Gary Shapiro: We “Gotcha” Loud and Clear!
Booth babes, ahhh yes. Candidly, I’d never even heard of the term until 2 years ago. It’s not that I was oblivious to the scantily-clad models at tradeshows or that the term hasn’t been around for TOO LONG. I’m not sure why I’d never heard it before, but, I could see my male colleague become a little uncomfortable when I said, “Booth babe, what the heck is that?” At that point, I think he realized he would have to explain to me it’s an insulting term used towards women and what we’re perceived to be “good at” related to the technology industry.
Last week Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) CEO Gary Shapiro commented on booth babes and—well, he didn’t come out spelling like a rose. When BBC reporter, Matt Danzico, asked Mr. Shapiro his thoughts on a piece he (yes, a man) was writing at the 2012 Consumer Electronics Show(CES) in Las Vegas, he basically told the reporter, it’s “irrelevant”. Oh, and “..cute”. I paraphrased, but, see for yourself.
A few days later, his PR people probably wanted to jump off a bridge when he tried to explain his earlier comments to a Gizmodo reporter asking him to follow-up. I actually cringed FOR him.
I’m not going to spend my time breaking down what’s outrageous and out of touch about Mr. Shapiro’s statements. There’s too much and anyone ACTUALLY living in the 21st century doesn’t need me to explain where he went wrong. What I will say is Mr. Shapiro doesn’t understand the changing market and his consumers very well to be making comments as he did. Though, I am making an assumption he wants to continue to be successful. (And, being sarcastic.) While we as women have a long way to go in having equal numbers in the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) fields, women do hold HUGE buying power in the consumer electronics industry.
Case in point. In an AV design team meeting yesterday, after explaining the differences between projection screen and flat panel display sizes related to viewing distances for an audience 25ft away, the architect went on to say he wished he had those standards when he and his wife purchased a flat panel display for their home. Why? Because he wanted a 65” display and she talked both him AND the Frye’s technician down to 52”. And, had he known about viewing distance standards related to screen size, he’d have a 65” sitting in his living room right now.
Mr. Shapiro probably also missed this video from CES 2012 and this 2011 study showing he’s actually marketing women’s products on his show floor and are females are outpacing men as digital consumers.
Booth babes are on the decline, hooray!! And, Women in AV are on the rise, hip-hip, hooray!!! Join us! It’s very refreshing to see so many AV professionals say they question a company who need to use women in a derogatory manner to sell their products.
Frankly, a simple apology and committing to make changes would have probably served Mr. Shapiro much better as enlightened and mature response. As well as, shown himself to be a leader and CEO of his company. How many heard about Dailmer offending the Cuban community at CES 2012 with their use of a Cuban revolutionary? It’s called taking responsibility for making a mistake. People are receptive and responsive to that type of approach.
And, Mr. Shapiro, there is nothing “Gotcha” about YOUR response to a reporter’s question.