For those who know me, or even know just a little bit about me, know that I’m a community guy. I love connecting people, and I love seeing people get together, bring passion to the table, share ideas. With few exceptions, many like-minded people assembled into a group is always a good idea.
Yesterday, I learned about the Chicks Who Click conference here in Boulder. There isn’t much of a description of the event on their site, but from what I gather it’s a way to get the women in the industry together. It’s a great idea. However, I’m pretty shocked as to who their sponsor is: Walmart.
To save myself from spending all day typing a long-winded rant about Walmart, I’ll keep it simple: fuck Walmart.
Walmart is up there with the most socially irresponsible companies on the planet. Besides using sweatshop labor to produce their goods, they refuse to let their employees join a union, knowingly facilitate safety hazards for their shoppers once they leave the store, and in general are also responsible for the failures of many small businesses when the giant price-slashing smiley face decides to come to town.
Needless to say, I’m pretty disappointed that a group of people from Boulder would be OK with accepting sponsorship from Walmart, regardless of how they nicely they try to present themselves to everyone else. It’s incredibly disappointing to see how many Walmarts there are in the surrounding areas to Boulder, but it’s comforting to see that there isn’t one in the city limits. Chicago was the same way, and that made me really happy. What we don’t need is people starting to feel like Walmart is on “our side”, and turning a blind-eye to what a detriment they are to the world.
While I recommend that everyone see this, I’d be happy to buy this DVD for any of the organizers of Chicks Who Click so they can see for themselves what I’m talking about: Walmart: The High Cost of Low Price.
4 Comments
Amen, brother. Walmart sucks ass in many ways.
That said, you’re not going to hate on me for loving Target, right?
i am not a fan of walmart either and even more annoyed one is going in across my neighborhood.
I got a business card from an employee of walmart at a conference once and noticed it was really small. I asked why the small card, he replied we are being eco minded. I had to laugh…
As a sponsor of the conference, Lijit is extremly happy with the level of professionalism of the organizers and the quality of attendee.
Is there a case for the good of the conference outweighing your beliefs about one of the sponsors?
Any effort to build community or help provide opportunity for underrepresented groups to learn from interaction, is one that Lijit will always support.
Is there a case for the good of the conference outweighing your beliefs about one of the sponsors?
On a case-by-case basis, sure – but in taking money from a sponsor you should be considering where that money came from.