The ungrateful behaviour award
This week’s award for more ungrateful behavior goes to Greg Young, who seems to think that being a speaker at an event makes him special. The story is that Greg went to TechEd North America as a speaker, with multiple talks to present. His wife joined him on the day of his first talk, but the organizers wouldn’t let her in for free—she was only supposed to take photos of him. He then canceled all his talks at TechEd NA and also canceled his talk at TechEd Europe in response to the on-the-ground staff not accommodating him.
All that is right
I fully agree with him that the TechEd NA people on the ground could have—and should have—handled it much better (I would have just let his wife in). His suggestions on how they could have improved—such as finding his wife and taking her to the speakers’ room or Starbucks for example—are completely correct.
As he said in his post, this was the final straw in a series of bad experiences as a speaker:
- Problems with flights (costs & timing)
- Booking for other events that didn’t account for flights, etc.
And so on—and, you know what? He’s right. That was a bad experience, which no one—speaker, delegate, or staff—should have to endure. It seems that TechEd NA was poorly organized, and I believe he is correct in his assessment that this was due to the conference having many disjointed departments that lacked the authority to make decisions without layers of bureaucracy. His first three points are spot-on, and all conferences should learn from him.
All that is wrong
If I agree so much with him, why do I have an issue with his behavior? It’s four key points:
Greg says, “Speakers are not commodities—they are people who give much to help the conference.” I’m sorry, Greg, but speakers are commodities. We are there to help the conference succeed and serve the audience. Nothing is more important than serving the audience—and cancelling your talk shows that you think your situation is more important than that. And if you’re not willing to do that? Tough. You’ll be replaced—just like a commodity.
Speaking at an event like TechEd NA, plus appearing on Channel 9, is an honor and should be treated as such. Hundreds, if not thousands, of speakers would tolerate far worse to have that opportunity. Wasting it is a slap in the face to the many who would have done the talk—and didn’t get the chance.
Being a speaker is about planning. Most failed talks stem from poor preparation. Greg had a responsibility to ensure his planning included his family’s location during his talk—long before arriving on-site. He should have discussed this well in advance with the right people, not with on-the-ground staff at the last minute. Planning is the foundation of professional speaking. I’m sure someone knew his wife was coming (they booked her flight), but that doesn’t mean everyone did—a conference this size has hundreds of moving parts. Staff may have assumed his wife joined him in the city but wasn’t attending the conference. Ultimately, it’s his responsibility to plan ahead with the right people to make sure everything runs smoothly.
Now, the most critical point of this post: Let’s assume his only choice was to cancel that talk—because he had to prioritize his wife (leaving her alone for two hours would have been difficult). In that case, I wouldn’t see the canceled talk as an issue, and I wouldn’t have written this. The real reason his behavior is deserving of an award is that he canceled all his remaining talks—not just the one. There was no valid reason for that, other than stamping his authority and reinforcing his sense of entitlement. He even canceled his talk at a different Microsoft conference! Who does that hurt? The people measured for success—and the staff—at TechEd NA and Europe are separate entities. That behavior is unprofessional and entitled, and it deserves criticism. The right approach? Cancel one talk, resolve things with his wife, and then serve the audience—that’s what he should have done.
Final Thoughts
I speak at Microsoft events all the time, but I’ve never spoken at TechEd NA. I’ve never met Greg and only know him from a few tweets, his amazing CodeBetter posts, and this story. I think he must be exceptionally bright if he gets the chance to speak at TechEd. I’m not suggesting otherwise—I’m only addressing his behavior in this situation.
I’m not even implying this is his normal behavior; maybe he was grumpy and irrational from jetlag or sleep deprivation (as he mentions at the start of his post). But if that’s the case? Admit it. Don’t write a public blog post making excuses for poor decisions.