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NOTE: The program for LLC 8 has been largely finalized, and information about the seminar presentations and presenters is provided here. Sessions that have not been confirmed are listed as TBA.
We will be posting program descriptions and presenter biographies starting the week of February 2. That information will be posted as it is received from the presenters.
The LLC 8 program consists of six tracks, each of which is designed to examine in depth one aspect of power. The tracks do not consist of just presentations--they also include breakout groups in which the members of each track may examine issues raised by the presentations.
This program uses an innovative group discussion, presentation, debate, and town hall meeting format designed to start with member participation and to end with conclusions reached by every member of the conference. For that reason, anyone who attends the conference will gain the most by following one track from the beginning until the end.
The first breakout group is designed to raise issues and questions about the track, Saturday's seminars are designed to provide information, the second breakout examines the issues raised using the infomation gained in the presentations, and the panel/town hall sessions on Sunday are designed to provide a forum that will further define the issues that pertain to that track.
On Sunday, the issues raised at the breakout groups and in the town hall meeting will be presented in short form to the entire conference. In long form these conclusions and positions will be posted to the web so that they can provide a resource to the entire Leather Community.
The whole program is designed to allow the members of the Leather Community attending the conference to have a direct impact on the results of the conference and on the agenda of the leather community as a whole. You will gain the benefit of this, and have the greatest impact on the world community by following one track all the way through.
Title: Community Dynamics
Presenter: Sam Guss
Title: 50 Years of Success
Presenter: Satyrs
Title: Intergenerational Issues
Presenter: Lady Caro
Session 3 continues into this time slot.
Title: Outreach for Minorities
Seminar Outline:
Presenter: Panel Discussion
Moderator: Graylin K. Thornton
Panel Members: Mistress Pilar
Title: Submissives in Leadership Roles
Submissives continue to take on leadership positions in the leather community. The challenges faced by submissives in leadership positions are unique as there is a need to juggle the intrinsic balance of the power exchange that occurs within Dominant and submissive relationships and the need to claim the power inherent in the position of leadership.
The participants in this workshop will have the opportunity to discuss these unique issues, the challenges, the consequences as well as the rewards of submissive leaders. Attendees will also gain tools to help them overcome some of the stereotyping and prejudice they encounter as submissive leaders.
Presenter: sheryl dee, Christina (slavette) Parker
sheryl dee, American Leatherwoman 2003, is a slave and has been involved in BDSM for nearly a decade and has been active in the San Diego Community for over 6 years. She has presented workshops and demos on various topics related to Master/slave relationships, the D/s lifestyle and slaves in leadership roles.
Among other projects, sheryl produced the first Master/slave Conference of Southern California and is the Co-Producer of the Butch Review. sheryl is a member of Club X-San Diego, TLC-San Diego, Submissive Voice, and affiliate member with the San Diego boys of Leather. She is the founder of the Leather Girl Network and is excited as leather girls continue to connect, unite and find a common bond.
Christina Parker (aka slavette), International slave 2002, has been an active member of the leather community for 8 years and a 24/7 slave to Master Scott Parker for most of that time. She has also enjoyed a secondary relationship with a Dominant for the past five years.
As part of her commitment to our community, slavette has served as Fundraising Director for the National Coalition for Sexual Freedom (NCSF), served on the Board of SSCN in Chapel Hill, NC, has been a founding member of four BDSM educational/support/social groups, and has assisted in the formation of 11 similar groups, and slavette currently serves as a Council Member of Gnosis. Master Scott and slavette (Christina) Parker were honored to receive the 2001 Pantheon of Leather Award for Couple of the Year.
Title: Transfriendly Spaces
This interactive discussion will address topics relevant to finding space within the BDSM community for transgendered people. Issues covered will include an overview of what is currently available, why these options are generally unacceptable, what safe/inclusive space should be, and how to find or create these spaces.
This discussion will be geared toward networking together to ensure that the BDSM community begins to welcome the transgendered community with open arms. To accomplish this we must discuss ways to educate establishment owners and party hosts of trans related issues, ways to be activists within our own communities to achieve this end, and brainstorm ways to create our own space if it is not freely given to us.
This discussion will benefit not only trans identified people, but anyone who is looking to diversify the BDSM community and make it a welcome playground for all who wish to participate. This discussion is will not only help some realize that many establishments saying they embrace the entire community really do not. It will help those who already realize this find ways to start changing it for the better.
Presenter: Trish Lynch
Trish, aka Momma Bear Trish, is a 29 year old butch transwoman who identifies as “leather” and “lesbian”, she is also polyamourous.
Recently she has been spending time in the New York City kink and leather communities trying to find or make safe spaces for people who identify as transgendered, transsexual, or even identify only as the gender they want to be known as, which is different than the one assigned at birth. “Safe spaces” defined as space that also affirms and respects one’s gender identity as well as sexual, kink, and personality orientations.
Recently she was on a panel at TNG3 in New York City called “We Fucked Your Gender”, which consisted mostly of transgendered sexual and kink identity stories. Shortly after, she also appeared as part of a panel on educating the general community on transgendered issues within leather spaces, for The Eulenspiegel Society.
Title: Alpha Bottoms: Being a Leader in a D/S World
Presenter: Panel Discussion
Track 2: Economic Power
Session 1
Title: The Economics of Conventions
Presenter: Bob Hanaford
Title: TBA
Presenter: TBA
Title: Negotiating with Hotels
Presenter: Jerome Bambrick
Title: TBA
Presenter: TBA
Title: The Economics of Being an SM Educator
Presenter: Fetish Diva Midori
Title: Personal Finance and Budgets
Let’s talk about MONEY, Baby!
Are you scared of managing cash? Do you know how to do a budget? For yourself? How about for your group? Can you organize volunteers for an event but forget how much things actually cost?
The answer to these and other questions will be answered in this hands-on, interactive workshop. Learn how to be comfortable with the green stuff. Organize your own finances, collect it for others, be a treasurer for your group, learn some tricks of the trade for saving money.
You too can be an expert in 60 short minutes. This is a beginners’ class for those who want or need to learn how to deal with money but are afraid to try.
Presenter: Vivienne Kramer
Vivienne has been an activist for 15 years; she started by helping to keep women’s health clinics open each Saturday. She is honored to have held the position of Treasurer for the New England Leather Alliance until 2001 when she took on the role of Chair.
Vivienne has also led the SM/leather/fetish world on a national scale as Chair of NCSF since March of 2002. But it was her role as Co-Chair of Leather Leadership Conference #7, Boston, April of 2003 that solidified her lifelong commitment to activism. “It matters little what I do 9-5…I want to be judged by what I give back in my activist life.” Since she can’t be Cher, being a dedicated, sexual freedom fighter is good enough.
Title: Your Family, Your Money
The presentation will cover often-neglected financial issues of importance to domestic partners, any group of two or more adults who are in a living-together relationship and who would like to plan their financial futures together.
Topics will include why financial planning is important for your family, partnership agreements and slave contracts, ownership of family assets, income tax plannning and how the IRS is gay-friendly, retirement planning, insurable interest concerns and insurance beneficiary designations, estate planning, living wills, and financial and medical power-of-attorney.
Presenter: Rope Angel
The presenter is a Certified Financial Planner (tm) with more than 20 years of experience doing financial planning for non-traditional families and domestic partners. Licensed with the National Association of Securities Dealers (Series 7, 11, and 63 licences) and licensed with the State of Michigan (Securities, Life, Health, and Annuities licenses.)
Title: TBA
Presenter: TBA
Track 3: Organizational Power
Session 1
Title: TNG - Not Necessarily the Highway to Hell
This frank discussion regarding The Next Generation of Leather will explore the importance of TNG to the individual member’s development through education, socialization and support; the importance of TNG to one’s club as future leaders and current members; and the importance of TNG in the future of leather, maintaining image and dignity, “leather values” and changes in politics and policy as well as philosophy.
The models of operation for TNG groups will also be discussed: TNG as a special interest group vs. an independent entity, TNG activities and the role of TNG in the leather community.
Presenter: NOLA-TNG
Various members of NOLA-TNG will be presenting. We are proud to bring you our take on The Next Generation as a team.
Title: Mentoring
The "Newbie Guidance Program" will review the purpose of a program for helping a new person integrate into your club. We will look at the benefits for the club, the larger lifestyle community and for the individual. We will cover when a program will be most beneficial, the pitfalls faced, the history of novice guidance and the tools needed.
Presenter: Diana Gayle
Diana has been thinking about spanking since childhood. Researching the interest led her to Baton Rouge's fledgling BDSM community where she met her Dominant husband and began volunteering for club duties - listserve moderator, clubhouse care, dungeon monitor and education - as well as exploring her Switch-y kink interests.
Diana volunteered to help the Red Stick Volunteer Players’ troubled Welcoming Committee and soon began coordinating programs helping persons new to the lifestyle and to the geography/culture of south Louisiana integrate comfortably into BDSM. Today, she manages fifteen guides in an all-volunteer program with monthly novice orientations and bi-monthly First Scene Seminars.
Title: Energy Vampires
Every organization will have members that seem to sap the strength of the whole instead of adding to it. These "energy vampires" are always complaining about their own problems or their perceived problems within the organization, but do very little to nothing to help solve the problems.
How