Video Are Booth Babes Going Away? (Video) 334
Robin: I am Robin Miller and we are here today with Michael Steinhart who recently wrote an article about booth babes, and how in one of the shows he attended last year there were none, and at the same show this year one booth had them. So what is that, Michael, you were even wondering: Is it the economy or is it political consciousness? What do you think?
Michael: Well, that is a fantastic question. I have been trying to approach it from a research-oriented perspective. I reached out to the company that featured the booth babes this year. This was at the Cloud Expo Show at the Javits Center. And they said they are actually I am still waiting for them to get back to me. They had to do a couple of internal meetings, and then they had to talk with their brand strategist and they are going to call me as soon as they get their stories there. But it seems as though they are falling out of favor.
And just in looking around the Internet and actually speaking to event organizers which I tried to do in the 20 minutes since we established that we are going to be talking, it really sounds as though the tide has turned. One of the general managers for a big show told me just a couple of minutes ago, that five to ten years ago, this was okay, but it is not okay anymore. We don’t want to see them, and audience members don’t want to see them, and so it lowers the level of the discourse of the show. So that is the short answer.
And it also seems as though at least on the one hand, they are starting to disappear. I found three shows specifically the Infosecurity Europe Show and then the Associated Press also mentioned the Penny Arcade Expo which takes place in Seattle and Boston – those three have officially outlawed booth babes; they don’t allow them on the show floor.
Robin: Really? Now last year, a fellow journalist someone you probably know named Sharon Fisher and I were at Black Hat in Las Vegas, and there were booth babes whose assets were barely tucked in to the tops of their dresses or the teeny tops – all over the place. And quite frankly I was getting sick, so I didn’t want to go around, so Sharon said,‘Okay I will write that,’ so she went up and she found dozens and dozens of them. Is that Vegas? Is that because it is Vegas?
Michael: I think obviously it is going to depend on the location because I actually mentioned in the article that in Taipei for example, at the Computex Show that wrapped up last week, just one particular website that was dedicated to the booth babes of Computex Taipei.
Robin: I have seen that more than once in Japan and Taipei, China etc.
Michael: Right. So the ethos is not gone. It is definitely not going to disappear overnight. I think it might just be uniquely American thing, it may be a completely uniquely tech thing, whereas in Vegas, that happens in Vegas, if it isn’t Vegas it is hard to say, but I am definitely seeing on the organizers side and also as more women journalists and more women executives take to the technology take to the air waves with their complaints there is definitely less tolerance for it at least in the Western media.
Robin: Now I live in Florida nowadays, being retired and doing stuff like this on the side, so the main show that I am most likely to go to is the annual Gartner thing in Orlando, because it is close – it is an hour-and-a-half drive. And that has never been a booth babe show. It has always been like two guys at a table to answer your technical questions, analysts, it is analysts.
Michael: Collared shirts.
Robin: Yeah. And people go out and when they sit down to talk, they don’t talk, well I might talk with a few friends about the wife and the kids, but mostly we talk about business. And it is not just because I am a reporter but everybody does. But I think that might be it, that might be the economic factors that you mentioned. Do you think, maybe people are more concerned now than they used to be about getting every oomph of intelligence or learning out of the show that they can.
Michael: Well, I think that’s why people are going to go to a Gartner show. I went to the Jefferies Investor Conference a couple of months ago here in New York, and again, yeah, there were no babes, there was no glitz, there was more excitement. We wanted to hear from the executives, we want to hear numbers.
Robin: Do you think that booth babes are about gone or are they something – are they in history books, are they in computer museums now and that’s
Michael: I don’t think they are going to be in computer museums this year, but if we had the same conversation I would love to have the same conversation five years from now I have the feeling that they would be one of those relics of the distant past.
Who cares? (Score:5, Insightful)
Seriously, the only people who really give two craps about booth babes are a) hypersensitive gender warriors and b) tech writers on a slow news day.
I'm confused. (Score:5, Insightful)
Say what now?
really, does anyone care? (Score:5, Insightful)
They will probably be a fixture at car shows for all time, and in Korean gadget reveals, but they seem so out of place at a software conference.
Not really sexist, just good psychology (Score:5, Insightful)
Even women are more likely to want to talk to a well-dressed, attractive woman than the pushy marketdroid or worse, the obese engineer wearing a t-shirt and ripped jeans who smells like he hasn't bathed in a week. It's not just about appearance; it's also about appearance. Know what I mean?
Re:Who cares? (Score:2, Insightful)
Don't forget c) Feminists coming fresh out of college, thinking that they're the first person to ever bring the issue up.
I resent them (Score:5, Insightful)
I resent that some business is attempting to grab me by the balls rather than by my rational self.
Re:Who cares? (Score:2, Insightful)
Don't forget c) Feminists coming fresh out of college, thinking that they're the first person to ever bring the issue up.
See a
Booth babes don't work well on straight geeks. (Score:5, Insightful)
Most geeks learned early on that babes aren't interested. The more attractive a female was, the more likely she was to snub any geeks that approached.
So, geeks associate hotness with unattainability (and, in some cases cruelty), and as such their feminine wiles don't have the same effect as they might on a grown-up football player.
Geeks respond better to fellow geeks with a common cultural background and a solid technical understanding of whatever is being advertised.
The market is simply adjusting to what actually works for this demographic.
Unprofessional (Score:5, Insightful)
I like looking at booth babes as much as the next guy, but c'mon. It's just unprofessional. And frankly, I don't want to talk to a hired salesmodel at an IT conference, either. I want to talk to a technical person who knows the freaking product and can answer detailed technical questions about it. If I wanted a brochure, I'd go to the website. It's a waste of my time and your money to have anyone in your booth that doesn't know the product inside and out.
Re:One less reason to go to Expos (Score:5, Insightful)
Seriously. The better question is, "Are pointless, expensive marketing booth conventions which provide middle management a convenient excuse to get shitfaced and hook up out of town going away?"
Re:No. They just dress more conservatively. (Score:5, Insightful)
Here's the question. If you meet one of these women in the elevator and happen to remember which booth she was working, would you feel confident that you could ask her a question about that company/product and get an informative answer? If yes, they're not booth babes, they're marketing people who happen to be attractive (which certainly helps their career, don't get me wrong). The problem isn't attractive women manning the booths, the problem is when the women are there solely to be attractive (in a very literal sense).
Re:Who cares? (Score:5, Insightful)
Next thing you know, you won't be able to get all the good seats in the front of the bus without the negroes getting all uppity about it. Check your privilege.
Does this phrase ever work? All it ever seems to do is turn a debate personal.
Re:Marketing (Score:4, Insightful)
With respect, I'm no feminist, but the question here isn't whether sex is effective at selling. It certainly is. The question is the residual effects of using women's bodies in that way. Does it contribute to certain attitudes that could be negative for women?
I'm not really going to go farther down that path, because again, I begin rolling my eyes as some of the more insane feminist bullshit out there, but like any good thing, I wonder if using sex in that manner can have negative consequences, if done outside of moderation.
Re:Marketing (Score:2, Insightful)
Feminism is more varied than the insane bullshit. If you're asking these questions, well, you might just be a feminist. You know, moderately.
Re:Who cares? (Score:4, Insightful)
If the proponents of the phrase are to be believed, it's supposed to highlight that the disagreement in question contains implicit assumptions that invalidate it.
All it actually does is give an obvious point of disagreement that feels intensely personal, and, in the end, drags down the debate.
Re:Who wants booth babes, I want Booth studs :3 (Score:5, Insightful)
I read an anecdotal story about a girl that used to be hired as a booth babe and got neat money from it. Used to, because the feminazis destroyed her job opporuntities.
What happened with womens rights really, It's a voluntary job after all and it apparently pays well?