An excellent post from Bruce Schneier, based on a post by Valerie Aurora. Valerie's post just pisses me off. She should never have had to write it. Bruce's is a good reminder that we should recognize the value of a diverse group in our industry. I've written about this before, and unfortunately, I'm not surprised I need to write about it again. This is a male dominated industry, for now, but that doesn't excuse behavior like that talked about at DevCon.
I haven't seen that level of disrespect at any of the SQL conferences and I hope I never do. I have seen women placed in uncomfortable situations, which isn't any better. We are all human, and some of us are attracted to others, which is natural. However in a professional environment, even at a social gathering in the evening, I think that as a man I should be very respectful of the fact that many of the women attending are doing so as colleagues and not anything else.
It's a challenge for women in this industry, and probably for many minority groups. That's one reason I support the Women in Technology events and discussions. Education, understanding, and knowledge of problems is the best way to combat the issues, and ensure you don't make the same mistakes twice. We all know this helps us when working with SQL Server. We should know this will help us in our interpersonal communications as well.
Steve Jones
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