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It absolutely blows my mind that people are still dumb enough to get up at tech conferences and do sexist (in this case sexual) presentations. A backlash seems

It absolutely blows my mind that people are still dumb enough to get up at tech conferences and do sexist (in this case sexual) presentations. A backlash seems almost inevitable at this point. Maybe they figure any publicity is good publicity?

mikeash 15y ago
My money would be on something along the lines of, "Yeah, those guys got a lot of backlash, but my presentation is different, it's funny!"
- reitzensteinm 15y ago
  That might very well be the case, in general. Though not foreseeing a backlash about "gangbang interviews" at this point strains credulity - the network of tech conference presenters is small and well connected.
  - mikeash 15y ago
    I don't know about that. Some people simply have no idea how crude their own jokes are.
jgroome 15y ago
My feeling is that they probably don't even recognise that they're being offensive; if what's being said here is true, that they basically work out of a slightly more grown-up frat house, it makes sense that they'd believe that kind of talk is acceptable.
muhfuhkuh 15y ago
No, it's "king of the mountain, piss on the peons" syndrome. You mix two parts cash infusion, one part Valley atmosphere, a soupcon of pseudo-hacker swagger, then mix in a big glass and let the "semi-technical biz guy" speak on behalf of geeks. My pet theory is that there is a super-secret, down-low, unspoken sociopathic streak running through the Valley that is fairly reminiscent of Wall Street: Aloofness and cold cruelty almost approaching either "evil genius" or "autism spectrum". They don't see alot of women in high positions in the Valley, but they hire them for booth candy or front office whatnots. So, of course, they're doubly cruel to women.
- Alex3917 15y ago
  Let's compare the scandals we've seen in the last few months with what is (allegedly) said during the typical day at Goldman Sachs: https://twitter.com/#!/gselevator https://twitter.com/#!/gselevator While much of the behavior we've seen is silicon valley is far from exemplary, there really isn't much comparison with wall street, at least not yet.
  - itg 15y ago
    As someone who worked in finance and realizes that it also has problems when it comes to these issues, those tweets are exaggerations/parodies which play into the bankers being sociopaths/douchebags trope. Half those things said in the workplace would get you sent to HR in a blink of an eye.

mikeash 15y ago

My money would be on something along the lines of, "Yeah, those guys got a lot of backlash, but my presentation is different, it's funny!"

reitzensteinm 15y ago
That might very well be the case, in general. Though not foreseeing a backlash about "gangbang interviews" at this point strains credulity - the network of tech conference presenters is small and well connected.
- mikeash 15y ago
  I don't know about that. Some people simply have no idea how crude their own jokes are.

jgroome 15y ago

My feeling is that they probably don't even recognise that they're being offensive; if what's being said here is true, that they basically work out of a slightly more grown-up frat house, it makes sense that they'd believe that kind of talk is acceptable.

muhfuhkuh 15y ago

No, it's "king of the mountain, piss on the peons" syndrome. You mix two parts cash infusion, one part Valley atmosphere, a soupcon of pseudo-hacker swagger, then mix in a big glass and let the "semi-technical biz guy" speak on behalf of geeks. My pet theory is that there is a super-secret, down-low, unspoken sociopathic streak running through the Valley that is fairly reminiscent of Wall Street: Aloofness and cold cruelty almost approaching either "evil genius" or "autism spectrum". They don't see alot of women in high positions in the Valley, but they hire them for booth candy or front office whatnots. So, of course, they're doubly cruel to women.

Alex3917 15y ago
Let's compare the scandals we've seen in the last few months with what is (allegedly) said during the typical day at Goldman Sachs: https://twitter.com/#!/gselevator https://twitter.com/#!/gselevator While much of the behavior we've seen is silicon valley is far from exemplary, there really isn't much comparison with wall street, at least not yet.
- itg 15y ago
  As someone who worked in finance and realizes that it also has problems when it comes to these issues, those tweets are exaggerations/parodies which play into the bankers being sociopaths/douchebags trope. Half those things said in the workplace would get you sent to HR in a blink of an eye.