since they took it down, from http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache%3Ahttp%3A%2F%2F2013.britruby.com%2F&rlz=1C1CHFA_enUS484US486&oq=cache%3Ahttp%3A%2F%2F2013.britruby.com%2F&aqs=chrome.0.57j58j61.1127&sugexp=chrome,mod=15&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8
The last 48hrs has been a whirlwind of discussions and speculations as to why I decided to retract BritRuby. It seems that the point has been missed and I’d like to take the opportunity to put the record straight.
At BritRuby our mission statement was clear. We wanted to run a conference like no other before on British soil to enhance and inspire developers within the Ruby community. We wanted to have fun, exchange ideas, boost jobs, network and we hoped to inspire students to join the industry. So what went wrong?
Firstly, I would like to categorically state that none of our sponsors had officially pulled out of the conference. Running a conference of this magnitude takes time, effort and money. We were lucky enough to be able to secure some amazing sponsors who believed in what we stood for and who were willing to support us. Without their financial input we would not of been able to make our dream a reality.
Secondly, Josh Susser made a statement on Twitter declaring that the line up BritRuby had so far was all white males. His observation was correct. At that stage the selection of speakers was indeed this. This is not the first time a developer conference has been accused of lack of diversity. BritRuby was well aware of this point and we were in the process of rectifying this without diminishing our strict selection process. Our full speaker line up was due for release after the 15th December 2012. In the meantime these discussions became more than one person’s opinion and more a global debate, which increased our financial and legal risk margins beyond an acceptable level, thus becoming the fundamental reason as to why I chose to cancel the conference. My decision to cancel the conference was not the fault of Josh Susser and others involved and they are not to be held accountable. I wish him all the success with his future endeavours.
I have spent the last year pouring time and money into this conference. The decision to cancel was a well thought out and very difficult decision. This was by no means a ‘rage quit’ and I had every intention to continue and address these issues. However, I was not prepared to put myself in the position of legal liability and cost ramifications if a sponsor were to pull out under social media strain. I cannot stress enough that there is always a certain magnitude of risk when running events. Future conferences should not be swayed by this but please remember that social networking sites are very powerful tools. The ramifications of comments such as race and gender can have financial and legal consequences for the conference organiser. Raise these issues but allow the conference organisers the chance to highlight and act on these industry level issues. Accusation and slander is not a solution.
The decision to cancel BritRuby was solely my own. I stand by my decision as I will not condone or be apart of any personal racial and sexist accusation. I was not prepared to provide a conference that was tarred with such accusation. Please respect that I am not in a position to release any confidential information with regards to sponsorship, sponsors or any other contractual agreements referencing BritRuby.
On a personal note I am truly sorry to those of you who were looking forward to attending the conference. Please appreciate that the risks had become too great. I hope that we as a community can work through the issues that have been raised. Support your colleagues. Build the Ruby community. Inspire one another and just be proud of what we do.
It is with our deepest regret that The British Ruby Conference has been cancelled.
We started this conference to build a community within the United Kingdom. Our mission statement was to encourage Ruby developers to unite and create a community, which would allow such to network, exchange ideas and provoke innovation for the future of Ruby. We wanted to encourage jobs and allow companies the opportunity to meet the community and primarily boost the UK developer industry.
Our speaker line up so far was selected due to their vast knowledge and we wanted the developers of the UK to have the opportunity to listen and learn from these speakers. Call for proposals were open to all Ruby developers. We wanted innovative ideas and we whole-heartedly pushed everyone that submitted a proposal to think outside the box. Our selection process was the content and nothing more. Not the individuals gender, race, age or nationality. It’s about community. It’s about helping one another to strive for success and drive budding developers to do the same. We contacted universities in a hope that we would be able to empower young minds and show them what a great language Ruby really is. They are the future.
The Ruby community has been battling with issues of race and gender equality. We at Brit Ruby were well aware of this fundamental and important issue. This was one of the reasons why we encouraged everyone to submit a speaker proposal. Sadly, BritRuby was used as the arena to air these issues on Twitter and this has fundamentally destroyed any chance we had of addressing these issues. Instead the community should have worked together and allowed us to bring these issues to light at the conference. How can the community address these issues if every time someone tries they are shot down and accused of such awful things?
The British Ruby team although very small consisted of a diverse mix of nationality and gender. This was a non-profit conference being run by simple developers. The team has been working so hard in their own time to bring a unique conference to you all. Thank you to those of you that dedicated your time, skills and to their families for putting up with the long hours.
For all of you who took the time and effort to submit speaker proposal we thank you for your support and contribution. We are so sorry that we could not get to listen to your proposals and meet you in person.
We would also like to thank the sponsors who put their faith and trust in us. Gave us the drive and inspiration that we could achieve such an event. Thank you to the current line up of speakers for agreeing to travel to Manchester to support the Ruby community and for the promise of sharing your knowledge and skills with us all.
To all of you who have purchased tickets - Eventbrite holds 100% of all ticket sales and they have been contacted to start the refund process as soon as possible.
The BritRuby team would like to thank everyone else for any contributions, advice and support they have demonstrated over the last 12 months. We apologise for any inconveniences caused and wish you all the best for the future.