[Nolose-announce] Springtime for NOLOSE!

[nolose-announce at nolose.org]

Dear NOLOSE Community:

Warm late-spring greetings to everyone! We now have a big, blossoming NOLOSE
Board of eleven members and wanted to take this chance to check-in, make
some announcements, and share some input and ideas.

A few announcements:

   - We’re thrilled to announce that Robin Fradkin will be working as the
   NOLOSE Operations Manager and part of her role will be to help streamline
   our communications and help outline needed structures.
   - Geleni Fontaine will be serving as our new Volunteer Coordinator,
   working on bringing community energy into different projects.
   - Works in progress include a survey about NOLOSE and the conference that
   we hope will continue the great flow of input. We’ll let you know when to
   look for it. We value your feedback!
   - The Board has a working list of several people both from the board
   itself and the larger community interested in working on an Arts and
   Entertainment Committee for the next conference. Let us know if you’re
   interested in joining!
   - The NOLOSE blog is coming soon, with regularly updated information
   about Board, conference, and regional activities.
   - The next NOLOSE conference is scheduled for Spring 2010 and the
   Conference Location Selection Committee is hard at work on the venue.
   They’re already starting to vet ideas and are taking all feedback into
   consideration. Stay tuned!



We’ve received some thoughtful feedback and inquiries about NOLOSE, both as
a conference and an operational entity. In our recent meeting we convened to
discuss this feedback, as well as the feedback provided by post-conference
surveys from 2005-2008. In the interest of openness and transparency, we
wanted to address this feedback as an open letter to the community, in hopes
of opening dialogue and encouraging discussion about the ideas and
associated challenges that have come up as a result of (and prior to) this
feedback.

As a Board we’re very grateful to be part of a community eager to express
opinions, share ideas and resources, and harness energy into action. We know
that at times the avenues of communication between community and Board have
felt too narrow for some, and a general focus of our April meeting was a
concentrated address to that need, keeping in mind the many roles (and
sometimes multiple roles) people have within NOLOSE.

Creating community around an oppressed identity is as challenging as it is
necessary for us all. There is so much we share, yet our experiences and
needs as individuals are often different. This is the scale on which we
weigh all of our decisions. Not just a fat pun – but a real scale for us, as
opposed to the physical one used to marginalize our bodies so often.

We had an energized discussion about the recent feedback and suggestions in
our April in-person meeting. We thank everyone who evaluated the conference
experience in recent years; and several long-time community members not only
for addressing issues and offering suggestions, but also for providing us
with a template of categories to address. Each category is listed below with
a review of related feedback/suggestions, ideas to address them, and further
considerations each presents.

These categories reflect ongoing discussions, not actual decisions that have
been made at this time. (In reviewing each section/category the need for
further discussion in many cases will be self-evident.) We take each of
these concerns seriously and hope to give folks a clear view into our
process in addressing the issues at hand.

*Arts and Entertainment:* Bring more fat artists (both performing and fine
artists) into the conference by prioritizing a budget to that end and
acquiring facilities and quality venues.

*Ideas:* Collaborating with arts-oriented venues offsite from the
conference, and organizing with other groups to produce a larger conference
that might help facilitate this. Get a scooter/wheelchair-accessible bus to
transport people. (There are already people who have volunteered to be part
of an arts/entertainment committee who can work on these issues – see
announcements.)

*Considerations:* Accessibility of outside venues, transportation in terms
of cost and physical accessibility, trans-inclusivity of offsite spaces, and
the safety of getting from point A to point B are all major concerns. Also
people who come alone may not feel comfortable traveling on their own. For
us, accessibility is about considering a wide range of multiple needs and
creating a conference that meets as many as possible. Creating the most
broadly inclusive and accessible experience we can at conference is NOLOSE’s
organizational commitment. We’ll find the best balance we can for folks. We
hope to better address these issues and solicit your feedback and how they
impact you further in our upcoming survey.



*Sexuality and Socializing at Conference:* We all come from different
backgrounds and different needs around socializing and sexuality. As fat
people we often experience otherness in different ways. We often have
histories of being marginalized in queer (and other) communities, often
because we don’t fit the dominant beauty standards, which makes it difficult
to be seen as desirable and express our sexuality with others. The
conference has always been a place where people have been supported in
various ways in celebrating fat sexuality, and some have been able to
express themselves authentically as sexual beings for the first time at the
NOLOSE conference. This support has taken the form of NOLOSE-sponsored
workshops and events, as well as un-endorsed attendee-organized parties held
in private rooms for which advertising is through word-of-mouth.

The NOLOSE Conference can be an intense experience socially, as well. Many
have expressed feeling overwhelmed by all the people and experiences, while
others feel alienated and unable to reach out to make connections. (Some of
us have felt both ways within the same conference experience.) We try to
keep this in mind.

On the issue of sexuality we also have divergent feedback. Many have felt
that that there is too much emphasis on sex and finding sex partners at the
conference, and have expressed feeling alienated and triggered by the amount
of sexual content. Others have felt that sex and sexuality should continue
to be celebrated and supported in more concrete ways through programming,
parties, and special events.

Some of those who would like less sexual emphasis have felt that the amount
of sexual focus they experienced created an atmosphere of cliquishness.
We’ve also received feedback from others who believe that sexually-oriented
events that are better organized, coordinated, and publicized can create
welcoming space for all, and actively challenge the cliquishness of
word-of-mouth advertising. There is a suggestion that NOLOSE find ways to
maneuver around legal liability and sponsor sex parties at the conference.

*Ideas suggested include:* re-instituting name tags, an opening night group
activity with a social focus, a buddy system, a social networking website
set up in advance for registered attendees. Other actions that can address
community and individual needs include providing space outside of workshops
for socializing and relaxing, and soliciting help from people who have
experience organizing liability-safe play parties, if available.

*Considerations:* Meeting divergent and various needs which are often very
personal and individual.

*Workshops focusing on sexuality:* There are variable proposals for these
workshops. We don’t always get proposals and while we try to “fill the
holes” and find people to facilitate, we’re not always able to do so. This
is a work in progress.

*Sex and play parties:* There are specific liability issues that prevent
NOLOSE from sponsoring a play party. Speaking of the party in vague terms
actually increases liability risk. Decisions regarding this specific issue
(as well as the larger subject of sexuality at conference) are not
reflective of particular attitudes or values of members of the Board, but of
the imperative to respond and be accountable to diverse community needs
while protecting the structure of the organization that serves that
community. If you or someone you know has experience putting on
liability-safe events, please let us know and perhaps we can find new ways
of approaching this.



*Organizational structure of conference planning:* Rather than the NOLOSE
Board doing all the work, there could be smaller committees outside the
Board taking care of particular tasks. Benefits could be community
participation and investment in the conference experience, as well as relief
of stress on the Board.

*Ideas:* Identify which tasks the Board can and can’t give up in order to
facilitate organization and conference work. Board committee chairs could
work with members from the community.

*Considerations:* Lack of follow-through from both community members and
Board for various reasons has been an occasional obstacle. Lack of
accountability for non-Board members is also challenging to negotiate.
Working from a nonprofit model is less than ideal and forces us to work
within certain strictures of organization and leadership. Structural
overhaul is important and something that we are working on. Though it will
take time and may not happen easily, we’re confident that it’ll be
worthwhile.



*Financial accessibility of Conference:* Having all meals provided and a
private pool party as well creates difficulty in finding a venue and drives
up cost. Are these necessary? Other conferences are able to bring down
registration costs by avoiding these features. Locations that are
challenging to get to because of limited transportation should not be chosen
for the conference because this drives up cost per individual attendee as
well.

*Ideas:* We acknowledge that there’s tradeoff in what we provide or focus
on. Is it going to be a cheap accessible space, or large and more
cloistered? We can implement a survey to identify what is important to us as
attendees (see announcements), specifically when asked to consider our own
needs and those of others including groups that are underrepresented at
conference. Historically, the pool parties have been reported as priorities
and top draws for conference activities as part of conference feedback. The
pool at the 2008 conference actually didn’t impact conference costs, and as
far as any of us remember NOLOSE has never ruled out a venue solely because
of lack of pool, but this is still an area we can examine to bring down
cost.

*Considerations:* Here, the broader issue of accessibility emerges again.
Not providing food privileges the ability of certain bodies and people to
venture outside of the hotel and get food and at the expense of others. For
those for whom mobility is a concern, getting to and from outside eating
establishments, especially in the short breaks between workshops, could be
challenging to say the least. Here is an example of how these planning
choices can be complex: because downtown city hotels are often cost
prohibitive, many conferences choose airport hotels – and while less
expensive, the food options nearby are often limited. This leaves those
without cars in a pinch. In this case the food options are often mostly of
the fast food variety which may be an issue for individuals with dietary
needs and preferences. This is a broad and tricky area we’ll keep looking
into.



*Board Transparency:* A request was made that Board meeting minutes and
financial reports be made more accessible, specifically online, and that
individual and committee roles be shared with community at large. There is
also concern expressed that there is burn-out on the Board, and a suggestion
that there be a specific person with the role of recruiter of non-Board
volunteers to benefit the organization and further its work, and another
Board person to act as the public voice of NOLOSE.

*Ideas and Discussion:* Transparency is an issue that the Board has been
concerned with for some time, with questions regarding the best steps to
take to move forward. We will create a NOLOSE narrative blog to foster
access to information and build continuity. This will be in addition to the
existing NOLOSE facebook and livejournal. A communications / PR person will
be responsible for regular updates and responses to queries. The blog will
contain meeting minutes, a suggestion box, financial and Board member
information, as well as committee and conference updates.

We’re aware that there has been a perception of Board burn-out, and it’s
true that we’re working hard and sometimes folks get tired. We find that the
nature of the conference particularly is that it’s the one time we’re
together as a larger community, and that this concurs with the Board being
at the apex of its conference work. By the end of each conference individual
Board members are experiencing tiredness just as attendees are getting
energized and excited about new ideas, and sometimes needing to share
criticism as well.
One way we would like to address this is by having a mid-conference feedback
session, perhaps on Saturday, along with a post-conference session. A
post-conference committee could also work on harnessing the volunteer energy
that often surges at the end of the weekend. Other ideas to foster
communication and address concerns at conference include specifying feedback
guidelines for all which would focus on things that are working as well as
things that can work better; and creating mini groups which would go across
roles and have brief caucus times together during the weekend.



This organizational work is ongoing, and the larger work of our mission to
end the oppression of fat people will certainly require the support and
resources of us all. We’re lucky to all belong to a community of people
deeply invested in working towards social justice for all bodies, and we’re
proud to receive and review the considerate critiques, feedback, and
creative ideas offered to us. We welcome additional feedback and will look
forward to discussion and collaboration in regards to the ideas,
considerations, and challenges presented.

With gratitude and support,
The Board of Directors of NOLOSE

PS. Find this letter and more information about NOLOSE online at:

Website: http://www.nolose.org
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/nolose#/group.php?gid=4230769590
Livejournal: http://community.livejournal.com/nolose/
Join our nolose announce email list,
http://nolose.org/mailman/listinfo/nolose-announce_nolose.org
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://nolose.org/pipermail/nolose-announce_nolose.org/attachments/20090603/01601da3/attachment-0001.html>