I have an oft-repeated joke that I love going to technology conferences because it's one of the few times that I can count on having a public women's restroom at my own personal disposal. It's tongue-in-cheek, but it's not a complete exaggeration.
Supernova, for being a smaller-scale conference, feels different. Not only did I run into another woman during a trip to the restroom (during a panel, no less), but there also appears to be a fairly significant present of woman speakers (myself included) -- from a quick glance of the conference schedule, it seems as if about 17% of the speakers are women. Kevin's clearly put work into making this conference more inclusive, and it seemed appropriate to congratulate him on his success in the effort and to express some appreciation for his having taken the effort in the first place.
Interesting. I just got finshed looking at the photos from OSCON; let's just say there's a visible lack of us girls.
Posted by: liz | July 08, 2003 at 09:47 AM
Haha, I notice this often when I speak/go to tech/academic conferences. What's weirder to me, though, is knowing that someone has to be the expert, and that I am that expert, and I happen to be the token girl (or one of the few). Though I don't see myself as an expert. Crazy.
Posted by: lacey | July 08, 2003 at 03:02 PM
Tangetially related: I can't see the comments on this post unless I select them with my mouse. I'm using:
Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; Windows NT 5.1; .NET CLR 1.1.4322)
Anyone else having trouble?
Posted by: Eamon | July 08, 2003 at 03:06 PM
I'll have to email you a brilliant exchange between Heather Champ and Derek P. on this issue. Derek insists he doesn't believe in scorekeeping but Heather wants full representation.
Posted by: Chuck Olsen | July 08, 2003 at 04:35 PM
I wouldn't call it scorekeeping. All I know is that as a speaker, seeing other female speakers is incredibly encouraging and helps me do what I do better.
Posted by: Mena Trott | July 08, 2003 at 04:40 PM
Not really on this topic (but important nonetheless), there is a Krispy Kreme store a few miles south of Crystal City. Don't know if they're hot right now, but it could be worth a look.
Posted by: Roscoe | July 09, 2003 at 06:04 AM
Hey.. :p Your typepad looks better than my typepad! :) I think I need to add all those CDs and photo albums.
Posted by: Julian | July 12, 2003 at 02:09 AM