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BiCon News

BiCon 2003 - It's All Over!

26 August 2003

BiCon Has Happened!

And was a splendid success. The full conference report will appear here shortly. In the mean time please read and contribute to our feedback wiki.

We now pass you to BiCon 2004 in Manchester

17 August 2003

Advance Registrations Close With Record Numbers

Sorry, but from today we can no longer accept bookings in advance.

You are very welcome to register and pay by cash or cheque on the day you arrive at BiCon 2003 (unfortunately we lack the facilities to process credit card payments at the conference desk).

We have had over 187 advance registrations

We have had over 187 advance registrations, making us already a bigger BiCon than the last two years have seen. Our advance publicity has been an immense success and over 30% of registrations have come from people attending BiCon for their first time.

In The Pink!

Following several interviews, today saw the BiCon team being photographed for the cover of the Pink Paper (the UK's premier free LGBT paper).

At the moment it's unsure which of the team will get to be the poster children for BiCon 2003, but we are assured that this year's Bisexual Convention will be their lead story this thursday.

Full Timetable online

The BiCon 2003 schedule is now available online. Some timings are still provisional, consult your attender's pack and the on-site timetable for complete up-to-date information.

The on-line timetable is here. You can also get individual timetables for Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday, if you want to print out a day's worth at a time.

Directions To BiCon

Also new to this site is the Getting There page, which is filled with information on how to get to our lovely venue at UEL Docklands.

8 August 2003

Progress, Accommodation and Venue Information

We're sending out confirmation mailings now, the following is quoted from our letter:-

The accommodation, session space and social space at BiCon 2003 will all be on-site at the UEL Docklands campus. The site also has a cashpoint, and several supermarkets - some 24 hour - within a few minutes' ride on the bus or DLR. The bar will be selling sandwiches and light snacks, but apart from that, the conference is self-catering.

Each flat has its own kitchen, equipped with electric hob and oven, kettle, two fridge-freezers and a sink, also crockery and cutlery as follows: 3x pans, 1x frying pan, chopping board, knives, cutlery, plates, side plates and bowls, colander, tin opener and slotted spoon (no microwave oven, corkscrew or toaster though, I'm afraid). Bed linen and towels are provided in each of the bedrooms. Each bedroom has a phone point in it which works using a phone card which can be bought locally; it's in principle possible to use this to access your dial-up Internet account if you have one and wish to stay connected during BiCon.

Flats have now been allocated to attendees. Requests for specific sharing have been taken into account wherever possible.

Code of Conduct

There will be a full code of conduct published in the BiCon programme, but here are some points from it that are worth pointing out in advance:

Smoking: there is no smoking inside any of the buildings at UEL.

Badge policy: people attending BiCon will need to wear their badge to all events; if you don't, you may be denied entry to the daytime sessions and the evening events..

Photography and filming: Please don't photograph, film, or record people without obtaining their consent and specifying if and where any recording or photograph will be used. There will be a group photo opportunity on the last day of BiCon. No photography, recording or filming will be permitted in programme sessions unless it is categorically stated in the programme.

Privacy: Please respect people's privacy, and be aware that not everyone at BiCon may be 'out' about their sexuality. Please ask permission before naming anyone or publishing their photo in a public write-up of BiCon. For the avoidance of doubt, 'public' includes write ups and photographs on personal web sites including our wiki, or on weblogs such as LiveJournal.

Press policy: members of the press should identify themselves to the conference desk and at any sessions they attend.

Animals: we're sorry but we can't allow animals onsite, except for registered assistance animals.

The full code of conduct will also be posted to this site when the webminion returns from holiday.

Webminion on holiday

I'll be away for a week from today, grabbing a relaxation break before BiCon begins. There'll be lots of updates on Sunday or Monday (the 17th and 18th inst) In the mean time stay tuned to the ever-growing BiCon Wiki.

3 August 2003

Onsite accommodation bookings closed

Online and postal accommodation bookings closed at midnight on August the 1st. We're sorting through those and the last-minute postal bookings now. The number of people choosing to stay on-site at this BiCon is wonderful news, with over 75% of the people registered so far taking up the opportunity to enjoy a BiCon village on the north shore of the Royal Albert Dock.

We'll be sending out confirmation letters towards the end of this week with (amongst other things) information about what to bring and what you don't need to bring. In the meantime recent entries on the National BiCon livejournal have asked what bedding to bring. Well, like hotel rooms, the student accommodation provides sheets and pillows in a fully made up bed, there are also towels in the en-suite bathrooms, and pots, pans and crockery in the kitchens.

If you are coming to BiCon 2003 and require accommodation but haven't booked a room on-site, there are a number of hotels nearby, among them the Travel Inn link removed chain in Beckton and at Docklands ExCel (both on the DLR, less than 10 minutes travel away from BiCon).

BiCon 2003 online

We'd like to introduce you to the BiCon Wiki.

A wiki is a collaborative website building tool that allows anyone with a forms-capable browser to add, edit and upload information. We describe it on our Start Here page as being like "a massive wall upon which anyone can pin pieces of paper, and anyone can write anything on those pieces of paper." We're using it to allow everyone the opportunity to participate in BiCon 2003 and provide immediate online feedback during and after BiCon 2003.

This is (we believe) the first organised attempt to present feedback and participation from a BiCon before, during and after the actual event. We hope to see people attending BiCon writing about their experiences, feedback from sessions run at BiCon 2003, photographs (where permitted) and even discussion of problems and snafus. All of which get to be shared not only with other attenders but even with those people who aren't attending for geographical or other reasons.

It's online now, you don't need a password, and you can join in anytime you like. Enjoy!

BiCon Pride

Our stall at Pride in the Park. Photo-credit: Casey

After a very successful Pride in the Park, your next chance to catch the BiCon team before August 21 will be at Brighton Pride this coming weekend. See you there!

29 July 2003

Registration watch: 161 and counting...

Helping Hand Update

Unfortunately, the deadline for the BiCon Helping Hand has now passed and the fund is now closed.

We are extremely pleased to announce that we have been able to help everyone who has asked for assistance. This has included financial help, provision of wheelchairs and accommodation for full-time carers.

Overall, the fund has assisted 30 people to attend BiCon 2003 who otherwise would not have been able to make it. We look forward to seeing all of you at BiCon. We're glad we could help.

28 July 2003

Booking for accommodation on-site closes this Friday!

If you are planning to come and stay at BiCon and want to book accommodation on-site you should have booked or contacted us by the end of this week (midnight on Friday 1^st. of August).

A few quick notes on room allocation:

We'll be sorting it out finally after August 1st, when all accommodation bookings will be in, so any more requests need to be in by then - email Katy on bicon@~~different email deleted~~. Until then it's all provisional, except that everyone who needs a ground floor or mobility flat will be accommodated.

All rooms are non-smoking under University policy.

Bear in mind that we don't have any way of knowing how tidy, vegan, nocturnal etc your flatmates will be - most people don't provide this information on their booking forms! So if you request to live with all vegetarians, for example, you'll need to provide us with the names of four other vegetarians you want to live with, or hope that four other vegetarians have also contacted us with the same request. (Nobody has - just a comment.)

We've had a few enquiries about the kitchen equipment at BiCon. Each kitchen (shared between a flat of five) has the following:

Electric oven
Electric hob
Kettle
Two fridge-freezers
Sink

No microwave, though, I'm afraid, nor a toaster.

Crockery and cutlery as follows: 3x pans, 1x frying pan, chopping board, knives, cutlery, plates, side plates and bowls, colander, tin opener and slotted spoon. There was some confusion over whether crockery was going to be provided, as originally the venue had said that it wasn't, but it is.

Deadline for advance bookings approaches.

We'll be accepting advance bookings for BiCon registration up until Sunday the 17th. of August. After that, you'll have to register and pay at the conference desk when you arrive.

If you're not leaving your plans until the last minute, booking in advance is the most convenient way to pay for BiCon. Over one hundred and fifty people have booked already, why not join them!

21 July 2003

Helping Hands In The Air!

We closed applications for this year's Helping Hand Fund on the 11th. of July. Thanks to the generosity of everyone who has contributed to hardship funds past and present we've been able to extend financial help (in one form or another) to everyone who applied.

Already we are thinking about next year, and assisting people who want to go to Manchester for BiCon in 2004, and to raise money for the 2004 Helping Hand Fund we will be holding an auction as part of the BiCon Faerie Tale Ball.

Among the goodies donated to us for auction are signed photos of James Marsters (Spike from Buffy The Vampire Slayer) and a caricature donated and signed by Stephen Fry (Wilde, Fry and Laurie, Jeeves and Wooster).

Day Registrations

Some people find they can only attend BiCon for one day, instead of the whole weekend. For those people we offer one-day registration at half-price:

Income:	Unwaged	< 15k	15-20k	20-25k	25-30k	30-45k	>45k	Organisation delegates
Price per day:	£12.50	£22.00	£28.00	£34.50	£40.50	£47.00	£59.50	£62.50

We're sorry we haven't been able to offer the chance to book one day registration in advance this year. These tickets will only be available from the conference desk during the event.

However, contrary to fears some people have expressed, we are happy to reassure you that there is no danger of us running out of day registrations!

11 July 2003

Stop the Press! We've managed to extend the room deadline!

Although today was going to be the last day for booking rooms for BiCon we've been able to negotiate an extension to the deadline with the University of East London, based on the number of bookings so far.

Because so many of you had asked for rooms already we're now going to be able to take bookings for accommodation until the 1st of August.

So, if you hadn't already booked a room and thought it was too late then now's your chance, and if you have friends who haven't but you'd like to share a flat with them then pass on the good news!

The new flats are more of the same - all ensuite with only five people sharing a kitchen. They're still only 27 pounds 50. You don't have to book for all nights - if you just want to have somewhere to crash after the disco or the ball then we're cool with that.

Booking forms are available here .

30 June 2003

So Far, So Good!

If when you registered, you chose to let us update you by post, you should have received by now a copy of our progress report. Otherwise we should have either sent you a copy by email or given you a link to the page here (http://2003.bicon.org.uk/progress_report.html).

If you haven't yet registered, please consider doing so now. There are less than two weeks in which to book accommodation on-site (where the action is!) or a place in the crèche. Your advance registration helps us prepare a better BiCon for everyone.

You can book online or by post, and pay by cheque, bank transfer, or by credit or debit card.

23 June 2003

11^th. July Deadline Reminder

If you are planning to attend BiCon and require accommodation on-site, or have children you'd like to place in our professionally provided day-crèche, or would like financial help attending BiCon, you should have booked or contacted us with your needs, no later than the 11^th. of July.

BiCon Revealed!

At last we can reveal the people behind BiCon 2003, the eleven people strong team responsible for what we hope will be the biggest and brightest BiCon until the next one!

At the helm is Marcus Morgan, while his sturdy crew consist of Anne, Casey, David Matthewman, Giles, Katy Harrad, Laura (Lolliepopp) Stone, Lizzy, Simon D, Simon T, and Vicki McDonald.

In the Press:

After last month's little piece in Diva, next month should see BiCon get a mention in AXM and ReFresh magazines.

Keep an eye out for them wherever you read your mags.

16 June 2003

Progress Report

This last week we've been able to finalise more of the detail of our programme of entertainments. Anne's been working incredibly hard with the venue to make sure that we have the most amazing evenings lined up for you.

Sexual Freedom

Marcus (the grand panjandrum of BiCon 2003) spoke about bisexuality at the Sexual Freedom Coalition's Let's Start the Real Sexual Revolution! event last weekend.

Our stall was well staffed and attracted a deal of attention, and a few people chose to register there and then. Thank you!

Read what Marcus had to say (from the report in his LiveJournal).

9 June 2003

Delayed Update

We've been very busy behind the scenes here at BiCon, working with the venue and our suppliers and finalising details of the Faerie Tale Ball and our other entertainments.

Too busy in fact, to update the news page here until today. But don't let that deter you from contacting us with your questions and registrations or from discussing BiCon 2003 on the BiCon LiveJournal community.

Creche details

We like to make sure that even if you are busy parent, you can still enjoy BiCon 2003.

We have secured a professional, accredited mobile creche team to provide care for a limited number of children (ages 1 to 12) during BiCon's daytime sessions (10.00am until 1.15pm and 2.15pm until 6.00pm) at no extra charge to you.
Because places will be limited we ask that you give us the details of the children who'll be using the creche with your registration before July 11th (the same as the accomodation booking deadline).

Programme details

The observant among the frequent visitors to these pages will have noticed by now that we have begun to include more details of the programme of events that will be running through BiCon 2003.