All the speakers I've seen so far look amazingly better in person than in picture. Why is that? Is this on purpose, to lower expectations so that they positively surprise the audience? Being very intelligent makes you non photogenic? They don't want to look good? They just don't care? There simply are no good photographers around?
Take a look, for instance, at the picture of Tanzeem Choudhury as profiled here.
And now look this
Doesn't even look like the same person (oh, and the real person is gorgeous! And she's a professor too: I want to go back to school!)Same with Gina Bianchini. Here's the real one (terrific presentation, by the way):
Speaking of women technologists: what's with the “women in technology workshop”, which is not even officialy part of the conference (the Opening Remarks being held on the next day)? Isn't it a bit diminishing (not sure it's the right word) of the role women play in today's technology world? Take the “Cool innovations” session: those innovations are cool in their own right (I've been especially impressed by the rescue robot presented by Holly Yanco), not just because they come from women's work.
