4 ms·

Is this phenomenon unique to the information technology industry? I don't know what they do for fun at pharmaceutical conferences, but I suspect alcohol is ofte

Is this phenomenon unique to the information technology industry? I don't know what they do for fun at pharmaceutical conferences, but I suspect alcohol is often involved.

atwebb 13y ago
My thoughts exactly, perhaps better phrasing would be: Does our Society have a drinking problem?
fennecfoxen 13y ago
Society has a bit of a drinking problem. (Some other societies, like Russia, have a bigger one. Some have less.) Next question? :P
- pbhjpbhj 13y ago
  The next question is that if it's a problem how do we solve it? >That said, I am still struggling to find good alternatives to the pub meetup, particularly in the UK. Other than taking over the corner of a larger coffee shop for a daytime meet, what kind of things are possible and inexpensive for small groups? // So ditch alcohol and go with caffeine instead ... hmm. Maybe with the right groupings gaming could be part of the solution? You need something that people can share, that requires communication and so initiates conversation. (That gives people something to do with their hands? That fosters a sense of shared experience?) Some types of gaming can do that and in certain sectors gaming may be as universal as drinking. So, everyone back to my place for a game of tiddlywinks then?? [I did mean computer gaming but ...?]
  - tbrownaw 13y ago
    You need something that people can share, that requires communication and so initiates conversation. (That gives people something to do with their hands? That fosters a sense of shared experience?) Some types of gaming can do that and in certain sectors gaming may be as universal as drinking. It also needs to be sufficiently unstructured that people can drift in and out as individual conversations move past small talk.
- pavel_lishin 13y ago
  > Society has a bit of a drinking problem. Maybe, but hosting happy hours after conferences is not a symptom of that. It's a symptom of our various societies having discovered alcohol, and then built up a lot of social norms and customs around it. It's like saying that our society has a violence problem because people like to gather around a television and watch men hit each other while trying to tug a ball around a field.
- nraynaud 13y ago
  I think it's time for 2 very americans quotes :) : "I have a drinking problem? Fuck you, Peck! You're a Mormon! Next to you, we all have a drinking problem!" http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Burn_After_Reading http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Burn_After_Reading "They found the Dutch morals much too libertine. Their children were becoming more and more Dutch as the years passed by. The congregation came to believe that they faced eventual extinction if they remained there." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pilgrims_(Plymouth_Colony) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pilgrims_(Plymouth_Colony)
epochwolf 13y ago
I've been to a couple of insurance conferences. This is not unique at all. There was at least one sexual assault that I know about. There are probably far more that weren't reported.
mathattack 13y ago
Certainly conferences have a drinking problem. I've been to conferences in many industries: Software, Consumer Products, Consulting, Financial Services... There are very hung over audiences in each. I think the common theme is you have two audiences: Young people who like to party and overdo it, and old people who have a rare night out and inadvertantly overdo it. I don't have empirical numbers, but I'd say many (half?) of the folks attending major multi-day conferences will have at least one rough morning. Hard to pin this on just technology. And many folks don't act this way at home. (With small kids, anything more than 2 drinks can become an issue)
- epochwolf 13y ago
  I would argue that those overdoing it aren't doing so on accident. Everyone in management at the company I worked for went to these conferences specifically to get drunk with customers.
  - mathattack 13y ago
    Of course there is also bonding going on. And a lot of folks who have responsibilities while at home have more freedom on the road.

Is this phenomenon unique to the information technology industry? I don't know what they do for fun at pharmaceutical conferences, but I suspect alcohol is often involved.

atwebb 13y ago

My thoughts exactly, perhaps better phrasing would be: Does our Society have a drinking problem?

fennecfoxen 13y ago

Society has a bit of a drinking problem. (Some other societies, like Russia, have a bigger one. Some have less.) Next question? :P

pbhjpbhj 13y ago
The next question is that if it's a problem how do we solve it? >That said, I am still struggling to find good alternatives to the pub meetup, particularly in the UK. Other than taking over the corner of a larger coffee shop for a daytime meet, what kind of things are possible and inexpensive for small groups? // So ditch alcohol and go with caffeine instead ... hmm. Maybe with the right groupings gaming could be part of the solution? You need something that people can share, that requires communication and so initiates conversation. (That gives people something to do with their hands? That fosters a sense of shared experience?) Some types of gaming can do that and in certain sectors gaming may be as universal as drinking. So, everyone back to my place for a game of tiddlywinks then?? [I did mean computer gaming but ...?]
- tbrownaw 13y ago
  You need something that people can share, that requires communication and so initiates conversation. (That gives people something to do with their hands? That fosters a sense of shared experience?) Some types of gaming can do that and in certain sectors gaming may be as universal as drinking. It also needs to be sufficiently unstructured that people can drift in and out as individual conversations move past small talk.
pavel_lishin 13y ago
> Society has a bit of a drinking problem. Maybe, but hosting happy hours after conferences is not a symptom of that. It's a symptom of our various societies having discovered alcohol, and then built up a lot of social norms and customs around it. It's like saying that our society has a violence problem because people like to gather around a television and watch men hit each other while trying to tug a ball around a field.
nraynaud 13y ago
I think it's time for 2 very americans quotes :) : "I have a drinking problem? Fuck you, Peck! You're a Mormon! Next to you, we all have a drinking problem!" http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Burn_After_Reading http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Burn_After_Reading "They found the Dutch morals much too libertine. Their children were becoming more and more Dutch as the years passed by. The congregation came to believe that they faced eventual extinction if they remained there." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pilgrims_(Plymouth_Colony) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pilgrims_(Plymouth_Colony)

epochwolf 13y ago

I've been to a couple of insurance conferences. This is not unique at all. There was at least one sexual assault that I know about. There are probably far more that weren't reported.

mathattack 13y ago

Certainly conferences have a drinking problem. I've been to conferences in many industries: Software, Consumer Products, Consulting, Financial Services... There are very hung over audiences in each. I think the common theme is you have two audiences: Young people who like to party and overdo it, and old people who have a rare night out and inadvertantly overdo it. I don't have empirical numbers, but I'd say many (half?) of the folks attending major multi-day conferences will have at least one rough morning. Hard to pin this on just technology. And many folks don't act this way at home. (With small kids, anything more than 2 drinks can become an issue)

epochwolf 13y ago
I would argue that those overdoing it aren't doing so on accident. Everyone in management at the company I worked for went to these conferences specifically to get drunk with customers.
- mathattack 13y ago
  Of course there is also bonding going on. And a lot of folks who have responsibilities while at home have more freedom on the road.