The bison head stared down at me as I sat primly in my folding chair, waiting for the lecture to start. Two antlered deer heads stared at right angles to the bison. Perhaps they were wondering what I was doing as one of only two or three women in a room of 60 men, six pitchers of beer, several open bottles of wine and a seemingly unlimited supply of Finagle a Bagel paper cups.

Part of me wanted to run screaming from the room. Instead I turned to the gentleman sitting one row ahead of me and asked, “Are you a regular here?”

I ended up having nice conversations with several people. I felt proud of myself for sticking it out despite feeling out of place as a woman and as a novice in the very technical subject matter under discussion. The funny thing is, I probably put some of the guys at ease by starting conversations with them.