memevector (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
memevector) wrote2004-09-04 01:06 am
memevector) wrote2004-09-04 01:06 am
BiCon 2004 retrospective
Good things about this year's BiCon, from my perspective:
Big thanks to the organising team, especially![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
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 andartremis 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 :-) )
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.
- 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 ofciphergoth 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.
no subject
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
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
Re: Other things
no subject
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.