Conference Organizers Apologize for Offensive Presentation

Just earlier this week, I shared the news that yet ANOTHER sexist presentation had been given at a recent technology conference in Minneapolis called Flashbelt.

It looks like the conference organizers are trying to right the wrong by issuing a public apology. Geek Girls Guide led a concerted effort to make this happen and posted the letter from the conference director on their site. Take a moment to read what the director has to say - I think it will be enlightening for those who are planning, attending or sponsoring any future tech conference:

From Dave Schroeder (@flashbelt), Flashbelt Director

I want to assure you that I'm deeply upset about the presentation given recently at the Flashbelt Conference by Hoss Gifford. I'm disappointed in myself for allowing it to happen and I accept responsibility for it. I apologize for it.

His presentation included several offensive and misogynistic elements that I do not condone. I realize as the creator and producer of this conference I have the sole responsibility for the content presented and in this instance I have clearly failed to live up to my own standards, and the standards expected of me by the attendees, our industry and the general public.

Gender issues in general and in our industry are of great importance to me. I consider myself a feminist and don't hesitate to say it. I want our industry to be a place where all genders and races work together in a respectful, supportive fashion. That has been my M.O. since day 1 and is not just a wake up call brought on by this instance. Working together, men and women can elevate their skills, creativity and successes. The ultimate goal of Flashbelt is to aid every attendee in their desire to further their professional skills and knowledge. I want men and women to mingle, talk shop, have fun and geek out. Allowing a presentation to create an atmosphere that hinders this scenario is tragic failure on my part.

Off color jokes and boys' clubs exist in the workplace and it's not cool. These things can add up to create an environment in which women feel like outsiders, or on unequal footing with their male co-workers. As for suggestions along the lines of growing a thicker skin, or leaving if you don't like it, I don't accept that rationale. It's flawed. I know many women that do this in order to cope, but it's not a solution. Inappropriate behavior needs to be addressed by everyone in the room. And in my opinion, it's not all that hard to just be a good person and get out of your old ways. I think some men have a tendency to default to poor behavior because it's what they've known, and provides and easier way to connect with other males. It's low hanging fruit. You don't have to be that clever to be a "guy's guy". On the flip side, I know several women who can swear like truckers with the best of 'em, and who will whoop your booty in a game of agency dodge ball. There's really a lot more common ground between men and women than we sometimes see. So I encourage you to take minute and assess how you fit into this issue, what you believe and how others around you carry themselves. I've been very fortunate to work with great teams of men and women over the years and when those teams operate in a respectful, supportive way, they really rock the block. And it's more fun for everyone. I should add that I know a lot of men in this industry who feel the same way as I do about this. In fact, I would suggest that the majority of them do. If you follow the social media buzz you'll see several of these men commenting on this issue. It's one of the reasons I love my job and this field. There really is a great cross section of creative and interesting people around us doing great things, in respectful ways.

I started the Flashbelt conference 6 years ago in Minneapolis with a mission statement: The mission of Flashbelt is to bring together new media designers, developers and enthusiasts to share knowledge, inspiration and build community. Since the first event I have been the sole organizer and producer of the event. I've been able to gather together some of the most exciting minds in the field and present them to my attendees. I call them my attendees because I think of them as my responsibility, and my friends. I pride myself on the presentations I'm able to arrange and beam in the encouraging feedback I get every year from them. This event is my baby. I pour myself into it. In Minneapolis I've arranged 14 workshops and over 180 presentations. Nothing like this has happened before. This is a blip -- a big blip that I will not soon forget. And again, it's one that I take full responsibility for. But I hope that my overall track record can serve as better indicator of my ambitions and agenda for the Flashbelt conference.

I want to personally thank Courtney Remes for her blog post and having the strength to address this issue. She and I know each other via the conference over the years and I would like to directly apologize to her for subjecting her to this presentation. We've been speaking and I'm saddened to hear about the effect the session has had on her, as well as some of the follow up comments coming out online. She's a cool person and I commend her for speaking out. This is a subject that requires further conversation and hopefully this can be a point of ignition that results in some progress around this issue. (By the way, she mentioned to me that's she not thrilled to be in the spotlight because of this and I encourage you keep that in mind. She's rightfully, genuinely concerned and not just putting stuff out there to rant or see how many hits she can get. She's good people.)

Courtney along with Nancy Lyons and Meghan Wilker of the GeekGirlsGuide.com and I had a meeting on June 12th to discuss things and I can safely say that we are all on the same page. Nancy and Meghan are nice, supportive people and I think what they're doing with the resource for women online is wonderful. I'm thankful they have been open to hearing me out and have offered to help assist me in setting the record straight, and posting this letter. They're very fair and I appreciate that. A lot of energy and buzz has been brought on by this event. We will be working together to guide that energy in a pro-active direction.

Attendees. I certainly owe every attendee at Flashbelt this year and over years an apology for this as well. They've been a wonderful group of people and I failed you by delivering conference content well below the level you've grown to expect and deserve. I will be messaging all 2009 attendees directly with this same apology. For those male and female attendees who have sent notes of support I appreciate it. I encourage you all to get involved with this discussion. You are very important to me.

Sponsors. I also apologize to the companies and individuals that have sponsored and marketed at Flashbelt over the years. They expect to be associated with a good event that enhances your image and visibility and benefits your customers. I failed to deliver that this year. In no way should anyone hold these sponsors responsible for this situation. They have been great partners over the years and their involvement allows Flashbelt to be the great event that it is. I value their support and regret that my judgment has failed them in this instance. Thank you for your continued support.

Speakers. It greatly saddens me that the big buzz about Flashbelt this year is focused on one individual when I know that the other 39 speakers delivered excellent presentations. They put countless hours in to preparing for their talks. They're brilliant and I'm very fortunate to have them participate in my little event. I encourage everyone to search twitter @flashbelt for tweets that took place between June 7th and 10th to get sense of what attendees had to say about the other sessions they we're witnessing at Flashbelt. These speakers deserve to be in the limelight at this point for their awesome presentations. I'm sorry. You know I love you.

How did this happen? There is no long exhaustive answer. I made a terrible error in judgment. I knew there was potential for this to occur and I blew it. And for that I deserve to on the hot seat for this. Hot seat accepted. Which I think raises a good point about the gender issues addressed above. Even a guy like me, who knows what is appropriate and what is inappropriate can be lazy at times, or even appear to be in a mild coma when inappropriate behavior occurs. It's important keep your own values close and online all the time. I'll certainly be working to improve this aspect of myself.

Hoss Gifford. I feel that I have failed Hoss, too, by not addressing some of his inappropriate behaviors. This is another piece of the puzzle. Sometimes we let people we like get away with doing or saying things we don't like, but eventually that hurts everyone. So it's good to speak up when you see anyone going down the wrong path. That is respectful as well. Hoss is a person like all of us, and all of us can change if we want to, and can learn to see things differently. If he's open to it, I will certainly take time to work with him on these things. Abuse him if you must, but keep in mind that there is a heart and soul there as well. I'm not defending his presentation; I'm just saying that his presentation is a part of him, not all of him. I believe that it's better to help people change their ways than to push them farther back into a corner and if he's open to talking about that, I'll participate.

Now What? What's done is done and we can't go back in time. How I wish I could. We can only move forward and attempt to use this event to make some change. I will personally work out a more formal way to vet and qualify speakers and their content. This egregious error on my part will not be repeated. There are a lot of good brains out there following this and I am open to your suggestions as well.

Moving Forward. In an attempt to take advantage of the energy that has arisen around this issue, with assistance from Courtney, Nancy and Meghan, I will be organizing and sponsoring a meeting event focused on gender issues in our field. Hopefully this will occur within the next few weeks. Please stay tuned and get involved.

Once again, I am deeply saddened by what has transpired. I take this very seriously. I accept complete responsibility. I will work tirelessly to make Flashbelt the event that people have come to expect. And it will not be an event that in anyway condones behavior that is inappropriate. I will not let you down again. Please accept my apology.

When anything like this happens in a community, it is very important to raise awareness about it and hold people accountable for their actions - and subsequently, the inactions as well. When it comes to sexist or misogynistic behavior you can't just let the offensive slide by unnoticed. The only way to make the world a safer and happier place for women is to stop sexism in it's tracks. I am thankful to the Nancy Lyons (@nylons) and Meghan Wilker (@irishgirl) from the Geek Girls Guide, as well as Courtney Remes, who actively raised the consciousness of the technology community about the damaging effects of Hoss Gifford's presentation and any other like it.