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Silicon Valley Is Sneaking Models into This Year’s Holiday Parties

bloomberg.com

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Re: Silicon Valley Is Sneaking Models into This Year’s Holiday Parties

#41

Post by workthrowaway27 »

nimbius wrote: post #18

When attendance is so important to leadership theyre willing to do anything to insist their holiday parties are somehow different than any other corporations awkward, two drink ticket catered navel gazing event. 'non mandatory employee engagement' is generally how HR describes these sterile lifeless get-togethers. This inevitably gets translated into "i strongly encourage my team to attend" by management, which in tu…

I always heard no one ever gets promoted at the holiday party, but plenty of people get fired. So I show up early, have two drinks, say hi, and leave before doing anything regrettable.

Re: Silicon Valley Is Sneaking Models into This Year’s Holiday Parties

#43

Post by 2_listerine_pls »

davidu wrote: post #7

Pathetic. The whole point is to celebrate with the employees and their families and recognize the hard work everyone has put in over the year. A stranger not connected to an employee would take away from that value. If you want more women at the event, hire more women at the company and create a culture that encourages that.

The whole point is to take them to the hotel.

Re: Silicon Valley Is Sneaking Models into This Year’s Holiday Parties

#44

Post by User23 »

throwawayjava wrote: post #24
jasode wrote: post #8

Yes, this practice of models at parties brings back memories. In 2000, a very well-known enterprise software company (Northeast not Silicon Valley) hosted a conference for customers and had a night party for the attendees. The most memorable thing I remember was the group of extremely pretty women on roller skates mingling with the crowd. E.g. they'd skate up and ask random attendees, "Hey where are you from? Are you…

IDK. My logical brain says "it's not 1950 anymore; the PR blow-black has the potential to be truly brutal." My emotional brain says "This is horridly objectifying and super awkward."

Why should these women be denied the opportunity to do this job, supposing they want to do it?

Re: Silicon Valley Is Sneaking Models into This Year’s Holiday Parties

#46

Post by vanadium »

During the dot-com boom in Atlanta back in '99-'00, agencies and, to some extent, startups around the city were known for hitting the strip clubs for client meetings. It was pretty rife out there within the industry.

I doubt that would even remotely pass today. Just because some practices were "acceptable" over a prior timeframe doesn't exactly render it acceptable today.

Re: Silicon Valley Is Sneaking Models into This Year’s Holiday Parties

#47

Post by throwaway0255 »

bdcravens wrote: post #27
davidu wrote: post #7

Pathetic. The whole point is to celebrate with the employees and their families and recognize the hard work everyone has put in over the year. A stranger not connected to an employee would take away from that value. If you want more women at the event, hire more women at the company and create a culture that encourages that.

> If you want more women at the event This has nothing to do with equality. They aren't hiring these models as equals, but for the misogynistic dynamic (while removing the organic nature of opposite-sex interaction)

> They aren't hiring these models as equals, but for the misogynistic dynamic

Interesting, my mind goes straight to this being incredibly demeaning toward the legitimate male attendees of the party. Didn't even occur to me that somebody would have the opposite interpretation.

That'd be my only thought at the party. "They had to pay this good-looking person to pretend to talk to me." I don't see how this is misogynistic? I just see this as an extreme degradation of the males involved.

Re: Silicon Valley Is Sneaking Models into This Year’s Holiday Parties

#49

Post by leggomylibro »

jasode wrote: post #8

Yes, this practice of models at parties brings back memories. In 2000, a very well-known enterprise software company (Northeast not Silicon Valley) hosted a conference for customers and had a night party for the attendees. The most memorable thing I remember was the group of extremely pretty women on roller skates mingling with the crowd. E.g. they'd skate up and ask random attendees, "Hey where are you from? Are you…

I don't enjoy it; it already feels like nobody ever smiles at or talks to me when they aren't getting paid to, why would I ever want that feeling to extend to social events?

Talk about a nightmare.

Re: Silicon Valley Is Sneaking Models into This Year’s Holiday Parties

#50

Post by workthrowaway27 »

bdcravens wrote: post #28
maxk42 wrote: post #15

This has been standard practice for decades -- nothing new. Moreover, it's standard practice in a lot of big industries. Particularly advertising, finance, automobiles, and others.

A lot of things have been standard practices in various industries for decades. That doesn't mean they should be, and today's world gives everyone a new voice to challenge these kind of things.

What's the issue with this exactly? The models are getting paid. Presumably no one is compelled to work as a hired model at one of these events.
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