You Must be this Tall to Join the Conference

Published by Guest on May 14th, 2007 in Career Development | 4 Comments

Marina is a recent college grad working in the field of information technology. While registering for her first technology expo in the "real world" she came across something that didn't sit right. Here's her story…

I got my diploma in December, and found my first real gig as a software developer in a small office. My coworkers seem cool enough, though they occasionally mention that they have video game systems older than I am. Recently, my boss suggested I attend an information technology conference: a sort of trade show, where companies and self-proclaimed experts show off their wares to unsuspecting engineers and their managers. I eagerly filled out the form, but my excitement was cut short when I received this admonition in the confirmation email:

"Persons under the age of 21 (including infants in strollers and backpacks) and students are not permitted."

Now don't get me wrong, I understand that a conference isn't a mall or an amusement park; it's not the sort of place where screaming babies should be crawling around amidst the computing equipment. But this sort of condescending attitude towards students and young people in general, is what turns our generation off and makes us not want to work for you, or even with you. I'm annoyed by this rule not only because I just turned 22 and consider myself mature and professional in every respect, but also because I know lots of people (who happen to be under 21) that are doing great things, especially in the fields of business and technology.

Many of the world's top technology companies were started by people right around this age. You'd think that anyone who's trying to be a leader in the field would encourage young people to attend their events and learn about their products, not forbid them. After all, these are your future employees, if not your future bosses.

That's not to say that no one sees the power of the generation that's grown up with the internet. The Association for Computing Machinery (ACM), a prestigious computing organization, has student chapters, and even encourages young not-yet-professionals to join by giving them a discount. CIOs today are younger than ever, because it turns out that experience isn't always everything, or even the most important thing. At Google, only 2% of employees are over 40.

The fact is, when choosing a job, members of Gen-Y are likely to look at how open the potential boss is to new ideas and change, and whether years of paying dues are required before your ideas can get heard. One of the things I really like about my job is that my manager made a point of telling me how much the energy and fresh outlook of a recent graduate could do for the team, and meant it. He listens to my thoughts on new technology, methods, tools, recruiting, web design, and so forth: the things that someone fresh out of college is more likely to be up-to-date on than a 20-year company veteran. Of course experience is important, but naivetÃ©, ambition and sheer curiosity have a place at work as well.

Our generation might be throwing loud parties next door or frightening your grandma with our piercings, but we're also doing amazing things in every field. Far from turning us away at the door, the organizers of that conference should have been eagerly inviting us in.

Leave your thoughts here. (4 responses)

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Devin Reams

May 14th, 2007 at 1:05 pm

Great post, Marina. I'm a bit nervous because I will enter the workplace and have a month until my 21st birthday. Can I go out with the group for drinks? No. Will people treat me differently? Perhaps. Why? I'm not sure…

It seems people see age as something you earn. But, given time, we'll all achieve it! As you mentioned, people can do much more than those who have been around longer.

I think this ties in perfectly to Ryan's posts about no longer needing to climb the ladder.

Jeff Hunsaker

May 15th, 2007 at 3:01 pm

Some wise person once said wisdom comes with experience-not years. It's foolish to prohibit or even ignore the Gen-Y'ers. However, I'd speculate the 21 and over rule revolved around serving alcohol at the event.

This sounds like a fairly lightweight conference though–I'll bet the youngsters won't be lacking. Any time a bunch of firms get together for a free conference to pimp their 'wares, you can expect three things: great food/drink and lots of it, tons of useless chotskys (sp?) you'd do something embarrassing for because you perceive they're so cool (but throw away as soon as you return to the office), and a lot of product-oriented, lame presentations which fail to solve real business problems or present solutions.

Enjoy the conference!

Jeff…