Yesterday on Twitter I came across the following in my feed:
I was horrified and angry, responding with the following:
I also posted something similar on Linkedin, Facebook and Google+. I never heard from the vendor, but I did hear back from some pretty offended men and women, both technologists and non-technologists.
Why are we still having this conversation? Why would ANY vendor think it’s appropriate to make make the staff at a technical conference dress like employees at Hooters?
There’s a bitter irony in reading article after article about improving the diversity in STEM fields and then seeing this. I’m getting pretty tired of feeling like a second class citizen in this industry. I’d like to be able to go to a conference and know that I’ll be treated with the respect due a senior-level technologist, not minimized because I happen to have a uterus. Clearly, I’m not the only person who feels this kind of behavior is no longer acceptable and shouldn’t be tolerated. I encourage anyone equally appalled to call out the vendor in question. If we can’t appeal to their morals, maybe they’ll think twice if it impacts their bottom line.
UPDATE: I’ve been corrected regarding the venue. This event took place at a Vegas night club, but I’m STILL offended. I don’t see any Booth Bros. Why did this vendor feel the need to have women promote their product this way?
UPDATE 6/28: Looks like people at Nutanix are embarrassed, but I’m not sure if this will actually translate to any awareness on their part.
“In a blog post Friday, Julie O’Brien, vice president of corporate marketing at Nutanix, apologized for the stunt while also offering an explanation of what went wrong.”
This was in my feed this morning: Nutanix CMO After Risque Conference Stunt: I Will Resign If It Happens Again.
Postmodern Security 