Yep - default is still active. I checked this (since I had to spend a lot of time sorting things, this con, as one does when things go pear-shaped) and I chatted with hotel staff about the con. They were wildly excited because of favourite authors being present. One lady told me "I went home and told my brother and he was very jealous of my job." Each and every one of them reported on Garth Nix, though, not on Trudi Canavan. There were, numerically, more well-known female authors than male authors present (and there were large numbers of both) but the reporting of "Look, cool people!" covered the male side only (at least for the staff I talked to). I love it that Canberra is so very literate that one can have book conversations with cleaners, but yes, we have a male default. Our shared conversation is still problematic.