IDKE XII Updates

Early Bird Registration is OVER!

2010-08-09T13:57:00.001-07:00

Afternoon, lovelies! It's Harper Lee again, letting you all know that the Early Bird price for registration is now gone. The price is now at $129, and will rise again soon! Hurry, register and pay now! You are able to register without paying at the moment, but we *really* ***REALLY*** suggest paying right when you register. You know, stuff comes up, the dog needs to go out, people forget, so don't let it slip your mind! :)

Also, we NEED sponsorship! If you're able, please visit our sponsor page or our Facebook Cause page and donate to help us make this the best IDKE yet!

See you soon in Charm City!

IDKEXII Registration is Now OPEN!!!

2010-04-21T07:54:00.000-07:00

WOOOOOOOOO! Hey everyone! Harper Lee here again, to let you all know that the registration for IDKEXII here in Baltimore is now LIVE on our website! We're running an early-bird registration special of only $119 for right now, so those who register early get in at a bit under cost. We're not sure how long this deal is gonna last, so hurry and register early!

Day passes and single event tickets will be available shortly, so if you can only make it to a few things, we will have that up for you soon!

Hotel info will also be up shortly - just a few more details to hammer out, and it will be up for you to see. Just FYI - the hotel is GORGEOUS, and the staff there are really excited and accommodating for us. If you stay at this place when you come out, please thank them for being so incredibly awesome to us!

That's all for now, folks. Get yourself registered at IDKEXII and we'll see you in October!

Not enough?

2010-04-05T16:18:00.001-07:00

Ok, if you really need your IDKE fix RIGHT NOW.... then you should check us out on facebook... chat with other IDKE-ers on the wall here:

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/event.php?eid=406770679637&ref=mf

See who's coming and invite your friends so no one misses out!!!!!!!

xx's and oo's
Ceci My Playmate
Gender Justice Collective
Canadian Liaison

IDKE XII Gender Justice Registration COMING SOON!!!!

2010-04-05T15:58:00.001-07:00

Hi everyone!!!
We are so pleased that the IDKE XII: Gender Justice buzz is already gaining momentum. We know you are itching to get registered and find out more... and that's an itch we can scratch ;) The ball gets rolling April 15th, when we officially open registration. So hang tight while we hustle to gather the most information we can about our great host city, awesome venues and the amazing time we are all gonna have together!!!! Only ten days away... Stand by for more news!!!

xx's and oo's
Ceci My Playmate
Gender Justice Collective
Canadian Liaison

IDKEXII Update

2010-04-02T08:29:00.001-07:00

Hello everyone! Harper Lee here, writing from a (finally) sunny Baltimore!

I just wanted to swing by and give everyone a real quick and dirty update on what's going on with IDKEXII.

The Baltimore Gender Justice Committee is busting its tails, and are almost ready to announce the venues where Gender Justice will be held. There are just a few minor details to hammer out in the contracts, and we'll be good to go!

Our Outreach Committee has been friending nearly half of FaceBook, and the IDKEXII Event page has (at last count) about 450 people confirmed and over 800 saying maybe. WOW!!! I hope we can turn a lot of those 'maybes' into a 'HELL YES'!

Our Finance Committee is crunching numbers and keeping the rest of us in line, keeping their fingers crossed that we don't go over budget. Our sponsorship packets are ready to roll, and we already have several interested parties!

Our Glitterbox Committee has put together an AMAZING mission statement (see previous post) and are kicking some serious tail with how much they've done already. YAY!

We're hoping to have registration open within the next few weeks, and we can't WAIT to see your submissions for the various stages. Also, we need volunteers from the IDKE community as well as local volunteers, so sign up and lend a hand if you can! If you'd rather not, that's cool too! We'd still love to see you here in October!

I hope everyone has a fantastic day today, and I'm really excited to see everyone again! WOOOOO!

~Harper Lee (and waaay too much coffee)

Announcing: Glitterbox

2010-03-30T14:50:00.000-07:00

What is Glitterbox?

Glitterbox is the name of a performance stage taking place Friday, October 22, 2010 during IDKE XII, hosted by the Baltimore Gender Justice Collective (BGJC) that will highlight performers whom self-identify in their daily lives as People Of Color (POC) and/or Mixed Race.

What will Glitterbox be looking for in performance submissions?

We, the board of Glitterbox, would like to see performances at IDKE XII that examine the intersections between gender performance, personal responsibility, privilege, and race with the goal of creating a platform to expand performance into a viable connection with all social justice communities. Furthermore, we would like to see these performances organize for collective power by advancing transformative work, thinking and leadership of communities and individuals working to build bridges as well as end violence and prejudice in our daily lives.

How will the curated process work?

You must send in an application that will be reviewed by the Glitterbox board. We will make every effort to ensure that our curated show will feature work by many genders, many races, and many genres that will be able to showcase the brilliant work Performers of Color bring to IDKE this and every year. We hope that this stage will be seen, felt and perceived as an attempt to showcase the best of the available resources to us, and we hope that this stage and its constituents will continue to grow at future IDKEs.

Mission Statement

The Glitterbox Board is a group of People of Color (POC) and ally performers and activists that will be bringing together performers who self-identity as people of color or mixed race onto the stage of the same name at IDKE XII. The board hopes that the Glitterbox stage will engage in educational, cultural and social discourses through performance as a means of dealing with the racism, sexism, transphobia, queerphobia, sizeism, ageism, ablism, HIV/AIDS discrimination and other inequities as well as celebrate our triumphs, our joy and ourselves existing within our communities and in our lives.

Principles of Unity

We oppose the oppression of womyn, queers, transfolk, two spirits, youth, elders, genderqueers, differently able-bodied people, people with mental health complexities, and all that are oppressed.

We strive and fight to dismantle, deconstruct and unlearn (in no particular order but all at once) racism, patriarchy, ableism, heterosexism, sizeism, transphobia, queerphobia, ageism, HIV/AIDS discrimination, classism and authoritarianism.

Performer Respect Clause

In the effort to encourage our participants to be responsible performers, we ask for you to review our Performer Respect Clause which reads:

Much of drag performance is about entertainment and fun, but it is important to not lose sight of the fact that drag performance also can be a powerful medium that can either reiterate or deconstruct norms and/or stereotypes of gender, race, class, sexuality, and ability. Therefore, performers are asked to consider carefully whether or not the characters, costumes, and situations that they present on the IDKE stages are respectful of fellow performers and the audience. In your consideration of character, costume and situation, be aware that you will be held accountable for your performance' s messages, themes and depictions of race, ethnicity, religion, ability, class, sex, gender, etc. This means that you (all) as performers, not Baltimore Gender Justice Collective or the Glitterbox board, will be responsible for responding to any criticism, dialog or negative attention solicited by your performance.

When in doubt about the content of your performance, please ask a member of the Baltimore Gender Justice Collective. We greatly appreciate your time and consideration of the Glitterbox mission statement and IDKE Performer Respect Clause before sending in your submissions and look forward to seeing you at IDKE!

BGJC Responds to the Rumors...

2010-03-30T14:42:00.001-07:00

IDKE XII: Gender Justice is committed to making IDKE a safer space. The Gender Justice Collective defines safer space as a place where racism, sizeism, classism, sexism, and other “–isms” are not tolerated. A safer space is one that is actively monitored and prioritizes the needs of its community members. Gender Justice Collective chooses the term ‘safer space’ instead of ‘safe space’ because we acknowledge that no space can be 100% safe for everyone; however, we are making every effort to make this a space where “–isms” are attentively examined, discussed and- as appropriate- respectfully dissolved.

The IDKE Board, a twelve-person board that oversees the planning of each year’s IDKE has a performance respect clause that we expect all performers to read, understand and adhere to.

Much of drag performance is about entertainment and fun, but it is important to not lose sight of the fact that drag performance also can be a powerful medium that can either reiterate or deconstruct norms and/or stereotypes of gender, race, class, sexuality, and ability. Therefore, performers are asked to consider carefully whether or not the characters, costumes, and situations that they present on the IDKE stages are respectful of fellow performers and the audience. When in doubt about a performance, please ask a member of the current host city steering Board or IDKE Board: http://www.idke.info/bylaws.html

IDKE XII respects the artistic merit of all performances that will appear on our stages, and we remind our performers that performance is the start of a dialogue between the performers and their audience. We urge our performers to consider the ramifications of cultural appropriation, and its place on our stage as a part of a conference that is working to create a safer space. It is sometimes difficult to understand cultural appropriation. We’ve provided a basic definition of cultural appropriation that we find useful when discussing it.

Cultural Appropriation is when a dominant social group takes cultural signifiers (music, dance, language, social behavior, dress personal adornment and religion) from a minority social group. Often times these signifiers are used with out regards to their significance and history to the minority group.

For more information please see Wikipedia's definition of cultural appropriation.

As people living in a complex, vibrant, multicultural world, we understand that appropriation is all around us. We all appropriate. The question is how we do it, and if we do it respectfully. This is a confusing subject, and the best way we can all understand it is through communication, dialogue, and community. Communication is the only way to gain each other’s trust and create a space that is truly safer.

We are working so hard to plan IDKE XII: Gender Justice, and are looking forward to everyone joining us here in Baltimore, the Greatest City in America.