Child's play

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.