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 city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. She is also a

journalist A journalist is a person who gathers information in the form of text, audio or pictures, processes it into a newsworthy form and disseminates it to the public. This is called journalism. Roles Journalists can work in broadcast, print, advertis ...

social software Social software, also known as social apps or social platform includes communications and interactive tools that are often based on the Internet. Communication tools typically handle capturing, storing and presenting communication, usually writt ...

consultant,

blog A blog (a Clipping (morphology), truncation of "weblog") is an informational website consisting of discrete, often informal diary-style text entries also known as posts. Posts are typically displayed in Reverse chronology, reverse chronologic ...

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 British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was found ...

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

Ada Lovelace Day Ada Lovelace Day is an annual event held on the second Tuesday of October to celebrate and raise awareness of the contributions of women to STEM fields. It is named after mathematician and computer science pioneer Ada Lovelace. It started in 200 ...

Career

Early career, blogging, and social software

Charman is a graduate of

Cardiff University Cardiff University () is a public research university in Cardiff, Wales. It was established in 1883 as the University College of South Wales and Monmouthshire and became a founding college of the University of Wales in 1893. It was renamed Unive ...

with a BSc in

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

. 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, of or about Wales * Welsh language, spoken in Wales * Welsh people, an ethnic group native to Wales Places * Welsh, Arkansas, U.S. * Welsh, Louisiana, U.S. * Welsh, Ohio, U.S. * Welsh Basin, during t ...

. 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 pu ...

, 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 includes communications and interactive tools that are often based on the Internet. Communication tools typically handle capturing, storing and presenting communication, usually writt ...

consulting includes producing the BlogOn Conference in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, in 2005. She has worked for

MSN MSN is a web portal and related collection of Internet services and apps provided by Microsoft. The main webpage provides news, weather, sports, finance and other content curated from hundreds of different sources that Microsoft has partnere ...

, BUPA,

Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein SG Kleinwort Hambros is a private bank owned by Société Générale that offers financial services from offices throughout the United Kingdom, Channel Islands and Gibraltar. History In June 2016, Société Générale acquired Kleinwort Benson ...

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 1992, Further and Higher Education Act in 1992 as a degree awarding body ...

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 founded by B. C. Forbes in 1917. It has been owned by the Hong Kong–based investment group Integrated Whale Media Investments since 2014. Its chairman and editor-in-chief is Steve Forbes. The c ...

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 Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' 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

. 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/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