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Seriously, stop with the booth babes

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Re: Seriously, stop with the booth babes

#11

Post by blahedo »

rdl wrote: post #6

I sort of accept booth babes as a given (I'd prefer to get rid of them, too, but once one company uses them, everyone has to; at the very least companies should commit to "no first use"). The thing that surprises me is when "booth babe" type people turn out to be actually intelligent, informed, competent people who are knowledgeable about the product. Sometimes they're full time staff, and sometimes they're professio…

This is exactly the OP's point---the existence of booth babes has conditioned us to be surprised when an attractive woman, or possibly any woman at all, is "intelligent, informed, competent". This follow-on effect is even worse than the already-bad first-order effect (namely objectifying the booth babe herself).

Re: Seriously, stop with the booth babes

#13

Post by MostAwesomeDude »

matusz13 wrote: post #4

The author only reinforces the fact that booth babes work. His argument that he hates them because he falls for them would probably only get me to consider using booth babes in the future. Sure, the approach is kind of 'Don Draper' but considering the audience... it's probably a viable marketing approach. There's probably an argument there about looking for original marketing approaches, as booth babes are an old and…

Yes. I will remember your product. I will remember that you had a pair of very polite models wearing baby-doll tees with your logos on them, and that they were completely clueless about your product. I will never buy your product and actively recommend against it. I remember all the booth babes I saw at OSCON and LinuxCon this year, and I will not forget.

Re: Seriously, stop with the booth babes

#14

Post by corin_ »

My experience lies in consumer events, and there are two simple reasons why booth babes are used.

1.) Visitors like them. 2.) Exhibitors themselves like them.

And reason 2 is the biggest. While number 1 would be enough to justify it in either case, most people base it purely on "hey, I love seeing booth babes, clearly they're a good idea". And it's hard to argue with the success they have.

Re: Seriously, stop with the booth babes

#15

Post by blahedo »

I'm getting the impression from reading the other comments that most of the commenters just skimmed the article (or perhaps didn't read it at all, and drew assumptions from the title). If you need a tl;dr, or if you read it quickly, this is the most important line in the post:

> What you end up with is the situation where you, as a conference goer, walk up to a booth and, because you’re no stranger to how this works, ignore any attractive woman and talk directly to a male at the booth. You assume immediately that any attractive female is there simply for their physical appearance, not for the value that their knowledge brings.

This is not an abstract PC idea of feeling bad about objectifying the booth babe, or wishing to avoid temptation, or whatever. This is a very specific problem that is harmful to the industry and to all the non-booth babes out there. The OP goes on to make some suggestions on how to work towards fixing the problem, but please, if you're going to comment on this, make sure you understand the actual main point first.

Re: Seriously, stop with the booth babes

#16

Post by geoffbp »

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Re: Seriously, stop with the booth babes

#17

Post by aresant »

What was once risque is now corporate and stale, such is the way of things.

Meanwhile innovators are shaking it up, take the Good Old Games parody on booth babes at PAX - grandmas handing out cookies:

http://geekfeminism.org/2011/08/28/booth-grandmas-at-pax-pri...

Good opportunity for startups to get attention - do something interesting and different. That's probably where the "booth babes" concept started to begin with.

Re: Seriously, stop with the booth babes

#18

Post by matusz13 »

MostAwesomeDude wrote: post #13
matusz13 wrote: post #4

The author only reinforces the fact that booth babes work. His argument that he hates them because he falls for them would probably only get me to consider using booth babes in the future. Sure, the approach is kind of 'Don Draper' but considering the audience... it's probably a viable marketing approach. There's probably an argument there about looking for original marketing approaches, as booth babes are an old and…

Yes. I will remember your product. I will remember that you had a pair of very polite models wearing baby-doll tees with your logos on them, and that they were completely clueless about your product. I will never buy your product and actively recommend against it. I remember all the booth babes I saw at OSCON and LinuxCon this year, and I will not forget.

Did you all shun Apple when Foxconn employees started jumping to their deaths? I'm guessing not.

Is it possible that you'd be letting your bias get in the way of your business sense? What if those products could have significantly helped your business?

Re: Seriously, stop with the booth babes

#19

Post by mgkimsal »

blahedo wrote: post #11
rdl wrote: post #6

I sort of accept booth babes as a given (I'd prefer to get rid of them, too, but once one company uses them, everyone has to; at the very least companies should commit to "no first use"). The thing that surprises me is when "booth babe" type people turn out to be actually intelligent, informed, competent people who are knowledgeable about the product. Sometimes they're full time staff, and sometimes they're professio…

This is exactly the OP's point---the existence of booth babes has conditioned us to be surprised when an attractive woman, or possibly any woman at all, is "intelligent, informed, competent". This follow-on effect is even worse than the already-bad first-order effect (namely objectifying the booth babe herself).

Take gender out of it, I'm surprised when anyone who is related to a 'sales' dept at a conference booth is "intelligent, informed, competent". It's better at tech conferences, but still not a 100% given.

Re: Seriously, stop with the booth babes

#20

Post by dmor »

blahedo wrote: post #15

I'm getting the impression from reading the other comments that most of the commenters just skimmed the article (or perhaps didn't read it at all, and drew assumptions from the title). If you need a tl;dr, or if you read it quickly, this is the most important line in the post: > What you end up with is the situation where you, as a conference goer, walk up to a booth and, because you’re no stranger to how this works,…

Thanks for making the main point clear, I want to chime in here as a woman and someone who has represented my company from very early on at trade shows (and does to this day). In the telecom industry in particular these booth babes run rampant, they literally provide you with a form when you register to exhibit asking if you want to hire models.

At one event a couple years ago, a guy came over to talk with our CTO (a guy) and I and said point blank to me, "do you have an ownership stake in the company? if not, at least you've got one foot in the door to marry this guy?" Nevermind that I'm wearing my wedding ring! All I could do was paint a "go F&%$ yourself" smile on my face and wait for him to leave. The things I would have liked to say, but it just wasn't worth it in that context.

The problem is, most people don't walk up to me expecting me to know about APIs, building applications, solving problems specific to their industry or use case, how supply chain works, or anything else important to their business. This is perpetuated by booth babes. How do I know? If I dress in a frumpy or slightly less feminine style, instead of my normal stylish heels and a skirt suit, I get a different reaction. If I wear skinny jeans and flats and a tshirt or hoodie, look my age (early 20s) and have a self-effacing air, they think "oh she's a nerdy girl" and then they ask the real questions. PUH-LEASE.

Oh - I should also mention that I DO think being a female works from the standpoint of getting booth traffic (can't fight it - sex sells, and you don't even need to be dressed in risque clothes to observe the difference). When I'm at the booth versus a guy, I think we get more traffic. The problem is, its less qualified and their intentions aren't easily converted to caring about our product, they're distracted by some other impulse.

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