Nikon Blows Off Babies at BlogHer
I wish this blog had a News of the Weird category.
You know BlogHer, right? It’s a huge community for what my Papa would probably describe as “lady bloggers,” with a web presence, an ad network for female-written blogs, and huge, popular, and influencial conferences every year (full disclosure: my personal blog is a member of the BlogHer ad network, and I love it).
So, 1) this conference in Chicago is women-centered. 2) It has a LOT of attendees, quite a few of them very influential in the blog world (and beyond…!). And 3) As at any big conference, there are a lot of companies who want to schmooze you.
Now, the BlogHer conference is about as baby-friendly as a conference on this Earth could be. Female bloggers often have children, ya know? And so, you are not going to beLIEVE(!) what Nikon did!
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As was first scooped, awesomely, in a Twitter tweet, faintstarlite and some other mommy bloggers were turned away from an event to which Nikon had invited them because they showed up with their babies. Now, I would bring my baby anywhere I, myself, was invited, anyway, because for a while there your baby is pretty much both a natural extension of your body and a small piece of luggage (it’s not like an infant is going to go tearing around knocking over wineglasses and ripping tablecloths off of tables, you know), but remember that this wasn’t even a little hometown shindig–this was BlogHer, a conference where it’s as likely to assume that a woman has a child with her as it is to assume the opposite, and that’s OKAY, and this party was paid for and hosted and run by Nikon, WHO WANTS TO IMPRESS THESE WOMEN.
Let me tell you, what better way to impress a woman than to tell her that her baby isn’t invited somewhere! This happened to me at a fancy snooty wedding one time, and I threw a big redneck blog fit.
For a really thorough editorial on the occurrence, that discusses the impact of Nikon’s public relations flub, check out this blog post by mamapundit entitled Nikon’s antisocial media relations at BlogHer ‘09.
The thing is, I’m sure the overall point of the Nikon party was to show some influential bloggers a good time–the last thing a host wants is to ruin somebody’s evening. But as I think happened when Oilily ripped off the work of indie crafter Rosa Pomar, I think somebody at Nikon made a really, REALLY bad decision, and didn’t bother to let anyone with any common sense in on it so that they could chew them out and fix it. But one of the things I’d most like to have in a perfect world for my children is an improved sense of children as integral to a natural whole. When we don’t think that excluding children makes an event more sophisticated or fun, and we’d prefer to hold even very nice events at venues to which children are allowed, I think that would improve our mindfulness of children as people with rights–whether it’s the right to inherit a clean planet or the right to attend a party with their nursing mother, I’d be happy with that.
I was at the party and I would surmise that it was probably a state law that children not be allowed in the venue, which was actually a bar. They weren’t serving a meal, it was just drinks and some fun stuff like chair massages and makeovers.
I don’t really think it was Nikon’s fault, or that they purposefully planned it to show their hatred of babies. It was a really classy party.
[...] a much tweeted and blogged about mis-fire, Nikon lost some love from the mommy blogger empire at the BlogHer conference this past weekend in [...]
Well, of course nobody thinks that Nikon hates babies. Still, heck yeah it’s their fault. Not only would it seem to be common sense that if you want to schmooze mommy bloggers at a conference to which most women have traveled to alone with their babies, you should probably invite the babies, but if you seriously don’t want babies, you want to put that on the invitation, not make a bunch of moms get themselves and their babies all dolled up if they’re only going to end up sitting on their butts in their hotel rooms all night.
[...] Eco Child’s Play: Nikon Blows Off Babies at BlogHer [...]
And what do people take pictures of the most???!!! Oh, that’s right, BABIES!
for a while there your baby is pretty much both a natural extension of your body and a small piece of luggage
This is so true. And, from what I’ve read on the misshap, a simple “Adults only” added to the invite would have saved everyone a headache. Women coming from out of town wouldn’t know about the restrictions at the bar (or that is was a bar). How hard is it to just be clear on an invitation?
From what I hear it was the hotel not Nikon. Yes, they should have done their homework - but let’s not say Nikon hates babies. We all learn lessons the hard way.
It was a private invite-only party at a swanky restaurant and bar hosted by a sponsor NOT affiliated with BlogHer. Invites were sent to a variety of bloggers, not just moms. And in fact, several moms who were invited to the party asked if they could bring their babies and were politely and apologetically told “sorry” - yes, due to Chicago laws about babies in bars.
The sponsor was polite, gracious, and felt terrible about it.
Even so, I don’t think a sponsor needs to be bashed for not hosting an event at a baby friendly place or stating it on the invites. The onus goes on moms who have their babies at BlogHer (like me, I hired a sitter and had I not found one I would not have gone) to ask if it’s okay to bring a baby instead of just assume.
Are we to expect that ALL invitations to all parties should state “No Babies” or “Adults Only?” If it’s something past my kids’ bedtime or looks like it’s a fancy cocktail party, I would ask.
This wasn’t a PR flub. It was a simple misunderstanding that was completely blown out of proportion. I don’t fault Esther for trying to bring her baby (although based on the details of the party, it was quite clear to me that babies would not be appropriate), but I do fault folks for making a big huge deal out of something small and really quite silly.
“Now, I would bring my baby anywhere I, myself, was invited, anyway”
That’s your mistake, not Nikon’s. You shouldn’t assume that an invite to YOU is an invite to your BABY. Invitations are addressed to those who are invited, so unless it says “Mom and Jr.,” you should have politely asked. Kids are great, events that welcome kids are great too, but you can’t assume that kids are welcome anywhere and everywhere. They’re not. Blaming Nikon because you inappropriately assumed that your child was welcome anywhere you were (even a fancy cocktail party at a bar) is foolish, and unfortunately gives moms a bad name.
Really, Chicago has a law about babies in bars? Must not be commonly enforced, as I’ve lived here 3 years and have never been turned away anywhere for bringing a baby.