I was once invited to a recruiting event by palantir (it was in Israel) where I noticed a bunch of good looking women talking up other people. The weird thing was they were all dressed practically the same, wearimg a small black dress. Now, this event wasn't formal or anything, so I gathered that they were 'atmosphere models'. That was a very weird experience , to think that someone paid for pretty women to have human interaction with me. I don't get how this passes as a good idea. Silicon Valley Is Sneaking Models into This Year’s Holiday Parties
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Re: Silicon Valley Is Sneaking Models into This Year’s Holiday Parties
#72This is not new for sure, but it deserves discussion in light of the #metoo movement. In SV we're supposed to be innovators, why aren't we leading the way towards a more equal society? If our holiday parties are boring because we've hired a masculine monoculture, then maybe the solution is to hire more diverse people the entire year. It's objectifying to women and minorities if the only time we're hired is to make so…
Because the honest truth of the matter is that the nerds that got bullied and discriminated against when they were young, only ever wanting to just be like others and fit it, got exactly what they wanted. They are just as bullying and obnoxious and discriminating as the people that bullied them.
Who is being bullied in the article's situation?
Re: Silicon Valley Is Sneaking Models into This Year’s Holiday Parties
#73Quite frankly, I think Americans won't tolerate intelligent people in Silicon Valley much longer. American patience with technology is running on fumes. Americans hate Silicon Valley, and they'd rather have models pretending to work than actual people who make things. Americans are sick of it, and they want it to die.
Americans will look forward to the day when all employees of Silicon Valley companies are models: people who are incapable of actual work, actual thought, yet pretend to work. Americans will happily turn Silicon Valley into a Hollywood casino.
In fact, I think there will be a trend to reward such companies and punish companies that do technology research. Governments exist to protect people from technology. Americans will accept a fake technology industry because they see a real technology industry as a threat.
In fact, Americans will give a great sigh of relief when they realize they don't have to worry about the next technology company because it is staffed entirely by bombshell blondes who never studied a technical subject, or beautiful men who know only golf, tennis, big houses, and fast cars.
The issue of jealousy will be entirely beside the point; Americans want relief from technology anxiety, and they'll accept a show business version of Silicon Valley if that's what it takes to get a good night's sleep.
Re: Silicon Valley Is Sneaking Models into This Year’s Holiday Parties
#74What's so wrong with enjoying the company of women with better genetics than most?
Are you used to paying for company?
Re: Silicon Valley Is Sneaking Models into This Year’s Holiday Parties
#75Re: Silicon Valley Is Sneaking Models into This Year’s Holiday Parties
#76This is not new for sure, but it deserves discussion in light of the #metoo movement. In SV we're supposed to be innovators, why aren't we leading the way towards a more equal society? If our holiday parties are boring because we've hired a masculine monoculture, then maybe the solution is to hire more diverse people the entire year. It's objectifying to women and minorities if the only time we're hired is to make so…
In light of the #metoo movement and the numerous sexual harassment accusations, all across the board, this is what I see: things aren't that different SV.
Where is the "In SV we're supposed to be innovators, why aren't we leading the way towards a more equal society?" narrative grounded?
Re: Silicon Valley Is Sneaking Models into This Year’s Holiday Parties
#77I'd feel incredibly akward turning up to a works party and there's models there who were basically being paid to pretend they want to talk to me. It's just awful and sad.
This would actually freak me out, I would probably need to leave immediately once I understood what was happening.
Re: Silicon Valley Is Sneaking Models into This Year’s Holiday Parties
#78Pathetic. The whole point is to celebrate with the employees and their families and recognize the hard work everyone has put in over the year. A stranger not connected to an employee would take away from that value. If you want more women at the event, hire more women at the company and create a culture that encourages that.
"If you want more women at the event, hire more women at the company and create a culture that encourages that." -- Yes, some magic wand will solve it? If they are tech companies and engineers are the primary value drivers, and only 16% of CS grads are female, what kind of rock will they find balanced workforce? Companies hire because they need people to feel a role, (eg. engineers, marketing, sales, hr... etc). If t…
~60% of the developers on my team are women. It's not magic. Also, in a big company most employees are not engineers, so the relative lack of female CS grads shouldn't mean there are so few women that you need to hire them for events.
Re: Silicon Valley Is Sneaking Models into This Year’s Holiday Parties
#79If I were Norvig-like I'd claim I was at the party for my looks.