7 ms·

This is definitely an interesting development. While I'm saddened to see a Ruby conference canceled with a full roster of qualified speakers, I'm happier to see

This is definitely an interesting development. While I'm saddened to see a Ruby conference canceled with a full roster of qualified speakers, I'm happier to see the pendulum on this side of perfect balance than the alternative. This problem has clearer and more positive strategies than its opposite. Edit: Whoa. I did more than 10 seconds of research and this situation is more fucked than I snap-judged. My heart goes out to the organizers. A very reasonable twitter debate was mistaken for scandal and outrage and shut down any chance of building a diverse and interesting conference. This was not the right time to take action.

Peroni 14y ago
I sincerely don't believe cancelling was the right choice. There were 5 speaker slots left to be filled with a December deadline to fill those slots. Why not use the controversy to attract appropriately diverse speakers with interesting and relevant proposals?
- relix 14y ago
  Sponsors pulled out because of the controversy, the contract for the venue had to be signed and the organizers weren't sure they could find more sponsors to fullfil the financial obligations. There weren't many options left but to cancel.
  - Peroni 14y ago
    This is the bit that intrigues me. The organisation I work for were one of the primary sponsors for the event. We saw the controversy and simply assumed the BritRuby team could handle it. At no point did we threaten or even allude to the possibility of withdrawing our funding. To make matters worse, had we been aware that the event was at risk due to a lack of funds we could have considered stepping in and increasing our sponsorship. Unfortunately, the first we heard about the cancellation was via twitter.
  - jdee 14y ago
    I'd really like to know exactly which sponsors pulled out because of this. Between the first tweet and the announcement of cancellation there seemed to be only 9 tweets of criticism: https://gist.github.com/4108671 https://gist.github.com/4108671 . Seems a bit rash.
    - Peroni 14y ago
      That makes two of us. Two known sponsors: Globaldev (the company I work for) & OnTheBeach.co.uk Globaldev's take on the situation: https://twitter.com/globaldev/status/270452743733379072 https://twitter.com/globaldev/status/270452743733379072 OnTheBeach's take: https://twitter.com/SwitchJam/status/270261834991407104 https://twitter.com/SwitchJam/status/270261834991407104
- Lapsa 14y ago
  e.g. albino penguin talking about nuances of rails middleware :)
coolestuk 14y ago
This shambles could only happen in Britain. Senior politicians get accused of being paedophiles by journalists with no evidence. Politicians routinely steal from public coffers, and don't even lose their place in Parliament (even though some were sent to prison). The country is awash with video surveillance, yet trying to get the police to respond to a crime report is like swimming upstream. A christian preacher who said "Homosexuals are deserving of the wrath of God – and so are all other sinners – and they are going to a place called hell" received a £1000 fine and a criminal conviction. Indian sikhs who criticise Indian muslims are accused of being racists. Political correctness had taken hold in local government by the early 1980s. Practically every interaction with them requires you to tell them your race, gender and sexual preference. The place is a mad-house.
- rmc 14y ago
  Political Correctness is great if you are a minority. It means you have similar rights to the powerful group. As a gay man, I know I can mention the gender of my spouse (male!) in a workplace environment without being worried about being fired (for example). Straight people have always (more or less) been able to mention their spouse in the workplace without fear of repercussion. Now I can too! Political Correctness means I don't have to watch every word I say in the office! It's done wonders for my freedom of speech. The most ardent opponents are those who hate gay people or black people and want to continue to shout vile things without repuccision.
  - mseebach2 14y ago
    That's not political correctness, that's anti-discrimination. Political correctness is "Seasons Greetings" instead of "Merry Christmas" for fear of offending non-Christians. It's idiotic because for those not celebrating Christmas, indeed those that might be offended by mentions of Christmas, there is no season to celebrate. Don't send them a card. "Seasons greetings" is not "culture neutral", it's a code for Christmas. Pretending people are too stupid to figure out why suddenly people are eager to wish them a particular great third week of December is very offensive, IMO.
    - 14y ago

Peroni 14y ago

I sincerely don't believe cancelling was the right choice. There were 5 speaker slots left to be filled with a December deadline to fill those slots. Why not use the controversy to attract appropriately diverse speakers with interesting and relevant proposals?

relix 14y ago
Sponsors pulled out because of the controversy, the contract for the venue had to be signed and the organizers weren't sure they could find more sponsors to fullfil the financial obligations. There weren't many options left but to cancel.
- Peroni 14y ago
  This is the bit that intrigues me. The organisation I work for were one of the primary sponsors for the event. We saw the controversy and simply assumed the BritRuby team could handle it. At no point did we threaten or even allude to the possibility of withdrawing our funding. To make matters worse, had we been aware that the event was at risk due to a lack of funds we could have considered stepping in and increasing our sponsorship. Unfortunately, the first we heard about the cancellation was via twitter.
- jdee 14y ago
  I'd really like to know exactly which sponsors pulled out because of this. Between the first tweet and the announcement of cancellation there seemed to be only 9 tweets of criticism: https://gist.github.com/4108671 https://gist.github.com/4108671 . Seems a bit rash.
  - Peroni 14y ago
    That makes two of us. Two known sponsors: Globaldev (the company I work for) & OnTheBeach.co.uk Globaldev's take on the situation: https://twitter.com/globaldev/status/270452743733379072 https://twitter.com/globaldev/status/270452743733379072 OnTheBeach's take: https://twitter.com/SwitchJam/status/270261834991407104 https://twitter.com/SwitchJam/status/270261834991407104
Lapsa 14y ago
e.g. albino penguin talking about nuances of rails middleware :)

coolestuk 14y ago

This shambles could only happen in Britain. Senior politicians get accused of being paedophiles by journalists with no evidence. Politicians routinely steal from public coffers, and don't even lose their place in Parliament (even though some were sent to prison). The country is awash with video surveillance, yet trying to get the police to respond to a crime report is like swimming upstream. A christian preacher who said "Homosexuals are deserving of the wrath of God – and so are all other sinners – and they are going to a place called hell" received a £1000 fine and a criminal conviction. Indian sikhs who criticise Indian muslims are accused of being racists. Political correctness had taken hold in local government by the early 1980s. Practically every interaction with them requires you to tell them your race, gender and sexual preference. The place is a mad-house.

rmc 14y ago
Political Correctness is great if you are a minority. It means you have similar rights to the powerful group. As a gay man, I know I can mention the gender of my spouse (male!) in a workplace environment without being worried about being fired (for example). Straight people have always (more or less) been able to mention their spouse in the workplace without fear of repercussion. Now I can too! Political Correctness means I don't have to watch every word I say in the office! It's done wonders for my freedom of speech. The most ardent opponents are those who hate gay people or black people and want to continue to shout vile things without repuccision.
- mseebach2 14y ago
  That's not political correctness, that's anti-discrimination. Political correctness is "Seasons Greetings" instead of "Merry Christmas" for fear of offending non-Christians. It's idiotic because for those not celebrating Christmas, indeed those that might be offended by mentions of Christmas, there is no season to celebrate. Don't send them a card. "Seasons greetings" is not "culture neutral", it's a code for Christmas. Pretending people are too stupid to figure out why suddenly people are eager to wish them a particular great third week of December is very offensive, IMO.
  - 14y ago