I’ve been wanting to write this for a very long time, but each time I think it is safe to do so, something else crops up and I think someone is going to take this personally. Please don’t. This is just the way I feel. It’s general. It’s not about you. If you think it’s about you, maybe you have unresolved issues you need to deal with! 🙂
Followers of the blog will know I’m in the fortunate position of being able to speak at conferences around the world, typically organised by the local user group in that country. For one-off events, someone invites me and I say yes or no depending on my schedule and how many holidays I have left. 🙂 When I go on an OTN tour, I’m presented with a list of countries and will pick the tour or individual countries to fit in with my timetable. I try to do whole tours, or whole legs of tours for those that are split like Latin America, but that is not always possible. For example, this year I am only doing half the OTN APAC Tour as I’ve already committed to the BGOUG event and there is an overlap…
At no point in *my* decision process does politics become a factor. I never consider the politics of the country I’m visiting. I never consider the politics of the user group whose event I am speaking at. It’s just not what I do. I’m there because of the tech and the attendees! My presence in a country is not an endorsement of that country. My attendance at a user group event is not an endorsement of that user group. Regardless of the country or the user group, I’m at the event to meet the people. The people in most countries are remarkably similar and I enjoy meeting them!
My User Group Participation is NOT a Political Statement!
Cheers
Tim…
I don’t get it – why would anyone think otherwise?
Zohar: You would be surprised!
Cheers
Tim…
It’s a “meta-political” statement about those who think everything you say or do *should be* a political statement. How dare you not agree with them!
Stew: True. 🙂
Tim,
Am curious about the limits of your not being political. Is it Oracle user group political or politics in general?
It’s the 1980s and you are asked to attend a conference in South Africa and Apartheid is in full force, would you attend just for the user? Now lets come back to 2016 and you are asked to attend a conference in Charlotte NC or Dubai, would you attend there, knowing full well that if I went I would be discriminated against?
Would you attend an Oracle conference if you knew the organiser was openly sexist? It’s nice to be agnostic and be there for the members, but what is your limit?
(I ask because I am a DBA)
Hi.
Every country has things I don’t agree with. Every person believes something I don’t agree with. I would not go to a conference organised by Hitler, but we are talking extremes here. I don’t blame whole countries for issues created by their leaders. I don’t see why I should judge a user group attendees by it.
I don’t know what my limits are. When I know I will tell you… 🙂
Cheers
Tim…