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I know of at least three incidents. The CouchDB talk at a Ruby conference in 2009 had soft porn pictures [1]. Another Ruby conference in 2008 offered a 'daycare

I know of at least three incidents. The CouchDB talk at a Ruby conference in 2009 had soft porn pictures [1]. Another Ruby conference in 2008 offered a 'daycare' where attendees could leave their 'spouse, boyfriend or girlfriend' if they weren't interested in the conference itself. They called it a 'girlfriend daycare' which generated some controversy on a mailing list named DevChix. [2] These aren't the most objective and reliable sources, its just to give you an idea of that drama. Also BritRuby was cancelled because the speaker list consisted entirely of white males, which is somehow a bad thing. [3] [1] http://geekfeminism.wikia.com/wiki/CouchDB_talk http://geekfeminism.wikia.com/wiki/CouchDB_talk [2] http://geekfeminism.wikia.com/wiki/RubyFringe_offers_girlfriend_daycare http://geekfeminism.wikia.com/wiki/RubyFringe_offers_girlfri... [3] http://venturebeat.com/2012/11/18/britruby-conference-felled-by-white-males/ http://venturebeat.com/2012/11/18/britruby-conference-felled...

Argorak 14y ago
> Also BritRuby was cancelled because the speaker list consisted entirely of white males, which is somehow a bad thing. The dismissive tone is unnecessary, the matter was more complex than it seems. See here for a previous discussion. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5399848 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5399848
- canttestthis 14y ago
  I just read your link. So the issue is that they advertised themselves as a 'diverse conference' but didn't have a diverse speaker list. I don't typically look at race/gender when I look at speaker lists, so I didn't think it was a bad thing.
  - deleted 14y ago
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    - deleted 14y ago
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  - ensignavenger 14y ago
    There are lots of ways to be diverse, its not just a matter of race/gender. Personally, I think diversity in race is a pretty week indicator of general diversity.
dffdgfd 14y ago
Regarding first link with ass in the picture someone pointed this out: >@sarahmei no offense but I doubt any of the guys there look @ you in that way so no need to be scared Auch.
peteforde 14y ago
I'm stunned that RubyFringe is on this list. The writeup you linked to is brutally one-sided: the partner track ("girlfriend daycare") was conceived of, named and run by women working in the larger context of supporting a conference run by a woman who happens to be the managing partner of the original Rails dev shop. The men who had a blast as partner track participants would agree that this controversy was the ultimate tempest in a teapot. The name change happened because there was a conference to be run and there was no battle to be fought and won. Luckily it didn't seem to matter as none of the DevChix folks had any intention of coming in the first place. A good time was had regardless: http://www.rubyinside.com/rubyfringe-success-and-roundup-956.html http://www.rubyinside.com/rubyfringe-success-and-roundup-956...
- Lewisham 14y ago
  Psstttt... don't tell anyone... but all of the conference dramas ever have been "tempests in a teapot."
  - coldtea 14y ago
    Western people that don't have anything better to do than parade some misguided PC cause. It's what passes for "action" and "making the world better" in this era. That, and BS orchestrated rage against foreign issues they are instructed to care about by their government (Tibet, Iranian elections, etc). Which is sad for people who remember the SDS, the Vietnam protests, and so on.
- LaGrange 14y ago
  The biggest problem in many such cases isn't really the name, but the reaction to complaints. Perfectly the name would be fine from the get go, but if it wasn't, people say "hey, that's crap", organizers change it, case closed. Real crap starts when people start freaking out that "OMG feminism has gone insane!", and it's that reaction that is the real symptom of big problems. All because someone deemed the name more important than the likelihood a woman would feel welcome in the conference proper. Similarly in the case of PyCon: joke was crap, someone called it out. Instead of an apology and admission that it shouldn't have happened, two people lost their jobs, and a lot of whistleblowers will be discouraged from speaking out. All because people think their freedom of joke making is more important than the likelihood a woman would feel welcome. People do know those aren't complaints about direct harassment – just about a lot of individually tiny things that, once taken together, breed an atmosphere that encourages harassment and discourages participation. And sure, some women can deal with that – but they shouldn't have. Also, a dong joke wouldn't be an issue in a perfect world, but we're not living in one.
coldtea 14y ago
>Also BritRuby was cancelled because the speaker list consisted entirely of white males, which is somehow a bad thing. The fools! Where did they go without the token woman or black or asian person?
- steveklabnik 14y ago
  There are many many many suitable black / Asian / woman choices for speaking at your conf. No reason to be a 'token.'
  - ricardobeat 14y ago
    It surprises me that people can't tell the irony.
    - steveklabnik 14y ago
      I used to be too, but doesn't any more. :(
  - coldtea 14y ago
    And if you haven't gotten an application from one to do so, no need to go out of your way to have one. If they had rejected someone for being black/asian/a woman/all the above, I would have understand the outrage. But in a field where 99% of the people active are white males in Britain, it makes less sense. Should a conference about confucianism in China also find a western person to speak, or be cancelled? Here's a quick quiz for you: name a woman/asian/black person that is active and does interesting things in the Python community? Here are the people that come to MY mind: 1) Guido, 2) Alex Gaynor, 3) Jacob Kaplan Moss, 4) several more white geeks. Whereas in, say, web design circles I know far more women that do interesting things.
    - saraid216 14y ago
      > Should a conference about confucianism in China also find a western person to speak, or be cancelled? Actually, that's a pretty good idea. There are some good scholars of Confucianism who aren't Chinese, and it'd be worth getting them in.

Argorak 14y ago

> Also BritRuby was cancelled because the speaker list consisted entirely of white males, which is somehow a bad thing. The dismissive tone is unnecessary, the matter was more complex than it seems. See here for a previous discussion. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5399848 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5399848

canttestthis 14y ago
I just read your link. So the issue is that they advertised themselves as a 'diverse conference' but didn't have a diverse speaker list. I don't typically look at race/gender when I look at speaker lists, so I didn't think it was a bad thing.
- deleted 14y ago
  [deleted]
  - deleted 14y ago
    [deleted]
- ensignavenger 14y ago
  There are lots of ways to be diverse, its not just a matter of race/gender. Personally, I think diversity in race is a pretty week indicator of general diversity.

dffdgfd 14y ago

Regarding first link with ass in the picture someone pointed this out: >@sarahmei no offense but I doubt any of the guys there look @ you in that way so no need to be scared Auch.

peteforde 14y ago

I'm stunned that RubyFringe is on this list. The writeup you linked to is brutally one-sided: the partner track ("girlfriend daycare") was conceived of, named and run by women working in the larger context of supporting a conference run by a woman who happens to be the managing partner of the original Rails dev shop. The men who had a blast as partner track participants would agree that this controversy was the ultimate tempest in a teapot. The name change happened because there was a conference to be run and there was no battle to be fought and won. Luckily it didn't seem to matter as none of the DevChix folks had any intention of coming in the first place. A good time was had regardless: http://www.rubyinside.com/rubyfringe-success-and-roundup-956.html http://www.rubyinside.com/rubyfringe-success-and-roundup-956...

Lewisham 14y ago
Psstttt... don't tell anyone... but all of the conference dramas ever have been "tempests in a teapot."
- coldtea 14y ago
  Western people that don't have anything better to do than parade some misguided PC cause. It's what passes for "action" and "making the world better" in this era. That, and BS orchestrated rage against foreign issues they are instructed to care about by their government (Tibet, Iranian elections, etc). Which is sad for people who remember the SDS, the Vietnam protests, and so on.
LaGrange 14y ago
The biggest problem in many such cases isn't really the name, but the reaction to complaints. Perfectly the name would be fine from the get go, but if it wasn't, people say "hey, that's crap", organizers change it, case closed. Real crap starts when people start freaking out that "OMG feminism has gone insane!", and it's that reaction that is the real symptom of big problems. All because someone deemed the name more important than the likelihood a woman would feel welcome in the conference proper. Similarly in the case of PyCon: joke was crap, someone called it out. Instead of an apology and admission that it shouldn't have happened, two people lost their jobs, and a lot of whistleblowers will be discouraged from speaking out. All because people think their freedom of joke making is more important than the likelihood a woman would feel welcome. People do know those aren't complaints about direct harassment – just about a lot of individually tiny things that, once taken together, breed an atmosphere that encourages harassment and discourages participation. And sure, some women can deal with that – but they shouldn't have. Also, a dong joke wouldn't be an issue in a perfect world, but we're not living in one.

coldtea 14y ago

>Also BritRuby was cancelled because the speaker list consisted entirely of white males, which is somehow a bad thing. The fools! Where did they go without the token woman or black or asian person?

steveklabnik 14y ago
There are many many many suitable black / Asian / woman choices for speaking at your conf. No reason to be a 'token.'
- ricardobeat 14y ago
  It surprises me that people can't tell the irony.
  - steveklabnik 14y ago
    I used to be too, but doesn't any more. :(
- coldtea 14y ago
  And if you haven't gotten an application from one to do so, no need to go out of your way to have one. If they had rejected someone for being black/asian/a woman/all the above, I would have understand the outrage. But in a field where 99% of the people active are white males in Britain, it makes less sense. Should a conference about confucianism in China also find a western person to speak, or be cancelled? Here's a quick quiz for you: name a woman/asian/black person that is active and does interesting things in the Python community? Here are the people that come to MY mind: 1) Guido, 2) Alex Gaynor, 3) Jacob Kaplan Moss, 4) several more white geeks. Whereas in, say, web design circles I know far more women that do interesting things.
  - saraid216 14y ago
    > Should a conference about confucianism in China also find a western person to speak, or be cancelled? Actually, that's a pretty good idea. There are some good scholars of Confucianism who aren't Chinese, and it'd be worth getting them in.