After an occasion organizer, Eduards Sizovs, was accused of constructing up faux feminine audio system to draw high-profile audio system to an internet developer convention known as DevTernity, a number of of the occasion’s top-billed audio system promptly withdrew.
“You might be charging attendees cash and so they may be making their buying determination based mostly on the listing of audio system proven to them on the convention web site,” wrote former Google developer advocate Kelsey Hightower in a put up on the social media platform X confirming that he can not take part. “That is deceptive at greatest.”
On Monday, Sizovs confirmed that the convention, DevTernity—which offered tickets for as a lot as $870 a pop and anticipated 1,300 attendees—was cancelled.
The controversy arose after Gergely Orosz, the creator of a preferred tech publication known as Pragmatic Engineering, first posted the allegations on X on Friday. Orosz alleged that out of three ladies—Kristine Howard, Julia Krisina, and Anna Boyko—scheduled to talk at DevTernity, Krisina and Boyko have been faux profiles created by the occasion organizers to make the occasion look various as a way to “efficiently entice a few of the most heavy-hitter males audio system in tech.”
“To spell it out why this convention generated faux ladies audio system,” Orosz alleges, it was “as a result of the organizer needs huge names and it most likely appeared like a simple option to handle their variety considerations. Extremely lazy.”
Howard—Amazon Internet Companies’ head of developer relations and the one girl nonetheless scheduled to talk at DevTernity—advised Ars that the scenario is “baffling,” confirming that she has not heard from Sizovs since he emailed her to confirm that the occasion was cancelled.
Sizovs claimed that Boyko, “a demo persona from our take a look at web site model,” was added to DevTernity’s speaker listing “by mistake” after two actual ladies cancelled their convention appearances as a result of “causes out of our management on the worst potential time.” He stated that he “seen the difficulty in October” however failed to repair it as a result of “it was not a fast repair” and it was “higher to have that demo persona whereas I’m trying to find the substitute audio system.”
Boyko’s speaker profile has since been faraway from the convention web site (which, as of this writing, seems to be down). In line with Sizovs, Orosz supposed to “cancel” him by revealing the faux profile on X somewhat than asking Sizovs straight about what Sizovs thought-about “a bug.”
“The quantity of hate and lynching I hold receiving is as if I might have scammed or killed somebody,” Sizovs posted on X. “However I will not defend myself as a result of I do not really feel responsible. I did nothing horrible that I have to apologize for. The convention has all the time delivered on its promise. It is an superior, inclusive, occasion.”
That put up has a group notice—X’s fact-checking technique—that claims, “Sizovs has been proven creating faux feminine speaker profiles for his conferences. He’s claiming certainly one of them was a take a look at/bug, however investigation uncovered he is carried out this for a number of years with a number of faux audio system. This offered a fraudulent concentrate on variety.”
Coding Unicorn suspected “sock puppet”
Orosz alleged that DevTernity’s addition of Boyko to the lineup was “not a one-off.” He posted what he stated is proof from previous years of extra faux audio system that have been marketed at each DevTernity and different occasions organized by Sizovs, and 404 Media additionally claims {that a} massively common feminine tech influencer Instagram account known as Coding Unicorn might have been secretly managed by Sizovs.
In line with 404 Media, Coding Unicorn payments itself because the “hottest coding account on Instagram.” It is allegedly managed by an actual girl named Julia Kirsina, however 404 Media discovered that IP logs, a YouTube video, social media posts, and different proof appears to counsel Sizovs controls the account.
Maybe most manifestly apparent, coders revealed to 404 Media that “a few of Kirsina’s Instagram posts are word-for-word copies of Sizovs’ LinkedIn posts, generally revealed greater than a 12 months later.” As well as, “a few of the photographs [Kirsina] posted on Instagram present laptop screens with code that present her logged in beneath Sizovs’ title.” However maybe most hanging is the truth that an administrator advised 404 Media that each Sizovs’ and Kirsina’s accounts have been banned “a number of occasions” by the Lobst.ers coding discussion board for “sockpuppeting”—utilizing a false id to deceive others—in 2019 and 2020.
“At a minimal,” 404 Media concluded that Sizovs has been “closely influencing” Coding Unicorn’s posts and seemingly had entry to not less than certainly one of Kirsina’s accounts.
Kirsina was additionally one of many different billed 2023 feminine audio system who allegedly dropped out of DevTernity on the final minute.
Whether or not or not Kirsina is a very faux persona stays unclear as a result of her images are actual. However, along with Boyko, Orosz alleged that DevTernity additionally marketed faux speaker profiles for Natalie Stadler—supposedly from Coinbase—and Alina Prokhoda—supposedly from WhatsApp. Prokhoda, Orosz stated, “was additionally faux on the JDKon web site scheduled in Might 2024,” which is run “by the identical organizers.” (JDKon’s web site additionally seems to be down as of this writing.)
