Disclaimer: I am no means an expert in our industry or very prominent. I understand that much more well known & experienced people will blog on this subject but I wanted to get my points across.
During the Boagworld Live 200th show, people in the chatroom made some very unsavoury comments towards some of the guests - particularly towards the women guests - Relly Annett-Baker, Sarah Parmenter and Inayaili de Leon seemed to take the real stick from people in the live chatroom.
But why?
There are a few key aspects that, in my mind, lead to people being so downright disgraceful, rude, and almost sexist. The key one for me is that the chatroom was completely anonymous - you could set a nickname if you wanted - but that does not mean you have to identify yourself. As Rachel Andrew has pointed out - if everyone had to log in via Facebook / Twitter, whatever, would they still be so keen to post such misguided and insulting views?
But the main factor in my mind is jealously. Lets face it, those guests got asked to be a part of the celebrations because they are well known experts in their field. And who wouldn’t want to be in their position? Not many people would turn down the chance to talk to Paul Boag & co live on air with hundreds of people watching. I believe the people who posted such rubbish were either jealous, and/or immature and although it is offensive and I fully understand all the posts, we should learn to just ignore it. It will always happen in any anonymous chatroom - a select few spoiling it for others.
I’ve seen Relly Annett-Baker speak at Bamboo Juice last year in what was probably my favourite presentation of the day and she clearly knows her stuff - hence her appearance, and while I have not met Sarah Parmenter I’ve read her blogs and she also knows a thing or two about this web stuff. And I’ve met Inayaili de Leon at Barcamp London 2007 - playing a particularly sneaky game of werewolf - and can say with confidence there is no reason for such comments to be aimed at her.
And at the end of the day, no one should give two hoots if the person speaking is Male/Female or whatever. As long as they know their stuff, that’s all that matters. People who think differently to that need to be sorted out.
But we shouldn’t let it overshadow what was a terrific event - and I’m gutted I couldn’t listen to it live but I’ll be listening to all 12 hours if they are released - and congratulations to Paul & Marcus, and all who help out with the podcast. I’m a weekly listener and long may it continue!
