Business_Spotlight_-_Nr.2_2020

8 Business Spotlight 2/

WORKING WORLD

NAMES & NEWS

Mixed-gender sauna parties have become

common events at start-up conferences held

in Scandinavia. Because gender diversity is an

increasingly important topic in the start-up

scene, the fairness of such events has become

controversial. Critics say that such parties ad-

vance the male domination of the tech indus-

try and are insensitive to international visitors.

“Saunas are not helping us to make the in-

dustry more inclusive,” Jenny Ruth Hrafns-

dottir, an engineer and partner at the venture

capital firm Crowberry in Iceland, told BBC

News. Many women say they don’t attend the

sauna parties at start-up conferences because

they feel uncomfortable sharing a small space

wearing nothing but a towel or swimsuit, at

most. Hrafnsdottir explains that this makes

these events exclusive places for men to net-

work and bond. Stockholm marketer Henna

Keränen says that men who have met at a sau-

na party are more likely to stay together for the

entire conference.

Some event organizers are taking note of

the controversy. Amel Gaily is the managing

director of the Finnish Business Angels Net-

work. She says that “we realize going forward,

as we want to be inclusive, we need to take into

careful consideration what kind of events we

organize.” At the Slush tech conference held

in Helsinki, Finland, last November, her asso-

ciation tried something different: they held an

investor karaoke party instead.

A “bro” bath:

where the real

work gets done

SCANDINAVIA

Hot and bothered MEDIUM^

(all) hot and

bothered

[)hQt En (bQDEd]

ifml. , (ganz)

aufgeregt;

heiß gemacht

association

[E)sEUsi(eIS&n]

, Verband

bond [bQnd]

, Beziehungen

herstellen

engineer

[)endZI(nIE]

, Ingenieur(in)

going forward

[)gEUIN (fO:wEd]

, in Zukunft

insensitive

[In(sensEtIv]

, unsensibel

karaoke

[)kÄri(EUki]

, [wg. Aussprache]

marketer

[(mA:kItE]

, Marketing-

leiter(in)

mixed-gender

sauna

[)mIkst (dZendE

)sO:nE]

, Gemeinschafts-

sauna

topic [(tQpIk]

, Thema

venture capital

firm

[(ventSE )kÄpIt&l

f§:m]

, Risikokapital-

gesellschaft

WORKING WORLD