Re: @ Jon Arden
I can't disagree with anything you said there.
Jon, I suspect that we have been arguing orthoganally rather than opposedly. Clearly I misunderstood the type of event. So, I passed the problem by a lady friend who also worked in IT. She suggests:
Definitely no male strippers. You need a homosexual piano player; whoever is in the line of descent from Liberace, through Peter Allen and Elton John. Definitely not Portishead or their ilk. (We both heard Portishead for the first time at a MS event).
Lots of pink. And definitely no computers. While some women look favourably on them, most women don't. They are a complete turnoff. Also, you are going to need to eliminate most of the blokes coming to the event. Too high a ratio and women won't attend. "New mathematical approaches to AI and GFX rendering techniques" are a definite turnoff for most women. They'd rather stick needles through their eyes than attend such an event.
If my lady friend is correct, and she's certainly a very insightful woman of almost fearsome intellect, you have a problem. Unless you can promise lots of unmarried millionaires in which case women will sacrifice an awful lot to get a crack at marrying one.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
