Twitter conversation about BarCamp Sheffield becoming UnSheffield
For those who follow BarCamp etiquette and politics, a conversation from Twitter this morning. More an opportunity for me to test out my command-line fu (more on that soon).
emmapersky: is wondering why #barcampsheffield renamed itself. BarCamp was never (and should never be) just about technology… =
garethr: @NeilCrosby @emmapersky the use of the barcamp logo is a little odd though. Wonder what prompted the breakaway/name change? =
iamdanw: @garethr @NeilCrosby @emmapersky It is rather strange. It’s better than changing the format whilst sticking with the barcamp name though =
emmapersky: @iamdanw but they have kept the barcamp logo which is disconcerting… =
iamdanw: @emmapersky That’s weird and makes no sense. Hope they put on a good unconference however =
emmapersky: @iamdanw yea totally… =
emmapersky: @garethr I do indeed wonder. #barcampsheffield always felt less unconferencey than others though… =
emmapersky: @Jagusti hey, confused by #unsheffield… barcamp or something else. you have the logo but not the name… can’t wait for it, sounds awesome =
garethr: @emmapersky makes me think back to our conversation about seed and spontaneous barcamps after #bcne2. Need to write that down somewhere =
Jagusti: @emmapersky #unsheffield is a followup to #barcampsheff. same roots & similar principles. too much to describe in <140 tho. will follow up. =
Jagusti: @emmapersky oh, and yes, we think #unsheffield sounds awesome too ;-) =
emmapersky: @alistair agreed but they have the BarCamp logo, and that is confusing… =
Neal’s Yard Remedies shy away from embarrassing blog roasting
The Guardian’s Ethical Living blog has a new weekly feature called “You ask, they answer” where they invite readers to have a dialogue in the comments with representatives from a company that sells products that are labelled as ‘ethical’: fair trade, using organic ingredients, environmentally sound and so on. To give you an example, last week, they had people from Divine Chocolate on to answer questions about fair trade farming and other stuff related to fair trade. The comments are the model of civility and good PR in “social media” (use of this loathed term does not imply endorsement).
Well, this week, they invited questions for representatives of Neal’s Yard Remedies, sellers of naturally-produced beauty products and, more controversially, alternative medicines. They were caught up in the Newsnight dragnet last year for flogging homeopathic anti-malarials. The spokeswoman was as shifty and dodgy as they come: arguing that because there is no intervention that has a guaranteed anti-malarial effect, this somehow justifies selling something which is guaranteed by the bare facts of reality itself won’t work.
So what happened? Well, the Guardian commenters pounced and asked all the difficult questions that ought to be asked and the representatives of Neal’s Yard Remedies declined to respond. Bullshitting is unethical. And if you are marketing yourself as an ethical, values-driven company and you decline to take part in a public forum you’ve agreed to take part in because there’s so much fucking bullshit flying about with your name attached, something is broken.
Meanwhile the Guardian commenters, helped along by Google, found all sorts of hilarious stuff including Homeopathy for Mother and Baby for sale on the Neal’s Yard site and a course offered by Neal’s Yard called Homeopathy for First Aid. Bloody hell: homeopathic first aid! Now, if I keel over on the Tube, and you see someone about to put inert sugar pills in my mouth rather than put me in the recovery position, checking I’m still breathing and calling for the emergency services, please, please give them a fucking good kicking for me. I’ll do just the same. There’s a place for placebo and bedside manner, but first aid is not that place.
If you are even the least bit interested in taking “Homeopathy for First Aid” for £100 a day, STOP. First, stop reading this and read all the pages of the First Aid advice section of the St. John’s Ambulance site. Then, if you’ve got the time and opportunity, do a first aid course. There’s a time when the foolishness of alternative medicine and other quackery needs to stop: when someone is lying on the ground unconscious or having a heart attack or with a stab wound, that’s when - that’s when some good old-fashioned Western imperialist first aid might save someone’s life. If the first thing that comes into your mind when you think “first aid” is homeopathy, you brain fails the test.
Sermon over.
