I’m on my way home from my second Linux conference since transitioning and I’m beginning to pick up on some of the differences between attending as a man and attending as a woman. The biggest difference I’ve noticed is that people seem to remember me now.
I attended a few events before transitioning, and the people I met in 2011 had largely forgotten me by 2012. I guess that makes sense, now that I think about it. I would quietly keep to myself and that usually meant that other people left me alone. People saw me as just another guy at a Linux conference, and that made me almost unmemorable.
That’s all different now. I re-met a lot of people in at the Linux Plumbers Conference last September, and they actually remembered who I am this week! And everybody from recruiters to new friends are actively starting conversations with me! I would be surprised if being a woman at a Linux conference didn’t play a part in this change. But I’m also way more comfortable with myself, and I would like to think that makes me more approachable.
In my opinion, being social makes these events way more enjoyable.
Comments
One response to “Attending Linux Conferences – Before and After”
Well it’s not everyone who changes their identity the way you have. Of course, they are going to remember you. I don’t believe it’s that fact that you look like a female rather than a male that makes a difference. Maybe you as “a person” are just a little more friendlier to others than before. I have known a lot of unfriendly, disagreeable females in the past that I am glad I will never meet again. To me, you are exactly the same person I have always known. No matter how you present yourself, you are still the same to me.