Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Bullshit I had to go through while organizing a software conference

notamonadtutorial.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

161–170 of 283 posts

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

#161

Post by somebodyelse1 »

0815test wrote: post #123
draw_down wrote: post #110

The conference scene feels like such a hostile environment. I have my own reasons for not being interested in speaking, but even absent that, my desire to avoid anything resembling the above is much stronger than whatever desire to have people listen to me talk about computers. And that's just speaking; organizing is something I would never do, and really can't imagine how people put up with it. There is a conference…

> The conference scene feels like such a hostile environment. It's a hostile environment either way - even the male speaker in this whole drama was widely known as "a male chauvinist who persecutes and intimidates women at sector conferences" - which is why he was so unwelcome in the first place! But sunlight is the best disinfectant - throw out with prejudice ANYONE who is publicly known to engage in intimidating be…

Dude, you are just repeating what he said in the post. He is not 'widely known as' nothing. Its all what he say. We dont know the other side.

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

#162

Post by somebodyelse1 »

bduerst wrote: post #120
duxup wrote: post #8

>Nevertheless, we didn’t expect a threatening reaction followed by several emails, Twitter DMs, persistent phone calls and Whatsapp messages. She even texted my girlfriend, one of the organizers of the conference, whose telephone number is not public and wasn’t given to her at any moment. At the same time, she started contacting other speakers of the conference. At that point you know you made the right choice... the…

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 we ban people because of their associations?). He changed the narrative. Ok, so which people? can he name them? are they anonymous? are they the guy's angry ex-girlfriend? (VERY likely) Do we have to believe him in this too?

That's many things to believe.

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

#163

Post by xvector »

myself248 wrote: post #73

Sounds like the same reason the Derbycon organizers aren't doing it again: https://www.derbycon.com/blog/derbycon-9-0-every-beginning-h...

> To put it in perspective, we had to deal with an individual that was verbally and mentally abusive to a number of our volunteer staff and security to the point where they were in tears.

It sounds like the proper response to this is to tell the individual to "fuck off and never come back", but looks like popularity mattered too much to the Derbycon organizers:

> Admittedly, we had no idea how to handle this person, and in fear of repercussion of removing this person, allowed them to stay at the conference in order to “not upset the masses”.

Guys, the response to adults acting like children is to completely ignore them and kick them out of your discussions. They do not deserve to be a part of your forum. Perhaps tell them why you're doing so, so they can improve themselves, but there is no need to deal with their shit.

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

#165

Post by ilikehurdles »

acdha wrote: post #49
gameswithgo wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

If anything, this would help my wife who is a doctor but often finds older patients assuming she is a nurse simply because she is woman. There are male nurses, and hopefully more men will join the field, as the same gender stereotype that assumes that women cannot be doctors is the one that assumes all nurses are women.

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

#166

Post by somebodyelse1 »

gregmac wrote: post #61
opportune wrote: post #19

Perhaps I missed it but is it known specifically why that person was uninvited to begin with?

> My team and I were contacted by different people to warn us that they were uncomfortable with the participation of a speaker and her boyfriend in our conference. They told the organization of the conference that this couple had caused problems to women in the community. > Several people who knew both of them confirmed that they had had problems with them in the past. We also talked with the organizers of other conf…

>> Several people who knew both of them confirmed that they had had problems with them.

Which people? Which problems? it might be an ex-boyfriend/girlfriend that is angry. Why you don't name those people?

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

#167

Post by AgentME »

sethammons wrote: post #28
ryandrake wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

he had sponsors and others reaching out to him to ask what is going on. I don't think they plan on turning off twitter too.

Why does he care what the sponsors think? His problem would be solved if he stops paying attention to Twitter, his sponsors, money, friendships, etc... /s

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

#168

Post by somebodyelse1 »

I know about this case. I can say the following:

Most of the facts stated on this post are lies, or lies by omissions. This guy has an harassment lawsuit against him and hes trying to protect himself. He harassed the girl in front of many witnesses in another conference IN WHICH HE WAS NOT INVITED AND THE GIRL WAS A SPEAKER, and was promptly removed from said conference because of that. She filed a police report against him for this. The conference is FLISOL CABA 2019, ask the organizers about what happened there to Federico Carrone (unabalancedparens) the organizer of buzzconf. Here people are doxing and attacking a couple, dont you realize he's posting this all over internet to cause harm, to smear them, while the couple is silent? Doesn't that ring a bell?

He might be the harasser! Many things in his story don't match. This is a he-said she-said situation. The only thing sure is this: He really believe somebody is attacking him using a Signal messenger cyber-attack that is worth maybe millions on the black market? that detail alone can show you that we are talking about a highly paranoid guy.

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

#169

Post by unethical_ban »

goodrubyist wrote: post #160

I hope the guy who wrote this post didn't choose to disinvite those two just because they had unfashionable views on social justice. Morality /=/ fashion.

Reading the rest of the story, and presuming the statements are true, I doubt the decision was made based solely on abstract political opinion.

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

#170

Post by ilikehurdles »

somebodyelse1 wrote: post #166
gregmac wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> My team and I were contacted by different people to warn us that they were uncomfortable with the participation of a speaker and her boyfriend in our conference. They told the organization of the conference that this couple had caused problems to women in the community. > Several people who knew both of them confirmed that they had had problems with them in the past. We also talked with the organizers of other conf…

>> Several people who knew both of them confirmed that they had had problems with them. Which people? Which problems? it might be an ex-boyfriend/girlfriend that is angry. Why you don't name those people?

It frankly isn't relevant. What could the author possibly have done to warrant the kind of experience he received in the backlash?
Post reply on HN