This last week has been wonderful, beyond wonderful, in fact. As I have for the last decade, I spent Thanksgiving with my ohana in Hawaii. We've snuggled up for story time, watched the sunset on the beach, stuffed our faces with turkey, and sang at the top of our lungs. It's magical. We've settled into a little routine. The kiddos head to school, and, while they're there, I work furiously on writing killer content for the latest issue of SCN (check your mailboxes, the Dec issue is shipping now!). After school, we all hang out and make the most of our time together. Getting to walk a half mile to the beach for an ocean sunset is NOT something I get to do every day, especially a day in late November. This past weekend, we spent the night at the Wailea Beach Resort (thank you Marriott points!) and had a BLAST! Fun in the sun isn't even an accurate description. Ultra fun? What's 10,000 times better than fun? Whatever it is, that's what we had. The kiddos were in LOVE with the newly renovated pools. Let's be honest, even the adults were in love. The dads ditched us to race down the waterslides too many times to count! The quality time, the views, the entire perfect experience, I'm grateful for it all! What I'm getting at here (besides all my humble brags), is that I'm REALLY happy with my family and REALLY blessed to have this life. So, in the words of my new friend John "Gucci" Foley, glad to be here.
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I recently read an article in The New York Times where Quentin Tarantino was quoted saying "I knew enough to do more than I did." Let me make one thing clear from the start, if you know about sexual harassment/assault, and do NOTHING, you're just as guilty as the perpetrator. It seems as if everyone in Hollywood knew about the Weinstein assaults, yet, it was just accepted - the ultimate example of rape culture.
I work in a male-dominated industry, the audiovisual industry. For the most part, I have been well accepted and treated as a professional. However, like many females, I have experienced sexual harassment. For the first time, I'm going to publicly detail a major incident. I won't name names to protect the guilty. For about seven years, I worked for a man who sexually harassed a large number of our company's female employees; he was also verbally abusive, but that part wasn't exclusive to women. The first incident I can remember happened about a year after I started at the company. He called six or seven women into a meeting and then proceeded to scream at us - not just yelling, I'm talking vein-popping, tomato red face screaming - followed quickly by the throw of a chair across the room. After this, one of the women went to HR and he was forced to send all of us a formal apology and review sexual harassment guidelines. Over the next few years, I wanted so desperately to be part of the "boys club" and didn't want to be "that girl" who gets offended over every little thing. So I listened to him go on, sometimes for hours, about his sex life with his wife, his drug-fueled escapades in college, and all kinds of other insane stories that should never be told in the workplace. During this time, I would be randomly yelled at for things that, most of the time, had nothing to do with me. I had been called into HR a few times during this period to confirm incidents I had witnessed between him and other women. One afternoon, I was told, several times, I was "FUCKING WRONG" about a product spec. (I wasn't actually wrong and I didn't work on the products team so it didn't even apply to me). This incident was so loud that several people went to HR to let them know what happened. Once again, I found myself in HR's office. I had become so conditioned to comply with his behavior that the only thing I would say about it was "we've always had a good working relationship." At this time, I had started managing several young women. I began to see the impact his behavior was having on them and I didn't like it. One woman told me he had recorded a test video of her and implied he would save it and masturbate to it later at home. This was not okay but we still just accepted it as something we had to deal with. After all, this man had been reported countless times and was never fired. Then, one day, a drastic incident occurred. I was at a co-worker's desk when I asked her to cut the hanger strap from my shirt. Our boss walked by and said "Oh, look at that purple polka dot bra!" when he caught a glimpse of the bra strap as she cut the hanger strap. We laughed and moved on with our work. Later that day, I was in his office with a male co-worker. Mid-sentence, mid-meeting, he stopped, looked me dead in the eye and said "Are you wear matching panties?" You could have cut the awkward silence with a knife.. I just got out of there are fast as I could and hoped he'd forget about it, deep down knowing this was going to be a long-term topic of conversation for him. Over the next two weeks, there were multiple references to this incident with him inquiring about my bra. Then it stopped and I thought it was over. Two weeks later, he was at it again. I was humiliated. I started spending 20 extra minutes each morning getting dressed, ensuring there was no way to even catch a glimpse of my undergarments. I began having anxiety attacks driving to the office and couldn't wait to get out of there every day. I realized I couldn't go on like this and spoke to a trusted male co-worker and friend. He was shocked this was going on, especially since I was known around the office for sticking up for my values, opinions, and beliefs. He encouraged me to take it higher, but, I was terrified. I imagined my boss would get another "slap on the wrist" and I would have to work with him after. I contemplated quitting without even having another job lined up. Luckily, my friend helped me through it and convinced me to speak with the Executive Team. I first spoke to a Vice President with whom I felt very comfortable and had a congenial relationship. Despite our friendship, it was nearly impossible to get the words out. He immediately went to the President of the company, who was kind as can be as I repeated my story, which I also had to tell HR. I was MORTIFIED having to talk about my undergarments at work, and especially to so many high-level executives. The entire process was humiliating for me., despite all of them being so incredibly understanding as I detailed what had happened. Luckily for me, the company took swift action this time and he was terminated as soon as he walked into the building the next day. I was later told more details about the process, like how a male co-worker had said he couldn't recall witnessing some of the exchanges because he "didn't want to get involved" or when my harasser said I "showed him my bra," or why HR couldn't understand why I didn't come to them sooner...uhhhhh...because he's never been fired for sexual harassment or verbal abuse and I thought I'd still have to work for him? While going to work didn't get immediately easier, it got better every day. This situation had a lasting impact on me (and my female co-workers) - I would break into a sweat if I saw the make and model of his car anywhere near me. I saw him once at a tradeshow and immediately hid away in our storage closet so I could ensure he did not approach me. After all these years, writing this still gives me an "icky" feeling in the pit of my stomach. I was repeatedly told not to discuss it (despite no legal action being taken on my end of theirs), I was repeatedly asked by co-workers why I didn't tell them sooner, and I was told I was being too dramatic about the entire situation. SO many people in the company knew he continuously harassing women, yet, we all accepted it as part of our workplace culture. I'm including myself in that list - I wasn't part of the solution early on, which means I was part of the problem. Never again will I be silent when I see things like this happening. We need to take action to stop rape culture. None of this is okay. We need to stop the "pussy-grabbers" of the world and let them know we will no longer stand for inappropriate touching, verbal abuse, harassment, etc. It stops now. Learn about the start of the Me, Too movement here: www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-intersect/wp/2017/10/19/the-woman-behind-me-too-knew-the-power-of-the-phrase-when-she-created-it-10-years-ago/ As I write this, I'm wrapping up my first official week as Editor of Systems Contractor News. My quote to everyone has been "I'm so excited for this new adventure". And that's what it is - a new adventure. I love that I was fortunate enough to take on a new challenge in the AV industry. Everyone has been so supportive of my transition, from my former employer Peerless-AV to the NewBay team to my #AVTweeps. I'm very much looking forward to bringing a fresh perspective to SCN. You'll read a lot of this in my first Editor's Letter (check out the September issue!) so I'll try not to repeat myself. I want SCN to be an industry collaboration now more than ever. I don't want to hear about your widgets, I want to hear why your products are making #AVTweeps and end-users lives easier. I want you to Tweet me (@MeganADutta or @SCNMag) and tell me why you LOVED the last issue or what you think we got wrong. I want to see all of your faces at our cool new events like the SCN Think Tank. Trust me, you don't want to miss this - the genius that is Kirsten Nelson has lined up a BANGING group of innovators ready to discuss next-level technologies. Check it out here: http://www.scnthinktank.com/ I'll end this with a quick thank you to everyone at NewBay who has been as kind, thoughtful and helpful as you expect, especially Adam, Margot and Jeremy. And a special shout-out to Gene Kinsella who is an all-around wonderful human and has spent the last 10 years encouraging my growth in the industry. Looking forward to this new chapter in my life. Hope to hear from all of you soon! The time has come for me to close a significant chapter of life - today is my last day at Peerless-AV. I've spent 11 wonderful years here making great memories, learning new skills and pushing the team to think outside the box. What am I going to miss most?Hands down: my amazing team. I'm honored to manage such a young, talented group of women. All three of them will go far in both life and the business world. If you haven't met them yet, you should definitely connect with them on LinkedIn: Kelly Yuen, Rachael Hinds & Yesenia Martinez. I wish them much success in the future and look forward to seeing the big things they do! As my time here ends, a new story begins. Stay tuned to hear about my next adventure! Last week, I was elated to discover I am the recipient of a 2017 InfoComm Young AV Professionals Awards. This award calls attention to the AV industry by recognizing that young people are achieving rewarding and successful careers in the audiovisual and information communications industries.
I am honored to be among this elite group of men and women leading the charge into the future of AV. Over the past 11 years, I have worked closely with the staff of InfoComm and have had the privilege of watching the association, show and staff grow and evolve. I’m proud to say I’ve been able to participate in this evolution and that my contributions are meaningful. Congratulations to Wallace Johnson, CTS, who will also be receiving the Young AV Professionals Award. The award ceremony will take place on Wednesday, June 14th at 2 pm. I hope to see you there! To see the full list of winners: https://www.infocomm.org/cps/rde/xchg/infocomm/hs.xsl/32865.htm As I've heard in nearly every digital signage presentation I've attended, Content is King...so I'm happy to announce I passed my Digital Content & Media Expert certification test!
To learn more about the program, visit http://www.dseg.org/digital-content-and-media-expert. One of my favorite non-work activities is hiking. Even if I'm on a business trip, if I'm anywhere near the mountains, you better believe I'm packing my boots and Camelbak! I always say nature feeds my soul and my mind. When I'm out being "one with nature" I feel better, think clearer and feel refreshed. Today I came across this article that affirms my beliefs: Doctors Tell Us How Hiking Can Change Our Brains. Check it out and tell me what you think. And, in the meantime, enjoy some pictures from my outdoor adventures! This one's personal but too exciting not to share. Today, Sid and I eloped! We got married in the middle of the desert in a small ghost town outside of Las Vegas. It was a short, beautiful ceremony and we were surrounded by a gorgeous landscape.
On a professional note, my name will be officially changing to Megan A. Dutta (formerly Megan A. Frohlich). |
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