Bullshit I had to go through while organizing a software conference • Hacker News Board

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

#261

Post by dang » Wed, May 22, 2019, 5:08 AM UTC

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.

This comment broke the site guidelines, which ask you not to take threads on classic flamewar tangents. If you'd please read https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html and follow the rules more carefully in the future—about as carefully as you'd treat lit matches in a flammable place—we'd be grateful. This sort of tire fire is also generic and thus leads to predictable discussion.

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

#262

Post by somebodyelse1 » Wed, May 22, 2019, 5:23 AM UTC

commandlinefan wrote: post #251

hkai wrote: post #247

I couldn't understand anything. What sort of woman was disinvited and why others were uncomfortable with her?

He danced around that so much I feel like something is being hidden (besides somebody’s identity).

Its obvious that he is doing incredible mental gymnastics to try and workaround the problem that this stupid internet drama was created by group of women hating on a girl because they dont like her (or want to 'cancel' her for some reason), and are using this poor bastard money and credibility as their weapon against her and everybody around her.

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

#263

Post by qbaqbaqba » Wed, May 22, 2019, 5:35 AM UTC

The unnamed person could probably describe her experience in the same words as the author did here. Author made her uncomfortable, organizers may have consulted some gender or wherever oriented groups. We don't know the other side of the story.

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

#264

Post by valtism » Wed, May 22, 2019, 6:01 AM UTC

I can't believe how many people are attacking the author here. He has had to deal with things that nobody should have to, and the couple he uninvited are clearly unhinged and he made a good decision uninviting them.

My sympathies go out to him, and I hope he get support in this, and it doesn't suck up their will to do good things for the community like organise conferences.

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

#265

Post by kkapelon » Wed, May 22, 2019, 6:08 AM UTC

AgentME wrote: post #167

sethammons wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

Because sponsors pay for the conference he was trying to organize. No sponsors, no money, no conference.

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

#266

Post by baud147258 » Wed, May 22, 2019, 7:47 AM UTC

village-idiot wrote: post #245

baud147258 wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The name can be found by searching for 5 min on twitter, starting with the name of the conference and going down until you reach posts that are not announcements.

Let’s not encourage an internet mob.

That's why I did not post any name. I just said that it was easy enough to be found (right now since tweets had been deleted it might be more complicated)

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

#267

Post by somebodyelse1 » Wed, May 22, 2019, 8:10 AM UTC

ryandrake wrote: post #230

striking wrote: post #215

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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.

I was referring to the instant -5 downvoting seconds after posting, which usually only happens if you insult someone or offend. I really worried I said something rude!

There is a mob of OP's friends here instantly down-voting any comment that contradicts or make some criticism of it. Thats a clear indicator of who is the one actually harassing people.

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

#268

Post by rdiddly » Wed, May 22, 2019, 8:37 AM UTC

duxup wrote: post #98

0815test wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> ..."At that precise moment I saw the former speaker. She was calling the security of the event and using her cellphone to record me. She yelling that I was at the conference to stalk her, and that I was harassing her and following her. I never thought something like this could ever happen. It is worth noting that, at this point, I had only talked over the phone with her once, met her in person also once and, as I s…

I'm not sure what you mean by "cry bully" at this point.

A crybaby who's a bully. Someone who pretends/exaggerates harm to oneself in order to accuse and punish others.

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

#269

Post by rdiddly » Wed, May 22, 2019, 9:04 AM UTC

ironmagma wrote: post #87

leereeves wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Would you avoid them simply on the basis of a blog post? OP is saying a false accusation turned into a witch hunt because people believed an allegation posted on the Internet without question. What makes you confident you're better at detecting the truth than the people who believed the woman's story?

There are several reasons to believe a blog post over a told-in-person anecdote; for one, this is more or less an open forum with no time limits or constraints on research. This is when combined with the fact that these possibly-incriminating* details of the story were provided voluntarily, which generally adds credence to a claim. Until an opposing blog post appears telling the opposite story (which makes perennial…

I'm sympathetic to the author but now I'm finding the epistemology here interesting to talk about.

Firstly I generally think of information provided voluntarily as being more suspect than that which is elicited, coerced or happenstance. Think of the criminal who under questioning volunteers to "help" the cops by putting them on someone else's trail with a false accusation. (Made to seem offhand, of course.)

This applies to the stalking example too - in terms of possibly being able to frame and spin something by mentioning it first, when you know some version of it is going to come out regardless.

I agree with your point about written records, at least to the extent that writing behooves the writer to consider things carefully. Although it still doesn't preclude someone's being inept or unwise about it.

Just speaking generally, not necessarily about this case.

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

#270

Post by [deleted] » Wed, May 22, 2019, 11:26 AM UTC

Faark wrote: post #244

Mirioron wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think the author makes sense with that. People should be comfortable and feel safe, but then the author goes on to explicitly talk about gender and what I assume are racial minorities. I don't think that race and gender are the only disadvantaged groups in the world. Things like disability, mental illness, and country of origin can have a much bigger impact on whether somebody could become a speaker. Depending on h…

> Eg a disabled speaker could have some very interesting insights on tech, especially when it comes to UI I do understand their lived experience often differs from that of most of us and thus they can provide value sharing it, but that is not really the kind of normalization we should aim to achieve. In a similar vein, I'm disappointed whenever women speakers are still predominantly presenting gender issues. This mig…

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