Posted on by Ian

The design for the bi 'tent' at London's Lesbian and Gay Pride 1994 and 1995 festivals

As mentioned in my post on what lead up to London's Pride event changing its name to 'Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Pride' in 1996, until that happened, the London Bisexual Group used to pay around £100 for a stall in the festival's "marketplace".

In 1993, the minutes of the LBG executive suggest that the group paid for two 2m x 2m stall spaces at the festival in Brockwell Park. At the moment, I cannot if a supplied table was supplied or if we took a pair of folding table ourselves.

In 1994, the cost of what we wanted – again in Brockwell Park – was going to be £150, but this was found from another source..[1]The minutes call it a 'grant', but don't say who it was from. Read more

Notes

Notes
↑1The minutes call it a 'grant', but don't say who it was from.
Posted on by Ian

Bisexuals at Pride in the 1990s

For LGBT History Month in 2011, there was some actual bi-bi-bi content! At the Conway Hall in Central London, three of us gave talks: I can remember Sue George being another participant, but I can't currently remember the third person.

Front of the postcard advertising "20th Century Bi" talk - the title in bi flag colours over a b/w version of a BiCon group photoFront of the postcard advertising "20th Century Bi" talk - the title in bi flag colours over a b/w version of a BiCon group photo

The photo on the front of the flyer / postcard advertising the event is a BiCon group photo..[1]I can't currently remember which year it's from, but it must be 1996 or later – I'm just under the '0' of '20th' with a beard.

Rear of the postcard advertising "20th Century Bi" talk - the detail of where and when etc

.. and on the back, it turns out that the third speaker and I aren't named on the flyer.

Mine was on the bi community's involvement in London's Pride event and this and the following post is recreating and expanding that talk from the photos I scanned for it… Read more

Notes

Notes
↑1I can't currently remember which year it's from, but it must be 1996 or later – I'm just under the '0' of '20th' with a beard.
Posted on by Ian

London Bisexual Phoneline: Dear HEA, please give us some money

By March 1996, the London Bisexual Phoneline needed some money. The diverter box we used had failed and it wasn't cheap to repair or replace.

One way or another, probably through some of us also being members of the Health Education Authority's bisexual advisory group, we arranged that they would give us a second bit of funding.[1]The first had been for the first run of the second version of the HEA's awful 'hands' ad, which paid to temporarily expand the days it ran from two to six.

Because of some budgeting rules within the HEA, this time they could not give it to us for what we actually needed it for, running costs. It had to be capital costs, i.e. buying something you could kick.

Well, if that's what they needed, that's what we would tell them. While I am certain that Clive knew exactly what was actually happening, either from us telling him verbally or him going 'If you want to spend it on A, you have to tell me B so I can pay', this is what he was told via a fax… Read more

Notes

Notes
↑1The first had been for the first run of the second version of the HEA's awful 'hands' ad, which paid to temporarily expand the days it ran from two to six.
Posted on by Ian

London Bisexual Helpline draft monitoring policy – August 1998

In a London Bisexual Helpline meeting at London Lighthouse in 1998, it was decided to formalise assorted policies:

  •   equal ops
  •   complaints
  •   ethics
  •   good practice
  •   monitoring

Each was given to someone different to draft, and I had the last one. I can't remember if it was completely original or adapted from somewhere else. I also can't remember if it was adopted.

Although it gives a date of August 1998, the PageMaker 5 file it was recovered from has a 'last changed' date of 12th September. One of PageMaker's little quirks was that how many copies you wanted to print of a document was saved with the file, so it could simply be that was when enough copies for everyone were printed, rather than any more significant changes… Read more

Posted on by Ian

Tom's guide

[ Originally published by Tom Limoncelli as 'The Ultimate Guide to Bisexual Conferences' at biconf.org. This is a lightly edited version of the last known draft, dated 1st September 2003.

One interesting point of difference between UK and USA bi events is that the latter's access issues points include a 'scent-free policy' – even BiPOL's first national US bi conference in 1990 had that[1]And an earthquake policy, given that it was in San Francisco! – but it's never been seen as an issue that needs addressing in the UK, perhaps because to this nose anyway, no-one at BiCon wears noticeable perfumes. ]

Conferences change the world. In particular, they empower the dis-empowered.

The first conference I went to was the GAAMC (Gay Activist Alliance of Morris County) conference in 1988 or so. It was a one-day affair with dozens of workshops. It was amazing. To be in the same place with 100 other disenfranchised people was so empowering that it was a large part of why I am an activist today. Read more

Notes

Notes
↑1And an earthquake policy, given that it was in San Francisco!
Posted on by Ian

Marcus's 'how to run a BiCon' manifesto

Back in 2005, Marcus Morgan published 'A Manifesto For BiCon Organisers' as a PDF file. As the place it was uploaded to (resources.bi.org) no longer exists, it is now available here.

Since it was written, Marcus has run three BiCons rather than two and several other things have changed. As the file specifically forbids editing it or posting it as web pages, no corrections have been made. The 'excellent article' referenced as being at biconf.org no longer exists there[1]The domain name has been squatted at least twice since 2005 but a copy of the latest version I can find is now here. Read more

Notes

Notes
↑1The domain name has been squatted at least twice since 2005
Posted on by Ian

Ian's guide to running a BiCon (or any other bi event)

Running a BiCon can be hugely rewarding or an utter nightmare. Your chances of wanting to do it again will be improved if you follow a few simple rules. I'd say that they are more what you'd call "guidelines" than actual rules, except that there are already some official Guidelines…

What is a BiCon?

Those Guidelines have something to say about that, but a short version is that it's a community-led, accessible event 'about' bisexuality for bisexual people and their allies. Even if they were all about bisexuality, an event that was a series of expert panels would not be a BiCon, for example. In the UK, it's now usually a three (or more) day event.

In the UK, we tend to call one day events 'BiFest' or 'BiTastic' to make a distinction between the two, but much of the same advice applies. Read more