This post actually applies to anyone who is a minority in a particular professional environment. In my case, it happens to be that I am a female in a male-dominated industry.

I go to lots of conferences. I think I hit about 11 last year alone. I also work in a male-dominated industry and get sent to a lot of these conferences by myself. I’m not a feminist by any means… I like guys to open doors for me. I like that I get offered the first glass of wine at a business dinner when the rest of the attendees are dudes.  However, because the females stick out like a sore thumb in my regular conference group, it is necessary to maintain a professional demeanor at all times. When packing for one of these events, there are many questions that go through my head. Is there a pool? Will I want to swim? What is my most conservative bathing suit? Will I be able to be anonymous when not attending events?

I have established some guidelines for myself over the last year… if I am in a place where I have the potential to be recognized by clients, I am as professional as possible. If I can feel reasonably unrecognized, however, I am not afraid to show a little skin by the pool or wear a little bit of a shorter dress. I have two good examples for you.

1)      I attended a conference down in Mexico at an all-inclusive resort. I ended up actually staying at the resort just south of the event location, which was great. During the down time, I was able to hang out by the pool and do what I felt like without having to worry about who might see me.

2)      I am currently sitting at a conference, by the pool, in a tshirt. I ended up staying at the event location this time around. We even have to wear armbands at ALL times which identify us as conference attendees. There is no easy way to be anonymous. I actually sat by the pool yesterday with a shirt over my arm in an effort to cover the arm band.

The key here is to develop a rule for yourself. Some healthy balance of professionalism vs anonymity. You never want to stick out for a bad reason, so don’t give anyone that reason 🙂

Stay classy!

-PG