BiCon 2004 retrospective

[memevector]

Good things about this year's BiCon, from my perspective:

• All buildings non-smoking. Very much appreciated.


• All rooms wheelchair accessible - not that I use a wheelchair myself, but I feel a lot happier knowing that people who do are properly included.


• Workshops providing excellent food for thought: my faves were one by ippola and plumsbitch exploring the idea of safe space, one by werenerd on BDSM aftercare and one by voodoopussy on self harm. They were all well run with interesting questions, and having been to quite a few BiCons now, I always like it when the topics aren't the "same old same old".


• Various unplanned chats with wandra, snagglepat, ippola, plumsbitch, and others not on LJ, although I would have liked to hang out more with all of them and with artremis.


• Introducing baby Anna to lots of people.


• In-house entertainment at our flat from the exuberant offspring of cujosmurf.


• Someone thanking me for writing my thing about planning workshops and saying it had helped them to run their first ever BiCon workshop. Cool!


• Excellent venue site in general - nowhere too far to walk, but ents noise well away from sleeping areas. (Evidently I missed experiencing the workshop room(s?) which some people weren't happy with.)


• Chilled out, approachable organising team who (despite their jests) seemed to have things more or less under control. That ease during BiCon speaks of excellent planning beforehand.


• The way we agreed at the plenary to lend djm4 the float money to run BiFest (or whatever it's going to be called this time). I think the mutual trust, and mutual awareness of skills, expressed in that process & decision is a huge asset of the bi community.

Big thanks to the organising team, especially barakta who I think did an outstanding job on access.

Thanks also to everyone who contributed to the workshops I was in (namechecked here or otherwise) and especially to the "Stitch & Bitch" participants and artremis for organising it - an opportunity to rant a bit was just what I wanted at that moment (though not about BiCon organisation, I hasten to add :-) )

Things I would have liked to be different, and why:

• I'd prefer it if the decision-making plenary weren't the final one, when a substantial minority have already left and the rest of us mostly want to socialise and celebrate. I don't think I've heard any arguments against that idea so far, and I think we should consider sticking it into the BiCon guidelines. Or if not, it should at least be heavily recommended in the proposed "How to run BiCon" resource.


• I think there's an argument for the photo being on one of the middle days as well, again because of people leaving before the end. (I wouldn't put that in the guidelines though, 'cause I don't really think of the photo as crucial to BiCon.)


• I was pretty happy with the accommodation (especially the bath, which was capable of delivering oodles of hot water in a very short time), but the standard was let down by (a) the lack of a bedside lamp, and (b) the cold, and the central heating being off. Seems a bit cheapskate of the venue to me.


• There seem to have been an unusual number of problems in the runup this year with lack of communication to people who'd offered to run workshops. I'm aware (via LJ or in-person chat) of at least six different workshop leaders who were affected by that, and the printed timetable omitted some things which were planned and confirmed beforehand. I wasn't running anything this year, so it didn't affect me directly, but I remember being in a similar position in a previous year (offering to contribute and then waiting ages to find out what was happening) and how intensely frustrating it was. I think it's an important area to manage, because it's about taking care of volunteers, which is crucial for things that basically run on volunteer energy.


• I think the process of amending the BiCon guidelines could be fine-tuned some more.
  
  It definitely works to have the proposals come from a workshop beforehand, and it's good that the proposals get stuck on the wall before the decision-making plenary so people know what they're going to be asked to vote on.
  
  In an ideal world, pretty much all the debate would happen among interested parties at the workshop, so that what happens at the plenary is highly succinct. However, this time I gather that only a few people went to the workshop, and it seems to me that was reflected in the amount of "remaining" debate at the plenary. (Plus I suspect that quite a lot of people hadn't read the notice, though that'll probably always happen to some degree.)
  
  I think if I were managing that in future, I'd get first suggested drafts of all the proposals read out at an earlier plenary, or at least stuck on the wall in good time before the workshop. The ideas might then change a lot before being formally proposed, but it'd be a heads-up so that people with strong feelings about that particular area, and/or counter-proposals, can be attracted into the workshop and get most of the arguing done then.
  
  (There ought really to be an officially impartial chair to manage the plenary discussion, as well - rather than leaving it to the proposers to call upon people wanting to comment. In practice I think that worked OK this time, thanks to the integrity and common sense of ciphergoth and djm4 who were making the formal proposals, but I think there are good reasons for the usual convention of having a separate chairperson.)

To muse further on the whole BiCon thing from a slightly different angle...

I was reading an LJ thread today about reasons for coming back to BiCon year after year, after the first amazement has worn off. I first came to BiCon in 1995, and I think that's an interesting question.

I do have a bi community at home (mainly-bi household, and bi-identified friends I see regularly, besides the virtual bi environment I can access via the net), which I didn't have to that degree when I first came out. But there's still something unique and really good about the BiCon atmosphere. And of course it's an opportunity to see friends (although not necessarily a very good opportunity sometimes, because often the friends are busy being with their other friends and/or lovers that they hardly ever see, and then I actually get to talk to them less at BiCon than if I just rang up at any old time :-) ).

On the other hand, last year and this year I was beginning to question what I was there for and whether I could be arsed to go next time. Like, just being in the environment isn't "enough" any more and it is beginning to be a challenge to me to make sure I'm not bored. Workshops which would have been fascinating to me in 1995 or 1996 aren't now, either because I've talked about that stuff as much as I need to, or because the level I want to talk about them now is beyond what the workshop will cover and is better served by a conversation with a friend. Sometimes there's a new topic, or a new angle on an old topic, and then I can get interested (as mentioned above), but looking down a typical BiCon workshop timetable, it shows up in my world as much more skinny than it used to.

So for me, the direction I seem to be going in is that the only way to make BiCon interesting enough is to invent and contribute stuff - like the "fitting and misfitting" workshop a couple of years ago. The year I did that, as I recall it was by far the most interesting bit of BiCon for me, even more so than playing the gig. It's a venture into uncharted worlds, where I get to experiment and test my skills and see what happens.

But then I run into the question of energy expended and what cooperation is necessary from the rest of the world to set up these interesting things, versus what value I get myself from doing them. Partly it goes back to the thing I was talking about last year about leverage & frustration. I haven't given up on BiCon as a source of interesting-to-me opportunities, but I can easily imagine a situation where I'd want to put my energy elsewhere. I feel like I'm on the brink of that, although I may well stay on that brink for some years yet and still manage to generate enough interest to keep coming back.

Not that it's a bad thing to change direction, if & when I do - yay diversity.

Comments

[hieroglyphe.livejournal.com]

Well, it was a pleasure to talk to you a little bit and to be able to idebtify you as more than just 'the badge lady'.

Anna and your blokey were also equally lovely. And I still believe that Anna should be involved in running a BiCon before long just to make sure that smple, amusing childish thing happen that please me and a sizeable contingent of the bi community :-) Anna was such a good baby (from what I saw) and seemed to enjoy it lots and it was also a pleasure to meet her, even if she was very tiny and will not remember.

As for workshops - I think I did a bad job at mine, but lack of sleep and food plus pre-workshop stress didn't help. I feel that a lot of people (yourself included) made some very valuable input and I'm grateful for that :-) Still on the workshop vein, I am thoroughly impressed that you invented the 'fitting/misfitting' workshop - although you didn't run it last year, when I went it really helped me last year as a first timer and I was disappointed that it wasn't on this year because I found it so helpful and it would have helped a lot of other people - plus you can also feel you've 'lost' your place in the bi community when you've been around for a few years and feel your sexuality has changed. Anyway, I'd be more than happy to run it next year if you or nobody else volunteers :-) And looking at the link you put for running workshops, I wish I'd seen it beforehand seeing as it was very sensible and helpful - I'll bear it in mind for future workshops.

Anyway, 'scuse the spelling, I've been drinking champagne to celebrate. And I hope you don't mind me posting this comment either.

Cat x

[memevector.livejournal.com]

good to meet you too (in a more findy-outy way as you say)

As for workshops - I think I did a bad job at mine

In what respect? I mean I could tell you were a bit nervous, but that didn't detract from the overall good structure and interesting questions.

I'm thinking maybe it's one of those situations where your subjective experience is very different from the people you're presenting to.

the 'fitting/misfitting' workshop - although you didn't run it last year, when I went it really helped me last year as a first timer

thanks!

I was disappointed that it wasn't on this year because I found it so helpful and it would have helped a lot of other people -

I agree it would be good to repeat it again. What I would really like is to have a version of it run two or three times over BiCon so that it's available to all newbies. Because it's a good one to start your BiCon with, but if you run it on a Friday then some people won't have arrived yet.

plus you can also feel you've 'lost' your place in the bi community when you've been around for a few years and feel your sexuality has changed.

Yes - certainly some of the people who participated when I ran it in 2002 had been coming to BiCon for several years.

Anyway, I'd be more than happy to run it next year if you or nobody else volunteers :-)

cool!

[ippola.livejournal.com]

It was so lovely to meet Anna. I'm glad you decided to come in the end and I'm in awe of how you managed to attend such an event only a month after giving birth! I'm looking forward to resuming our thinks very soon.

[ludy]

and i also wish we'd had more of a chance to talk - but i kind of went splat on monday afternoon/evening with swollen glands.
However what i did see you you and Anna and your bloke was lovely.

[mistdog.livejournal.com]

Sometimes there's a new topic, or a new angle on an old topic, and then I can get interested (as mentioned above), but looking down a typical BiCon workshop timetable, it shows up in my world as much more skinny than it used to.

Mine too. Too thin, in fact, for me to get together the enthusiasm, time and £250 quid to attend. I don't think it's just that my needs have changed with regard to what I want to talk about, though they undoubtedly have. BiCon has a lot less political/activist/theory workshops than it used to. 10 years ago there were plenty; it was already declining by 1995 (despite my efforts that year).

I was talking about this to a friend this lunchtime (who hasn't been to BiCon for even longer than me) and he suggested that the format of BiCon no longer fits very well. Being organised around workshops is appropriate for a theory/activist centric event, much less so for an event where many people seem to go for the socials. Maybe the whole format should change if the main thing people want is dressing up, chatting up and partying.

[memevector.livejournal.com]

if the main thing people want is dressing up, chatting up and partying.

Oh I think people do want workshops. It's just that the workshops they want aren't necessarily the ones I would want nowadays. E.g. there are people every year who want an intro to polyamory or a beginners' BDSM workshop, or one on coming out as bi or discussing biphobia. And for me it's not that those aren't interesting subjects, it's more that there are basic things that have to be covered for the beginners every time, and those don't change much. I have wanted, and been to, workshops like that in past years, and nowadays I can pretty much guess what would be covered in them and I don't feel the need to cover that ground again. But lots of people at BiCon are in the relatively early stages of exploring bisexuality/bdsm/poly, and lots of them don't have a strong bi community at home and so BiCon is their big chance in the year to ever talk about that kind of thing.

Also I don't think the politics has disappeared, though obviously I wasn't around to experience in comparison the earlier time of which you speak. I did go to an explicitly political workshop as well this year actually - it was on bi activism in unions and political parties. And last year I went to one on the possibility of setting up a new bi phone line (although it didn't lead to the phone line actually starting - see my article at the time (http://www.material.demon.co.uk/2004/biphonelinethoughts.htm)).

Mind you in a way I would say the experiential-discussion workshops are political in themselves - I mean that creating the space to talk about those things is a political act. But I know what you mean, they're not directly activist in the same way.

I'm curious - if you did see a timetable that was juicy enough to attract you back, what would have to be in it?

[mistdog.livejournal.com]

If I knew exactly what workshops I wanted to go to, I'd offer to run one of them - I want to see workshops that surprise and challenge me. Stuff about the bi communities, what we want and how to achieve it, perhaps. Gender politics and feminism for men. How to be a thirtysomething bisexual without being invisible. Sexuality in the workplace; activism in trade unions; bisexuality and the law. How to avoid BiCon being organised by cliques time after time. Bisexuality and race (the UK bi communities are overwhelmingly white). Bisexual networking (academics are good at this, perhaps there's scope for skills transfer). Bisexuality in history and around the world. Whether queer politics has had its heyday and if so what we can do about it.

[mankylarry.livejournal.com]

I know what you mean, however there seems to have been a partial resurgence over the last two years, Last years BiCon had sessions on the Law, which was quite interesting, as well as the seeds of three wishes which started the activist gatherings the third will take place this November, also I ran the session "W(h)ither Bisexuality", a theoretical look at the UK Bi community, and it's political history, ebbs and flows, and potential future directions for activism. Also last year was the kick start of the BI-BLIO academic group which is tarting to flourish, we are in the process of organising a day school, and had a successful double session this year at BiCon. Also there were sessions on Bisexuals and Trade Unions this year as well as other semi academic type sessions on notions of safe spaces, as well as the start of the BI Archive and history project, so all in all I think things are slowly looking up for those of us who are into these type of things. If you want a copy of the W(h)ither Bisexuality notes, or want more info about the acativist weekend and where it's discussed, and also BI-BLIO and the Archive group email me at LaurenceBrewer - at - hotmail - dot - com

Laurence

[barakta]

Being organised around workshops is appropriate for a theory/activist centric event, much less so for an event where many people seem to go for the socials. Maybe the whole format should change if the main thing people want is dressing up, chatting up and partying.

Interesting point, and one I think a number of people who have been around far longer than I have would agree with.

I am not actually sure what would be a better option in terms of workshops as I think the provide a structure for those who want it, and if you don't want to go to them you don't have to. This year's BiCon had two social events each night as well as the usual ad hoc gatherings at other times.

The formats which seem to be coming up as popular and desirable are the keeping BiCon as a 2-5 day event once a year while having a handful of smaller events which are a lot cheaper and less stressful perhaps than a Full On BiCon.

This year the Biblio group has got going a bit more visibly with a group of academics trying to make more of the theory and research options within the bi community. The difficulty seems to be finding people offering to run activist/theory/political workshops as they are seen to require someone who is confident in their subject. I know that many of the biblio folk were very nervous of other people's reactions to their contributions.

I don't think I know you to talk to, but I recognise your name from soc.bi and other sources around the web. I find what you say interesting as I am a relative newcomer and am interested in ways we could make BiCon appealing to both the old-timers and the newbies as it were.

Natalya

Other things

[snagglepat.livejournal.com]

BiCon has a lot less political/activist/theory workshops than it used to. 10 years ago there were plenty; it was already declining by 1995.

I've only been involved in the Bi Community since 2000 so can't comment on this in relation to how it was before then, but I do agree that the majority of Bicon attendees appear to be interested in the social aspects more than the political/activist/theory ones. I don't think this is a good or bad thing, but in the last year or so there has been movement in other areas for the more political/activist/theory minded of us. So far this year there have been two smaller bi activist seminars, a two day meet in January in Milton Keynes and a one day event in Birmingham in April, and there'll probably be one more in about November time, venue tbc. One of the things I'd have liked to have done this year at Bicon if I wasn't busy organising it would be to have a session summarising the work that has been done in those gatherings and encourage other interested people to attend future ones. There have been write ups of them and advertising for them in BCN though.

The Bi-Blio group is the most visible outcome so far from these events, but there are other things going on such as moves towards developing a slightly more formal/organised network of local groups and representatives in the Bi Community and the possibility of providing training in Bi-phobia and bi visibility for L/G groups. Some of these things are still pretty embryonic at this stage but the activist conferences are continuing, so we shall see what comes of them in the future.

The yahoo group is 'uk-bi-activism' if you hadn't come across it already.

Re: Other things

[mistdog.livejournal.com]

I hadn't come across the yahoo group, thanks. Nor did I know there had been any events other than BiCon. So is BCN still going? They long ago ceased to send me copies, and their website hasn't been updated for a year and a half - I assumed they'd folded.

Re: Other things

[davidmcn.livejournal.com]

Yep, still going strong, now at http://www.bicommunitynews.co.uk

[mistdog.livejournal.com]

BiCon must be appealing to some old-timers because at the last couple I went to, the average age looked to be way, way up on 10 years ago and there were plenty of people I knew who'd been going as long as me. Some of them are into the fetish dressing-up side of BiCon which didn't exist back then, maybe that's it.

But to appeal to me, there would need to be more than just one workshop for 'old timers' like at one con I went to. There would need to be plenty of meaty intellectual stuff. There would need to be non-dressing-up-non-disco activities in the evenings. Perhaps something for people to do together with their long term partners. The accommodation would not be divided into flats with their own kitchens where cliques form. (But the heating would be turned on and the canteen would be open for breakfast for at least an hour and a half.) And there would be no caballistic secret signals like dots on badges.

[mankylarry.livejournal.com]

"BiCon has a lot less political/activist/theory workshops than it used to. 10 years ago there were plenty; it was already declining by 1995."

At one point, I felt very much the same, but came to the conclusion that that all part of the ebbs and flows of people into and out of BiCon that makes the thing in itself changing and organic, and have accepted that for what it is, rather than getting frustrated by it. Also it should be note dthat Queer politics per se has had it's heyday, and a general emphasis has shifted generally.

The history project that Kay's getting involved with is pretty interesting, I'd be very much interested in using textual analysis to map the changes in BiCon just simply looking at the workshop schedules, titles and texts over a period of time, you can simply map on the surface the shifting patterns of BiCon over time.

However that's not the only story, there is the organisational/structural element in terms of programme planning, by the programme bod, that can very much influence the shape and variety of the programme at BiCon.

When I was involved in the programming in 2000, I used a model based upon the IBC5 at Boston, which used basic programme tracks to try and have a varied programme, which had something for nearly everyone. Where certain tracks were a bit thin on the ground, I persoanlly contacted people and asked them if they would run a workshop on a particular theme, or area, so that the programme looked a bit more balanced. This is one way of doing it, also there has been discussion in the past about using the different days for different areas, so all the theory and academic sessions are held on one day, which means that those who are interested can attend for one day, while they aren't obliged to attend the days that hold no interest for them.

I wasn't too sure if I'd be at BiCon this year, so I didn't offer to run any sessions. In the past I've run sessiosn either academic type sessions or political/activist sessions, simply becasue I felt that if I didn't then there wouldn't be any of these type of sessions in the programme that year. It's nice to think that over the last two years that new people are getting involved and offering to trun these type of sessions, and it definately feels like there is the seeds of a renewal in activism/theroy although it's still early days.

One of the problems about BiCon is that it's on for one weekend a year, for things treally to flourish, they need to flourish outside of BiCon, to really take route, the activist weekends as well as the academic group BI-BLIO are doing just this, organising it's main business outside of BiCon, but feeding back to BiCon as well. Lets hope this forsight continues with other projects and plans.

Laurence

[mistdog.livejournal.com]

Don't worry, I'm not frustrated, and I have accepted it for what it is. What it is is just no longer what I want. That's fine, I can just not go, and the thought that not going for the last 2 years has saved me well over £500 helps too.

The programme bod in a large, well organised team with two years to plan, plenty of contacts and good historical information passed on from previous years can influence the programme at BiCon, I'll agree. (When I designed the programme for BiCon 13, I was also dealing with the venue, accommodation, budget and correspondance so I didn't have a lot of time to shape it!). But even so only to a degree. You can't make people run workshops on things they're not interested in, and you can't get the people who might run the right workshops to even come to BiCon if they came last year and didn't find enough to interest them.

[davidmcn.livejournal.com]

[now with unmangled hyperlink]
to your comments about the guidelines debate, and the group photo. In fact, the group photo was scheduled in the provisional timetable for Sunday morning (perhaps an ambitious time of day for bisexuals), but it didn't appear in the programme, and on the weekend there was no announcement about when it would be. I had to leave the closing plenary early (had already arranged transport based on the provisional end time of 2.15 - again, no announcement they had changed this) so missed the photo and most of the plenary.

Sorting out registration also needs to be a priority for BiCon organisers - registration had shut by 10pm on Thursday (not much use if you were travelling after work in Glasgow or London - I remember in 2000 they were open until well past 11pm), and wasn't open before the first Friday workshops. Friends of mine had already paid for day registration on Saturday, but again nobody could register them until about 10:20 - by which time none of the workshops in the first slot were admitting latecomers. And nobody suggested to them they just walk in and register later. I don't know if it was just an unexpected shortage of people to do it or what.

[topbit.livejournal.com]

You had a bath in your flat?

That, and all the good discussions. It would be very useful, I think, to link to this from the 'Collected Wisdom' site.