Close Menu
    Entrepreneur ‘humiliated’ after London Tech Week refuses entry for bringing baby
    United Kingdom

    Entrepreneur ‘humiliated’ after London Tech Week refuses entry for bringing baby

    Share.
    View 37 Comments

    37 Comments

    1. CountryIsAMess on

      Meh, I might get slammed for this, but you leave the baby at home for this one. ‘limit hours away from baby’ vs 6 hour round trips vs building a new company with baby at 18 months.

      It’s make your mind up time. My 18-month-old is a hurricane at the best of times. You’re not getting any discussions of value done.

    3. CatShanks on

      I applied for a London Tech Week pass. It does clearly state this is an adult only event. It’s a shame they travelled all the way but if children aren’t insured and the event hasn’t been set up to include all the facilities and safeguards that a child may need should anything bad happen, then the safest thing for the child is to not allow entry. I’m on the event’s side on this to be honest.

    4. PurahsHero on

      On the side of the event here.

      Its an adult-only event. They aren’t insured to look after a kid. There is a reasonable expectation that there will no such facilities for children. Events could be inclusive, but they cannot make adjustments for everything.

      Its not their fault you did not arrange childcare and you tried to chance it.

    5. Alive_kiwi_7001 on

      I’m a bit torn on this one. OTOH, it looks like a case of: “I was so humiliated that I turned it into a PR opportunity for my company. BTW did I mention what it’s called and what it does?”

      OTOH, it’s not clear on the registration page what the stipulations are and: “Informa is dedicated to providing an inclusive and safe event experience for everyone, regardless of gender, **age**, sexual orientation, disability, physical appearance, body size, race, nationality or religion.”

      And there are sessions on diversity.

      I suspect this is an “‘elf and safety gone mad” situation where the door staff get told the rules and they comply, only to find that someone higher up would make the exception if they knew about it in order to avoid a story like this, which itself is a case of never let an opportunity for PR go to waste.

      The fact that she only seems to have had a floor pass and not the 700-quid conference pass probably played a role.

    6. Emotional-Ebb8321 on

      Imagine a hall full of people trying to conduct business meetings and that infant decides it has wind worthy of a crying marathon.

      Not all events should allow kids.

    7. HighWaterSheriff on

      What a crock of shit and obvious fodder for a LinkedIn speech about prejudice against female entrepreneurs and those with childcare responsibilities conveniently used to promote her business. If a bloke brought his baby he wouldn’t have been allowed in either, this isn’t sexism. Nobody wants crying babies in a setting like this.

    9. NuPNua on

      When did it become acceptable to take a baby to work in any instance? Most people would be sent home if they did that, so why does this woman think she’s the exception to the rule.

    10. welsh_cthulhu on

      Pro Tip: Don’t bring your sprog to work events, especially if they aren’t insured for them.

    11. Striking_Smile6594 on

      Who on earth thinks an event such as this is a suitable place to bring a small baby?

    12. reluctantlyh3re on

      I think the story has a mistake, I saw it elsewhere reported the baby was 8 months, not 18, and the photos of the mother and baby makes it look about that age – babe in arms, not toddling 18mo. I do think babe in arms, possibly breastfeeding, adds important context difference.

    13. 5ubredhit on

      Humiliated yourself for trying to take a kid to an adults event. More fool you. 

    14. Glittering_Copy8907 on

      I can’t fathom why anybody would ever think it’d be okay to take kids to such an event. It’s basically akin to taking them to a work meeting, or into the office etc.

      I realise some employers do allow that, but it’s not the norm and not really socially acceptable to most.

      It’s a grown up event, to talk grown up things with other adults. It’s not a family day out – just such odd behaviour.

    15. armadillo_breath on

      I feel for her after a long journey, but if they aren’t insured for it then it is what it is

    16. Comfortable-Law-7147 on

      The headline is wrong it’s a TODDLER.

      A baby is a child under a one year old.

      Not going into specifics but I know someone who was allowed to turn up in court with a 5 month old. Due to the baby’s age the security guards were happy to hold them in the court room. For that particular court if you can’t get child care at immediate notice you can turn up with children UNDER 6 months. 

    17. sweetvioletapril on

      It’s a work event, not a kindergarten. An exception for one child, two …? Parking for prams, feeding areas, nappy changing? Everyone smiling politely through gritted teeth when the child cries? It is time to get back to adult-only spaces. This is unprofessional behaviour, and should be regarded as such.

    21. Talysn on

      its an adult only event. does not speak much to her ability or competence if she cant follow that clearly stated restriction.

    22. blackleydynamo on

      This pissed me off a bit.

      I appreciate it’s difficult for new parents sometimes, when there’s no childcare available – been there, done that. But at no other workplace (and it was a “work” event) would you turn up and assume you could bring a baby in without *at least checking beforehand* if it was ok. This assumption that it’s appropriate to take a baby anywhere and the moment that’s prevented it’s somehow discriminatory is just silly.

      I’ll be honest, this has a slight air of “I need some views on my LinkedIn so I can plug my new business, how can I stir up some controversy and get on the news?”about it.

    23. egg1st on

      The sceptical part of my brain wonders if they brought the baby intentional to generate a story and a marketing opportunity based on the controversy.

    24. Realistic-River-1941 on

      The good thing is that nowadays everyone accepts that men can look after kids, so an adults-only event can’t possibly be accused of misogyny. Right?

    26. fitzgoldy on

      You are just a bit of an idiot if you are taking a baby to one of those events in the first place.

    27. Scratchlox on

      I get where most people are coming from but I do think that if we are worried about low fertility we need to be more welcoming as a society to children and babies, and parents.

    28. Various_Leek_1772 on

      I had to hide this post on Linked In when I saw it to save myself from responding. The level of entitlement of this woman is outrageous. just because she has a baby does not mean the world bends for her. Playing the ‘I’m a mother card’ is ridiculous in this world of shared parenting and bringing a baby to a corporate event is nonsensical. Event organisers need to focus on bringing together the correct themes for the event and not add childcare to their list of requirements. Having children is a personal responsibility and arranging childcare is on the individual not the events team.

      the logistical nightmare and cost of bringing in childcare workers, ensuring all events staff are DBS checked, as well as the safeguarding and liability insurance required to accommodate someone who demands that their child attend a professional event is enormous. And why do her needs and feelings trump all? what if there are people there who want to be at work to get respite from caring, or who are going through fertility issues, or who have just gone through miscarriages and do not expect to see children in a workplace? why do her needs matter most?

      This was an organised event for workers. not a peppa pig extravaganza. It was not appropriate to have a child there. Bring your child to appropriate events that are designed to cater to them. There are quite a number of them, but this one clearly wasn’t one of them. The audacity to make a public scene and the number of people supporting her for speaking out is blowing my mind.

      Today is the day I have officially become old and into grumpy old person territory because the entitlement of this young woman has really made me grumble. 😠

    29. Baslifico on

      The minimum age for the entire event is 16.

      No under 16s in the building.

      She wasn’t singled out or targeted, she was held to exactly the same standard as every other person in the building.

    30. Phainesthai on

      Turns up to an event clearly advertised as *adults only*.

      Brings along an 18-month-old toddler.

      Plays the victim when asked to follow the rules.

      She’s basically acting out the exact stereotype misogynists use to claim women aren’t fit for professional spaces.

    31. Loreki on

      I’d mainly be humiliated to announce via national newspaper that I booked a ticket for an event, travel 3 hours to go and never checked whether my child could be accommodated.

      A lack of planning on that scale is a really bad recommendation for a person. In the early days of a tech start up investors are mainly investing in the founder not the product, because you need somehow who can bullshit at the top tier of the sport to raise enough money to start and market a tech business.

    32. FloydEGag on

      There’s always, always someone who looks at the rules for the event or venue and decides they don’t apply to them.

    33. IgamOg on

      Funny how nobody here seems to realise the genius of this move. For a cost of a run of the mill conference ticket she got a viral LinkedIn post and articles in mainstream media outlets mentioning the name of her company and what it does.

      This sort of publicity is potentially worth millions – if she’s ready to capitalise on the new engagement.

    34. Frogs4 on

      So they allow toddlers, then someone wants to bring their 6 year old, then school age kids are let in, then it’s “there’s nothing for kids to do while I’m talking AI start ups with two guys at a desk”. 

    35. thx1138a on

      > As founder and chief executive of Humanvantage AI, which is developing a conversational role-play corporate training platform using AI technology

      Please god no

    36. EnderMB on

      As a parent of a child around similar age, there’s absolutely no fucking way I would take them to a corporate event/conference. It wouldn’t even cross my mind to even consider it, both logistically and in terms of safety.

      Anyone that’s ever been to any tech conference will tell you that these aren’t suited for children in the slightest. It’s not a matter of inclusivity at all, and the founder has made themselves out to not only look silly, but woefully unprepared for a simple networking event. If I were a VC, why would I invest in a founder that both lacks the sense to check a venue out first, and goes crying to social media about it afterwards?

    37. Astriania on

      I’m not sure this is the terrible injustice and anti-feminist outrage the article is trying to paint it as. I don’t think it’s reasonable to expect to be able to take your baby to a technical conference, whether you’re a man or a woman. Can’t you leave it with the other parent for the day?