EECI & Content in Presentations
Posted by Leslie Camacho on October 26, 2011
Given the purpose of EECI and that it costs time and money to attend, it is unfair and unprofessional to ask someone to make a choice on whether they want to attend based on whether or not they might have to deal with sexual content in presentations.
Sexuality is complex and it is naive to say “get over it” or to presume to know why someone doesn’t want to encounter it. To boil the argument down to “morality” or “conservative vs. liberal” (or whatever) is to disrespect the individual (presenter and attendees) and their stories.
We want EECI to be a professional event that is inclusive, family friendly (we want to bring our kids next year), and inviting to those out to make the internet and the world a better place through web development.
Events that uplift people from all walks of life and help them be professionally successful are few. They require sacrifice to get to, and the last thing we need is to have inadvertently created yet another place to fight about what is “offensive content” versus how to change the world and make it better as web professionals.
So, what do we do?
It is EllisLab’s stance that censorship is not the answer, but neither is “anything goes.” What we need is to champion the level of professional respect that our community has always had for each other.
For EECI2012, we won’t be vetting presentations for “offensive content,” but we will have a set of presenter guidelines that assume little, enable a lot, give power and flexibility, respect your “code,” and that ulitmately help you succeed in a way that makes you smile. Sound familiar? We hope so.
I’m sorry to all that were offended. It was naive of us to assume that - without guidelines - all presenters would share the same definition of “professional” at a sponsored event. This doesn’t just apply to sexual content, but anything that is likely to be polarizing in a large and diverse community.
It’s important to me that you understand this apology isn’t lip service. I invite you to read my personal take here.
As always, I have an open inbox policy and comments are open on this post. Feel free to let know what you think.
Sincerely,
Leslie Camacho, CEO
EllisLab Inc.
