Attending Linux Conferences – Before and After

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.


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One response to “Attending Linux Conferences – Before and After”

  1. You Know Avatar
    You Know

    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.