And the photographers at the same conventions all simultaneously taking unrepresentative samples, and the people who blog about these same conventions being poor observers, and you counting booth babes as attendees with whom a characteristic rpg lover has a realistic chance of a meaningful relationship...
Empirical test: Look for (SFW) photographs of reasonably randomly distributed groups (e.g. audiences, hallways) at a convention, post the first three samples found.
This is cherry-picked slightly—I ignored some pics with relatively low numbers of people, and some pics that looked like they weren’t in the U.S. (but these had few females in attendance too).
I figured I’d do the same, but for conventions I actually go to. But it appears there are no pictures for Omnicon or Anonycon (the latter of which apparently means something different in the Internet at large). Group photos from Connecticon are easier to come by, but they have their own issues: (first three group images searching for “Connecticon photos” (no quotes))
To add a single point of anecdotal evidence—as a geeky girl with a history of going to conventions (though I haven’t gone to one in a while—I joined the SCA instead) - it really depends on the convention.
I’ve seen quite a few that have much more balanced gender ratios than in the past (though not quite 50⁄50). Again, this is from purely anecdotal evidence—but it is my impression that those that involve cosplay or SF media/books are often more female-involved (and the photos thomblake has provided seem to imply that Connecticon may be one of these).
Since I moved to the SCA the gender balance has improved markedly—the SCA is pretty much 50⁄50 because it has a really wide range of geeky/history/cosplay/martial-arts/crafts activities. Variety helps...
I’ve found in my own experience that conventions that have a wide variety often have a higher gender balance. eg Swancon in Perth (Western Australia) has a good gender balance (on average) as does Supanova—both of which have a huge range and variety of activities...
Yep, none of the conventions I go to have booth babes, that I’ve seen.
Though I realized I was counting “Anime conventions” and “multigenre conventions” in my mental picture of “rpg conventions” so that might unduly influence my estimate.
And the photographers at the same conventions all simultaneously taking unrepresentative samples, and the people who blog about these same conventions being poor observers, and you counting booth babes as attendees with whom a characteristic rpg lover has a realistic chance of a meaningful relationship...
Empirical test: Look for (SFW) photographs of reasonably randomly distributed groups (e.g. audiences, hallways) at a convention, post the first three samples found.
Eliezer asks so I deliver (MtG conventions):
http://www.collectorsquest.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/magic_nationals_2008_player.jpg
http://www.wizards.com/mtg/images/daily/events/pthon09/Players.jpg
http://www.wizards.com/mtg/images/daily/events/usnat09/SF_AndersonGindey2.jpg
This is cherry-picked slightly—I ignored some pics with relatively low numbers of people, and some pics that looked like they weren’t in the U.S. (but these had few females in attendance too).
Thomblake only made claims about MtG players and RPG conventions; he specifically excluded MtG competitions.
In the future, please don’t make me have to defend Thom ;-)
Again I have failed. Actually I’m not sure I know what an RPG convention is...
OK, some results of a Google image search for “RPG convention crowd”:
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/88/228173741_969d7a39dd.jpg (Penny Arcade Expo, does this count as RPG?)
http://www.palladiumbooks.com/press/GCIndy2k4/crowd4.jpg (Gen Con Indy 2004)
http://s207.photobucket.com/albums/bb61/Ghastrian/Gen%20Con%202009/?action=view¤t=2009-08-14142434.jpg (Gen Con 2009, not the greatest shot)
It would appear, based on this preliminary evidence, that reality is backing SilasBarta on this one.
I figured I’d do the same, but for conventions I actually go to. But it appears there are no pictures for Omnicon or Anonycon (the latter of which apparently means something different in the Internet at large). Group photos from Connecticon are easier to come by, but they have their own issues: (first three group images searching for “Connecticon photos” (no quotes))
http://media.photobucket.com/image/connecticon%20photos/systermatic_erorr/Connecticon%202009/Hetalia%20Cosplay/GroupShot.jpg
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3232/2737005806_b8caaa5548.jpg
http://media.photobucket.com/image/connecticon%20photos/animegeer/connecticon%2008/connecticon08104.jpg
I have no idea, looking at these photos, what the gender ratio is.
To add a single point of anecdotal evidence—as a geeky girl with a history of going to conventions (though I haven’t gone to one in a while—I joined the SCA instead) - it really depends on the convention.
I’ve seen quite a few that have much more balanced gender ratios than in the past (though not quite 50⁄50). Again, this is from purely anecdotal evidence—but it is my impression that those that involve cosplay or SF media/books are often more female-involved (and the photos thomblake has provided seem to imply that Connecticon may be one of these).
Since I moved to the SCA the gender balance has improved markedly—the SCA is pretty much 50⁄50 because it has a really wide range of geeky/history/cosplay/martial-arts/crafts activities. Variety helps...
I’ve found in my own experience that conventions that have a wide variety often have a higher gender balance. eg Swancon in Perth (Western Australia) has a good gender balance (on average) as does Supanova—both of which have a huge range and variety of activities...
Yep, none of the conventions I go to have booth babes, that I’ve seen.
Though I realized I was counting “Anime conventions” and “multigenre conventions” in my mental picture of “rpg conventions” so that might unduly influence my estimate.