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> Nowhere do sponsors actively set the agenda for an academic conference. Agenda is one thing but that's not what either article is claiming? It's extremely c

> Nowhere do sponsors actively set the agenda for an academic conference. Agenda is one thing but that's not what either article is claiming? It's extremely common (the rule, not the exception) for sponsors to suggest and directly invite people to conferences (and at least in those published emails there doesn't appear to be any suggestions for speakers, just attendees).

cscurmudgeon 11y ago
1. "just attendees " No. More than just attendees. Selecting panel members e.g. http://media.salon.com/2015/11/GMU-email-2.png http://media.salon.com/2015/11/GMU-email-2.png 2. They are asking people to hide the number of employees from Google attending this so that the whole thing looks innocuous. https://img.washingtonpost.com/wp-apps/imrs.php?src=https://img.washingtonpost.com/news/politics/wp-content/uploads/sites/11/2014/04/email3-1.jpg&w=1484 https://img.washingtonpost.com/wp-apps/imrs.php?src=https://...
- thrownaway2424 11y ago
  That reads to me more like trying to actually diversify the attendance, rather than trying to hide the overrepresentation of Google. Google faces the same problem at other conferences, for what it's worth. There were some Lisa / USENIX type things focused on "site reliability engineering" where Google was noticeably overrepresented.
  - cscurmudgeon 11y ago
    That happened too, but that is not the only thing though. They did the following two different things. 1. Trying to diversify attendance 2. Hiding some attendees from a public list of all attendees Trying to diversify attendance != Hiding some attendees from a public list of all attendees
- magicalist 11y ago
  > "just attendees " No. More than just attendees. Selecting panel members > e.g. http://media.salon.com/2015/11/GMU-email-2.png http://media.salon.com/2015/11/GMU-email-2.png That's an email from "James Cooper, a former FTC staffer and director of research and policy at the LEC", not someone from Google? Asking someone who works at a sponsor of a conference for suggestions of who to put on a panel at that conference isn't really in the realm of that sponsor "setting the agenda"
- deleted 11y ago
  [deleted]

cscurmudgeon 11y ago

1. "just attendees " No. More than just attendees. Selecting panel members e.g. http://media.salon.com/2015/11/GMU-email-2.png http://media.salon.com/2015/11/GMU-email-2.png 2. They are asking people to hide the number of employees from Google attending this so that the whole thing looks innocuous. https://img.washingtonpost.com/wp-apps/imrs.php?src=https://img.washingtonpost.com/news/politics/wp-content/uploads/sites/11/2014/04/email3-1.jpg&w=1484 https://img.washingtonpost.com/wp-apps/imrs.php?src=https://...

thrownaway2424 11y ago
That reads to me more like trying to actually diversify the attendance, rather than trying to hide the overrepresentation of Google. Google faces the same problem at other conferences, for what it's worth. There were some Lisa / USENIX type things focused on "site reliability engineering" where Google was noticeably overrepresented.
- cscurmudgeon 11y ago
  That happened too, but that is not the only thing though. They did the following two different things. 1. Trying to diversify attendance 2. Hiding some attendees from a public list of all attendees Trying to diversify attendance != Hiding some attendees from a public list of all attendees
magicalist 11y ago
> "just attendees " No. More than just attendees. Selecting panel members > e.g. http://media.salon.com/2015/11/GMU-email-2.png http://media.salon.com/2015/11/GMU-email-2.png That's an email from "James Cooper, a former FTC staffer and director of research and policy at the LEC", not someone from Google? Asking someone who works at a sponsor of a conference for suggestions of who to put on a panel at that conference isn't really in the realm of that sponsor "setting the agenda"
deleted 11y ago
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