“We rented skis poles boots at Tahoe Donner cross country and consulted the map. The woman at the counter said the green (“easy”) trails to the Cookhouse could be done by us and the 8yearolds. We set a course … “
Thanks for the great birthday, Leanne, Lucy, and Curtises!
I put together some thoughts for the informal session I’ll be holding at SAP’s technology conference, SAP TechEd, in Las Vegas next week.
These are (necessarily?) unfinished thoughts, mostly because no matter how many stories I hear (and this year with the release of It Gets Better: SAP Employees I’ve been privileged to far more than I could ever have imagined) I still don’t have an answer. But as technologists, especially at a company that purports to help “make the world run better,” we all must be part of the mandate to find a solution.
Originally I titled this session “Being Online (as a minority)…” – but then came Marilyn Pratt’s excellent blog about the concept of bullying in our own backyards, in a business context. Let me be clear I don’t think any of us are immune to the pain of the public flaunting of whatever are our soft spots. Yet these spots are exactly our most precious, and our futures, collectively, are lost without them. In this sense, we are all minorities — online or off. Our differences are what matter — I believe — for the future of the globe.
If you are in Las Vegas next week I’d love it if you could join me. If not, I’d love to hear from you here or in person. Also, continued thanks to @karoli, @godisdead, and many others for actively engaging with me on Twitter and beyond in these topics. Thank you.
Where I work, at SAP, I’m proud to announce that we just released a multilingual version of our film It Gets Better: SAP Employees:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?hl=hi&v=Zbh4YNwmfJM
From my post on the SAP Community Network:
Together with the German subtitles we already had in place when we launched the film, that makes *13* languages in which SAP now says It Gets Better worldwide. Please watch and share with colleagues and friends in locations where these languages are spoken – especially where there are people who may be in crisis and need a supportive message.Here are the nine originally released languages:
- Chinese
- English (closed-captioning for the hearing impaired)
- French
- German
- Hindi
- Italian
- Portuguese
- Russian
- Spanish
Here are the four additional languages added by passionate community effort:
- Bulgarian
- Croatian
- Serbian
- Slovenian
Now that these translations are available, the full transcripts of the film are searchable in nine languages on YouTube. Why is this a big deal?
As you may be aware, the realities around the world of what it means to be LGBT vary widely. In many places in the world it’s illegal to be gay and the penalties can be harsh. Assuming you’re in a location where you can access YouTube, if you’re a lonely teen wondering where to turn, you have one more place to find help.
For example, check out the results of a search query like this:
Today, the It Gets Better: SAP Employees video shows up top-of-the-list. When you’re alone and feeling different online, words can hurt. You can also use words to help. So reach out if you need help – even if you have to reach around the world to do so.
PS: In honor of the multilingual release of the film, we’ve also made one more language available: Music. The artists who created the song to the film have made it available for free download online. We only ask that you share the message with those who may need help. We are indebted to all who help spread the message that It Gets Better. Thank you.
Moya Watson 