Again, the issue isn't the dance club or what the women were wearing. The issue is that Microsoft chose that as their venue. "No one had to attend" isn't the point, the point is that Microsoft was alienating people that they have a professional responsibility to be inclusive of.
If this was some small startup and they chose this venue as their after party location, it would say bad things about the owners of that startup. No one would really care though, because it's a small startup, and their impact in the tech scene is pretty small. Some people might just choose not to work for them because of it.
Microsoft employees 120,000 people, 30% of which are female. Their decisions make a big impact on the culture of the tech industry. Acting professionally in 2016 means not discriminating, harassing, or alienating your employees. Choosing a venue with sexy dancers for a professional event does all three of those things. Microsoft realized that and apologized because of it.
This was not the Conference venue, but an associated event.
I have attended several software conferances over the years, and there has always been a associated bar event before or after. People there talk about beer, whiskey, wine, cheese (Debconf!), and dancing. The event is placed late during evening and last until several hours after midnight.
Nothing of that is professional. It is very alienating to people who don't like drinking, second hand smoking, loud music, or talking about beverages. I would personally be happy if software conferences took a professional responsibility and made such side events inclusive for everyone, but I doubt that is ever going to happen.
If this was some small startup and they chose this venue as their after party location, it would say bad things about the owners of that startup. No one would really care though, because it's a small startup, and their impact in the tech scene is pretty small. Some people might just choose not to work for them because of it.
Microsoft employees 120,000 people, 30% of which are female. Their decisions make a big impact on the culture of the tech industry. Acting professionally in 2016 means not discriminating, harassing, or alienating your employees. Choosing a venue with sexy dancers for a professional event does all three of those things. Microsoft realized that and apologized because of it.