CBOSS puts out operator bait: Dinner date with 'booth babe'
Fancy a bit of deep packet inspection, guv?
Cloud storage: Lower cost and increase uptime
MWC 2012 The quest for attention has ratcheted up a notch at this year's MWC, with CBOSS putting "booth babes" – the attractive staff at its MWC stall – on the table as dinner companions in the hope that someone will ask just what the company does.
One of Mobile World Congress's most famous exhibitors has decided it's going to have to pimp out its dancing girls if anyone is going to take an interest in what it does, so is offering a romantic dinner to anyone who can talk intelligently about the business CBOSS is in, which is much tougher than it sounds.
But would it be worth it if you had to talk operator billing all night?
Mobile World Congress isn't generally awash with booth babes, it still likes to be taken seriously and most attendees are suited and booted in their best. It may be that the more attractive representatives are selected to hand out flyers, but they'll likely be in fancy dress rather than baring the flesh (this year we've had bumble bees, an Android and something from Alcatel Lucent which defies description). The notable exception to this is CBOSS, which always boasts a huge stand adorned with dancing girls who perform hourly, much to the amusement of the crowd who remain entirely ignorant of what CBOSS does.
In fact that ignorance is almost universal, no doubt prompting the offer of dinner dates. But in protest at such blatant sexism we're working hard to remain ignorant, and recommend that none of our readers visit the CBOSS site or read its Wikipedia entry. Should you find out about the company, and be able to say something intelligent to one of the girls on the stand then you could be in for the aforementioned dinner where, as CBOSS puts it:
We have no doubt that the champagne, caviar and a beautiful girl conducting a vis-a-vis interview, are sure to raise the most correct wording of your thoughts from the depths of the subconscious and allow them to pour out in a leisurely conversation.
®
COMMENTS
Still none the wiser
From their website:
"CBOSS (Convergent Business Operations Support Systems) is a transnational corporation and one of the world leaders in the development of innovative convergent IT solutions for end-to-end automation of telecommunications companies, delivering a competitive edge to telecoms across the globe."
Could mean anything, frankly.
Any business that relies on booth babes is not going to be taken seriously by me or anyone other than chauvinist dinosaurs. It hardly gives off a modern 'world leader' image.
I was there, I saw that stand, and I thought it was pretty disgusting. I don't normally get uppity about these things but it was just insulting.
They had a number of admittedly attractive ladies doing a dance, and then handing out leaflets inviting you to dinner with one of them. It's about that point I realised that this was the ENTIRE stand. Literally. A space for the women to stand around like trophies, and then hand out what basically amounted to hooker flyers.
I don't actually have a problem with prostitution, but this wasn't a woman selling her own body/skills, this was representing a business at a trade show, and it was so blatant and out of place that it was insulting to both genders. Again, I was being advertised to as some knuckle-dragging simian who would do anything for the opportunity to motorboat some warm-bosomed filly, and the women were viewed as currency and nothing more. It was so backward I felt like I was expected to check their teeth first.
If I want a prostitute, I'll get one, but writing "CBOSS" on someone's tits isn't going to make me want to do business with you.
Sex may sell but suggests you have nothing better to show.
Seriously: WTF?
It's like the "lovely ladies" that still parade about F1 tracks - a pathetic remnent of a mysogonistic past. Unless for this bunch of *wads, the past is still very much to the fore.
IT infrastructure monitoring strategies
What you need to know about cloud backup
Agentless Backup is Not a Myth
Customer Success Testimonial: Recovery is Everything
Data control in the cloud
