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Bullshit I had to go through while organizing a software conference

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Re: Bullshit I had to go through while organizing a software conference

#41

Post by nocitrek »

wccrawford wrote: post #29
Mirioron wrote: post #25

I was with the author until the diversity and equity part. Why does everything have to boil down to skin color and gender? I don't see why you need to offer this for a tech conference. It should be about ability and topics. Edit: I already regret making this post.

Because there's a well-known imbalance, and not everything balances itself. Sometimes fairness requires stepping in and lending a helping hand to right an imbalance.

Why do you think its right to fix the imbalance - what do you accomplish by it? Are you going to fix the imbalance everywhere you see it?

Re: Bullshit I had to go through while organizing a software conference

#42

Post by j4kp07 »

jasonlotito wrote: post #14
leereeves wrote: post #7

How can we know if your side of the story is the truth? Either way, this is an excellent example of why the Twitter Justice System is a bad idea.

So, there is no need to assume otherwise at this point. They are working through the legal system, and haven't named anyone. That's why you don't see any evidence presented, or names, or anything else like that.

> They are working through the legal system...

That would be the "civil" legal system. I would imagine that if a police report was filed, the author would have mentioned that in the article. Otherwise, I treat it all as hyperbole whereby the author seems to be on the receiving end of the same rumors s/he has enabled.

Re: Bullshit I had to go through while organizing a software conference

#43

Post by ivanbakel »

Mirioron wrote: post #25

I was with the author until the diversity and equity part. Why does everything have to boil down to skin color and gender? I don't see why you need to offer this for a tech conference. It should be about ability and topics. Edit: I already regret making this post.

What is your response to the author's point that "ability and topics" are abstract concepts that don't take into account how people engage with a conference?

Re: Bullshit I had to go through while organizing a software conference

#44

Post by asark »

MattGrommes wrote: post #40
gameswithgo wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

should we be aggressively encouraging men to take up nursing?

Sure, go for it. But I know a male nurse and he's never experienced anything remotely like what a lot of women I know in tech experience so it's not the equal thought you might think it is.

What did doctors and lawyers do starting back in the 80s? We should do whatever they did, since it seems to have worked.

Re: Bullshit I had to go through while organizing a software conference

#45

Post by kibwen »

gameswithgo wrote: post #32
wccrawford wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because there's a well-known imbalance, and not everything balances itself. Sometimes fairness requires stepping in and lending a helping hand to right an imbalance.

should we be aggressively encouraging men to take up nursing?

For what it's worth, men are certainly underrepresented in nursing in the US. From https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/01/04/upshot/male-n... :

"Only 13 percent of nurses in the United States are men, but that share has grown steadily since 1960, when the number was 2 percent, according to a working paper published in October by the Washington Center for Equitable Growth."

Re: Bullshit I had to go through while organizing a software conference

#46

Post by MagicPropmaker »

I'm a big fan of "unbalancedparen". He's a great guy; smart and considerate.

I think the Industry has invited this sort of bad behavior by rewarding Cry Bullies at conferences. People act enititled and they're not willing to put up with speakers who they may have political or philosophical problems with. Similarly, speakers are expecting privileged treatment too, like the spurned speaker in this blog posting.

When there is a real problem, we're unsure who or what to believe. People will complain with the same force whether the problem is big or small. And everyone tries for a "gotcha" and then to have a Trial by Twitter.

Re: Bullshit I had to go through while organizing a software conference

#47

Post by Tomte »

MattGrommes wrote: post #40
gameswithgo wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

should we be aggressively encouraging men to take up nursing?

Sure, go for it. But I know a male nurse and he's never experienced anything remotely like what a lot of women I know in tech experience so it's not the equal thought you might think it is.

I think that's true for male nurses, but at least in my country male Kindergarten teachers often have a hard time.

Parents not wanting their daughter to be touched (or even helped to the toilet) by the male teacher, female colleagues making "jokes" about pedophile leanings, and so on.

The divide in typically female and typically male professions is not a one-way street.

Re: Bullshit I had to go through while organizing a software conference

#48

Post by jacquesm »

Sounds like he made the right decision not to have her present. Any rejection that generates such a wave of hatred and downright threatening activity was certainly on good grounds, regardless of the situation before what happened afterwards validates it.

Re: Bullshit I had to go through while organizing a software conference

#49

Post by acdha »

gameswithgo wrote: post #32
wccrawford wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because there's a well-known imbalance, and not everything balances itself. Sometimes fairness requires stepping in and lending a helping hand to right an imbalance.

should we be aggressively encouraging men to take up nursing?

If you searched for this, you would find multiple programs trying to do just that. The difference is that it doesn't make the news because there isn't a reactionary movement which sees that as an existential threat.
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