8ball
Maximum Facepalm
This exact sort of thing, or more general misogyny? (can’t say it would surprise me but I’m more aware of the latter with people like Uber etc)
UK captains of industry have charity night where they sexually assault young female 'hostesses'
- Thread starter trashpony
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This exact sort of thing, or more general misogyny? (can’t say it would surprise me but I’m more aware of the latter with people like Uber etc)
trashpony
Hag
Pitch your startup at this lingerie networking event and oh god tech industry really?
That's not a brilliant article but I've read about similar events. Women as accessories and eye candy.
Bahnhof Strasse
Met up with Hannah Courtoy a week next Tuesday
FridgeMagnet
Administrator
Oh, both, it all comes from the same place. Just like the old rich boys the young rich boys seem entranced by what they can get away with.
8ball
Maximum Facepalm
Yeah, that’s more like I might expect, and its plenty iffy, but it’s not on the scale of the Dorchester thing as far as I can tell ie. taking people’s phones, telling them not to tell their boyfriends, basically setting the scene for what happened etc.
trashpony
Hag
I think it's on a smaller scale. Fewer captains of industry, more inadequate geeks.
8ball
Maximum Facepalm
Yeah, low self-esteem followed by a sudden infusion of money and power isn’t the best combination.
FridgeMagnet
Administrator
There’s a lot more than just crass marketing - there’s loads of instances of “old fashioned” client meets and work parties in strip clubs etc - and did you see the sex party stuff recently?
TruXta
tired
The freedom of choice is truly a thing of wonder.
8ball
Maximum Facepalm
No, I totally missed that.
beesonthewhatnow
going deaf for a living
Just want to pickup on a few points from earlier...
The vast majority of events I've done are fine, and usually rather dull. There have been a couple that were somewhat dubious - all male audience with table hosts from a local strip club being one that springs to mind. At that point I'm faced with a choice - I can walk away, mid show from an event that has cost someone a 6 figure sum or more to put on and I will never work in the industry again. Or I can press the buttons and take the paycheque.
I have once refused a show when by chance I found out beforehand it involved a certain racist, wife beating comedian however.
At no event I've worked have I ever witnessed harassment or abuse. There have been a few that were clearly on dodgy sexist territory attended by awful arseholes, but nothing that had ever crossed the line into whats been described at the event in the news today.
I can absolutely believe he a) left when he said he did and b) saw fuck all.
Celebrities rotate round these events week in, week out. It's where they all earn a very large part of their incomes. Presenting an awards dinner, doing a "motivational" talk, performing 20 minutes of a watered down standup routine, whatever, is an easy way to earn 10, 20 grand or more in an evening. It also get very dull and very repetitive. So a lot of them simply stay in their hotel room or the green room until they're due on stage, do their thing then bugger off as fast as possible. If they're lucky an agent may have sent a script beforehand but most of the time the first they'll know of the event specifics is when they look at the autocue in rehearsal.
Oh, and when you're stood on a stage you can see nothing of what's happening in the room in front of you. Literally fuck all. Stage lights are bright.
So in this case I imagine he saw a room of blokes with girls waiting on the tables. Same as countless events he's likely done before.
Yes, doing my job. I work at a huge number of corporate events over the course of any given year, of varying types. I almost never know what they actually are until I get there, and often even then I'm just looking at a rigging CAD plan and have no idea what the actual event is until you see a logo appear on a set. And even then it's often a mystery. You then might get to run though a rehearsal or cue to cue check, then you go live. Often you only really get a feel for what the event is as you;re halfway though it.
The vast majority of events I've done are fine, and usually rather dull. There have been a couple that were somewhat dubious - all male audience with table hosts from a local strip club being one that springs to mind. At that point I'm faced with a choice - I can walk away, mid show from an event that has cost someone a 6 figure sum or more to put on and I will never work in the industry again. Or I can press the buttons and take the paycheque.
I have once refused a show when by chance I found out beforehand it involved a certain racist, wife beating comedian however.
Yes, I do. Who needs a roof over her head, clothes on her back and food on the table.
At no event I've worked have I ever witnessed harassment or abuse. There have been a few that were clearly on dodgy sexist territory attended by awful arseholes, but nothing that had ever crossed the line into whats been described at the event in the news today.
I can absolutely believe he a) left when he said he did and b) saw fuck all.
Celebrities rotate round these events week in, week out. It's where they all earn a very large part of their incomes. Presenting an awards dinner, doing a "motivational" talk, performing 20 minutes of a watered down standup routine, whatever, is an easy way to earn 10, 20 grand or more in an evening. It also get very dull and very repetitive. So a lot of them simply stay in their hotel room or the green room until they're due on stage, do their thing then bugger off as fast as possible. If they're lucky an agent may have sent a script beforehand but most of the time the first they'll know of the event specifics is when they look at the autocue in rehearsal.
Oh, and when you're stood on a stage you can see nothing of what's happening in the room in front of you. Literally fuck all. Stage lights are bright.
So in this case I imagine he saw a room of blokes with girls waiting on the tables. Same as countless events he's likely done before.
dessiato
🇪🇸 my spirit is crying for leaving
This sort of thing used to be common when I went to car launches. There'd always be scantily clad girls. Jaguar used to be bad for this. It was embarrassing.
Wilf
Slouching towards Billingham
Yes, certainly, the Swingathon that was becoming was unnecessary and inappropriate. Same time, a bit of personal reflection and indeed challenging on a topic is sometimes helpful (and that's not some dig at dessiato , who as was said earlier was being both honest and thoughtful). These issues are, obviously, structural and deeply embedded and it's always unfair to reduce it down to 'so, what did you do to challenge it', particularly people who themselves might be in a vulnerable position. But still, the questions keithy was asking earlier seem appropriate. Suppose I'm just saying, amid our collective detestation of events like these, a bit of reflection can also be useful.
seeformiles
Lost in the wood
I think the world has changed an awful lot in the last 20/30 years. What you said earlier about your peers viewing you as odd if you didn’t join in and drool at women quite openly is very true. I remember thinking that Benny Hill (in the 70s) was rather disrespectful towards women - and I was still a child then but I wouldn’t have dared say anything due to peer pressure. Fast forward to late 80s and sitting in an audience with 200 men who were staring glassy-eyed at a naked woman gyrating on a stage was one of the most uncomfortable experiences of my life. I wondered how these (much older) men could square this behaviour with their wives but put it down to the age gap between them and me. This Presidents’ Club event surprises me as I thought the similar evening I went to back in the day was a last hurrah for an aging generation. Sadly not so
Pickman's model
Starry Wisdom
When you say peer pressure in the 70s, you mean other kids I suppose
I don't think the point you're making, a variation on 'everyone was doing it then', really stands up.
trashpony
Hag
Personal reflection is good. Having a spat about who called who a cunt first, less so
pinkmonkey
2.4 hour party person
I worked in the sports clothing trade in the 90’s and it was far worse than this. They used to order hookers in for the conferences and drink until they passed out. I had a great boss back then who would wind them up by bringing his wife to these seedy events. She was quite happy to chuck a glass of wine at these dinosaurs if their behaviour warranted it. My other two bosses are in prison for fraud. Theres so much bad behaviour, none of this suprises me at all. I hope this is now the beginning of the end for this crap but I doubt it.
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pinkmonkey
2.4 hour party person
I cant remember the name of the skate shoe brand that had women administering blow jobs on their booth at the skate show in California in the nineties, but yeah, you’d think a skate brand would be more woke, but nope, same, same.
Spymaster
Plastic Paddy
It wasn't about who called who a cunt first. It was about that little shit-sniffer suggesting that I frequent events like this. I undoubtedly called him a cunt first.
ddraig
kicking against the pricks...
wtf???
again, any need?
Spymaster
Plastic Paddy
Fuck off. I'm setting the record straight. This is what kicked it off:
Don't fucking quote me again.
ddraig
kicking against the pricks...
stop swinging your bollocks about ffs, got to bed
Spymaster
Plastic Paddy
Grow up you bullshitting turd.
seeformiles
Lost in the wood
What I’m saying is that I recall feeling a bit weird about it while most other people were just laughing.
This is going well
oryx
Sitting on the bok of the day
Another truly offensive thing about this affair is the rep from Artista, the agency 'providing' the 'hostesses' saying: 'I am not aware of any reports of sexual harassment and with the calibre of guest, I would be astonished.'
Like rich and powerful men would never do that sort of thing - which planet is she on?
Like rich and powerful men would never do that sort of thing - which planet is she on?
ddraig
kicking against the pricks...
planet loaded and look the other way
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