Environment: Blogging extravaganza BlogHer 2006.
Caveats: I counted heads at the closing keynote on Saturday, which may or may
not be representative of overall conference attendance.
(Approximately half of the attendees were present at the closing
keynote, based on a reported total attendance of ~700.)
Count:
Women: 313
Men: 38
Women at BlogHer 2006: 88.92%
What's interesting about this number is that it provides the exact reverse of what's typical at most tech conferences, which currently hover at approximately 89% men. And over the last two days in an 89% female environment, I had no awareness of the presence of men....which implies that when tech conferences are 89% men, the presence of women also goes unnoticed in the social fabric. How much will it take for things to feel more balanced? My wild guess, based on absolutely zero data, is about 25-30%. Why? My class at business school was about 26% female, and though it was evident we were a minority, we had a visible presence and a role in informing the overall school social dynamic.
