CES Can’t Quit Booth Babes ⇥ theverge.com

Adrianne Jeffries, the Verge:

The Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) doesn’t track the gender ratio at its annual trade show, but in 2014 it still draws an overwhelmingly male crowd. The number of female attendees is increasing, but CES is still a boys’ club. There’s the Japanese businessman; the bald, white American IT guy; and the nerdy college student, all yearning for a pretty girl to talk to them about technology. […]

I talked to about a dozen booth models at CES 2014 and observed them making small talk with attendees about where they go to school and how often they do things “like this.” The booth models for CES and other Vegas conventions come from all over: some are professional models, some are students, some are locals picking up extra cash, others are actors from LA. They all complained about the same two things: having to stand all day, and getting hit on.

You know, for all the crap that companies get about employing booth babes, I think the criticism is a little misaimed. While it’s pretty sleazy for companies to resort to these kinds of tactics to try to get attention, I think the problem is as much on the male end of this arrangement. There are still men who hit on every woman who is moderately friendly to them — a completely juvenile reaction.