Luckily, I did manage to catch a semi-recent post by The Prodigal Academic about why it is awesome to be a female attending male-dominated conferences.
TPA points out that there are no bathroom lines when you are one of a handful of women at a conference. So true! In fact, at a recent conference, another conference attendee (a rock star Big Name) was so surprised to have someone else walk into the bathroom (me), that we actually struck up a conversation....which led to talking about my research with my students. Awesome.
The second advantage that TPA lists is that, as a minority presenter, you are more easily remembered later in the day.
The third deals with presenting while pregnant. You can read it for yourself, since it doesn't pertain to me (whew).
The fourth is my favorite because it happens to be true AND I had never really thought about it before:
4. You are easier to find in the crowd, so it is easier to run into old friends and colleagues at coffee breaks without necessarily prearranging things. (link)
And TPA's fifth advantage to attending a male-dominated conference? Well, let's just say it deals with getting free stuff.
So what about it? Are there more advantages that should be added to The Prodigal Academic's list? Or do the wee annoyances (you know, like being asked eight times in one afternoon if you REALLY are a presenter and not a vendor representative) outweigh these benefits?
