Hello, big fabulous community!

It's been some time since the NOLOSE Board of Directors has sent out a community update letter, and there are a lot of new exciting things to tell you. First and foremost, we'd like to say a huge "thank you" to Cristy Cardinal, who served on the board in so many capacities for ten years (most recently as president) and stepped down from the board in January. Her contribution to the board and to the fat community has been invaluable, and we know she'll continue to make amazing contributions. Cristy will be attending NOLOSE 2011, so make sure to say hello when you see her!

Also, we'd like to give a big fat "thank you" to Devra Polack for her many years of work on the board. Devra stepped down from the board last fall. As our former website manager and communications go-to guru, she has given a tremendous amount of time, energy, and love to the NOLOSE community.

Three new board members joined us in 2010, and have been hard at work planning and prepping for Fatlandia 2011! Please welcome Abby Weintraub (a writer, overthinker, and lover of pork in all forms living in Oakland, CA) who is now running our website and communications, Galadriel Mozee (a radical gardener, food justice junkie, and diversity trainer from Portland, OR) who will be serving on the fundraising committee as well as being co-president of the board and Rachel (a plus-size designer, non-profit leadership specialist, and renegade pastry chef), who is serving as our fundraising chair and treasurer.

One new change to the board is our recent decision to switch from a single president to a co-presidency. We decided to team an experienced board member with a newer member to support new board member mentorship and big new ideas. Galadriel Mozee and Tara Shuai are currently serving as co-presidents. In the face of financial challenges, we, like everyone, have had to make some hard decisions about NOLOSE projects, commitments and priorities. We want the community to know that continuing to offer financial assistance (FA) and scholarships to the conference is a high priority. We've taken steps to ensure that we'll be able to offer FA to the maximum number of qualifying participants. A couple of those steps are:

• This year, we decided not to do SPAL (Small Projects Across the Land) and instead direct the funds to our FA and scholarship program. We also decided that going forward, SPAL will no longer just be a grant program. In the future, SPAL will primarily consist of small loans, with one small grant available yearly.


• This year, we will develop a fundraising committee led by our fundraising chair, Rachel. This committee will seek to raise big fat funds all year long to support conference FA, scholarships, SPAL, and other NOLOSE events.

We're super excited to return to the Oakland, CA EconoLodge for the second year. This year's keynote speaker will be Wendi O'Neal of Junebug Productions: "The Mission of Junebug Productions is to create and present artwork of the highest quality that encourages and supports African Americans in the Black Belt South who are working to improve the quality of life available to themselves and others who are similarly oppressed and exploited." We're thrilled to be welcoming Wendi!

Last year, you told us how much you loved the pool and the accessibility of the meeting spaces, and we heard you loud and clear! We also heard your suggestions for how to make 2011 even better, so this year, we are working diligently with the hotel and venue regarding their use of scented products. For example, we are providing the hotel with scent-free laundry detergent and baking soda in an effort to reduce the scent of the towels and linens. These will also be available in the public laundry room, so anyone can reduce the scent of their personal items. Contact jen@nolose.org for specifics around what we have worked out, and to help you plan for the best experience possible. Jen will also be coordinating people's room assignments so folks who need the first floor rooms will have an easier time getting them. We're instituting a clearer service animal policy this year as well and will be posting it on the NOLOSE website soon.

If you're interested in volunteering before and/or at the conference, please email volunteer@nolose.org; if you'd like to be a vendor at the conference or advertise in our program, please email zoe@nolose.org.

And we know how you love a bulleted list, so here's one chock full of dates and deadlines you don't want to forget!

• Friday, May 20 — Deadline to register for NOLOSE at the Earlybird rate ($230-$330).


• Sunday August, 28 — Cupcakes and Muffintops: an Oakland CA, clothing and bake sale fundraiser for fat causes including NOLOSE and Big Moves where only the prices are small!

We can't wait to see all your decorated balconies and porches, smiling faces and fancy outfits. We're beside ourselves with excitement over the programming ideas y'all are sending, and we're counting the days 'til we greet you at the gates of Fatlandia!

Big fat love,

The NOLOSE board

(Abby Weintraub, Galadriel Mozee, Geleni Fontaine, Jen Herrington, Joe Libin, Kim Paulus, Rachel K, Sondra Solovay, Tara Shuai, Zoe M-E)