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SendGrid Fires Company Evangelist After Twitter Fracas

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Re: SendGrid Fires Company Evangelist After Twitter Fracas

#201

Post by danielweber »

tomp wrote: post #8

Although this would seem to be another knee-jerk, exaggerated reaction, and I personally believe that she shouldn't have been fired (and that the first guy shouldn't have been either), we should also consider the SendGrid CEO's position; his company is under attack, might fail, so getting rid of the person whom this attack is targeting seems like the obvious thing to do. I'm guessing that SendGrid will loose some oth…

You are probably unfortunately correct.

This should be scary. What if a mob or someone with access to a botnet contacts your employer and demands you be fired?

This whole thing is very sad. People did wrong things but are getting punishment way out of whack for the "crime."

Re: SendGrid Fires Company Evangelist After Twitter Fracas

#202

Post by ericb »

salman89 wrote: post #51
blhack wrote: post #20

I really wish that this whole thing could have ended amicably (perhaps with Adria apologizing to the devs [by the way, the guy who was fired has already publicly apologized]). It's too bad that sendgrid had to fire her, I would never wish that somebody had their livlihood taken from them like that, but her job was to be a developer evangelist, which is a job she isn't realistically capable of performing anymore. I wo…

"I would feel really uncomfortable if I was in the same room as this person. What if I accidentally say something that she finds offensive? Am I next?" I'm not agreeing with anything Adria did, but the issue of being labeled as the "tattletale" probably plays a big part in most women's reluctance to report real harassment.

I agree, and I think sexism is a problem in the industry, but on the other hand, wasn't she sort of "eavesdropping"? How do you draw the line?

Re: SendGrid Fires Company Evangelist After Twitter Fracas

#203

Post by blindhippo »

seivan wrote: post #173
blindhippo wrote: post #154

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Those two guys could easily be and my partner making silly phallus jokes because we fucking like to. You have no right to be offended. Which is why KKK and Westboro has freedom of speech." Sure, you can make jokes about wangs as much as you want. Do so in a public setting and yes you can and will offend people. And yes, they have a RIGHT to be offended by it. It's inappropriate behavior in a public setting ESPECIALL…

Sorry I wasn't making my point across. Lets put it this way, taking a photo of two guys (probably geo-tagged) and uploading on internet because they said something you generally don't like. _That is what happened_ How does she know those two guys aren't on protected identity, or have issues with being online on social media? I don't have Facebook because I don't want to be tagged on anything. She had no fucking right…

I agree with you that her actions were a bit on the obscene side.

However, you are failing to see the import here.

"because they said something you generally don't like. _This is what happened_"

No, this is not what happened. The developer said an offensive joke, as a representative of his employer, at a conference full of his peers. He behaved in a disrespectful and unprofessional manner and deserves all the shame heaped on him (aside from being fired).

Dick jokes are not something that people "generally don't like". They are inappropriate in this setting. Joke around with your buddies at the bar all you want, but on company time and when you're in a professional setting, SHUT UP.

Re: SendGrid Fires Company Evangelist After Twitter Fracas

#204

Post by danielweber »

brador wrote: post #198
blindhippo wrote: post #136

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, it sure as hell was not a "good business decision". They got attacked by errant children expressing sad rage at something that while bad, was not deserving of retaliation against the company. So the result: the company ditches one of their employees for very dubious reasons. Basically they caved to internet bullying and validated every sexist moron on the internet. Well done Sendgrid. Well done.

Every hour let's say they're losing 1% of their customer base. What would you do?

Contact the FBI to report the DDOS attack?

Re: SendGrid Fires Company Evangelist After Twitter Fracas

#205

Post by niggler »

untog wrote: post #142
WalterSear wrote: post #139

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's must be a way to monetize this, turn it into an industry, or at least, a full time career.

It's called cable news.

Fox News is a cash cow, and MSNBC is trying to get into the game

Re: SendGrid Fires Company Evangelist After Twitter Fracas

#206

Post by vertis »

blhack wrote: post #20

I really wish that this whole thing could have ended amicably (perhaps with Adria apologizing to the devs [by the way, the guy who was fired has already publicly apologized]). It's too bad that sendgrid had to fire her, I would never wish that somebody had their livlihood taken from them like that, but her job was to be a developer evangelist, which is a job she isn't realistically capable of performing anymore. I wo…

>> And honestly, she can't even function as a sort of "women's tech evangelist" anymore. Most [all, actually] of the women I've talked to about this are furious with her over how badly this portrays women.

Needs references.

Re: SendGrid Fires Company Evangelist After Twitter Fracas

#207

Post by bratsche »

danilocampos wrote: post #46
blhack wrote: post #20

I really wish that this whole thing could have ended amicably (perhaps with Adria apologizing to the devs [by the way, the guy who was fired has already publicly apologized]). It's too bad that sendgrid had to fire her, I would never wish that somebody had their livlihood taken from them like that, but her job was to be a developer evangelist, which is a job she isn't realistically capable of performing anymore. I wo…

> (perhaps with Adria apologizing to the devs). What, exactly, has she to apologize for? The people in question were speaking like they were in a frat house in direct contravention of a code of conduct they'd agreed to. They had the right to speak. And Adria had the right to tweet. If they didn't like being publicly outed for saying this stuff, guess what? All they had to do was shut their mouths. > What if I acciden…

You're looking at this really single-mindedly though. Yes, there are always repercussions for anything you say depending on who the audience is. The guys who made these jokes within earshot of Adria learned this. Now Adria is learning this after shaming them on the entire Internet.

It kind of comes down to what is a reasonable response, and it seems that's what 50% of the Internet disagrees with. If someone makes an offensive joke near you, we hopefully agree that you can't turn around and shoot that person in the face. We hopefully agree that you can't turn around and punch that person in the face. Calling the conference organizers and reporting them and having them kicked out doesn't seem unreasonable, but going out of your way to shame them on Twitter and a blog does. That just seems like overkill to me. That overkill, at least as I see it, is the thing that perhaps she might apologize for.

Re: SendGrid Fires Company Evangelist After Twitter Fracas

#208

Post by canttestthis »

danielweber wrote: post #204
brador wrote: post #198

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Every hour let's say they're losing 1% of their customer base. What would you do?

Contact the FBI to report the DDOS attack?

Whats the FBI going to do? Revolutionize a new way of countering DDOS attacks in a few hours?

Re: SendGrid Fires Company Evangelist After Twitter Fracas

#209

Post by derleth »

danilocampos wrote: post #159
beachstartup wrote: post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How does accidental immature behavior work? "let's check out this pitch and then grab a beer" at a startup VC pitch event sensitive woman in front of you hears: "let's check out of this bitch and grab a beer" turns around, pics, tweets, gets you fired on the spot. HOW IS THIS OKAY? public shaming is NOT the right response. IT'S JUST NOT. what a stunning lack of imagination.

So, here's the problem with your little fantasy: These guys were actually making sexual jokes . This wasn't a single mis-heard phrase.

Sexual and sexist are only the same if you believe women are chaste, which is horrendously sexist.

Re: SendGrid Fires Company Evangelist After Twitter Fracas

#210

Post by knowtheory »

aheilbut wrote: post #53

All of this absurdity is why we have a legal system, not mob rule.

Except that what we really have is like 50/50 legal system / mob rule.

The legal system isn't protecting Sendgrid from having the awesome day they're enjoying right now.

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