Nothing Says Welcome To Our Tech Conference Like a Tower of Condoms
You may never have heard of BSides Las Vegas, an annual hacker conference on information security, but they have heard of condoms. Participants in the volunteer-run event, which is sponsored by tech companies like Yelp, Microsoft, BlackBerry were greeted with a "colosseum" of condoms at the professional gathering.
Condom Colosseum #BSidesLV #SoManyNotGettingLaid @CrowdCurity pic.twitter.com/40aZ3jooTp
— Christian Hansen (@ChrHansen) August 7, 2014
The customized pieces for the world's creepiest Jenga game appear to be swag from the antivirus company Bitdefender.
. @lrigknat_geek #BSidesLV pic.twitter.com/Xn68s5LQpF
— Marsh Ray (@marshray) August 7, 2014
The history of sexual harassment against women at tech conferences has been well documented. And this doesn't compare to what goes on at Def Con, the infamous hacker conference also happening in Vegas this week. But BSides organizers proudly noted the gender diversity among speakers this year, which makes the elaborate (safe) sex sculpture at an industry event such a contradictory welcome sign.
DYK: 33% of the #BSidesLV Proving Grounds speakers are female. Next year, we'll shoot for 50%, but 1/3 ain't too shabby either!
— BSides Las Vegas (@BSidesLV) July 7, 2014
#BSidesLV If I were a woman at a 20:1 men-to-women ratio tech conference, I might feel a bit weird about free condoms at registration
— Marsh Ray (@marshray) August 6, 2014
One conference-goer found perhaps the only appropriate recipient for the towering condom collection: international maniac John McAfee, BSides LV's "secret" keynote speaker, who spoke to a packed room about the importance of privacy.
GIVE THE CONDOMS TO JOHN MCAFEE #BSidesLV pic.twitter.com/3IAykx7cZw
— Sam Bowne (@sambowne) August 7, 2014
Husband with John Macafee. #BSidesLV #hacking #security pic.twitter.com/Gf6PS2n3Pr
— Stephanie Robertson (@tailoredcakes) August 7, 2014
That's right. The secret closing #BSidesLV keynote is John McAfee pic.twitter.com/0YtHQz5dgC
— Joshua Corman (@joshcorman) August 7, 2014
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