Facebook, Intel join Twitter in pulling out of SXSW over coronavirus fears

KXAN ^ | 3/3/20 | Chris Davis

[DallasBiff]

AUSTIN (KXAN) — Two more high-profile tech companies say they won’t attend the South by Southwest (SXSW) festival happening later this month over fears of the novel coronavirus.

Facebook and Intel confirmed to KXAN they do not plan to send anyone to the tech conference, which draws tens of thousands of people from across the world to Austin.

“Due to concerns related to coronavirus, our company and employees will not be participating in SXSW this year,” Tracy Clayton, a Facebook spokesperson, said in a statement. An Intel spokesperson said the company has “withdrawn from on-site activities at this year’s SXSW.”

[DallasBiff]

With all the homeless in "weird" Austin, I don't blame them. Austin is the sh!thole of Texas, and the liberal organizers are more concerned with the money and not the health of the attendees.

[rktman]

They could hold sexinthesoutwest and there could be a Texas twister come along.

[isthisnickcool]

Austin is NOT the sh!thole of Texas. It’s the sh!thole of the southwest.

[redshawk]

300k Austin whack Os are expected to vote today. About 150k have already done early voting. ....my state rep is truly a horse faced lesbian. ...even says so in her bio. ....years ago when thinking of women and horses I had nice thoughts of tight jeans and plaid shirts and red boots, not so much today. ...

[Jane Long]

Oh, come on....what’s wrong with these big tech cos? It’s Just the Flu™?

[mass55th]

I just read that Adam Schiff and Hillary Clinton were supposed to speak there.

[Buckeye McFrog]

Austin is NOT the sh!thole of Texas. It’s the sh!thole of the southwest.

Which is saying something as Albuquerque provides some stiff competition in the category.

[dhouston]

Stay out of the alley between streets. They are as disgusting as San Fran, and the city has portable bathrooms for the homeless. Stay off 6th street.

[AppyPappy]

Our Enterprise system just canceled their convention

[Zathras]

Considering Intel employees work in cubes that our 4x6 and jammed 5000/building, any infection runs wild in the design community.
Back in the 90’s we had a hard working guy who gave Pneumonia to 10 other co-workers until he was escorted out of the building and told not to come back for a month.

I caught a piece of it and was out for 2 weeks.

[null and void]

All this fuss for a flu... (H/T Big Mike)

Bring Out Your Dead

Post to me or FReep mail to be on/off the Bring Out Your Dead ping list.

The purpose of the “Bring Out Your Dead” ping list (formerly the “Ebola” ping list) is very early warning of emerging pandemics, as such it has a high false positive rate.

So far the false positive rate is 100%.

At some point we may well have a high mortality pandemic, and likely as not the “Bring Out Your Dead” threads will miss the beginning entirely.

*sigh* Such is life, and death...

If a quarantine saves just one child's life, it's worth it.

[RayChuang88]

There is now real talk that South by Southwest could be cancelled altogether. That could cost the city of Austin, TX hundreds of millions in revenue.

[mad_as_he$$]

Cube life is an incubator for all kinds of disease.

Over my many years in management I have sent many sick individuals home from work and told them not to come back until they get a clean bill of health from a doctor.

Also, I have had massive de-con efforts in cube farms on a routine basis, weekly in some instances.

[null and void]

Well, that certainly ruined his chances for getting a perfect attendance award...

[TarasBulbous]

I was in Austin about a month ago. I remarked to a friend of mine who is a local that I had not seen a single homeless guy in the four days I was there. He explained to me that the city has a policy of shipping homeless guys out to the suburbs to keep the tech workers downtown insulated.

[Jane Long]

Austin business owners call for a postponement of SXSW, citing coronavirus concerns

https://www.kxan.com/news/coronavirus/austin-business-owners-call-for-cancellation-of-sxsw-citing-coronavirus-concerns/

....A cancellation would have tremendous financial repercussions on the city: The annual festival increased its economic impact to the City of Austin to $355.9 million in 2019, according to an analysis by Greyhill Advisors and South by Southwest.

But other Austin entrepreneurs believe hosting another year of tech, movie and music enthusiasts from around the world puts the entire city at risk to harmful contamination.

“If you bring a half a million people together in Austin, you tremendously increase your chance of an untraceable corona outbreak,” said Garrett Wood, the President and Founder of GetSales Inc., an Austin startup....

~~~

What gives, with these trouble maker biz owners?

[DallasBiff]

There is now real talk that South by Southwest could be cancelled altogether. That could cost the city of Austin, TX hundreds of millions in revenue

Good to hear.

[Responsibility2nd]

Good. South by Southwest is a huge liberal hippie-fest that is counter productive to normal social mores.

[VanShuyten]

I’m sort of surprised these big tech companies haven’t organized a virtual SXSW festival. Never let a crisis go to waste.

[a fool in paradise]

How can Adam appear as a paid guest at s lobbyist convention? Same as when then current President Obama did it.

This would appear to be a conflict of interest engaging in such commercial enteyprise and legislative lobbying while serving in public office