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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

#131

Post by enriquto »

bduerst wrote: post #122
enriquto wrote: post #118

The reaction of the organizer is very sad. Civilization is based on the peaceful collaboration of people who may hate each other. Disallowing such collaboration is, by definition, uncivilized. Being able to deal with people that make you very uncomfortable without creating a fuss is a fundamental requirement of adulthood. Regardless of the callous reaction of the un-invited person, it was not OK to un-invite them, at…

You missed this part: > Generally, the best scenario is to talk with the involved parties, to cooperate and to seek a solution that doesn’t make the problem bigger. This isn’t always possible. In this case they went public and accused me and I had to explain what happened. One of the parties involved wasn't interested in civilized collaboration, but making false accusations instead.

He does not explain the whole story, so it is difficult to know. It does not really seem that he tried to talk to the person whose talk was cancelled (and who had probably already bought plane tickets, etc).

I agree that, in the end, it is true that this person was a troublemaker that should not have been invited in the first place. However, it seems from the text that the organizers decided to cancel the invitation before receiving any input whatsoever from the concerned person. I cannot see how this is ok.

Imagine that this person has been bullied in such a way out of a dozen conferences by a concerted effort of a few colleagues that hate her. And for this last conference, she exploded with great and not completely unjustified ire. Whatever, it is a bit absurd to have an opinion on this question without information from both sides.

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

#132

Post by Havoc »

enriquto wrote: post #118

The reaction of the organizer is very sad. Civilization is based on the peaceful collaboration of people who may hate each other. Disallowing such collaboration is, by definition, uncivilized. Being able to deal with people that make you very uncomfortable without creating a fuss is a fundamental requirement of adulthood. Regardless of the callous reaction of the un-invited person, it was not OK to un-invite them, at…

>Disallowing such collaboration is

There wouldn't be much of a collaboration if people bail or a bad incident happens at the conference.

The fact that multiple people went out of their way to warn the conference organisers suggests this goes well beyond a normal difference of opinion.

In that context it was a difficult but correct call in my opinion.

Plus frankly if staying away from such people is uncivilized, then I'm ok with being uncivilized.

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

#133

Post by bumbledraven »

baud147258 wrote: post #62
electricslpnsld wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I see nothing wrong with naming names As he is pursuing legal options, I’m guessing his counsel told him not to.

He named people (and showed pictures of messages) on Twitter in this convo [1], FWIW. At this point, I think it's more to avoid further escalation, as said in the article. [1] https://twitter.com/unbalancedparen/status/11223070591548702...

https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:2oL_vh...

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

#134

Post by bduerst »

alexanderlabrie wrote: post #105
ativzzz wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You underestimate how far some people are willing to go to harass someone, and in his case it has financial consequences, hence the lawyers.

False: OP has not mentioned any financial consequences, only that he had to "give explanations to sponsors."

Probably because OP is not seeking legal action in Hacker News Court, but in a real court where broadcasting details of such information is not a good idea.

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

#135

Post by igaray »

wolco wrote: post #124

Many thoughts. Change communication channel immediately. Don't invite someone and when they arrive tell them they are not welcome to speak. Post a list of speakers before, get your feedback and live with your decisions. This is the best thing that could happen to your event. Use this time wisely to boost your event. Is it just me or is there a group of people who seem to go to every conference?

The industry is really small, more so in other parts of the world such as Buenos Aires. The 'scene', people who actually leave their keyboards or don't engage outside of 9-to-5 is even smaller.

Many things were learned. More research was probably warranted. Also, it's not the same to organize a conference for an existing community organized around some technology, e.g. Ruby, Python, NodeJS, etc and organizing an event that tries to span industry topics, it's much harder to know everyone or get references.

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

#136

Post by [deleted] »

kazinator wrote: post #129
revvx wrote: post #113

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The conference organizer denied a speaker position in a conference. All that happened in private. The person and a third-party engaged (allegedly) in doxxing and public shaming. Even if the conference organizer was in the wrong, there's a world of difference between those two things.

Public shaming using false allegations of stalking and harassment.

[deleted]

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

#137

Post by Waterluvian »

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.

I think there is a manifestly apparent imbalance in tech. But I struggle to understand how we can competently fight that imbalance without really knowing what we are aiming for.

0% of midwives in Ontario are men. What's the right number? How should we endeavour to fix that? When do we know when to stop and be satisfied with the ratio?

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

#138

Post by dwild »

enriquto wrote: post #118

The reaction of the organizer is very sad. Civilization is based on the peaceful collaboration of people who may hate each other. Disallowing such collaboration is, by definition, uncivilized. Being able to deal with people that make you very uncomfortable without creating a fuss is a fundamental requirement of adulthood. Regardless of the callous reaction of the un-invited person, it was not OK to un-invite them, at…

> Just like the harm you did by cancelling invitations on behalf of a hypothetical discomfort of other people.

What she accused him of doing was entirely false while uninviting her was based on something entirely true. You are comparing harm caused by false accusation to one caused by actual grievance.

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

#139

Post by revvx »

enriquto wrote: post #118

The reaction of the organizer is very sad. Civilization is based on the peaceful collaboration of people who may hate each other. Disallowing such collaboration is, by definition, uncivilized. Being able to deal with people that make you very uncomfortable without creating a fuss is a fundamental requirement of adulthood. Regardless of the callous reaction of the un-invited person, it was not OK to un-invite them, at…

I watched this unfold on Twitter, and you're misrepresenting the situation.

The people removed from the conference have a history of disruption and harassment in the community. They were removed because of previous behavior that the organizer was not aware beforehand. He relied on the testimony of people he trust.

--

> Being able to deal with people that make you very uncomfortable without creating a fuss is a fundamental requirement of adulthood

The only people who engaged in "creating a fuss" were the speaker and a third-party related to her. They decided to come forward and "out" themselves. Up to that point, everything had been handled in private. There was no need to involve other people such as the organizer's girlfriend or other speakers.

--

> It is exactly the same behavior.

The organizer denied a speaking position and did so in private, without incurring any shame or denying participation in general.

The speaker and a third party started a campaign of doxxing, harassment and, as other commented put it: "public shaming using false allegations of stalking and harassment".

There's a world of difference between those two behaviors.

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

#140

Post by bduerst »

enriquto wrote: post #131
bduerst wrote: post #122

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You missed this part: > Generally, the best scenario is to talk with the involved parties, to cooperate and to seek a solution that doesn’t make the problem bigger. This isn’t always possible. In this case they went public and accused me and I had to explain what happened. One of the parties involved wasn't interested in civilized collaboration, but making false accusations instead.

He does not explain the whole story, so it is difficult to know. It does not really seem that he tried to talk to the person whose talk was cancelled (and who had probably already bought plane tickets, etc). I agree that, in the end, it is true that this person was a troublemaker that should not have been invited in the first place. However, it seems from the text that the organizers decided to cancel the invitation…

Why are you trying to create a scenario that justifies the speaker's false accusations and harassment of the organizer?
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