Microsoft Email Encourages Interns To 'Get Lit' At Tech Mixer
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) -- An email sent by a Microsoft recruiter is sparking a bit of a backlash. It was sent to Bay Area interns, inviting them to an annual mixer.
This email is from the same company that hired scantily dressed female dancers for a conference they had back in March.
In order to fully understand this story, you'll need to know what a few words mean:
"Bae" is what you can call your sweetie.
"Noms" is an expression of eating, like "nom, nom, nom, nom."
If you're getting lit, it means you're getting drunk.
And "IRL" means in real life.
The email starts:
"Hey BAE interns"
The email tells them there will be "hella noms, lots of dranks, the best beats and just like last year, we're breaking out the Yammer beer pong tables."
"Hell yes to getting lit on a Monday night" is how the email ended.
Millennial Anna Boldener said she can't imagine getting an email like that. Boldener is an intern at Badger Maps
"That would be strange for sure," she said.
She said she came here from Germany to work and hasn't experienced the party tech culture that makes headlines on the daily.
"San Francisco is the place to be if you're interested in tech. So it's definitely the industry itself and not the perks of the companies," Boldener said.
Monday is Internapalooza. It's a free event for Bay Area tech interns.
Microsoft's email was referring to an "exclusive after party" they'll be hosting and not Internapalooza itself.
Cory Levy said he founded Internapalooza six years ago to bring tech people together IRL, not to "get lit".
Actually, it will be a dry event.
"I founded Internapalooza to connect young entrepreneurs who come to Silicon Valley to change the world and connect those interns with experienced business leaders," Levy said.
Microsoft has gotten a lot of backlash for this and said, "the email was poorly worded and not in keeping with our values as a company."
Internapalooza is expecting thousands of interns to be at the San Francisco event on Monday.
The networking event starts at 6 p.m.
