This is a fair argument. I have not seen the binge drinking the author brings up other than once at a hackathon but I can see how people could feel discomfort

This is a fair argument. I have not seen the binge drinking the author brings up other than once at a hackathon but I can see how people could feel discomfort with really really drunk people. People drink at conferences and meetups but I feel that you could listen to all of the talks without being made fun of for not drinking (to be fair: in in my experience). Not hanging around after the talks or whatever is over isn't that weird, even finding the people who do not "binge drink" and staying and talking to them wouldn't be impossible. That said, I feel that it's a different story when it comes to drinking at your workplace.