Andrew Watters

February 10, 2026

This one is pretty shocking, but hey, awful people are out there.

So I was attending WEST 2026, which is an event put on by a group I'm in called AFCEA. Essentially, it's an industry association of current and aspiring government contractors and service members who connect with each other over shared interests. WEST is a Navy-themed conference with a gigantic exhibit hall full of interesting things. I got about 20 business cards from interesting vendors just in a few hours walking the floor. This is my second time attending WEST-- last time in 2023 was pretty awesome, so I was expecting a great experience and trying to pack a lot into one day. I managed to injure myself by dropping my fully loaded briefcase on my toe, but otherwise it was a good start to the conference.

It was 11:30 a.m. and I had not had breakfast, so I was really hungry and wandering around to find a good lunch place. I ended up in the Marriott restaurant. It was pretty empty at 11:45 a.m. and I sat at the bar. It started filling up and eventually, the bar was pretty full. I found myself with an empty seat on either side of me. A middle-aged man and a young woman walked over to me. The woman asked "is there any way you could move over so we can sit together?" As an aside, I absolutely hate being asked to move seats in bars, and I never do it anymore. For one, I had my laptop out and I was typing, and I was also enjoying a beer. I had gotten there a half hour earlier and it's not my fault that the bar filled up around me. So I said "sorry, can't help you" and went back to my laptop. The guy walked over and stood near me, and repeated the request. I said no. Then, instead of what 99% of people do, which is walk away and sit somewhere else, he asked: "why?"

I've never heard someone ask that, but I told him I don't have to explain myself, and he should sit somewhere else. This really pissed him off, and he started arguing with me. I kept waving him off and said several times "go away" and "whatever, goodbye." He persisted in asking me for my seat. I noticed he was wearing a conference badge (not sure if it was for WEST or for the pharma conference next door), but it was turned around and I couldn't see his information. I reached over and flipped his badge around. Alain Cohen, CEO of some random company. I don't know which one was on his badge, but apparently he is the CEO of Bublup, which is some type of document organization service. This really, really pissed him off and he said something to the effect of "you'd better not touch me or you'll regret it." I said "same to you, buddy." He then said that I was lucky he was in a good mood, because he wouldn't normally tolerate this. I said "it's your lucky day, too" and again waved him off and went back to my computer. A few moments later, he again walked up to me, this time with his phone out, and I said "can I help you?" I'm not sure what he was doing on his phone, maybe taking a photo of me, but in any case, I mentioned that he was again approaching me and there was nothing else to discuss. He walked away and found a table with his guest.

A few moments later, individual guests sat on either side of me, including one super cool salesperson who I ended up having a great conversation with-- and I need her products! Sheesh, if I had not set appropriate boundaries, I would never have met this person.

I could see out of the corner of my eye that Alain was absolutely seething for a half hour while he and his guest had a drink at a nearby table. They got up and left, and that was the end of it for now.

What a bizarre interaction, especially with someone who represents himself to be a CEO of a company. I am actually shocked that he was making veiled threats over something as stupid as a bar seat that I had every right to stay in because I was there first and didn't feel like moving. I don't like the way I feel when people claim to be more important than me and therefore that I should vacate my seat instead of them sitting somewhere else. My view is highlighted by the fact that a Navy Vice Admiral was sitting a few seats down and she was getting crowded by some random tweaker-looking civilian who didn't realize she was sitting next to one of the most important people in the Navy who is also the commander of the 10th Fleet. The admiral is a more kind person than I would be in that situation, but that is the point-- it's important to wave off or set boundaries with people or they will often take undue advantage.

In looking up Alain, it doesn't surprise me that someone like this would sue Tesla and get embarrassed online over it, among other colorful vignettes. I don't care who people are or how wealthy they are-- all that matters is what's in your heart. Another asshole millionaire CEO is nothing special, but I'm legitimately surprised that he's making threats, especially without even knowing anything about the person he is threatening. I'm not claiming to be anything special, but there just aren't a lot of civilians who routinely do private training with retired Special Mission Unit operators in North Carolina for days at a time-- in hand-to-hand combat plus combat gunfighting. The simple fact is that statistically, unless he is for some reason heavily into mixed martial arts, a software engineer like Alain who doesn't outwardly appear anything but average is going to lose a lot, including potentially some or all of the functionality of his hands or arms, and/or his freedom, for picking a fight in a bar over something this stupid with someone who has this type of training and is very strong (as described by my departed fraternity brother Erik Weiss, who was the strongest person I've ever met in my life). It was extremely reckless of Alain to confront me at all, and then persist in harassing me-- his recklessness is only underscored by the fact that I was the one trying to exit the conversation and leave it alone, which 99% of professionally trained individuals will do. There is no point in escalating a situation like this, which shows that Alain is an extremely reckless and/or deluded individual who will eventually pick a fight with the wrong person and end up very injured. He 100% deserves to be shamed online just for being a reckless asshole, and maybe this is all it will take for him to learn his lesson. If not, I hope his next confrontation with a complete stranger who is minding his own business is captured on video so everyone can see how stupid Alain is, and how he apparently needs to make veiled threats to feel better about himself.

Back to Hall of Shame.