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ElectronConf postponed until a “more diverse slate of speakers” can be delivered

electronconf.com

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Re: ElectronConf postponed until a “more diverse slate of speakers” can be delivered

#121

Post by bluesign »

thrownaway114 wrote: post #68

It is really worth considering that this conference used a blind review process[1]. Subsequently, there is zero chance that the reviewer's decisions were influenced by racism or sexism. As a society, we need to consider the implications of what is going on here. In what way could this move possibly be said to be anti-racist/anti-sexist? It just isn't. If anything, abandoning your speakers because they are male/white…

It is not totally blind, worse than that it is pro-diversity :)

'Speaker information will be used in any final reviews necessary to break ties and bring a balance to the speaking line-up.'

Re: ElectronConf postponed until a “more diverse slate of speakers” can be delivered

#122

Post by thrownaway114 »

indy wrote: post #115
thrownaway114 wrote: post #68

It is really worth considering that this conference used a blind review process[1]. Subsequently, there is zero chance that the reviewer's decisions were influenced by racism or sexism. As a society, we need to consider the implications of what is going on here. In what way could this move possibly be said to be anti-racist/anti-sexist? It just isn't. If anything, abandoning your speakers because they are male/white…

It's an unfortunate sign that you felt the need to use a throwaway account in order to make such a statement.

I know.

I am genuinely embarrassed not to associate my real name with my public speech. Having calculated the potential cost (and the low-impact of my message), though, it was either speak pseudonymously, or not at all.

Re: ElectronConf postponed until a “more diverse slate of speakers” can be delivered

#123

Post by Baeocystin »

briandear wrote: post #118
TeMPOraL wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I second the line of thinking, but please rein in the TSA a bit. That's literally the only thing I'm scared about going to US. All the other things seem like a purely local phenomena that shouldn't be generalized to the whole 300M country. But I am scared I'll get into trouble on the border because of my HN and Facebook posts (e.g. against US drone strikes).

The TSA and immigration officers at points of entry are nearly as bad as people make them out to be. It's a little like judging Chicago as a war zone based on stats from a very narrow geographic area with high violent crime rates: it isn't representative -- it's just that nobody ever gets "outraged" over the times they are treated well by customs/immigration/TSA. It's the same thing as tourists avoiding France becaus…

>The TSA and immigration officers at points of entry are nearly as bad as people make them out to be.

I think you're missing a 'not' in there somewhere. :)

Re: ElectronConf postponed until a “more diverse slate of speakers” can be delivered

#124

Post by thrownaway114 »

bluesign wrote: post #121
thrownaway114 wrote: post #68

It is really worth considering that this conference used a blind review process[1]. Subsequently, there is zero chance that the reviewer's decisions were influenced by racism or sexism. As a society, we need to consider the implications of what is going on here. In what way could this move possibly be said to be anti-racist/anti-sexist? It just isn't. If anything, abandoning your speakers because they are male/white…

It is not totally blind, worse than that it is pro-diversity :) 'Speaker information will be used in any final reviews necessary to break ties and bring a balance to the speaking line-up.'

One wonders how they they ended up with an all white group if the '...break ties and bring a balance to the speaking line-up' step had actually been applied?

Re: ElectronConf postponed until a “more diverse slate of speakers” can be delivered

#125

Post by selllikesybok »

muninn_ wrote: post #114
viraptor wrote: post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, that's a false dichotomy. The fact I prefer a mix of cultures, doesn't mean I'm against whatever conference you'd like to see (unless you were explicitly excluding people, that is). I'm not even saying staying in the monoculture of your own origin is bad, if that's what you want to do. And btw, East Asia has some awesomely diverse conferences :)

I'm not saying that you can't have a preference. The problem is that, if you prefer a monoculture than you're labeled a racist. So if you say: "I prefer a mix of cultures at xyz conference" that is ok because the mix is seen as good. But if you say: "I prefer only Han Chinese at this conference" you're a racist (actually I don't think you'd be labeled a racist, I think you would only be labeled a racist if you said w…

Maybe if people stopped flipping out a out having to think about injustice and their relative complicity in institutional inequality...

Like, freaking out about having to think about it. About not being able to sail through life without ever having to.

Re: ElectronConf postponed until a “more diverse slate of speakers” can be delivered

#126

Post by Melchizedek »

dragandj wrote: post #41

Electron, proton, and neutron enter the bar. I forgot basic physics and chemistry, so I don't know how it goes from that, but at the end, electron says: there's not enough diversity here!

That's because he repelled all the positive particles with his virtue signaling.

Re: ElectronConf postponed until a “more diverse slate of speakers” can be delivered

#127

Post by oriol16 »

muninn_ wrote: post #114
viraptor wrote: post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, that's a false dichotomy. The fact I prefer a mix of cultures, doesn't mean I'm against whatever conference you'd like to see (unless you were explicitly excluding people, that is). I'm not even saying staying in the monoculture of your own origin is bad, if that's what you want to do. And btw, East Asia has some awesomely diverse conferences :)

I'm not saying that you can't have a preference. The problem is that, if you prefer a monoculture than you're labeled a racist. So if you say: "I prefer a mix of cultures at xyz conference" that is ok because the mix is seen as good. But if you say: "I prefer only Han Chinese at this conference" you're a racist (actually I don't think you'd be labeled a racist, I think you would only be labeled a racist if you said w…

Agreed. People that talk with disgust about all men rooms should be ashamed.

Re: ElectronConf postponed until a “more diverse slate of speakers” can be delivered

#128

Post by boomboomsubban »

2muchcoffeeman wrote: post #101
viraptor wrote: post #69

I'm disappointed in how many comments here are just kneejerk reactions. Reaching for weird comparisons, getting angry at the idea of diversity and social justice, and many others. This wasn't enforced from outside. It's the organisers who agreed: yup, that's not what we want to do ( https://twitter.com/nmsanchez/status/870811022306574336 ) Stop for a moment, think of how you'd organise a conference. Is it different?…

> Edit: Yes, there are better and worse ways to go about it. Realising too late and reverting the original list was not the best. Reaching out to / inviting diverse groups rather than fixing balance later would be better. Hope they learned and will do it better next year. Organisers which care about it from the beginning somehow manage to get a decent m/f split - both in the audience and in the speakers. (see linux.c…

If the selection committee doesn't represent a diverse field, a blind review can still be biased. I write things in a way I find compelling, other people that find them compelling are likely similar to me.

Re: ElectronConf postponed until a “more diverse slate of speakers” can be delivered

#129

Post by thrownaway114 »

yorick wrote: post #116
thrownaway114 wrote: post #68

It is really worth considering that this conference used a blind review process[1]. Subsequently, there is zero chance that the reviewer's decisions were influenced by racism or sexism. As a society, we need to consider the implications of what is going on here. In what way could this move possibly be said to be anti-racist/anti-sexist? It just isn't. If anything, abandoning your speakers because they are male/white…

However, there's might still be bias in who applies to speak at this kind of conference. They could have done more to reach out and encourage other groups to apply. I'd be interested to see the submission statistics.

True. It would be very interesting to see who actually applied.

Re: ElectronConf postponed until a “more diverse slate of speakers” can be delivered

#130

Post by SilverSlash »

This is ridiculous. If I'm attending a conference, it's for the quality of the content and the speaker who will present it. I don't care how they look. I always thought those "women only" coding camps are absurd but this is next level stupidity.
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