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Tech Conferences Moving North as Trump Policies Turn Off Attendees (financialpost.com)
The Collision Conference, one of North America's most influential technology gatherings, tweeted on Tuesday: "We've got some news. It's about Toronto. But we'll let Justin Trudeau tell you about it." What followed was a video in which the prime minister announced that Collision, which typically boasts 25,000 attendees, will be coming to Canada in 2019. From a report: "I'm happy you chose Toronto to host North America's fastest growing tech conference for the next three years, but I have to say, I'm not completely surprised," Trudeau said. "Toronto is a key global tech hub and an example of the diversity that is our strength." And Collision is not alone in coming north. At least two other major technology conferences have recently made the decision to relocate to Canada, lured in part by Toronto's burgeoning tech sector, but also driven by travel restrictions imposed by U.S. President Donald Trump, policies that have left organizers scrambling to accommodate those who can't visit the United States.
In mid-April, Creative Commons, an international non-profit dedicated to the legal sharing of digital content, held their global summit in Toronto for the second year in a row. "The political climate in the U.S., specifically the open hostility from the current administration towards many international communities, and the anxiety from those we work with about how they might be treated was definitely a deciding factor," said Ryan Merkley, CEO of Creative Commons. "What's most unfortunate is that this approach is so inconsistent with the views of the many collaborative communities we work with every day in the U.S."
At Access Now, a non-profit that organizes the RightsCon digital rights conference, Trump's travel ban on seven predominantly Muslim countries hit close to home. "One of our interns at the time was an Iranian citizen with a U.S. green card, and she wasn't able to leave the country to go to Brussels to help us organize the (2017) event," RightsCon director Nick Dagostino said. For years, RightsCon has alternated between San Francisco and a series of global venues, and after last year's event in Brussels, heading back to California would have been the natural choice. But then, people started telling Access Now that if the event happened in the U.S., they wouldn't show up.
In mid-April, Creative Commons, an international non-profit dedicated to the legal sharing of digital content, held their global summit in Toronto for the second year in a row. "The political climate in the U.S., specifically the open hostility from the current administration towards many international communities, and the anxiety from those we work with about how they might be treated was definitely a deciding factor," said Ryan Merkley, CEO of Creative Commons. "What's most unfortunate is that this approach is so inconsistent with the views of the many collaborative communities we work with every day in the U.S."
At Access Now, a non-profit that organizes the RightsCon digital rights conference, Trump's travel ban on seven predominantly Muslim countries hit close to home. "One of our interns at the time was an Iranian citizen with a U.S. green card, and she wasn't able to leave the country to go to Brussels to help us organize the (2017) event," RightsCon director Nick Dagostino said. For years, RightsCon has alternated between San Francisco and a series of global venues, and after last year's event in Brussels, heading back to California would have been the natural choice. But then, people started telling Access Now that if the event happened in the U.S., they wouldn't show up.
These are not tech conferences. Two of those are activism conferences, and Collision is near-tech.
and yet, the ban doesn't cover any of the 4 countries where the 9-11 attackers came from (Saudi Arabia, UAE, Lebanon and Egypt). Nor does it cover the countries producing more recent terrorists (Afghanistan & Pakistan). It only seems to cover what the president would call "shithole" countries. But no, you must be right, it's all about terrorism.
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Spoken like someone who has never lived in Canada...so let me enlighten you. When you enter Canada:
(1) You are not greeted with somber armed guards giving you stern looks and barking monosyllable words.
(2) You are not fingerprinted, photographed, or otherwise put through a "mild" police arrest process
(3) People actually don't care what color your skin is or which country you came from. All they care about is who you are and what you do. For proof, check out the Canadian Defense Minister and try to imagine how much uproar you'd get in US if the Secretary of Defense looked like him.
(4) Above all, observe how much more civilized the society is over there.
So why is it a surprise that modern conferences would feel more at home there than in the US?
PS For visceral contrast between the two countries, watch the video of the police take down of the suspect who had just rammed down two dozen people on the sidewalk: [Youtube] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qOW05IVejNE
Did you see any paramilitary police force in the video? Did you hear Canada raising the terror alert or people calling for banning whatever ethnicity that moron was from? Did you even hear his name or ethnicity while the crap was going down during the day?
Now imagine the same incident happening in the US. Heck imagine holding a cell phone in your grandparents backyard while your back is to the cops...oh wait, you don't have to imagine that last one; it actually happened.
That is not how it looks from the outside, dude.
I am from an allied country i Europe, and would definitely get a visa, but all else being equal I would actively choose conferences not in the US. And I know my hesitance is widespread, and lately increasing.
It comes down to a lot of compounding factors, many of them predating Trump, but his words and actions sure haven't helped.
The major peeve is the sheer hassle of the TSA and of getting a visa. Both have been ludicrous since 9/11, but the visa process has gotten even worse lately.
Then there is the fear of running into undeserved trouble when crossing. There are lots of stories circulating about crazy delays, returns, confiscations, computer/phone searches, and even holding cells.
All this generates a general distaste to the whole hostile image that the US border projects in later years. The travel bans and the way Trump talks about other countries have sharply heightened that impression, even to us who are not directly affected, to the point where, if you have a free choice, the natural reaction for many is simply:
"These guys are nuts. Fine, if they don' want me there, fuck them, I'll go somewhere nice in stead".
sudo ergo sum
Give it a break kiddies. Trump won. Fair and square. Get the fuck over it.
FWIW I've visited the U.S.A. twice during the Trump administration. In both cases U.S. officials confirmed my identity and citizenship through my passport, confirmed that I was legit in their computer, asked me a couple of questions about my planned activities in the U.S., "Have a good trip!", off I went.
The Customs dude at Blaine, Washington asked "Idaho? I thought everybody was going to Oregon for that?" when I went to see the eclipse last August. Is this the sort of customs/border/immigration nightmare people are talking about?
...laura