December 18, 2007

New apologies, this time to @jemimakiss for posting a video

Posted at 19:23 | | 17 Comments | View blog reactions

This week must be my apology week. This time it is Jemima Kiss of the Guardian who did not like that I said the (unofficial) Girls of LeWeb3 video (won't link again to it) of Chauffeurdebuzz was cool (removed the post) because it is garbage, embarrassing and more than a little creepy.

I understand, sorry did not see it that way I must be too french sometimes. I am easy these days. I want to apologize for anything you might not like or have liked, just name it and I will apologize. I only want to send love for Christmas (and sometimes receive some too but that's not compulsory).

Well Done Loic, It was a wonderful conference, the best ever - lets not forget that amongst all the apologies.

Jamie Riddell, December 18, 2007 at 19:28

Thank you Loic. We are now feeling the love in time for Christmas.

Jemima Kiss, December 18, 2007 at 19:30

Thanks for removing it - it looked like you were condoning that sort of crass objectification, which jarred somewhat with your stated aim of encouraging more women to participate in the event next year. I look forward to being there!

Meg, December 18, 2007 at 19:42

He Loic - I sense you picked up a lot of love points this last week already. Time to give some to Geraldine perhaps?

Dennis Howlett, December 18, 2007 at 19:43

Good point Dennis, however I notive I also take all the shit always, and that's good, the first one attacking Geraldine will hear from me :)

Loic, December 18, 2007 at 19:59

Hey Loic, I have to admit, even though I wasn't at LeWeb3, I was a bit put off by the video - I didn't even finish watching it! I didn't rant about it because I figured it was perhaps a cultural thing, the French geek guys being French! Thanks for seeing how this makes women in tech feel ostracized!

PurpleCar, December 18, 2007 at 19:59

The only ones to ostracize tech women are tech women themselves. We should stop treating women differently. If a woman is talented there's no way she can be ostracized nowadays.

Thank god we are no longer in 1920.

And women who don't attend conferences because of stupid videos like that are even more stupid.

P.S. I am a girl and I'm in that video.

Livia Iacolare, December 18, 2007 at 20:44

Coooooome ooooon!
Loic you have my 100% support (and not because one of the girl in this video is our pretty italian editor)
I can't believe that only french people like to see pretty ladies, I would have been so proud to be on the same video but a "man version".
This is the web, it's nothing shameful about it, and it's no big deal ;-)... the truth about this video, is that this is the first time that this kind of video is possible in a web conference!! (and that's nothing bad isn't it?)

Thierry BEZIER, December 18, 2007 at 20:47

Well, it's not as if the video was displaying naked women dancing around with LeWeb3 banners...

I really don't see what was insulting about this video, it's ridiculous to be offended by it...

RIDICULOUS!!!!

Vincent Sorel, December 18, 2007 at 21:43

Sometimes the cam stopped on some favorite view for male...no need to be naked, sometimes just the was you look girls means alot.
There are enough funny things to point out...let's be more than "1.0".

Phil Jeudy, December 18, 2007 at 22:43

Should i also ask for apologies since i was at Leweb3 for social networking and girls voted me as one of the most sexy guys ( http://tinyurl.com/2axgxh) ?there is no reason in these videos or photos or in general multimedia content . It just exists in our world because its free and easy(I hope i am not too Greek this time)!Loic and to the rest of the team,keep the hard work .Leweb3 was awesome and everything else is about people being jealous!

John Zarkadas, December 19, 2007 at 00:32

Well done Loic, a good call, thanks for apologising. I'll update my post on the issue, to ensure that it gives you due credit.

Stuart Bruce - Wolfstar, December 19, 2007 at 10:33

Pas facile tous les jours d'avoir réussi...

On se dit que du coup on est pas si mal dans notre garage à construire notre projet...

Et bravo a jeminakiss qui du coup fait presque oublier le ridicule de loren feldman...

Au delà des idées préconçues de jemina (qui est peut être en manque cela dit, et ce n'est pas facile avant noel) il y avait surtout l'envie de dire "hey mesdemoiselles, mesdames, le web c'est bien aussi, voir mieux, quand vous êtes là"...

Enfin je ne suis qu'un fucking french people qui aime le foie gras et le fromage moisi...

C'était mon petit coup de gueule de la journée, bon courage Loïc c'est quand même un vrai plaisir de te suivre et j'espère qu'on se recroisera dans de meilleures circonstances !

Jib, December 19, 2007 at 13:01

Thanks for removing & kudos for the apology. For better or worse, you embody the concept of LeWeb, so when we see posts/tweets linking to silly content that some find offensive, or sexist, or contradicting your stated goal to have more women in the conf next year, things can get blown waaaay out of proportion. Removing it was the right thing to do.
Vivi (who was at the conference and hopes to make it next year too)

Vivian Cohen-Leisorek, December 19, 2007 at 13:53

Personally, I thought the "offending" video was cute and fun. Loved the music, loved the flirty, lightheartedness of it. Nothing lurid or overt or aggressive or insulting about it at all. I wasn't offended ... at all.

As far as advancing the goal of encouraging more women to attend, well as far as I'm concerned it made LeWeb look like more fun than many of the conferences we have over here, which take themselves much too seriously and attempt to impose an ambience of political correctness/serious tech business run amok.

Oh well, I'm just a golf blogger, what do I know?

patricia , December 19, 2007 at 23:36

Loic,
I have to say I did wince when I saw the titled "girls" video and agree with @jemimakiss. To your credit, cultural point-of-view is often lost in translation. But I have to ask where does Livia Iacolare live? She says "If a woman is talented there's no way she can be ostracized nowadays." Wow! So only talented aren't ostracize? What about women with disabilities or who are average? The statement speaks to a bravado naïveté born of little experience. I've seen many, many situations in corporate Europe and America where women work harder and are paid less than their male counterparts. Their real talent may lie in succeeding despite sexual discrimination. The bias is there, we just don't have to accept it.

TedC, December 21, 2007 at 04:47

Excuse me TedC, but if you mention women with disabilities in this occasion you are really going off the tracks.

I have never mentioned women with disabilities and, unlike you, I have never implied that women with disabilities have no talent.

As I said before, women are sometimes their own enemies and I figured it out in my professional experience. If some women were a bit smarter they would do more to show who they really are and complain less.

Btw, I am Italian.

Livia Iacolare, December 23, 2007 at 00:06

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Welcome to my blog. Based in San Francisco, I am an entrepreneur and a blogger. I just started my fifth startup, Seesmic, a community driven video social software. Here is what TechCrunch says about it.

I am blogging every day a video on loic.tv about (almost) everything I do as I start Seesmic, I also constantly post short thoughts to twitter and often my pictures on Flickr.

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