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.