From the article:
“To spell it out why this conference generated fake women speakers,” Orosz alleges, it was “because the organizer wants big names and it probably seemed like an easy way to address their diversity concerns. Incredibly lazy.”
How hard is it for these organizers to actually reach out to women developers and extend an invite to talk about any topic they are interested in? In the very least, there are tons of high-profile bloggers who are vocal about things and stuff. Even though women are severely outnumbered, you almost need to go way out of your way to avoid actually extending an invite to a woman in the field.
I mean, that quote you mention sounds pretty innocent, but the other ones, like
was accused of making up fake female speakers to attract high-profile speakers
fake profiles created by the event organizers to make the event look diverse in order to “successfully attract some of the most heavy-hitter men speakers in tech.”
Sound almost like it was going to be a human trafficking fair rather than a programming conference. If the idea that some great male speakers will come to the conference just because there will be female speakers is correct then it’s fcked way beyond what I would imagine. Sounds as if IT is a bunch of creeps although I know for granted that it’s not (only) like that
I think the idea is that big-name men will show up to support women and work for equality, not to creep on them.
Eduards Sizovs, the DevTernity organizer accused of making up fake female speakers, felt it was the right PR move to post this message on Twitter:
https://twitter.com/eduardsi/status/1728447955122921745
So I’ve been called out (and canceled?) by listing a person on my conference’s website (who never actually made it to the final program). JUST A RANDOM PERSON ON THE CONFERENCE WEBSITE canceled all the good work I’ve been doing for 15+ years. All focus on that.
I said it was a mistake, a bug that turned out to be a feature. I even fixed that on my website! We’re cool? Nooooo, we want blood! Let’s cancel this SINNER!
The amount of hate and lynching I keep receiving is as if I would have scammed or killed someone. But I won’t defend myself because I don’t feel guilty. I did nothing terrible that I need to apologize for. The conference has always delivered on its promise. It’s an awesome, inclusive, event. And yes, I like Uncle Bob’s talks. They’re damn good.
When the mob comes for you, you’re alone. So, let it be. I’ll keep doing a great conference. With all speakers, half the speakers, or I’ll be speaking alone on all tracks and lose my voice. But the event will be a blast. Like always. I’ll die while doing great work. But the mob won’t kill me.
I don’t think that tone-deaf is the right word for this.
This is funny on all levels:
-
The initial motivation for the heinous act;
-
How the plan was implemented;
-
The reaction to the plan.
