[AusNOG] Sexual harassment in our industry.

[Matthew Young]

I never defined merit as being able to configure BGP.

Merit is whatever is applicable for the role they’re performing. Regardless of their gender, they should be picked on that and that alone.

I know a lot of women who would be offended to be chosen based purely because they’re a woman. It’s counter-productive and sexist in its own right.

From: John Edwards [mailto:jaedwards at gmail.com]
Sent: Wednesday, 3 October 2018 2:04 PM
To: Matthew Young <matt at mattyoung.net.au>
Cc: ausnog at ausnog.net
Subject: Re: [AusNOG] Sexual harassment in our industry.

I think that you need to be careful defining "merit" for an organisation who's primary functions are to run a conference and mailing list.

Just because all of the past and present Ausnog directors can configure BGP with the best of them doesn't automatically qualify them to sit on a board and have the best knowledge to put together a conference. Professional conference organisations are an excellent example of equality in gender numbers. It's one of the only occupations where you will see young women assertively telling Fortune 500 CEO's what to do.

Most of us white males in Ausnog have had the luxury of a choice of visible white males as role models during the last 20 years of this industry existing, something that is an exception for women. I have been fortunate to work alongside a number of talented women in the industry, and the thing that stands out most is a lack of tech-ego that usually drives their male counterparts. I would like to see more of this.

The Ausnog board have done an excellent job so far, and I don't think any of us have been able to find fault in what has been achieved. That doesn't mean it can't do better. Bevan is obviously supporting women in his organisation, so perhaps Superloop can recommend one of its staff to be considered for a board position.

John


On Wed, 3 Oct 2018 at 11:29, Matthew Young <matt at mattyoung.net.au<mailto:matt at mattyoung.net.au>> wrote:
“While we're at it though, there needs to be female representation on the Ausnog board.”

People should be appointed based on their merits, not based on their gender.

From: AusNOG [mailto:ausnog-bounces at lists.ausnog.net<mailto:ausnog-bounces at lists.ausnog.net>] On Behalf Of Paul Wilkins
Sent: Tuesday, 2 October 2018 5:50 PM
To: ausnog at ausnog.net<mailto:ausnog at ausnog.net> List <ausnog at ausnog.net<mailto:ausnog at ausnog.net>>
Subject: Re: [AusNOG] Sexual harassment in our industry.

"Seems you've never been to a meeting."

The verity of this statement cannot be overexaggerated.

Kind regards
[https://ssl.gstatic.com/ui/v1/icons/mail/images/cleardot.gif]

Paul Wilkins


On Tue, 2 Oct 2018 at 17:42, Mark Smith <markzzzsmith at gmail.com<mailto:markzzzsmith at gmail.com>> wrote:
On Tue, 2 Oct 2018 at 16:50, Paul Wilkins <paulwilkins369 at gmail.com<mailto:paulwilkins369 at gmail.com>> wrote:
>
> The need for a Code of Conduct has been raised and it's a good point.
>
> While we're at it though, there needs to be female representation on the Ausnog board. I see where there's 5 directors been appointed, and they're all men. I'm wondering who is doing the appointing.
>

Seems you've never been to a meeting. That's covered in the closing session.



> That they couldn't find a woman up to the required standard gives rise to an unfortunate impression of the board acting as a boy's club.
>
> Kind regards
>
> Paul Wilkins
>
>
> On Tue, 2 Oct 2018 at 16:10, David Hughes <david at hughes.com.au<mailto:david at hughes.com.au>> wrote:
>>
>>
>> We thank Bevan for raising this important issue and bringing it to our attention.
>>
>> This is a complex situation and we take any allegation of this nature very seriously.  We hope to discuss this further with those concerned in an attempt to establish specifics, while maintaining the confidentiality of all parties.  If there are any actionable details we will offer assistance to the party involved if they wish to escalate the matter further.
>>
>> Even though issues regarding the behaviour of delegates at our events have never been raised with us, we want our attendees to feel safe and supported.  We have commenced a review of policies and processes from other organisations and will work with our solicitors to draft a policy suitable for AusNOG events and mailing lists.
>>
>> The organisers of AusNOG believe that behaviour of this nature is not acceptable at any conference, function, or workplace in our industry.  We will attempt to engage the leaders of our industry to push for a broader solution.
>>
>>
>>
>> David - on behalf of the AusNOG Board
>> ...
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>> http://lists.ausnog.net/mailman/listinfo/ausnog
>
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