Well, we try to discourage them. Only get in the way.
Before I start getting PMs - I'm joking! It is a rather male-dominated event - though not to the degree that this photo would suggest! Each year it's getting more diverse though - both in terms of male/female ratio and age range (and, for that matter, nationality - I hope that many of the French participants who came for the first time at the Mulhouse meeting can make it again in 2010).
I'm rather looking forward to this year's event - Landau (and Heidelberg) here we come!
This is true! When I attended the first meeting, I'm sure many of the others felt strange having this 'kid' around (I was 20!) And I seem to remember only three women attending that meeting; two were wifes of German collectors and the third was a French historian who was there for some reason.