Last week, I wrote about a Dell summit in Copenhagen, Denmark, where the moderator of the event, Mads Christensen, "entertained" the crowd of IT professionals with a barrage of sexist jokes, and exhorted them to go home and tell their wives to "shut up, bitch."
This week, Dell posted an apology on its Google+ page, saying the company would be "more careful selecting speakers at Dell events."
The apology comes weeks after the actual event, unfortunately, after my column and tech blogger Christiane Vejlo's English-language post made it onto Reddit this past weekend. (Vejlo, the only journalist invited to the event, live-tweeted Christensen's comments as they happened, plus posted a follow-up in Danish and English.)
Comments on the Google+ apology have noted that it's not a particularly visible apology, which is true; it's also a little tepid, primarily touting Dell's female-forward initiatives rather than pointing out any actions it's taken in response to that incident (a reprimand? a letter of apology to the women -- and men -- in the audience that day?). Nevertheless, it's something, and it's a better apology than the one Danish Director Nicolai Moresco issued shortly after the event.
Christensen, the moderator, told a Danish blog that he had intended for his comments to be satirical and humorous. Obviously, to one of the very few women in the room and to many reading after, the "jokes" didn't translate.