Continued from Thoughts on "Booth Babes" Part 1
A lot of the media sites make noise about "booth babes" in electronic shows just to get hits and attract readers, but industry insiders and the manufacturers themselves just see it as another day at the office. In some cases, companies that presented products with beautiful young Asian models don't return the following year, unable to keep up with the movement of the consumer electronics industry.
And the "booth babes"? They move on to their next modeling job, continue their studies, take up a new career, or join a beauty pageant. In many ways, they are the same as cosplayers of Makoto Kusanagi or Black Widow in the San Diego Comic Con. The only difference is that they get well-paid by the hour (the number of technical documents I write doesn't pay nearly as much as they do in the first 2 hours they smile at the cameras). Once their stint as a booth babe is over, these ingenues think back wistfully at the dozens of glassy-eyed tech enthusiasts toting DSLRs and ILCs to the show who tirelessly take their photos.
I asked Lala, a lovely 21-year Chinese cosplayer and 2013 "booth babe" if she felt offended when she had to dress up for Computex. "Not at all" she said, adding that she wished she could do it every year considering the pay and the brief moment under the spotlight. She also said she enjoyed the technical training she received and the 5%-15% discount on items. Back when I was writing articles for Computerworld, a Canon girl I befriended asked me if I wanted to use her camera discount (I didn't have the heart to tell her my salary was paid using a standard air mail envelope). The conveyor belt of booth babes moves pretty quickly and Lala knows she won't be around next year when the next big tech is introduced (or reintroduced). Frankly, I would prefer having Lala present Apple's or Microsoft's new operating system than Cook or Ballmer. She speaks in such a way that charms and doesn't offend, convinces without coaxing.
If you're critical about the "booth babes" and the manufacturers who hire them then you might as well be critical of the Internet, your favorite TV show, or movies as well. In the meantime, I'm grateful for the lovely ladies hired during electronic shows. After all, they're a sight for sore eyes and a helluva lot nicer to look at than repeating technical specifications about displays, RAM, Corning glass, processor speed, and expandable storage.
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