I've been reading daedtech.com, a blog by Erik Dietrich, for quite a
while now. He really stokes the embers for me about how being a W2
employee is such a bad deal for the employee. He talks about the
absurdity of the industry, and how Frederick Winslow Taylor and his
studies on getting the most out of the industrial worker still have
strong influence on how workers are managed today.
Anyway,
it got me thinking about a particular angle that is being used to
exploit knowledge workers (IT workers. I hate being called IT, but
that's a rant for another time.) I've noticed a trend over the last
several years, and it involves the explosion in popularity of the comic
book super hero. There seems to be a large overlap among IT workers,
and fans of the super hero genre. So how has this been exploited?
There
is a tech conference in Columbus, OH called StirTrek. I don't know how
long it has been going on, but it's theme is centered around Star Trek
movies. Every year, they would rent a movie theater, and different tech
talks would be hosted in each theater throughout the day. Standard
stuff for tech conferences. At the end of the day, all of the attendees
would get to watch the new Star Trek movie, in what was billed as a
"private screening". The theater is packed to capacity for your private
screening.
All of the local consulting shops and
other businesses that stand to gain from the exploitation of knowledge
workers converge on the conference and set up their booths. We all know
this formula, right? A female or two work the booth (bonus points if
they are attractive, but not necessarily required), and they hand out
t-shirts or cheap Chinese doo-dads. This is not unique to the IT
industry, by the way, but it is probably much more impactful given the
target demographic.
One particular local firm even
went so far as to have their president dress up in a Captain America
suit. This is what gave me pause for thought. If you know anything
about the consulting (contracting) game in the IT space, you know that
it can be very infantilizing for the consultant. There are many
analogies that one can draw here, pick your favorite. The pimps and
prostitutes analogy is apt, but crass. The parent-child one is probably
better.
If you've ever been placed in a job by a
contracting firm, you know this routine. Oftentimes, the agent will
meet you at the employer's office, and walk you in. They stop one step
shy of combing your hair and licking their finger and wiping the food
from the corner of your mouth. It takes on a parent-child, first day of
school vibe. And it's weird.
When I go to a tech
conference for professional adults, and I see someone trying to attract
me by dressing up as Captain America, it's just .... strange. Maybe we
asked for this. In fact, I'm sure we have .. supply and demand and all
of that. Surely there is a contingent of professionals in this space
that are saying "Knock if off with the children's games".
I'd
say that much of my reaction here is easily categorized as "grumpy old
man". I would be interested to know if anyone under the age of 30
shares any of these thoughts. I'll be attending Stir Trek next week,
because I'm still a sucker for a day out of the office to hear live
talks about tech that I'm not exposed to in my day to day, and perhaps
see some old colleagues and do a little networking.
