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The key element is the poster was essentially _representing_ their employer at a tech conference. This would be no different than wearing the uniform of a supe

The key element is the poster was essentially _representing_ their employer at a tech conference. This would be no different than wearing the uniform of a supermarket and going on a political rant with a megaphone.

spondylosaurus 3y ago
Genuine question, though (and not "asking just to make a rhetorical point because I've already decided on an answer"): is that really the case? I know the boilerplate "tweets do not represent the views of my employer" thing is a cliche at this point, but I always assumed it was at least partly true. If you're not tweeting directly from AcmeCORP's socials, wouldn't there be some understanding that you're not a direct mouthpiece for the company?
- galkk 3y ago
  It was literally written in 2nd sentence of the post I was attending KubeCon on behalf of my then-employer, VMware.
  - spondylosaurus 3y ago
    Right, but does it follow that "attending on behalf of" equates to "representing the company's official views and opinions"? I guess what I'm really asking is whether an outside observer would genuinely assume her tweets were indicative of VMware's official stances on anything, or whether they'd assume she was just one cog in their employee machine. Or maybe it's somewhere in the middle.
    - jzb 3y ago
      It equates to being paid to make the company look good. I wouldn’t take their comments or tweets as official policy, necessarily, but attracting negative attention by dragging on a speaker on the company dime isn’t a great look. Should it be fireable? I’m having trouble there. But they certainly wouldn’t be sent to events for a long, long time.
      - spondylosaurus 3y ago
        Fair enough. As much as I'll defend her right to express those views, I do think making those tweets wasn't the greatest call—especially considering the fallout that ensued :P
    - squeaky-clean 3y ago
      Given that it caused the Chief Software Officer of a major customer to view it negatively, I think that proves an outside observer viewed it as representing some of the company's views. For something like government, it doesn't really matter what the official stance of the company is. If you think a single employee is going to try to sneak a backdoor into the software you're buying and the company isn't trying hard enough to prevent it, that's a showstopper.
      - mlatu 3y ago
        is an "employee of a major customer" an "outside observer"?
        squeaky-clean 3y ago
        I think they're not only an outside observer, but the only kind of observer that really matters.
    - lelanthran 3y ago
      > Right, but does it follow that "attending on behalf of" equates to "representing the company's official views and opinions"? Yes. That's the whole point of "representing your employer at $FOO conf".
    - galkk 3y ago
      https://www.google.com/search?q=define%3A+on+behalf+of https://www.google.com/search?q=define%3A+on+behalf+of > Definitions from Oxford Languages on behalf of phrase of behalf 1. in the interests of (a person, group, or principle). "votes cast by labor unions on behalf of their members". Similar: as a representative of, as a spokesperson for, for, in the name of, in place of, appearing for, representing, in the interests of 2. as a representative of. "he had to attend the funeral on Mama's behalf" 3. on the part of; done by. "this wasn't simply a philanthropic gesture on his behalf"
  - deleted 3y ago
    [deleted]
- Demotolo 3y ago
  [dead]
- Firmwarrior 3y ago
  I'm not a tweetin' man myself, but if I were doing business with a company and one of their employees was publicly trash-talking me, I'd probably get pissed and complain to my contacts at that company I wouldn't explicitly dig around to try and figure out who a pseudonymous person is to try and get them in trouble though
  - 0cf8612b2e1e 3y ago
    It is also unclear to me what role the author played at VMWare. Random, faceless dev, or an external relations role with a much tighter association to the company.
    - ojhughes 3y ago
      They were in PonyOps
- jzb 3y ago
  If the company sends you to the event, it’s fair to say that you’re there “representing” them. If you’re there on your own dime, that may be different. I’m on the fence on this one. The tweets were in poor judgment. Especially tagging the speaker. That’s needlessly antagonistic. But, if this person were on my team I’d have tried to protect their job - though I probably wouldn’t be sending them to any shows in the future on the company dime. There’s probably a lot of additional context that isn’t available in this post that might sway me one way or the other. The fact they were brought in via acquisition matters, IMO.

spondylosaurus 3y ago

Genuine question, though (and not "asking just to make a rhetorical point because I've already decided on an answer"): is that really the case? I know the boilerplate "tweets do not represent the views of my employer" thing is a cliche at this point, but I always assumed it was at least partly true. If you're not tweeting directly from AcmeCORP's socials, wouldn't there be some understanding that you're not a direct mouthpiece for the company?

galkk 3y ago
It was literally written in 2nd sentence of the post I was attending KubeCon on behalf of my then-employer, VMware.
- spondylosaurus 3y ago
  Right, but does it follow that "attending on behalf of" equates to "representing the company's official views and opinions"? I guess what I'm really asking is whether an outside observer would genuinely assume her tweets were indicative of VMware's official stances on anything, or whether they'd assume she was just one cog in their employee machine. Or maybe it's somewhere in the middle.
  - jzb 3y ago
    It equates to being paid to make the company look good. I wouldn’t take their comments or tweets as official policy, necessarily, but attracting negative attention by dragging on a speaker on the company dime isn’t a great look. Should it be fireable? I’m having trouble there. But they certainly wouldn’t be sent to events for a long, long time.
    - spondylosaurus 3y ago
      Fair enough. As much as I'll defend her right to express those views, I do think making those tweets wasn't the greatest call—especially considering the fallout that ensued :P
  - squeaky-clean 3y ago
    Given that it caused the Chief Software Officer of a major customer to view it negatively, I think that proves an outside observer viewed it as representing some of the company's views. For something like government, it doesn't really matter what the official stance of the company is. If you think a single employee is going to try to sneak a backdoor into the software you're buying and the company isn't trying hard enough to prevent it, that's a showstopper.
    - mlatu 3y ago
      is an "employee of a major customer" an "outside observer"?
      - squeaky-clean 3y ago
        I think they're not only an outside observer, but the only kind of observer that really matters.
  - lelanthran 3y ago
    > Right, but does it follow that "attending on behalf of" equates to "representing the company's official views and opinions"? Yes. That's the whole point of "representing your employer at $FOO conf".
  - galkk 3y ago
    https://www.google.com/search?q=define%3A+on+behalf+of https://www.google.com/search?q=define%3A+on+behalf+of > Definitions from Oxford Languages on behalf of phrase of behalf 1. in the interests of (a person, group, or principle). "votes cast by labor unions on behalf of their members". Similar: as a representative of, as a spokesperson for, for, in the name of, in place of, appearing for, representing, in the interests of 2. as a representative of. "he had to attend the funeral on Mama's behalf" 3. on the part of; done by. "this wasn't simply a philanthropic gesture on his behalf"
- deleted 3y ago
  [deleted]
Demotolo 3y ago
[dead]
Firmwarrior 3y ago
I'm not a tweetin' man myself, but if I were doing business with a company and one of their employees was publicly trash-talking me, I'd probably get pissed and complain to my contacts at that company I wouldn't explicitly dig around to try and figure out who a pseudonymous person is to try and get them in trouble though
- 0cf8612b2e1e 3y ago
  It is also unclear to me what role the author played at VMWare. Random, faceless dev, or an external relations role with a much tighter association to the company.
  - ojhughes 3y ago
    They were in PonyOps
jzb 3y ago
If the company sends you to the event, it’s fair to say that you’re there “representing” them. If you’re there on your own dime, that may be different. I’m on the fence on this one. The tweets were in poor judgment. Especially tagging the speaker. That’s needlessly antagonistic. But, if this person were on my team I’d have tried to protect their job - though I probably wouldn’t be sending them to any shows in the future on the company dime. There’s probably a lot of additional context that isn’t available in this post that might sway me one way or the other. The fact they were brought in via acquisition matters, IMO.