'Booth babes' Upset CES Women

I can see why...

The Trade Show Guru site from where this disturbing image came.

Aaaaaarrrggghhhh.

The most irritating thing on this video is the 'vocal fry' (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vocal_fry) way of speaking that Molly McHugh uses when she is interviewed near the beginning of the clip. That ear-scraping way of talking was recently popularized by Britney Spears (and others) and sounds like she's gargling with road slag. Years ago it was used by the actress Lauren Bacall, when she was young, to sound older and sexier. So I guess Ms McHugh thinks it's OK for women at trade shows to (try to) sound sexy, but not OK to look sexy.

I really doubt she's doing it on purpose to sound sexy. I think you are trying to nick-pick on something other than what the article was about.

Well, let's face it. I never went to boat shows to buy a boat, either.

Yes, the voice is irritating, now that you mention it.

never go to tokyo game shows, but i don't agree that it works as PR.

Engineers check the specs, not the girls measurements

(ok i will check, but i still buy elsewhere :p)

It's your choice to look.

Sex is everywhere. Why should electronics be any different than beer or cars when it comes to marketing? Are the CES patrons that uppity?

I don't complain when Sam Elliott's voice is selling trucks. I do, however, need to shut up when my wife hears the commercials. It's just marketing, and I'm ok with it.

I don't buy it when someone complains about a Booth Babe but doesn't complain about an equally beautiful woman selling them a beauty product. Yup, I said it. I suspect that a lot of the complaints are coming from women.

I also suspect that a lot of these complaints would vanish when marketeers figure out a way to use men in a similar fashion without making them look like porn stars.

Although "attractive looking" women may sell beauty products, I have never seen one dressed scantily to do so.

So you all agree it's fair to have male models at the booths, too. (In shorts and T-shirt tied at the waist, of course!)

I have to agree with the article as the models are more of a distraction than help at a product booth. I have been to product booths where the only person there was the model who didn't know anything about the product. I find that irritating.

As a man the women models are just eye-candy, but the booth can easily degrade to what feels like a night at the bar where some pretty woman is surrounded by men who think the have a chance at getting a date or just want to flirt.

Is flirting at product booths is what conventions are about?

I think using models like this is an old-PR way of thinking and is us holding back from going forward into a new era.

This is mildly disgusting. At a professional technology show such as this, the only people manning the booths should be people who are very familiar with what the company is selling so that they can answer questions intelligently. I'm a female engineer, and when I attend these things, I even get annoyed when I go to a booth that is manned by the company HR or marketing person instead of the technical person who can actually answer my questions. All they can do is give me a brochure or a business card and I have to follow up on my own. Hiring "booth babes" specifically for promotion is horrible! I wouldn't want to deal with that company because they can't even be bothered to take the time to man the booth and talk to people at the convention.

I was especially appalled at the point near the middle where the 2 "independent product marketers" are talking about how this is different from a car show because they are wearing "business attire" instead of being scantily clad. (I did like the fact that while she was saying that, the video is showing quite the opposite with the tied pop top and short shorts, the show girl on the podium, and the girl in the shower wearing nothing but a towel.) Even worse was near the end where the 2 booth babes are talking about how they know nothing about any of this stuff and they don't know any women who would choose to do this instead of shopping, cooking, or taking care of children.

Ever worked a trade show for a week? I have. On many occasions. You may not have the luxury to shut down your entire organization to man a booth where MOST of the visitors are looking for free handouts instead of technical enrichment. CES is no exception, I've been there, too.

In my line of work, if a customer called with a piece of equipment down, I sent the appropriate technical person to handle the problem. This could be Singapore or London, as well as USA, even if it meant running the booth short handed.

Let's be real. Why don't all you high minded engineering professionals boycot all the trade shows that have booth babes.

Problem solved.

I personally find this reprehensible, but my own observations of the video: white guys are equivicators and black guys are horndogs.