The KFA Boston Business Email

[Heliotrope]

Hey All:
Here is the business e-mail Mike promised. The business, at the
moment, basically boils down to the fact that, although Trish has been
amazing and gone completely beyond the call of duty, it looks like
UMass is backing out as a venue. Our understanding is that there were
some administrative changes and the new guys are no longer so sure
about hosting the event. Which means that at T-8 days, we have some
decision making to do.

The folks who were at the social (and suddenly somewhat planning
oriented) meeting put their heads together to see if they could think
of other places we could get to put on the event in such short order.
Possibilities are:

Emerson
MIT (in various guises)
bostonglass.org
Some possible commercial venues

And if worst comes to absolute worst, we can either:
Postpone the event or
Hold it outside in a park.

There are obvious disadvantages to alot of these plans, so the most
important goal of this email is a plea for help: If you know of
anyplace in the Boston Area that might be able to host the event, on
short notice, please speak up and contact them ASAP! Otherwise, please
weigh in with your thoughts on whether we should continue as planned,
come hell, or high water or a rainy day in the park, or whether we
should step back and set a later date for the event.

And if you work a freelance schedule, or aren't working right now, or
you're a student and classes are just starting up and you've still got
free time: if we're going to get a new venue, phone calls made
tomorrow could make or break us, so those of you with leeway or
without a 9-5, this could be your shining hour!

Thanks everybody!
Still hoping to see you the 12th,
Emma

[maymay]

I updated the KinkForAll Boston page to reflect this change. It would
be helpful at this late stage in the game to get the word out about
the event's needs through as many channels as possible. I would
suggest that whoever currently has access to the Boston twitter stream—
heliotrope and/or Mike AFAIK—should tweet about this ASAP.

It would also be beneficial if Trish or whoever else has details about
what *exactly* happened and also *why* UMass Boston is pulling out
could share that information in writing so that it, too, can be
disseminated, blogged, etc. (I'm sure that would make a great blog
post regardless, too.)

On Sep 3, 2009, at 9:25 PM, Heliotrope wrote:

> bostonglass.org

Minor note, it seems that www.bostonglass.or is the correct address
here (the no-www version doesn't work).

Good luck, and I will do what I can to help.

-maymay
Blog: http://maybemaimed.com
Community: http://KinkForAll.org
Volunteering: http://ConversioVirium.org/author/maymay

[Trish Kitten]

On Fri, Sep 4, 2009 at 12:25 AM, Heliotrope <ebg...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Hey All:
> Here is the business e-mail Mike promised. The business, at the
> moment, basically boils down to the fact that, although Trish has been
> amazing and gone completely beyond the call of duty, it looks like
> UMass is backing out as a venue. Our understanding is that there were
> some administrative changes and the new guys are no longer so sure
> about hosting the event. Which means that at T-8 days, we have some
> decision making to do.

As of this morning, we have a definite no from UMB. I'm very sad that
this has happened.

Trish

[maymay]

On Sep 4, 2009, at 5:23 AM, Trish Kitten wrote:

> As of this morning, we have a definite no from UMB. I'm very sad that
> this has happened.
>
> Trish

Trish, can you elaborate on the situation any? From our point of view,
it seemed that the venue was solid, then confirmed, and then suddenly
vanished.

Thanks,

[Trish Kitten]

On Fri, Sep 4, 2009 at 8:19 AM, maymay <bitethea...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> I updated the KinkForAll Boston page to reflect this change. It would
> be helpful at this late stage in the game to get the word out about
> the event's needs through as many channels as possible. I would
> suggest that whoever currently has access to the Boston twitter stream—
> heliotrope and/or Mike AFAIK—should tweet about this ASAP.
>
> It would also be beneficial if Trish or whoever else has details about
> what *exactly* happened and also *why* UMass Boston is pulling out
> could share that information in writing so that it, too, can be
> disseminated, blogged, etc. (I'm sure that would make a great blog
> post regardless, too.)

I would prefer to avoid publicizing it too much because I do not want
to be dragged into a political firestorm while I am trying to get my
degree. If I had a clear and concise explanation of what it was, I
would say "it was X," but it involved a bunch of interpersonal
politics that I am an outsider to, and don't feel comfortable
spreading around the Internet, especially pseudonymously.

Thanks,

Trish.

[Trish Kitten]

On Fri, Sep 4, 2009 at 8:27 AM, maymay <bitethea...@gmail.com> wrote:
> On Sep 4, 2009, at 5:23 AM, Trish Kitten wrote:
>
>> As of this morning, we have a definite no from UMB. I'm very sad that
>> this has happened.
>>
>> Trish
>
> Trish, can you elaborate on the situation any? From our point of view,
> it seemed that the venue was solid, then confirmed, and then suddenly
> vanished.

There was a regime change in administration/coordination over the
summer, and the commitments to give space to the old regime were not
honored by the new regime. I spent a bunch of time arguing with them
over this but I get the impression they had already made their
decision before they told me about this yesterday. I am sorry that
there was not more that I could do.

Trish.

[maymay]

That's unfortunate. I'd consider something like this a pretty stellar
opportunity to put a spotlight on the new UMass Boston
administration's stance on important issues like sexual education.
Currently, it looks pretty bad.

Nevertheless, your desire to be vague is…understandable. Thanks for
your efforts so far. I hope something else can be done. I'll be trying
to come up with something.

Cheers,

[Trish Kitten]

On Fri, Sep 4, 2009 at 8:57 AM, maymay <bitethea...@gmail.com> wrote:
> On Sep 4, 2009, at 5:29 AM, Trish Kitten wrote:
>> On Fri, Sep 4, 2009 at 8:19 AM, maymay <bitethea...@gmail.com>
>> wrote:
>>> It would also be beneficial if Trish or whoever else has details
>>> about
>>> what *exactly* happened and also *why* UMass Boston is pulling out
>>> could share that information in writing so that it, too, can be
>>> disseminated, blogged, etc. (I'm sure that would make a great blog
>>> post regardless, too.)
>>
>> I would prefer to avoid publicizing it too much because I do not want
>> to be dragged into a political firestorm while I am trying to get my
>> degree. If I had a clear and concise explanation of what it was, I
>> would say "it was X," but it involved a bunch of interpersonal
>> politics that I am an outsider to, and don't feel comfortable
>> spreading around the Internet, especially pseudonymously.
>

> That's unfortunate. I'd consider something like this a pretty stellar
> opportunity to put a spotlight on the new UMass Boston
> administration's stance on important issues like sexual education.
> Currently, it looks pretty bad.

It would be, if that is what were going on. It's actually less about
sexual education --- UMB isn't perfect but they have a good record and
good people, or I wouldn't have pushed to have the event there --- and
more about things like "person X's feelings toward person Y" or
"different beliefs about models of authority and event planning."
These things are much harder to put a spotlight on, and while I think
doing so could be valuable, I don't think it's KFA's, or your, place
to do this. I understand that it makes them look bad and that's
something they (and I, as a student and organizer there) have to deal
with. But, honestly: UMB's internal politics are not the fight of
anyone here except for UMB students, and if you try to make them your
fight, you will come off badly and possibly hurt our chances to
improve things at UMB. KFA Boston hosting is our fight, but we have
lost that fight, and need to move on with planning an event and
looking for locations. I'm going to continue to be active at UMB,
trying to resolve these things in the long term.

I need to get to work, so this will be my last on this, at least for today.

Thank you,

Trish

[maymay]

On Sep 4, 2009, at 6:15 AM, Trish Kitten wrote:

> we have lost that fight, and need to move on with planning an event
> and
> looking for locations.

Agreed.

I sourced a suggestion[0] on Twitter this morning[1], and sent it
through just now since it came to me directly instead of here.

-maymay
Blog: http://maybemaimed.com
Community: http://KinkForAll.org
Volunteering: http://ConversioVirium.org/author/maymay

EXTERNAL REFERENCES:

[0] http://groups.google.com/group/kinkforall/browse_thread/thread/5b8924bfdbdf96d3
[1] https://twitter.com/maymaym

[bostonpup]

From the discussion last night, it also sounds like UMass Boston also has not 100% ruled out us doing something if we start the process over with them and work toward a different date.  I'm hoping for a KFA Boston 2, and so that's one reason why I think we need to be careful not to take the rejection personally, not matter how disruptive is and no matter how offensive in might feel, no?

 

UMass Boston could be great future space, it could also be fertile ground for a KFA-like event run by students under a different organizational model.  I just don't see any benefit to burning bridges.  The goodwill that we might get from some sources by making a campaign out of this could easily be overwhelmed when other potential venues become wary of dealing us.  We want (and deserve) a good reputation in the sexuality community and that means taking the higher road and being gracious even when its hard.

 

Trish -- thank you SO much for fighting for us, and I'm sorry you got thrown in the middle of an in-going/out-going administrative dispute, and I hope you didn't have to sacrifice too much personal capital in the process. 
 

On Fri, Sep 4, 2009 at 8:57 AM, maymay <bitethea...@gmail.com> wrote:

[Sara Eileen]

Seconded. Hopefully we can continue to work with the new administration in a positive and gracious manner, especially if, as Trish describes, they're open to the kind of event we're looking to do.

Trish, let me add my thank you to Boston Pup's, here - it was fantastic of you to source this for everyone, and really unfortunate that it fell through. Hopefully we'll come up with something, and be able to come back to UMB for the second KFA Boston.

Cheers,
Sara Eileen

[Syd]

I'm an Emerson student, and so while I kind of doubt that they would
be thrilled with hosting such a huge event last notice, I'll make some
phone calls today and see if I can convince Emerson to let us use
their Center for Student Life for KFABOS. It would really be a good
venue for it, lots of rooms, some big ones. Anyway, what information
should I know to tell Emerson? I'll look at the KFABOS page to see
how many people we estimate are coming, but is there anything else I
should know? Please, don't get your hopes up, but I'll call and see
what they say. I'll email this to kinkf...@googlegroups.com, too,
just in case it reaches someone faster.

Best,
Syd

[Bitsy]

I'm (just recently) a BU student, and I can try to talk to people at BU, and see what the feeling is.  I stoped by student activities today, but, predictably, they weren't in.  I'll try talking to people on Tuesday.

Also, most of the class rooms aren't lock on the weekend (so people can study in them), so there is always that...  I understand it is not desirable, however.

Bitsy

---

From: Syd <syds...@gmail.com>
To: KinkForAll <kinkf...@googlegroups.com>
Sent: Friday, September 4, 2009 11:29:20 AM
Subject: Re: KinkForAll Boston is now venue-less; needs help ASAP (was Re: [KinkForAll] The KFA Boston Business Email)

[9]

I'm a UMASS Boston grad student and if you need any help at all with
student representation to educate the university and petition for them
to change their mind I am more than willing to do so. I could also
probably get a faculty member or two to step forward as well. Let me
know if I can help. - 9

[Heliotrope]

Hey Bitsy, 

Thanks for checking for us! BU would be a great location, if you think you can swing it. I'm not sure whether open classrooms on weekends would work - the event stands to be at least 30 people, likely more, so I think we might make a bit of a ruckus, but again, whatever works. 

Let us know what you find out tomorrow! 

Best,

Emma

[maymay]

On Sep 7, 2009, at 10:51 AM, 9 wrote:

> I'm a UMASS Boston grad student and if you need any help at all with
> student representation to educate the university and petition for them
> to change their mind I am more than willing to do so. I could also
> probably get a faculty member or two to step forward as well. Let me
> know if I can help. - 9

9, thanks so much for offering to help us with this. I'm going to
suggest that you get in touch with Trish as soon as possible, as she's
our leading contact with UMass Boston; I'll send this over to her
privately myself to make sure she gets it ASAP as well.

I think your support on this with us would be extremely helpful and I
think I can safely speak for everyone when I say that we are extremely
happy to have you as part of our group.

Thanks,

[9]

So it looks like UMASS-Boston might be on for this Saturday. I have
been working with the president of the Family Therapy Club and they
might be willing to be our sponsors and reserve the rooms. It needs to
be put before the club to make sure no one has a problem with it, but
it looks good. I talked with Trish and she told me write this up to
share some tentative good news. I might not know until tomorrow night
or maybe later, but I will keep everyone posted. I know my classmates
and I think they will support the idea and there are still rooms
available as of end of business today for Saturday. Hope to report
back soon with a solid yes. : )
--
9

[maymay]

On Sep 8, 2009, at 9:29 PM, 9 wrote:

> So it looks like UMASS-Boston might be on for this Saturday. I have
> been working with the president of the Family Therapy Club and they
> might be willing to be our sponsors and reserve the rooms. It needs to
> be put before the club to make sure no one has a problem with it, but
> it looks good. I talked with Trish and she told me write this up to
> share some tentative good news. I might not know until tomorrow night
> or maybe later, but I will keep everyone posted. I know my classmates
> and I think they will support the idea and there are still rooms
> available as of end of business today for Saturday. Hope to report
> back soon with a solid yes. : )
> --
> 9

That's really wonderful news, 9. :)

In light of this, I'd like to suggest that Wednesday at 8PM *not* be a
cut-off point for discovering the possibility of a new or rejuvenated
venue. It seems like, as the activity on this list and the emergence
of all this newfound support has shown, there are suddenly a lot more
people who are aware of KinkForAll Boston as an event and are watching
what happens. To that end, why don't we capitalize on the extra
publicity and the diversity that's emerged from it and keep pushing
for a Saturday, September 12th event even if we don't get a final go-
ahead by Wednesday at 8PM.

Cheers,

[9]

Votes are coming in and things look good, but voting won't be over
till midnight tomorrow so I hope we are willing to move the cutoff
time till at least then. - 9

[bostonpup]

This sounds great, thanks 9 for making such an effort to resurrecting the UMass space!

I'm not sure where the "8 pm" cut off time that was mentioned comes from, but I think it pretty clear that if we've got a strong lead on a space we keep the flame burning.  Please keep us posted and let us know if there's anything the community can do to help!

[maymay]

On Sep 8, 2009, at 11:32 PM, bostonpup wrote:

> I'm not sure where the "8 pm" cut off time that was mentioned comes
> from

Mike, you suggested "Wednesday" early evening as a cut off time here:

http://groups.google.com/group/kinkforall/browse_thread/thread/20bcd4bd50f11398#msg_e885bf210b0b6422

and then Iron Rose suggested that the cut off be specifically 8 PM here:

http://groups.google.com/group/kinkforall/browse_thread/thread/20bcd4bd50f11398#msg_5e593a1dcbb8e52a

I'm glad we all seem to agree that a cut off, now that we have so many
options, seems like an premature decision.

[Mz. Manduley]

Okay, so update--we have 3 rooms confirmed at Brown, all accessible
and disabled-person-friendly with a max capacity of 90 people each.
I'm pretty sure two are classrooms with movable chairs/desks and one
is an auditorium with seats that can't be moved. This is from
10AM-6PM. :) Please keep us updated as far as venues, because if I
have to cancel, I have to do so 48 hours in advance or get shanked,
lol.

On Sep 9, 12:37 am, maymay <bitetheappleb...@gmail.com> wrote:
> On Sep 8, 2009, at 11:32 PM, bostonpup wrote:
>
> > I'm not sure where the "8 pm" cut off time that was mentioned comes  
> > from
>
> Mike, you suggested "Wednesday" early evening as a cut off time here:
>

> http://groups.google.com/group/kinkforall/browse_thread/thread/20bcd4...

>
> and then Iron Rose suggested that the cut off be specifically 8 PM here:
>

> http://groups.google.com/group/kinkforall/browse_thread/thread/20bcd4...

[bostonpup]

Great news!  It sounds like we hear from UMass Boston by midnight tonight.  Is tomorrow morning still in the danger-of-being-shanked zone, or is that enough time to cancel?

 

This is wonderful!

[maymay]

On Sep 9, 12:54 pm, bostonpup <stray...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Great news!
> […]
> This is wonderful!

Seconded! It's fantastic! I've updated the KinkForAll Boston[0] page
to reflect this latest information and have retweeted[1] KFABos's
update[2] on the situation as well.

I'm going to put out an update on the Facebook event, as well. What
else can we do to make sure people are aware that we'll have
*something* going on this Saturday?

Cheers,
-maymay
Blog: http://maybemaimed.com
Community: http://KinkForAll.org
Volunteering: http://ConversioVirium.org/author/maymay

EXTERNAL REFERENCES:

[0] http://kinkforall.pbworks.com/KinkForAllBoston
[1] http://identi.ca/notice/9725242
[2] http://twitter.com/KFABos/statuses/3867267345

[Mz. Manduley]

Yeah, tomorrow morning as a deadline to tell me about Brown's venue
should work out :)

Life's kinda crazy right now and staying up to date with who has
written what and when is a little hard. ^_^ So, basically, someone let
me know if I should keep it or cancel. Also, if we're doing it here, I
have to start setting the promo gears in full motion, so again, the
sooner I know, the better. I'll mention it just in case at our Queer
Alliance Welcome Dinner tonight. :)

[Bitsy]

I haven't had time to read through this thread, but I just talked to the Women's Resorce Center at Boston U, and they would be very happy to host KinkForAll there on Sat., if people still want it.

Let me know!

Bitsy

---

From: Mz. Manduley <supersoni...@gmail.com>
To: KinkForAll <kinkf...@googlegroups.com>
Sent: Wednesday, September 9, 2009 6:31:13 PM
Subject: [KinkForAll] Re: KFA Boston HAS a venue: we're ON for this Saturday (was Re: The KFA Boston Business Email)

[iron rose]

Awesome!

The current status:

* Brown University has agreed to host but needs to know by tomorrow morning whether to cancel the reservation or not. (Thank you, Mz. Manduley!)
* UMass is waiting on a vote which will end at midnight tonight. (Thank you, 9!)

I'm thinking if there is a definite space at BU at this point, we should just go with it!  The earlier we nail down a location the better, since then we can let people know sooner rather than later.  What do other people think?

-ironrose

[bostonpup]

Bitsy, this is amazing!  They're confirmed available for Saturday?  Do you have an idea of what the space is like?  (Is this an organization at BU, or does it have its own space?)

 

I think if we can get the space we're looking for (2 to 4 rooms, at least one room big enough for 50 or so people, lots of chairs in each room) and if this is definite, then we should definitely move ahead on this, unless UMass Boston comes through very soon.

On Wed, Sep 9, 2009 at 7:53 PM, Bitsy <bit...@gmail.com> wrote:

[Heliotrope]

Hey All: 

It looks like due to everybody's fantastic work (thanks especially to Bitsy, Mz. Manduley and 9), we suddenly have more possible venues than we know what do with - we can only hold the event in one possible place. 

Here's how I think we should work this: 

If UMass comes through after all, we should definitely keep it there. That provides, in the end, the least confusion, and all of our current flyers will still be applicable. 

If UMass does not come through, I'm strongly in favor of keeping the event in Boston, and therefore going with the BU Women's Resource Center, PROVIDED that their facilities will be adequate. 

Bitsy: Do you happen to know how many rooms they could provide us? Even if it's just as many as two big enough for 20 people each, and especially if they will have internet as well, I am ALL in favor of this as our first back-up plan. If however, there is only one room available, or three rooms that are very small, then I think we should go with Brown, since we are guaranteed three more than adequate rooms. 

In recap, my order of preference would be 1) UMass, 2) BU (assuming it can host us comfortably), 3) Brown, should BU's facilities be too limited. 

Again, I am BLOWN AWAY by how the amazing effort that has come forth in the past week. You guys are amazing, amazing, amazing. Thanks for helping and for putting yourselves out there for us -- it inspires me to keep working hard. We all inspire each other, and that's how great events are made. 

Best of the best,

Emma

[Bitsy]

The Women's Resource Centrer has its own space, they have one large room, big enough for at least 35 (I'm really bad at juging space), as well as another smaller room (big enough for 15) and a few 5-ish people rooms.  It is also near a few rooms it doesn't control, but are public.  Internet can likely be arranged.

My walking in there was completely serendipitous, so, I'm really happy to have been in the space now.

Bitsy

---

From: Heliotrope <helio...@followsthesun.com>
To: kinkf...@googlegroups.com
Sent: Wednesday, September 9, 2009 8:04:22 PM
Subject: [KinkForAll] Re: At Boston University?

[Bitsy]

The Women's Resource Centrer has its own space, they have one large room, big enough for at least 35 (I'm really bad at juging space), as well as another smaller room (big enough for 15) and a few 5-ish people rooms.  It is also near a few rooms it doesn't control, but are public.  Internet can likely be arranged.

My walking in there was completely serendipitous, so, I'm really happy to have been in the space now.

Bitsy

---

From: Heliotrope <helio...@followsthesun.com>
To: kinkf...@googlegroups.com
Sent: Wednesday, September 9, 2009 8:04:22 PM
Subject: [KinkForAll] Re: At Boston University?