Siggy Posted February 7, 2011 Share Posted February 7, 2011 This has been a year in the making, but I am now announcing my workshop in the Western Regional LGBTQIA College Conference. Title and summary: Asexuals: Who are they, and why should you care?Asexual: someone who does not experience sexual attraction. It's a simple definition, but it overlooks so much. What false assumptions does everyone make about asexuality and human nature? How are asexuals queerer than you thought? How can asexuals and queers help each other, and how can we build a common safe space? I suppose I am mostly just bragging, though I'd like to think that I am inspiring someone else to similar activist efforts. ^_^ It would also be great if anyone here wanted to come. The conference is held at UC Berkeley on March 4-6, 2011. You can register ahead of time. After the conference, I intend to put up an online version of the slides and notes. Link to post Share on other sites
Sennkestra Posted February 7, 2011 Share Posted February 7, 2011 Yay! I will probably be volunteering there so I'll be sure to drop by! Link to post Share on other sites
maum Posted February 7, 2011 Share Posted February 7, 2011 that sounds awesome Link to post Share on other sites
Lord Happy Toast Posted February 8, 2011 Share Posted February 8, 2011 Fantastic news! I won't be able to attend, but please let me know if there's anything I can do to help out. Link to post Share on other sites
michaeld Posted March 1, 2011 Share Posted March 1, 2011 This sounds awesome. Do you have any slides - or even videos/photos from the event? Link to post Share on other sites
Sennkestra Posted March 1, 2011 Share Posted March 1, 2011 This sounds awesome. Do you have any slides - or even videos/photos from the event? The conference isn't actually until this weekend. But I'll be there too, so if I remember to I can try to get some pictures too. Anyway, I'm definitely looking forward to attending! Link to post Share on other sites
kitchenwitch Posted March 1, 2011 Share Posted March 1, 2011 I'll be there, cheering you on!! Link to post Share on other sites
michaeld Posted March 1, 2011 Share Posted March 1, 2011 Drat. Must've forgotten what day it is. *blush* So anyway yeah good luck. I look forward to hearing how it went. Link to post Share on other sites
Ninny Posted March 6, 2011 Share Posted March 6, 2011 Cant wait to hear how this went! Link to post Share on other sites
Sennkestra Posted March 6, 2011 Share Posted March 6, 2011 well, I ended up not getting any pictures.... BUT! It was an amazing workshop. I think it covered pretty much all the bases when it comes to giving an introduction to asexuality. There was also much better attendance and audience participation. I was actually amazed by how many other aces I ran into at the conference. People kept recognizing my ace flag button and it made my day. Also, a lot of the non-ace people I talked to who were at the workshop said they though it was really interesting, and that they had learned a lot. So in all, a great success. Excellent job, Siggy. Link to post Share on other sites
michaeld Posted March 6, 2011 Share Posted March 6, 2011 Sounds brill. Well done Siggy! Link to post Share on other sites
Siggy Posted March 6, 2011 Author Share Posted March 6, 2011 Now that the conference is over, a report: The workshop had about 100 attendees. People seemed very into it. They were asking questions, laughing at my jokes, and actively discussing during the discussion section at the end. Several people also came to talk to me afterwards, and said it was really amazing. One person from UC Merced expressed interest in getting a speaker over there. I also met Maymay, of Maybe Maimed but Never Harmed, a popular kink blog. He was live-tweeting my workshop to about 1700 followers. He suggested that I speak for KinkForAll, which he described as Ted Talks for queers. Afterwards, I was interviewed by David Jay. This will appear on Hot Pieces of Ace soon. The online version will be uploaded soon enough. Link to post Share on other sites
Ninny Posted March 6, 2011 Share Posted March 6, 2011 Oh gosh that's amazing!!! You deserve some serious !! Link to post Share on other sites
Siggy Posted March 7, 2011 Author Share Posted March 7, 2011 Online Edition PPT slides PDF slides Outline My real name is now public, but please do not refer to me by it, so it doesn't come up on Google. Why I’ve put this presentation online Many people asked for the slides, and that is reason enough to put it online. But without me speaking in front of the powerpoint, and without the audience participation, there are probably better educational tools out there. No, the primary reason to put this presentation online is for other asexual activists. I hope that this inspires others to give presentations or workshops, and gives them ideas on how to do it. In particular, pay attention to the direction of my presentation. It covers Asexuality basics, yes, but rather than getting bogged down in further details, it moves on to how asexuals interact with society and the LGBTQ community in particular. I wished to focus on the elephant in the room. There is a reason that the LGBTQ community needs Asexuality 101, and it’s not because they simply haven’t seen my workshop yet. It’s because asexuals do not participate in the larger queer community, do not feel comfortable there, or are made invisible. This is a problem that can be solved, and many activist-minded queers would be happy to help if only they knew what the deal was. As asexuals become more visible in the larger queer community, people will become better at educating themselves, and asexuality 101 will be needed less and less. Link to post Share on other sites
ily Posted March 7, 2011 Share Posted March 7, 2011 He was live-tweeting my workshop to about 1700 followers. He suggested that I speak for KinkForAll, which he described as Ted Talks for queers. Wow, those tweets are incredibly detailed! I was going to be on MayMay's podcast once but I had too many technical difficulties; you should do it! :) Anyway, your presentation looks awesome. Your "direction"/not getting bogged down in details seems very successful. I especially liked the discussion questions at the end, with scenarios for LGBT groups. :cake: :vis: :vis: Link to post Share on other sites
Siggy Posted April 20, 2011 Author Share Posted April 20, 2011 A small announcement: I will be making this same presentation at QACon, a Queer and Asian conference at the end of this month. I'm not really sure how big the conference is, but it's probably smaller than Western Regional. I plan to adjust the workshop slightly to talk about what happens when asexuality intersects with other identities (though not necessarily Asian identities). The adjusted version will not appear online, since I already have the previous version up. Link to post Share on other sites
Sennkestra Posted April 20, 2011 Share Posted April 20, 2011 A small announcement: I will be making this same presentation at QACon, a Queer and Asian conference at the end of this month. I'm not really sure how big the conference is, but it's probably smaller than Western Regional. So you are presenting at QACon! props to you. I'll be volunteering or at least wandering around for the whole convention, so let me know if you want any help with anything. I think it's currently looking to be about 200-300 people, maybe a little more, so I'd guess it's about a fourth the size of western regional. Also, if any other aces would like to attend, the whole conference is FREE. And you don't have to be queer or asian or a student to attend. Everyone is welcome. I'm in the club that's putting on the whole conference and I promise you, it will be awesome. /end blatant self-promotion Link to post Share on other sites
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