South by Southwest, more commonly known as SXSW, is a company that plans and executes conferences, trade shows, festivals and other events twice a year (spring and fall) in Austin, TX. Current roster of events include SXSW Music, SXSW Film, SXSW Interactive, SXSWedu, and has been going on since 1987, at the Austin Convention Center. In 2011, the conference lasted for ten days, with SXSW Interactive lasting for five, Music for six, and Film for nine days. This year attendees, who typically complain about the lack of wifi and internet connections, were treated to a social media experiment. The experiment? Station people in t-shirts around the conference with MiFi devices that attendees can use to get better connectivity. They pay the person with the MiFi $2 to $10 or whatever they want, for however much time they want to hook into the wifi. Cool huh? The more the kid with the MiFi is able to promote their product and sell time, the more money they make. They’re guaranteed a certain amount of money for the day plus a stipend and an hourly wage even if they don’t sell any time at all.

The idea? To see how many attendees will use the service. Pretty good deal all around…only, the media and attendees didn’t think so. Why? It wasn’t the cost. It wasn’t the concept. It was because the company promoting the service hired homeless people to be the hotspots. The homeless got to tell their story on a webpage, were paid, interviewed by the media, made honest wages for honest work and had a good time doing something most of the homeless NEVER get to do—connect with society. People looked them in the eye, handed them money, treated them with respect and interest and did more for them in a few hours and days than most of Austin, Texas does for them in a year.

So what’s the problem? The haters and the people who think they have a right to tell other people (the homeless) what is or is not good for them turned out to complain. And whine. And take the silver spoons out of their mouths just long enough to talk about how BBH was “exploiting the homeless.” Seriously? Exploiting the homeless?

Funny word “exploit.” It means:

1. To employ to the greatest possible advantage: exploit one’s talents.

2. To make use of selfishly or unethically: a country that exploited peasant labor. See Synonyms at manipulate.

3. To advertise; promote.

The haters and critics decided on definition #2- “To make use of selfishly or unethically.” I’m not sure how they arrived at that conclusion unless they leapt blindfolded.

These homeless men were treated with respect. They were invited to participate—no one dragged them kicking and screaming into the experiment. They were paid a fair, legal wage—more than most Austin waitresses are paid on an hourly basis, and they had the opportunity to be entrepreneurs for a week—making money based on their efforts, ingenuity and smarts. They had the chance to change their lives for the better, network, make connections, feel good about themselves, feel pride, make money, believe that things were changing for the good for themselves. They were involved in a experiment that could help them and others understand more about homelessness and digital media. They were innovators.

Gee….those sound more like definitions 1. and 3. don’t they? That’s a deal really. They could (and I’m sure many did) make in excess of $100 or $200 a day for a week! So WHY are the haters hating and the self-righteous attacking BBH for a fantastic experiment in social media in which the population who most needs and could benefit from social media didn’t get the chance to? Because the haters, critics, whiners and people who opposed the experiment THOUGHT it was manipulative. They failed to get the facts. They reacted based on their preconceptions of who and what homeless people are. They STOLE money and income from these men by forcing BBH to shut down the experiment EARLY! Hey critics? Feel better now about yourself? Stealing from the homeless? Hating on the homeless by disrupting the ONE good thing they had going so you could feel righteous and self-satisfied about bitching about a population and a problem you know NOTHING about? I hope you slept well in your $150 to $300 a night hotel knowing you “saved” the homeless from exploitation and a day’s wages equal to what you paid in a night’s bar tab.

The critics, media, haters and terminally clueless see the homeless as most of America does, as mentally ill, deranged, helpless drug addicts and alcoholics who can’t think, act, or decide for themselves what is in their best interests. So the haters and critics and the self-righteous march into an experiment like the self-appointed nannies they are, and try to tell the homeless they’re being exploited. They don’t want the homeless panhandling. They don’t want to donate to shelters and programs that help the homeless. They don’t want the homeless on their streets, at the corner, sleeping on the benches in the park, but they don’t want the homeless WORKING either. Why?! What do they want?

The haters, critics and trolls who objected to the BBH experiment want what all of America wants. They don’t want to have to THINK about the homeless. Listening to someone TALK about the homeless during a SXSW is sterile, safe and clean. They can text, tweet and answer email and nod and act like they part of the “in” crowd who “gets it” about homeless issues. They’re not.

They think because they see homeless or formerly homeless people who are cleaned up, on stage and not a threat talking about “their experience,” while images the media has pounded into our consciousness dance through their heads that they’re suddenly experts on what is or isn’t good for the homeless. That’s okay. What they don’t want to do is to actually interact with a homeless person. It makes them UNCOMFORTABLE. They’re at SXSW to have fun. To spend money. To get laid. To party. Homeless people on the street in any shape, form or fashion kill the buzz…so instead of saying, “We feel guilty, inadequate and uncomfortable seeing or thinking about the homeless, even if they’re working a cool gig,” they say, “Let’s blame BBH for forcing us to feel our feelings and face our fear of the homeless.”

They don’t want to acknowledge that there but for the grace of God go they. For the SXSW attendees who hocked, begged, borrowed, or stole to get to SXSW, seeing the homeless there is a reminder that losing their job or getting sick or breaking up with a boy/girl friend, or their car breaking down or getting kicked out of mom and dad’s basement could put them in the same situation. For the SXSW attendees who don’t worry about money, their discomfort and disease with seeing those without a home, a roof or shelter while they’re spending more on a bar tab in one night than these homeless men see in a month, bothers them. Hard to party hardy and text your friends about a party when the WiFi spot is being held by a guy who’ll be sleeping on the street eh?

Homelessness isn’t about shelter. It’s about class and status and money. It’s always about the money. If any one of those who objected about BBH HIRING the homeless (NOT USING THEM) actually THOUGHT about the experiment they’d have cheered it on. Why?

• There were speakers at SXSW talking about the homeless and this was a chance to find out something first hand.
• The homeless weren’t begging, they were working. They were proud to be recognized and respected and it showed.
• Here was a chance to really BE innovative, openminded and excited about something new, something edgy, something different. (Too bad THINKING you’re edgy and open-minded is a lot different than ACTING edgy and open-minded)
• If you really want to help the homeless you hire them. You look into their eyes. You listen. You engage them. This experience and experiment did and gave the homeless participants just the thing homeless people crave—CONNECTION.

IF you opposed or criticized BBH, let me ask you, WHAT have YOU done to do ANYTHING to help raise awareness of homelessness, or to help the homeless or teach the homeless, or hire the homeless, or respect the homeless? I’m waiting. The answer? NOTHING. Oh wait. Yeah…you help out at the soup kitchen on Thanksgiving and Christmas. Yeah…go you.

If you had any awareness of what being homeless was, how it felt, what it did to your self-esteem, your mind, your self-respect, you’d have been CHEERING BBH and paying a flat $10-$20 rate per hour for wifi from any one of the participants. You’d have recognized social change in action and had your photo taken with as many of these men as you could. You’d have pulled your head out of your anal canal and put your beer bottle or diet coke or bottled water down long enough to realize you were seeing history in the making and you would have been part of it.

Instead of exploring, suggesting ways to make it better and giving feedback to make the experience BETTER you were busy shooting down possibilities, potential and the pride these men felt.

Do I sound angry? You don’t know how angry I am. You might as well have stolen the men’s money and beat them to start tweeting about how BBH was “exploiting them.” You’re sick bastards with no souls and you’re the kind of people everyone USED to go to SXSW to get away from. Shame on you. They had a chance to make money, feel good, be part of something bigger than themselves and you ruined it.