|
|
|
|
|
|
by cbs
4833 days ago
|
|
|
Conferences are a minefield. Conflicting opinions of if a particular conference should be, is, and what qualifies as, a "professional work environment" run rampant. When you have everyone attending because it's necessary and/or just a break from the office, they have a professional setting because people are not excited to be there. I see this in the business domain (not-tech) conferences all the time, any recreation happens completely separate from the conference. Tech conferences get tech enthusiasts. Suddenly people actually want to be there and have fun with the other attendees. An easy example is DEFCON, people treat it like a party with talks, because for over a decade it was unambiguously a party with talks. Problems are multiplied when people want to relax standards of professionalism on some axis but maintain it on others (or even ratchet it up beyond what people are used to in their own offices). Clearly defining socially feasible expectations of behavior and communicating that to attendees never happens, then "incidents" occur. |
|
|
I would like to believe that even a party is possible without harassing or discriminating against other people. I don't think it has anything to do with trying to be a "professional" work environment. I just want to see it as being respectful to people around you all the time, everywhere. Fully believing that, I have never ever found a desire to hit on or make derogatory comments to another man unprovoked, put boobs on a presentation slide, or grab someone's crotch even while incredibly drunk, outside of where my partner is concerned when we're in private. I find it incredibly difficult to deal with the fact that I've encountered many men that think doing any of that is perfectly normal until someone says otherwise.
Sadly, I don't think defcon has ever met that standard so I haven't attended except with friends in a very long time and I've always swore off unofficial and after-conference events. Plenty of good people but it's always those couple rotten apples that like to be disrespectful...