Date: Wed, 9 Jul 1997 17:33:28 -0500 From: David Barnett Subject: '98 Midwest Bisexual Lesbian Gay Transgender College Conference: February in Chicago Please forward this message to anyone you think might be interested. Thanks. ******************************************************************************* "Across the Fruited Plain" -- The 1998 Midwest Bisexual Lesbian Gay Transgender College Conference The University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) is proud to host this conference on our campus February 20 to 22, 1998. We are pleased to announce we have booked Urvashi Vaid, Leslie Feinberg, and Michelangelo Signorile as our three keynote speakers and singer-songwriter Melissa Ferrick as one of our entertainers. The conference will also feature dozens of workshops, panels, and programs, two dances, a vendor fair, and more. Reserve these dates now! Check out our web site for the most current information: http://www.uic.edu/depts/quic/mblgtcc The conference is cosponsored by PRIDE at UIC: Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Transgendered People Advocating Diversity; The UIC Chancellor's Committee on the Status of Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual Issues; the UIC Office of Gay, Lesbian and Bisexual Concerns; and the Office of the Chancellor at the University of Illinois at Chicago. The conference has been a regular event in the Midwest for the past half decade. The 1997 conference, held at Indiana State University in Terre Haute, had attendance near 600 -- the highest to date. Previous conferences have been held at Beloit College, Southern Illinois University, Earlham College, and Iowa State University. 1998 marks the first time the conference will take place in a major metropolitan area. Due to space constraints, UIC can accommodate a maximum of 1100 registrants at this conference. Register early to avoid disappointment. Workshop proposals: Our theme for the conference is "across the fruited plain." We will begin accepting workshop proposals soon and urge early submission of proposals. This will give us the opportunity to highlight programs for those considering attending the conference. We hope to offer a variety of programs and workshops during the conference on a wide range of topics of interest of college and university students. We also plan to provide a series of workshops for faculty and staff advisers of campus LGBT student organizations. Even if you feel that your proposal is not quite "polished" enough to submit this summer, we strongly encourage you to send us a brief outline of your proposal or simply a few sentences on what you intend to submit. We can give you a quick response as to how these ideas fit into our overall scheme and provide some guidance as you refine your proposal. As we receive proposals, our program committee can evaluate what will be included and what other topics we will need to solicit. We plan to make our schedule of programs and workshops available for preview on the website( and via email upon request) before the conference to assist your planning. Proposals (or intents-of-proposal) should be sent to: MBLGTCC-98 Program Committee OGLBC (M/C 369) 1007 West Harrison St 4078 BSB Chicago, IL 60607-7140 or by Fax: 312-996-4688 or by e-mail: mblgcc98@uic.edu Our registration form is now available on-line at the web site. We plan to offer hotel accommodation information on our web site in a few weeks. For those who need help finding another registrant to reduce expenses, we will provide a roommate matching service. In addition, we will be seeking free community housing for registrants who cannot otherwise afford to attend (there will be a limited number of these spaces). Our program booklet will include paid advertising from organizations and commercial firms. If you are interested in purchasing an ad or renting a booth at our vendor fair, please contact Jennifer Mueller (jmueller@uic.edu) at 312-413-8619. Proceeds from advertisements and vendor booths will help to finance the conference. Questions can be directed to the Office of Gay, Lesbian and Bisexual Concerns at (312) 413-8619 or send them to mblgcc98@uic.edu We were offered advice and assistance with this conference by the Human Rights Campaign as part of their National Coming Out Project. Unfortunately, most of what they could help with (keynote speakers, set up a website, etc.) was already done or well underway. We encouraged them to redirect their resources to other regional student conferences. Any press releases or list serv postings by HRC which suggest this conference has a formal relationship or partnership with HRC are in error. We have no special affiliation with HRC at this time. We look forward to hosting you next February and showing off Chicago.