Women in the fandom
I don't have my guide at hand atm but I think there was a panel held called "women in the fandom" which was suggested in the forums here last year and I was curious as to how the response to it went. I ask because I did notice a good number of females running around the con this year and it would be nice to know that panel got a good attendance, thus making them feel more comfortable and included in the con.
I wanted to state a compliment on this somewhere, and I think this might be a good opportunity to say it, that I really liked the artwork on the advertisement handout for the Women of the Fandom Meet & Greet. I'm holding it here looking at it right now. Whoever the artist was that drew those 2 furry gals, they did a good job- I would like to know that artist's name. I didn't attend, of course, but I'll be holding on to that flyer as another one of my art souvenirs from Anthrocon 2009.
I got up early and snuck into the panel, as a "spy" for the Other Side 
I was curious to hear what would be discussed as far as womens' experiences at Anthrocon. I've been in touch with Dester'edra about the possibility of a panel along these lines for over a year now, and was wondering to what extent this panel would cover the same ground.
But, as it turns out, it was "just" a mixer---that is to say, no presentation. There were cup cakes, there was chit-chat. After Devi Bunny explained to me that this was the plan, I bowed out, went back to my hotel room, and got in a little more sleep ^_^
So I only caught about the first five minutes. But there were a good few folks in the room even that early on, and I'd expect that the dynamic worked out favorably. It would probably have worked out even better, however, had it not been scheduled at freaking nine in the morning....
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iSKUNK!
Hey, there's always a few less-than-ideal time slots and something has to fill them.
Given a choice between a sucky time slot and no time slot at all, i'll take the sucky time slot. 
Yeah, I know... but why couldn't it have been, like, the animal-spirituality panel at nine? They could have scheduled it in the middle of the night and it would still have gotten mobbed as always 
(Kidding!)
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iSKUNK!
actually, being at 9am means it was before the dealers room opened up and other activities started so there would be more chance for people to attend.
Actually, someone else hit the answer on the first try. The person who created the event was a dealer. She asked for the event to be scheduled before the dealer room opened. I worked with her to secure the best room/time that we could for the event.
I'm very happy that it went over well, and I'll be contacting the host to see if this event can be held again.
KP
No worries! The bunch I was with were just poking fun at the time slot. (As well as how few that they figured would show up to it, but boy were they shocked by our after panel report.) As you said better an early morning time slot than none at all.
Still, it was neat going 'ok... gotta go sleep soon... set alarm... hope it won't bother roomies...must get up early to... go to... panel... that is... sure to be awesome...!' and it was. (Especially since my internal clock is wired for nighttime more than daytime). It was in my humble opinion well worth getting up early for!
Thanks (again) to all that provided a spot for the Women in the Fandom panel, and for Devi Blue and those that helped her out in staffing the room. 
There are womens in the fandom?! ZOMG!!! I'll get cooties! D:
Heh heh. It's funny how many people think furry is 100% gay men.
There are gay men in the fandom?! ZOMG!!! (insert un-PC joke here) D:
Seriously, if you haven't noticed there's a good number of females (and some day to be females) attending the con each year and the number seems to increase with each con. I would suggest looking at the study done by the college each year but that would not include the under aged members and only those who took the time to fill out the questionnaire (280 out of 3700 attendees?).
Not only was there a "Women in the fandom" panel but there's a femme only photo shoot (I have no detail on that as I'm XY.), though I think that was more geared towards female-looking fursuits than those who were actually female.
Any chance of the folks running registration providing us with any numbers or percentages of XX chromosomes?
Personally I think its great that this panel was put together and worked out as well, I remember the original thread on here discussing it. Hopefully this and other events which encourage more female attendance will be added to Anthrocon next year. Why I have an opinion on this I'm honestly not sure clue, guess its just nice seeing more females running around (Being a str8 XY after all).
Yeah, the XX numbers have certainly been improving. I don't know if we're yet at the level of anime conventions---where it sometimes seems that guys are in the minority---but women are certainly no longer a rarity within the fandom. (And only a tiny minority of them, if any, are the mythical "non-furry girlfriend who's here to be convinced that it's not all about having sex with stuffed animals!")
Not only was there a "Women in the fandom" panel but there's a femme only photo shoot (I have no detail on that as I'm XY.), though I think that was more geared towards female-looking fursuits than those who were actually female.
Oh, so it was a total sausage-festival, then. 
(Seriously, I could count all the female-inside-and-out fursuits I know on one hand. There's Silent Raven, there's Lucky, there's that cougar-chakat whatsherface... oh, and Spunky, too. Any others?)
Why I have an opinion on this I'm honestly not sure clue, guess its just nice seeing more females running around (Being a str8 XY after all).
That never hurts 
(Well, at least as long as one doesn't do anything dumb... otherwise it could hurt very, very bad 
)
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iSKUNK!
We do not capture that information in our registration system. We might tell you how many times "Steve" shows up and how many times "Deborah" shows up, but your guess is as good as ours with "Pat" and "Sandy" and "Mel".
perhaps it could be included with next years registration as an optional question? In the interest of researching the fandom?
Dr. Gerbasi already captures that info in her furry surveys.
We generally prefer to find ways to keep Registration running faster.
Optional questions ("What is your gender? What is your species? Do you like movies with George Wendt?") would only slow down the registration process, so we work to eliminate them.
...like that math question this year in On-site. Whoops!
You're kidding? The math question was in the reg forms for on-site registration?
Out of rampant curiosity, did anybody get it wrong? :>
-The two saddest words in the English language are "Good bye"
We forgot to remove it, indeed, in the code switchover.
..and yes, yes some people did.
The math question was intentional. I didn't want people rushing through the form (that's how typos happen, which take more time for us to fix), and I didn't want people going, "oh this system is slow", and accidentally clicking "submit" 17 times in a row.
It also ensures a minimum level of sobriety when registering on site.
There was such a panel. My brain is still digesting the sheer AWESOME that was AC, but, it was 'Women in the Fandom' in the Fayette room from 9am-10am on Saturday.
From what I recall we pretty much packed the room and there was lots of fun had. It was kind of funny, but, there were only myself and one other girl in the group that went, and, the night before it was 'decided' that it was "mandatory" that the 2 of us go. (The guys figured 'because we were girls' that we HAD to go! LOL... nevermind, that was the plan all along...)
Met many new people and, once I got over being TOO shy, it was quite fun, and I still keep in touch with several that we did an (email/IM) contact swap with.
By the ones I hung out with, it was pretty much agreed, if there was such a panel NEXT year? 'We are SO there!' (Even if it was at a 'godawful' early time slot in the morning. Fun was STILL had, friends were still made.)
It was rather funny to note? But, several of our roomies? Had a friendly bet(in the style of 'betcha there won't be too many there.') that they lost... when they phoned to see 'how boring the panel was with so little people that must be there...' We heard the O.o NO WAY! YOU HAVE TO BE KIDDING US?!' Just standing by my friend Luna when she went 'nyah nyah us girls filled the room up!'
Thank you to those that thought to make such a panel, set aside some space for us, staffed it, and made it such a fun place to hang out and meet people in! :heart: