No, of that I'm innocent • Hacker News Board

Re: No, of that I'm innocent

#181

Post by DonHopkins » Thu, Oct 26, 2017, 3:48 PM UTC

On his Facebook page, Robert Scoble wrote:

https://i.imgur.com/kH6DsGA.png

"Robert Scoble: Andrew Brackin I have NOT deleted ANY comments. They may have deleted them. I did not."

That was a bald faced lie. He's deleted a whole hell of a lot of comments, along with his original non-apology-apology.

https://techcrunch.com/2017/10/20/robert-scoble-has-allegedl...

"Update: Scoble has since deleted his original apology and now posted a lengthy rebuttal to the reporting done by TechCrunch and other publications on his personal site."

Re: No, of that I'm innocent

#182

Post by zimpenfish » Thu, Oct 26, 2017, 3:49 PM UTC

pwinnski wrote: post #133

Everything about this reeks of nastiness. I'm sure it hurts to have your past wrongs put under a microscope publicly. I remember the days after my divorce, and the pain and shame were excruciating. The only thing that would have been worse would have been if I'd denied the obvious truths, minimized my own misbehaviors, and relied on self-righteousness to assuage pangs of guilt. Sadly, Scoble has not (yet?) come to th…

> I hope he stops talking long enough to realize his own pain, as excruciating as it is, isn't the story here.

To be fair, if he had that amount of empathy and self-reflection, he wouldn't be in this situation.

Re: No, of that I'm innocent

#183

Post by grzm » Thu, Oct 26, 2017, 3:54 PM UTC

zimpenfish wrote: post #182

pwinnski wrote: post #133

Everything about this reeks of nastiness. I'm sure it hurts to have your past wrongs put under a microscope publicly. I remember the days after my divorce, and the pain and shame were excruciating. The only thing that would have been worse would have been if I'd denied the obvious truths, minimized my own misbehaviors, and relied on self-righteousness to assuage pangs of guilt. Sadly, Scoble has not (yet?) come to th…

> I hope he stops talking long enough to realize his own pain, as excruciating as it is, isn't the story here. To be fair, if he had that amount of empathy and self-reflection, he wouldn't be in this situation.

Let's be fair and hopeful that he may be able to come to such.

Re: No, of that I'm innocent

#184

Post by DonHopkins » Thu, Oct 26, 2017, 4:17 PM UTC

ghaff wrote: post #86

openmosix wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The problem is, he is one of the MOST influential people in the tech ecosystem. Yes, he is a "blogger", but in many cases he could make or break a product, a startup or a career. A friend of mine startup was noticed (and acquired) by Facebook because Scoble started blogging about it and that came to the attention of Zuckerberg. This guy leaves and breathes in tech conferences, as he is a regular invited speaker/guest…

I think you overstate his influence even back in the day. But absolutely to the rest of your comment. One of the more cringeworthy parts of a rather cringeworthy post.

Scoble himself has always overstated and self-aggrandized his own influence, as have so many others in the press, the industry, blogs and twitter (many of them actually trying to suck up to him and flatter him, in order to get a good mention in return -- see "Lesson 5: Reciprocate" below), which contradicts his current ploy of desperately trying to downplay his own influence so he can justify his behavior as "almost but not quite entirely unlike sexual harassment".

https://www.theverge.com/2017/10/25/16547332/robert-scoble-s...

Scoble has been called “one of the most influential players in the [tech] industry,” and one of the “top ten people to know in Silicon Valley.”

https://venturebeat.com/2015/01/28/5-things-silicon-valley-c...

The amount of love the tech community has for Robert Scoble is overwhelming. If the tech community were a country, Scoble would be its ambassador. Not only because we would want him to be, but because he truly knows more about the state of the global tech community than anyone else on planet Earth. I’ve known Scoble for seven years, and I’ve always been in awe of how much knowledge this man possesses about so many startups.

[...]

Lesson 5: Reciprocate

Due to his influential status, Scoble gets many perks from entrepreneurs around the world, just like most influencers do: Free gadgets, access to apps, invitations to visit conferences and stay in nice hotel rooms, and so on. These are usually forgotten by most influential figures in the Valley. However, Scoble never forgets these gestures and always acknowledges them — either through a Facebook post, tweet, or a reciprocal gesture. He doesn’t just take these benefits for granted like other folks of his caliber might.

Entrepreneurs, of course, appreciate this and remember him for it. Many of the activities throughout Scoble’s birthday for example, were contributed by individuals, due to their admiration for Scoble and appreciation of him.

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/richard-lorenzen/the-top-10-p...

3. Robert Scoble

Many people know Robert Scoble for his blog Scobleizer, which he wrote when he was working with Microsoft. Today, Scoble working for Rackspace and their sponsored community site Building 43, which focuses on highlighting and promoting cutting-edge startups and breakthrough technology. If you want to be featured in Silicon Valley, he is the individual to turn to. After all, his influence in the area is long-standing as Scoble grew up in Silicon Valley, just blocks away from Apple’s head office.

Re: No, of that I'm innocent

#185

Post by [deleted] » Thu, Oct 26, 2017, 4:27 PM UTC

zaroth wrote: post #145

openmosix wrote: post #117

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Let's also not forget that it was a conference. A very laid back-camping kind of conference, but a conference. In today's standards - where you can't join a project or visit/talk to a conference without accepting a CoC - this would still be considered an extension of the workplace, or at least be classified as a "professional setting". We are not talking rocket science: if you are in a professional setting, getting o…

Read back to the context of my question. Two drunk people coming together to "make out" at a camp out -- this is a "conference" like Burning Man is a conference -- if this is in and of itself is creating a "hostile work environment" I think that words are losing their meaning. I don't really care what kind of narrative Scoble is trying to make. I have no knowledge of the specifics of his situation or his encounters,…

[deleted]

Re: No, of that I'm innocent

#186

Post by DonHopkins » Thu, Oct 26, 2017, 4:30 PM UTC

zaroth wrote: post #166

emodendroket wrote: post #161

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To me, hairsplitting about whether the conduct technically counts as sexual harassment is more or less beside the point and even getting into it makes the allegations sound more, rather than less, credible.

Maybe I misunderstood the purpose of this thread. I didn't think this was about assessing the specific allegations at all, but precisely about understanding the definition of sexual harassment.

It's the willingness of so many men to split hairs in order to defend a pig that is so offensive and threatening to women.

Re: No, of that I'm innocent

#187

Post by DonHopkins » Thu, Oct 26, 2017, 6:57 PM UTC

zaroth wrote: post #48

TarpitCarnivore wrote: post #15

> I don’t have employees, I don’t cut checks for investment. None of the women who came forward were ever in a position where I could make or break their careers. Sexual Harassment requires that I have such power. This is an incredibly disgusting and miss-guided view of sexual harassment.

If you're hoping for substantive discussion it would be good if you could say more. Just like on HN the guidelines are to take the most charitable interpretation possible of what someone wrote when responding, I think it's best to apply the same process when critiquing TFA.

Ok, since you say so: charitable it is.

Once you get past all that sexual harassment stuff, there's some really exciting news in that article we're discussing, that I think most people have overlooked!

What did you think of his new business and new career that Robert Scoble announced?

Have you signed up for his mailing list yet?

Are you looking forward to reading his sagely words of advice about how to best benefit from his experience?

Is your company working on something that would benefit from Robert Scoble evangelizing and representing you to the press?

Do you have any stories about hard-to-express passions for your product or customers that you need to announce to the world?

Do you want to save money on lawyer fees by having Robert Scoble advise you about what to write in your press releases?

http://lightpitch.launchrock.com/

LightPitch: Helping startups get attention

I, Robert Scoble, have a passion for products, and have spent the last 20 years helping others tell the story of their products. Now you can benefit from my experience.

Pitch Consulting and more:

Entrepreneurs often have a passion for their product that they can’t express in the ways that resonate with investors. I will work with you to build a deck and narrative that resonates with investors as well as help you practice for the questions that routinely come up. In some cases I will also aid in introductions to potential investors and companies that would make good customers or partners.

Pricing and availability coming soon. In the meantime, use the contact form below to find out how I can help in your success.

Re: No, of that I'm innocent

#188

Post by benmmurphy » Thu, Oct 26, 2017, 10:41 PM UTC

scobles refutation of quins allegation is a motte and bailey argument. quinn has accused him of grabbing her breast but instead of addressing this allegation he instead has redirected the argument to him making out with the other woman.

Re: No, of that I'm innocent

#189

Post by rcade » Fri, Oct 27, 2017, 12:34 AM UTC

zaroth wrote: post #145

openmosix wrote: post #117

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Let's also not forget that it was a conference. A very laid back-camping kind of conference, but a conference. In today's standards - where you can't join a project or visit/talk to a conference without accepting a CoC - this would still be considered an extension of the workplace, or at least be classified as a "professional setting". We are not talking rocket science: if you are in a professional setting, getting o…

Read back to the context of my question. Two drunk people coming together to "make out" at a camp out -- this is a "conference" like Burning Man is a conference -- if this is in and of itself is creating a "hostile work environment" I think that words are losing their meaning. I don't really care what kind of narrative Scoble is trying to make. I have no knowledge of the specifics of his situation or his encounters,…

I don't know where you're getting the idea it's not a conference. Here's a link to a photo set from Foo Camp 2010, where the incident occurred:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/deanputney/sets/72157624362235...

Burning Man it ain't.

Re: No, of that I'm innocent

#190

Post by rcade » Fri, Oct 27, 2017, 12:50 AM UTC

zaroth wrote: post #140

countryslicker wrote: post #128

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Does your office serve alcohol? Does your rule of thumb extend to what you eat and drink? What kind of clothes you wear? Whether you stay or leave? I think it would be great if it did. But then you would have to significantly restructure conferences to conform. Many of the official events of a conference are blatant violations of workplace behavior.

Since drinking an unspecified amount of alcohol can render a woman (but not a man) incapable of consenting while possibly also giving the outward appearance of consenting, no absolutely don't serve alcohol at the workplace when women are present. Now of course this is an absurd statement, but are their elements of truth in it? Quinn's account is Scoble and another woman were "making out" and that both were drunk. The…

Three other witnesses have come forward and said that they were concerned the woman was too drunk to consent. Artur Bergman's account: "Me and my friend realized we had seen Scoble appear next to her repeatedly during the evening. Pouring more and more alcohol for her. After seeing this for a while we felt we had to intervene and help her get away."

https://twitter.com/crucially/status/921317876169977857