BiCon Manchester - 10 weeks to go
For those not familiar with it, BiCon is the biggest bi gathering in the UK each year, a long weekend of discussions, guest speakers, performance, dancing and making new friends, held in a different city each time.
The 2004 BiCon team are recovering from the chaos of changing venue four months out from the conference. The accessibility audit of the spaces used at the venue of the 2000 Manchester BiCon proved they had not been brought up to scratch despite the refit for the Commonwealth Games in 2002, and so many of the spaces have been changed while keeping to the same campus as was used for 2000.
The daytime programme for the four-day conference now has over thirty sessions confirmed, with an evening programme of DJs, singers and performers. The grand finale will be the Beach Ball (Manchester being an internationally reknowned seaside resort) with Bisexual Pride three-coloured sticks of rock.
There will be another art exhibition / auction for bi community causes, as at the ’96, ’99 and 2000 BiCons. Submissions need to fit in a 10”x7” comic bag (available from the BiCon address on request).
Programme co-ordinator Matt says he is particularly looking for offers to run “welcome to bicon” sessions for both first timer attendees and regulars.
Next Time... It Could Be You
No team has yet stepped forward to run BiCon 2005. Making a BiCon happen is a big, unpaid but rewarding task which can enrich your CV like almost nothing else; media, finance, administration, creative work... It helps to have been to a BiCon or three beforehand so you know what sort of event the people coming are likely to expect, naturally, but there is peer support from past organisers and varous resources online to help with issues such as understanding accessibility needs.
If you’re interested in organising it, do let the 2004 team know
you are considering it - that way things like advertising in the 2004 programme
booklet can be sorted out.