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Bullshit I had to go through while organizing a software conference

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211–220 of 283 posts

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

#211

The problem with conferences is that they have become watered down with political agendas instead of focusing on learning and quality content. With this person's comments, the "troublemaker" might indeed be a problematic person, but, given what I've seen, usually when a group of women target another women it has very little to do with actual harassment and more to do with differences in political ideology.

> when a group of women target another women it has very little to do with actual harassment and more to do with differences in political ideology.

BINGO!

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

#212

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Right? If you're asked not to speak at a conference, why would you go on to consistently prove it was the right decision to remove you?

She was not asked. She was invited, and then kicked out of buzzconf (said conference), and the motives are not clear. Then he said there was some kind of harassment of which we don't have any proof except what he say. Then the guy justifies the ban saying it is because of commercial reasons, but before that he said it was because of some mysterious people were not comfortable WITH THE BOYFRIEND (are we in china were…

Invited and then dis-invited doesn't seem to change much.

The response still seems way out of line / indicate the dis-invite was for good reason.

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

#213

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.

> I was with the author until the diversity and equity part

I understand that perhaps to some people this may sound like a statement made in an effort to counteract identity politics, but isn't it really its own brand of identity politics?

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

#214

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's relevant in the sense that I don't particularly care that it'd be harder for me to get these jobs, as the pay cut vs my current job of software engineer would be so significant that I would never seriously consider it. Conversely, I would care a lot if there's some job that would earn me more money that my gender hinders me in attaining (as is sometimes the case for women in tech). To the extent that society is…

It's relevant in the sense that I don't particularly care that it'd be harder for me to get these jobs, as the pay cut vs my current job of software engineer would be so significant that I would never seriously consider it. I'm glad your chosen profession is well paid and you have the ability to do it. Some folks have alternate dreams and maybe not the same abilities you have. Perhaps they would make an amazing educa…

I think you're responding to a stronger version of what I actually said. I said that compensation is a factor, whereas you're responding as if I said it were the only factor (which I would disagree with too).

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

#215

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.

It seems like a lot (but not all) of the grief and drama the guy encountered could have been avoided by simply staying off of Twitter. Wouldn’t have stopped the crazed texts and other messages, but at the end of the day it’s also all just “words on the Internet” and I don’t see much real world harm here. EDIT: Wow, all this for just suggesting to not worry so much about what people write on Twitter. Sorry if I offend…

> Sorry if I offended someone!

It's like you didn't actually read the replies. They state counterarguments; they don't show anyone taking any offense.

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

#216
post #88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I watched this unfold on twitter, and in the organizer's defense, he only addressed the situation and the culprits after those people started a public discussion regarding the ban. The organizer was defending himself. It's a difficult situation to be in.

Moral of the story: Strike first, strike hard, no mercy? More reasonably but still on the aggressive side, does this mean that now we have to publicly announce when speaker invitations are rescinded to get ahead of the story?

Pretty cool show.

I think it is wise to publicly announce both speakers who have accepted invitations and speakers whose invitations were revoked (don't even have to say they are revoked, simply stating "unfortunately John Doe will not be speaking in our conf" should be sufficient). If not for these situations, then simply to inform visitors whom they can expect to hear in the conference.

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

#217

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's relevant in the sense that I don't particularly care that it'd be harder for me to get these jobs, as the pay cut vs my current job of software engineer would be so significant that I would never seriously consider it. I'm glad your chosen profession is well paid and you have the ability to do it. Some folks have alternate dreams and maybe not the same abilities you have. Perhaps they would make an amazing educa…

I think you're responding to a stronger version of what I actually said. I said that compensation is a factor, whereas you're responding as if I said it were the only factor (which I would disagree with too).

No, I believe the whole compensation argument misses the point. There are males who want to be educators and are actively discouraged from doing the job. Compensation is not a factor in their decision or the employer decision. Its a prejudice against males in early childhood education.

If imbalance in IT is bad then it should also be addressed in education. Compensation isn't the problem.

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

#218
post #184

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> judgment and sentencing of some other person has very different standards of proof and process. If this other party is known to many unrelated people over numerous past events for that pattern of behavior, it seems like fair game to me. People out there already know; it's just "connecting the doxx" for the rest.

That might make sense, for where you, or the writer, are located. I'm in the US, and we have ideals (not always respected) about due process, and systems to support that. You might want to consider: how much proof did you actually have when you called for doxxing, and how easy would it be for an adversary to manufacture that amount of proof? Also, it seems that doxxing tends to result in people with the worst judgmen…

[deleted]

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

#219
post #199

I've been a co-convener for two Python conferences in Vancouver. The conferences were small ( For me, the key sources of stress were: 1. hoping that tickets and sponsorship would cover our costs (at some point you have to pay for your venue, flights for your keynotes, etc. and this happens before ticket sales open). I think that we lost a few hundred dollars on the first conference and donated a few hundred dollars t…

What were the conferences? Just curious, I just happen to be moving back to Vancouver this summer.

They were Python conferences but they aren't being held anymore. You could check out PyCascades, which happened in Seattle this year.

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

#220

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What makes you believe the OP’s story?

I don't absolutely believe OP's story, but an important feature of OP's story is not naming any names. The story contains various propositions that can basically be divided into: 1. propositions that can likely be independently corroborated by large numbers of people: --- the conference really happened (we are not told which conference where, but if we knew that, numerous people could be found to attest to it, if it…

The woman supossedly harrased Carrone on a conference called FLISOL CABA. In which she was a speaker, and Carrone wasn't. In fact Carrone by his own account, never went to that conference up until that day. So, what was he doing there? So he went to the conference where she was speaking, and then she harrased him? Really?
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