9 ms·

I don't think they expected him to bring guests to a tech conference. What if he brought his kids as well? Grandma? Free $2000 tickets for all? Remember that th

I don't think they expected him to bring guests to a tech conference. What if he brought his kids as well? Grandma? Free $2000 tickets for all? Remember that the hired guns at these events are not paid to think, just follow orders. He should have got special clearance weeks in advance for free entrance for his family - that's the uncomfortable truth. He will probably live to regret this as a speaking gig at TechEd as a non-MS employee is not to be sniffed at and now he has shunned the Borg - whom he must be pretty invested in skills wise to be invited in the first place. His wife could have gone and done some sightseeing while he works for a few hours.

snikch 13y ago
I think the core issue here is more about the treatment than the expectations. If they had handled the situation differently, it would not have been an issue. The problem was there was no consideration for his wife in the slightest. It definitely feels like a commoditised arrangement rather than a human interaction.
tptacek 13y ago
I've spoken at lots of conferences, brought friends to many of my talks, and would do exactly what he did in the same circumstance.
- edandersen 13y ago
  The scale of these conferences necessitates a strict badge rule. To get a badge, you need a registration. No badge = asked to leave. The security drones don't have the authority to issue badges on the spot and are programmed to kick out non-badge holders. Good for you that you would have cancelled 30 mins before the talk but it still would be a breach of contract most likely.
  - tptacek 13y ago
    I took a +1 to an RSA talk without a problem. RSA is gigantic (it eats Moscone) and badge-controlled. I just said "I need this person here in order to do the talk".
  - DrJokepu 13y ago
    The typical solution is to assign a person with the authority to let +1 guests in to the registration desk or at least make sure that such a person can be contacted when needed. This is fairly common in my experience regardless of the scale of the event so I'm not sure why you're trying to make it look like this was somehow unreasonable.
- pyoung 13y ago
  As a counter example, I have been to a number of conferences where the speakers/presenters/panelists and volunteers were expected to pay the full registration fee, so as you can imagine, friends/family and +1's wouldn't get special treatment. While some events are pretty laid back, it looks like the registration for this event cost ~$2000, which is a pretty penny. My gut instinct would be to check with the event organizers first before trying to bring a +1, but I think the OP assumed that because he was able to negotiate with the travel coordinators for two one way tickets, one for his wife (instead of one round trip ticket), he probably assumed that this was implicit consent for his wife to tag along at the conference. Seems like a big mis-understanding that was confounded by poor treatment from security staff (and before we start ragging on the security staff, it is worth mentioning that event security tends to be a thankless, miserable job. Crappy wages and hours, and depending on the event, you spend most of your time dealing with people who treat you like shit.)
  - tptacek 13y ago
    Who would speak at an event that charged speakers to do so? These events may charge $2000 a head, but it doesn't cost them $2000, or even $5, to let a +1 watch your talk.
    - pyoung 13y ago
      Everybody who has ever spoken at PyCon for one (and volunteers as well): http://jessenoller.com/blog/2011/05/25/pycon-everybody-pays http://jessenoller.com/blog/2011/05/25/pycon-everybody-pays It looks like the OP is an established consultant/teacher, so he probably only goes to conferences that invite him to speak (and my guess is, from what I have heard about you tptacek, that you are in the same boat), so he may be unfamiliar with the practice. But for us peons, with little to no name recognition, conference papers and talks can be a big resume booster, so it's not out of the question to pay-to-speak (you still have to go through the proposal process though). In my old industry, this was standard practice, and because almost everyone had their conference registration and travel paid for by their employer, it wasn't a huge deal.
    - tingletech 13y ago
- marshray 13y ago
  But would you have tried to show up more than 30 minutes ahead of your speaking slot if you were bringing a wife who didn't speak English who didn't have a conference preregistration? Lest anyone think I'm being judgmental I personally might have shown up about 0 minutes before I had to talk and behaved exactly like he did.
  - mahmud 13y ago
    Where does it say that his wife doesn't speak English? Just that she is not American.
    - marshray 13y ago
      Oh did it not say that? I may have gotten that impression from some other comments here.
akandiah 13y ago
> I don't think they expected him to bring guests to a tech conference. I wouldn't consider TechEd to be a tech conference. It's more of a Microsoft sales event that requires an entry fee.
- eli 13y ago
  You could say that about any vendor conference. It still has value.
eli 13y ago
Even if that's true and this was an unexpected situation, they handled it in the most inhumane and callous way possible.
protomyth 13y ago
> He will probably live to regret this.... I hope nothing in life makes you regret more than canceling after security escorts your significant other outside. As to the admission money, we pay the $ because we gain something. Expecting a speaker not to bring someone is just plain foolish.
bjornsing 13y ago
Yea, I must say it's a bit weird to assume you can bring your wife to an event like this, with such absolute certainty that you feel it would be entirely incomprehensible for her if you did not manage to get her in but instead had to give your talk...
- eli 13y ago
  They paid for his wife's one-way plane ticket to the event, so it probably shouldn't have been a total shock. Regardless, that's just not a nice way to treat people.
  - bjornsing 13y ago
    Sorry, but I still think a plane ticket and a conference pass are two different things... Maybe this is a bit of a culture clash (I'm Swedish) but my initial reaction is: This has an almost sexist undertone to it (what kind of a man would treat a woman like that - she's absolutely helpless and couldn't even comprehend why I was suddenly gone) and it feels rather unprofessional. The only people who where treated really badly here as I see it where the (hundreds?) of people who payed for their passes, stood in line to collect them and expected to hear a talk that never came. Sure you can be annoyed somebody treated your wife poorly, but the appropriate response is an email to the organizers after the event or similar. That's my 5 cents at least.
    - bruceb 13y ago
      While I can understand his concern about not being able to let her know, they are in America not some country in civil war. She should have been able to watch him but I am sure she could manage to find a Starbucks by herself.
      - droithomme 13y ago
        > they are in America not some country in civil war New Orleans currently has the highest murder rate in the US. It is the most dangerous place to be in the country, and it is more dangerous than many countries in civil war. If his partner is trained in self defense and marksmanship, armed with a concealed carry, and willing, then it may be safe for her to wander about on her own. It is unlikely though they came with defensive arms since they just flew in from Bali.
tomp 13y ago
You didn't read the article, did you? Him and his wife were traveling together. He didn't bring her with him to the conference; they changed their travel plans so that he would be able to speak at the conference.
jamesaguilar 13y ago
It's not like it costs them $2000 to give her a ticket. They don't have to spend any extra resources on her, she's not a foregone sale, and she's not displacing anyone who would have paid. It's a $0 ticket that they would have given to her.
darkarmani 13y ago
> Free $2000 tickets for all? You mean free $0 tickets. It doesn't cost them anything to have her in the speaker lounge. They paid for her plane ticket which actually cost them money, but they wouldn't let her wait for him?
- chris_mahan 13y ago
  Besides, she can get the content of the talk at home anyway, over beer.
Spooky23 13y ago
He didn't ask for free tickets, just admission to his talk. It's a common courtesy and necessary. You need to be able to take pictures on your own to safely be able to use those pictures in your own marketing or other material. I've never spoken at a major conference, but the folks whom I've worked with who have at a corporate/organization always bring an assistant or friend to take pictures to memorialize the appearance. I've been the assistant role a couple of times early in my career -- 2/3 times I was given a "exhibitors hall" or "sponsored session pass" gratis.
- Ovid 13y ago
  Agreed. I've spoken at quite a few conferences, including a couple of talks at OSCON. While I've been to disorganized conferences, I've never been to one that would have treated me so poorly.
CamperBob2 13y ago
At some point Microsoft has to trust their invited guests to behave like professionals. Believe me, if I ever decide to abuse Microsoft's hospitality as a guest speaker at one of their conferences, I will get a LOT more creative than merely inviting my kids and family members to sit in the audience. I don't know exactly what I would do or say once I got behind the mic, but you'd probably read about it on here, if not on CNN.
jakethehuman 13y ago
Well clearly bringing in 'the fam' as opposed to ' the wife' would be whole other story. Buy I would think a company such as Microsoft could figure out basic common courtesy for guests that they invited.

snikch 13y ago

I think the core issue here is more about the treatment than the expectations. If they had handled the situation differently, it would not have been an issue. The problem was there was no consideration for his wife in the slightest. It definitely feels like a commoditised arrangement rather than a human interaction.

tptacek 13y ago

I've spoken at lots of conferences, brought friends to many of my talks, and would do exactly what he did in the same circumstance.

edandersen 13y ago
The scale of these conferences necessitates a strict badge rule. To get a badge, you need a registration. No badge = asked to leave. The security drones don't have the authority to issue badges on the spot and are programmed to kick out non-badge holders. Good for you that you would have cancelled 30 mins before the talk but it still would be a breach of contract most likely.
- tptacek 13y ago
  I took a +1 to an RSA talk without a problem. RSA is gigantic (it eats Moscone) and badge-controlled. I just said "I need this person here in order to do the talk".
- DrJokepu 13y ago
  The typical solution is to assign a person with the authority to let +1 guests in to the registration desk or at least make sure that such a person can be contacted when needed. This is fairly common in my experience regardless of the scale of the event so I'm not sure why you're trying to make it look like this was somehow unreasonable.
pyoung 13y ago
As a counter example, I have been to a number of conferences where the speakers/presenters/panelists and volunteers were expected to pay the full registration fee, so as you can imagine, friends/family and +1's wouldn't get special treatment. While some events are pretty laid back, it looks like the registration for this event cost ~$2000, which is a pretty penny. My gut instinct would be to check with the event organizers first before trying to bring a +1, but I think the OP assumed that because he was able to negotiate with the travel coordinators for two one way tickets, one for his wife (instead of one round trip ticket), he probably assumed that this was implicit consent for his wife to tag along at the conference. Seems like a big mis-understanding that was confounded by poor treatment from security staff (and before we start ragging on the security staff, it is worth mentioning that event security tends to be a thankless, miserable job. Crappy wages and hours, and depending on the event, you spend most of your time dealing with people who treat you like shit.)
- tptacek 13y ago
  Who would speak at an event that charged speakers to do so? These events may charge $2000 a head, but it doesn't cost them $2000, or even $5, to let a +1 watch your talk.
  - pyoung 13y ago
    Everybody who has ever spoken at PyCon for one (and volunteers as well): http://jessenoller.com/blog/2011/05/25/pycon-everybody-pays http://jessenoller.com/blog/2011/05/25/pycon-everybody-pays It looks like the OP is an established consultant/teacher, so he probably only goes to conferences that invite him to speak (and my guess is, from what I have heard about you tptacek, that you are in the same boat), so he may be unfamiliar with the practice. But for us peons, with little to no name recognition, conference papers and talks can be a big resume booster, so it's not out of the question to pay-to-speak (you still have to go through the proposal process though). In my old industry, this was standard practice, and because almost everyone had their conference registration and travel paid for by their employer, it wasn't a huge deal.
  - tingletech 13y ago
marshray 13y ago
But would you have tried to show up more than 30 minutes ahead of your speaking slot if you were bringing a wife who didn't speak English who didn't have a conference preregistration? Lest anyone think I'm being judgmental I personally might have shown up about 0 minutes before I had to talk and behaved exactly like he did.
- mahmud 13y ago
  Where does it say that his wife doesn't speak English? Just that she is not American.
  - marshray 13y ago
    Oh did it not say that? I may have gotten that impression from some other comments here.

akandiah 13y ago

> I don't think they expected him to bring guests to a tech conference. I wouldn't consider TechEd to be a tech conference. It's more of a Microsoft sales event that requires an entry fee.

eli 13y ago
You could say that about any vendor conference. It still has value.

eli 13y ago

Even if that's true and this was an unexpected situation, they handled it in the most inhumane and callous way possible.

protomyth 13y ago

> He will probably live to regret this.... I hope nothing in life makes you regret more than canceling after security escorts your significant other outside. As to the admission money, we pay the $ because we gain something. Expecting a speaker not to bring someone is just plain foolish.

bjornsing 13y ago

Yea, I must say it's a bit weird to assume you can bring your wife to an event like this, with such absolute certainty that you feel it would be entirely incomprehensible for her if you did not manage to get her in but instead had to give your talk...

eli 13y ago
They paid for his wife's one-way plane ticket to the event, so it probably shouldn't have been a total shock. Regardless, that's just not a nice way to treat people.
- bjornsing 13y ago
  Sorry, but I still think a plane ticket and a conference pass are two different things... Maybe this is a bit of a culture clash (I'm Swedish) but my initial reaction is: This has an almost sexist undertone to it (what kind of a man would treat a woman like that - she's absolutely helpless and couldn't even comprehend why I was suddenly gone) and it feels rather unprofessional. The only people who where treated really badly here as I see it where the (hundreds?) of people who payed for their passes, stood in line to collect them and expected to hear a talk that never came. Sure you can be annoyed somebody treated your wife poorly, but the appropriate response is an email to the organizers after the event or similar. That's my 5 cents at least.
  - bruceb 13y ago
    While I can understand his concern about not being able to let her know, they are in America not some country in civil war. She should have been able to watch him but I am sure she could manage to find a Starbucks by herself.
    - droithomme 13y ago
      > they are in America not some country in civil war New Orleans currently has the highest murder rate in the US. It is the most dangerous place to be in the country, and it is more dangerous than many countries in civil war. If his partner is trained in self defense and marksmanship, armed with a concealed carry, and willing, then it may be safe for her to wander about on her own. It is unlikely though they came with defensive arms since they just flew in from Bali.

tomp 13y ago

You didn't read the article, did you? Him and his wife were traveling together. He didn't bring her with him to the conference; they changed their travel plans so that he would be able to speak at the conference.

jamesaguilar 13y ago

It's not like it costs them $2000 to give her a ticket. They don't have to spend any extra resources on her, she's not a foregone sale, and she's not displacing anyone who would have paid. It's a $0 ticket that they would have given to her.

darkarmani 13y ago

> Free $2000 tickets for all? You mean free $0 tickets. It doesn't cost them anything to have her in the speaker lounge. They paid for her plane ticket which actually cost them money, but they wouldn't let her wait for him?

chris_mahan 13y ago
Besides, she can get the content of the talk at home anyway, over beer.

Spooky23 13y ago

He didn't ask for free tickets, just admission to his talk. It's a common courtesy and necessary. You need to be able to take pictures on your own to safely be able to use those pictures in your own marketing or other material. I've never spoken at a major conference, but the folks whom I've worked with who have at a corporate/organization always bring an assistant or friend to take pictures to memorialize the appearance. I've been the assistant role a couple of times early in my career -- 2/3 times I was given a "exhibitors hall" or "sponsored session pass" gratis.

Ovid 13y ago
Agreed. I've spoken at quite a few conferences, including a couple of talks at OSCON. While I've been to disorganized conferences, I've never been to one that would have treated me so poorly.

CamperBob2 13y ago

At some point Microsoft has to trust their invited guests to behave like professionals. Believe me, if I ever decide to abuse Microsoft's hospitality as a guest speaker at one of their conferences, I will get a LOT more creative than merely inviting my kids and family members to sit in the audience. I don't know exactly what I would do or say once I got behind the mic, but you'd probably read about it on here, if not on CNN.

jakethehuman 13y ago

Well clearly bringing in 'the fam' as opposed to ' the wife' would be whole other story. Buy I would think a company such as Microsoft could figure out basic common courtesy for guests that they invited.