% of the U ...

, training or consulting. She talks about blogging for business. In January 2012, she started a blog on

Forbes.com ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also re ...

about self-publishing and crowdfunding.

Activism

Her work online has led her to explore the issues surrounding rights and responsibilities online, which she has frequently written about—for example, her article for ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' in 2004 exploring the truth behind file sharing and the music industry. She also has written for Linux User and Developer discussing digital rights. In 2005, she co-founded the

, leading the project as Executive Director within its infancy. As a founder of ORG, she has commented on a wide variety of issues dealing with ownership and new media.

Ada Lovelace Day

In 2009, Charman recruited bloggers and others to honour influential women in science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM). This became an annual event, which she called Ada Lovelace Day. In 2010 more than 2,000 people responded with blogs, podcasts, and videos supporting the project. In 2015, it was said to be important to women and minorities under-represented in science and technology.Why Ada Lovelace Day matters

, 13 October 2015

Bibliography

* ''Argleton'', London 2010. ASIN B005JSI21W * ''Molly’s Secret Diary or the Confessions of a Social Software Convert''; in:

Willms Buhse Willms Buhse (born 3 November 1970 in Langenhagen, Germany) is a German entrepreneur, author, speaker and consultant based in Hamburg. His work focuses on digital leadership and digital transformation, covering also the people-centric aspects o ...

/Soeren Stamer: The Art of Letting Go, Bloomington 2008. * in: Jeremy Wright: ''Blog Marketing: The Revolutionary New Way to Increase Sales, Build Your Brand, and Get Exceptional Results'', New York 2006. * "Blogs in Business: Using Blogs behind the Firewall", in: Axel Bruns; Joanne Jacobs: ''Uses of Blogs'', New York 2006.

References

External links

Open Rights Group

Professional website

Blog "Chocolate and Vodka"

Blog "Strange Attractor"

Blog on Forbes.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Charman-Anderson, Suw 1971 births Living people Writers from London People from Bournemouth Alumni of Cardiff University English activists English women activists Internet activists Copyright activists British bloggers 21st-century English women 21st-century English people