The Dreamforce conference in San Francisco will run from 15th-18th September and promises to be one of the entrepreneurial events of the year. The Salesforce platform is enabling thousands of start-ups to offer sales solution products such a contract management and configure, price quote. So what will happen when all of them are thrown together for four days of speeches, networking and parties. Expect fireworks.

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Uber’s test to take more from new drivers — a 25% commission instead of the traditional 20% — has spread from San Francisco to five other cities.

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Merchants who don’t have EMV-ready credit card readers would be hit with the costs of fraudulent transactions.

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Most people are familiar with the efficiency and value that marketplaces like Kayak and Expedia bring to both consumers and airlines. Through these marketplaces, consumers have the ability to compare multiple options in one convenient location, and airlines can present their services to a critical mass of highly engaged consumers and more effectively fill their seats.

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Sayonara to the stereotype of the unsociable male anime nerd. According to data from six of the largest conventions for anime fans—people who love cartoons from Japan—attendees exist in more diverse identities than any mainstream media representation would suggest.
After reading that San Diego Comic-Con International attracted an equal number of men and women in 2014, I reached out to the 10 largest anime conventions in North America for their 2014 stats. Six responded, and you can see their data compiled in a handy chart:At a quick glance, it’s apparent that male and female attendance has reached almost 50-50. Attribute it to the fact that cartoons, comics, and videogames from Japan attract a wide audience. Cartoons can be directed at adults or kids or both, with some shows targeted at women (like Sailor Moon), and others more generally at men.
“Most of is due to the accessibility and the breadth of topics that are addressed within anime and manga,” an Anime Central spokesperson said. “There is something for everyone, and often anime and manga address topics that are taboo in modern society. They address everything from social etiquette to general life skills they teach about struggles and overcoming adversity. Most importantly, they spark the imagination, and that has no gender bias.”
Furthermore, an increasing number of anime conventions institute anti-harassment policies, which mean fans of any identity can feel safe, further incentivizing them to attend.
See also: How Fans Run The Largest U.S. Anime Convention As A Non-Profit
“Due to our strict anti-harassment policies and making it part of our mission to make the environment as safe as possible, more people feel comfortable coming,” said Faisal Ahmed, the Chairman of Anime Weekend Atlanta.
The largest convention on the chart is Los Angeles-based Anime Expo, with 86,000 attendees, and the smallest is Montreal’s Otakuthon, with 17,600 attendees in 2014. The conventions are listed in order of their size clockwise beginning from the top left.
See also: Why Adults Fall In Love With (And Spend Big Money On) Cartoon Characters
Not all of the conventions took the same data. Otakuthon, Anime Expo, and Anime Central said that registration is digital, and their registration software allows only binary gender input, meaning it offers only “male” and “female” options. In a world where even Facebook offers options for nonbinary genders which fall outside of “male” and “female” gender identities, standard event registration software isn’t keeping up with the times.
“Our software doesn’t collect nonbinary data for gender, we do word it however as gender of which you identify with,” an Anime Central spokesperson said.
Otakon, Anime Boston, and Anime Weekend Atlanta were able to collect “other” gender data, for attendees who fall elsewhere on the gender spectrum, by providing written surveys for them to fill out. However, this meant not every attendee filled out the survey. In the case of Anime Boston’s survey, nonbinary gender data was grouped with attendees who preferred not to list their gender at all, which is why I gave it its own color on the infographic legend.
See also: How American Fans Pirated Japanese Cartoons Into Careers
Of the four conventions that do not appear on this chart, two responded to my query but said they do not currently collect gender data. Seattle’s Sakura-Con has not done a gender survey in five years, while Toronto’s Anime North doesn’t conduct them at all.

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