tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9056329753470495031.post7270450301168718865..comments2008-09-03T19:36:09.748-05:00Mariahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12133688778838978301noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9056329753470495031.post-72217125642144330472008-09-03T19:36:00.000-05:002008-09-03T19:36:00.000-05:00Anonymous commenter - I did mention Swoopy and Sharon Begley. I don't acutally remember Alison speaking at TAM 6 although she did speak briefly at 5.5. I honestly don't remember. And Teek did a fantastic paper presentation, I didn't point that out. <BR/><BR/>However, my point wasn't that there were NO female speakers but that there was a serious difference in the female to male ratio. Swoopy had 15 minutes. Sharon was the only MAJOR female speaker, that is, someone who was part of the regular TAM program (the paper presentations are separate) and had a full time slot.<BR/><BR/>I completely agree that quality is important but I find it extremely hard to believe that we can't find quality speakers who are gender representative. <BR/><BR/>One of the issues in the skeptical community is that a large proportion of issues, blogs and commentary is done by men. Skepchick is one of the sites trying to change that and to bring skepticism to women in particular. <BR/><BR/>Someday, maybe it won't matter because the equality will already be there and the gender bias won't exist. For now, it's important to consciously consider the imbalance and do something about it.<BR/><BR/>Dragon*Con, on the other hand, was very well balanced. Pamela Gay, Karen Stollznow, Lori Lipman Brown and Alison were all there and did fantastic, detailed presentations. It was certainly more balanced and I am back from D*C very invigorated.<BR/><BR/>I am not dissing the JREF - I don't think that it happened intentionally and I have been to other TAMs that had excellent female speakers. I'm sure next year will be better.Mariahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12133688778838978301noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9056329753470495031.post-51093805356091624502008-09-03T19:21:00.000-05:002008-09-03T19:21:00.000-05:00there _were_ women. Your own Tracy King was a speaker on Sunday. The SGU features your own Rebecca Watson in the morning sessions. <BR/><BR/> By complaining about a 'lack' of female speakers, you're ignoring Alison Smith, that Swoopy was indeed a main speaker, you're making this seem a scandal when it really isn't. Did you want more of you on stage?<BR/><BR/>I think you're confusing 'number of women' to equal 'quality speakers'. <BR/><BR/>Ms Begley was criticized by Randi himself on YouTube for misrepresenting Penn's comments in her Newsweek article. Quality doesn't mean women. Get skeptics, not just gender bias towards women.commenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12823514248932783172noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9056329753470495031.post-22295069966873644952008-07-01T15:59:00.000-05:002008-07-01T15:59:00.000-05:00I just sent a bit of this to her, but you can find out a bit of the information about the Skeptrack at Dragon*Con at the home page for it at:<BR/><BR/>http://www.skeptrack.org/<BR/><BR/>In the next few days I am going to flush out the site with more details about the panels and such, but the current prelim schedule is there to check out. :)Skepticalityhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04482853910978850596noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9056329753470495031.post-46077932255234690212008-07-01T06:14:00.000-05:002008-07-01T06:14:00.000-05:00Great post! What ARE the details about DragonCon? Hope you post on that one.<BR/><BR/>Thanks.Teacherninjahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07690406470351639188noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9056329753470495031.post-68443817180046374022008-06-30T21:03:00.000-05:002008-06-30T21:03:00.000-05:00i have a feeling that i will never escape that photo...<BR/><BR/>and i have to say that accosting neil degrasse tyson with you was a highlight.<BR/><BR/>fun times...carr2d2http://www.blogger.com/profile/09026673071876081700noreply@blogger.com