Ask Slashdot: How Should Tech Conferences Embrace Diversity?

An anonymous reader writes "The Register is reporting on how debate over diversity has managed to get a Ruby conference in the UK cancelled, as the speakers were 100% white male. The person running the conference, Chuck Hardy, said he 'was not prepared to put [himself] in the position of legal liability and cost ramifications if a sponsor were to pull out under social media strain.' He added, 'The ramifications of comments such as race and gender can have financial and legal consequences for the conference organizer. Raise these issues but allow the conference organizers the chance to highlight and act on these industry level issues. Accusation and slander is not a solution.' Should conferences embrace diversity from the start, or should they go forward even if the speakers are all of the same denomination? How far do we have to go to ensure we are diverse?"

Re:are we to believe that no women or any non-whit

[DragonWriter]

It sounds like the problem was they were working on it until this Susser guy implied on Twitter that they're racist misogynists.

Its reading quite a bit into a comment that the lineup looks good except for being all white men -- at a conference billed as one of the most diverse in Europe in its subject area -- to say that it implies that the organizers are "racist misogynists". Rather than, you know, just overselling the diversity thing.

Assuming the article is accurate, people should really just mind their damn business until there's something concrete and legitimately wrong to make accusations over.

The tweet at issue didn't make any accusations, and at least arguable something was concretely and legitimately wrong with BritRuby's entire invited slate being white men when the organizer was trumpeting the "diversity" of the conference.

Re:Liberalism: a mental disorder spread by self-pi

[Anonymous Coward]

Hessian and bhlowe, are you two having fun sucking each other's dicks over there?

Re:One idea

[BlueStrat]

There are people who wait and watch and see intentional discrimination even where none exists.

Your white privilege is showing.

Either your white guilt or racist sense of entitlement are showing.

But I'm sure you're aware of this, as you posted your PC-drivel anon.

Strat

Re:One idea

[crath]

Just treat everyone fairly, how hard is that?

. . . but you have to treat some more fairly than others . . .

Exactly... "All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others".

Re:Affirmative action is not the answer.

[Eddi3]

Physically the vagina has no more parts to pay attention to than a game controller. The proper key sequence to unlock the hidden features is the hard part.