Conferences and your thoughts on all

[2B Natasha]

Hey all

After reading Maya's post about SCC. ( Thanks Maya. I had those same questions )I got to wondering if anyone has been to more then SCC. I know of one member that has been two. To Diva Las Vegas also.

So my question is. What are everyone's thoughts on
SCC
Diva Las Vegas
Esprit
Sparkle ( in Chicago right? )
And there is one in the upper mid west I can't think of.

Which one for a first time attendee? Pluses and minus's of all.

Cheers.
Natasha. Don't call me Sasha.

[Alice B]

I've only been to DLV and this has been for the past three years. Totally love it, but the other events do not fit my schedule.

[Jenelle]

For me it would be whatever one is closest. I might do DLV next year if I can convince the GF as we plan our vacations together. SC is just a big no for me. All my family lives around Atlanta and I have already been busted for doing trip home (to visit friends) and not seeing my family. To this day I have no idea how they found out.

[wanagione]

I have never been to SCC but I have been to Keystone in Harrisburg Pa. and it is gotten bigger over the years. It is in it's 6th year with about 500 + attendies. It is imfomative and lots of fun. I can't wait to again next year.

[Farrah]

Are there any near Mississippi, during the summer months? I would love to go to SCC, but timing is no good for me.

[docrobbysherry]

There r huge differences between DLV and the SCC, Natasha. I've been to both a number of times.

SCC is a convention. With a large selection of daily seminars as well as a banquet room filled with maybe 700+ dressers for a few lunch/dinner there lectures during the 5 days. Most people stay in the main hotel and some never leave the entire time. The hotel bar is packed with girls every evening and they offer karaoki in their club nitely. As well as several elegant events, including dancing, in the hotel main ball room.

DLV is described as a "Vacation, NOT a conference." Every event is out somewhere. U go to the ones appeal to u. U may not see another dresser in your hotel the entire week. Unless u make plans to meet them. The opening and closing meetings draw 100+. The other events r attended by groups of between between as few as 3 and as many as 50 attendees.

[Lynn Marie]

Next week will be my third Esprit. It's only a couple of hours away, at a nice hotel, with a great view of the water. I'll have a lot of CD girlfriends there to party with. How could I not go?

[patti.jean]

This is an article on the Keystone Transgender Conference I did for a local LGBT Newsletter.

http://www.crossdressers.com/forums/showthread.php?212352-Article-on-Keystone-Transgender-Conference&highlight=

[Jaylyn]

May sound dumb but what does SCC stand for? From the description above by Sherry I might not mind attending that one. I like the thought of not having to go out but staying in one place seems like a safer place for not being outed. Just wondering though.

[PretzelGirl]

Southern Comfort Conference

[Jenny Gurl]

As Sue said, Southern Comfort Conference. It is held at the same hotel every year in Atlanta, Georgia. I have stayed in the hotel while traveling but have not been to the conference. Check out their site, and some of the photo's from prior years.

http://sccatl.org/content/

[Femdenise]

For five nights? What is the cost? Is it a one price package? Sounds like fun!!!

[valerieg]

The only one of these gatherings that I've attended is Pinkfest (avatar source) last year. I loved it and have already booked everything for this year, including scheduling vacation. I was going to attend DLV this year, but the travel costs were just too high. Instead, I spent the same weekend in Chicago, revisiting some of the places I visited at Pinkfest and discovering a whole lot more. I don't think I'll ever attend one of the one-site conferences. I just get the feeling that, for me, it would be like stepping back into a bigger closet. I understand that's exactly what some of us are looking for right now, or maybe that's as far as we're prepared or able to go right now. That's perfectly okay. For me, though, now that I've experienced the wilds of mainstream Chicago there is just no going back. I guess the one exception I'd make is if I had a friend who just wasn't ready for mainstream and wanted someone to attend a conference with them. I'm not aware of any of those yet.

[Alice Torn]

On a fixed low income now, none of such conferences are affordable for me, and some others.

[Butterfly Bill]

Every one of them is held in a hotel that costs over a hundred a night, and the cost of the entire package is enough to buy a whole new computer setup. (I don't need to wait until a convention because I am out in my normal life.)

[samantha rogers]

I look at conferences like Southern Comfort not as a "safe" zone (though I expect that is a draw for many), but rather as a concentrated batch of resources coupled with a huge party filled with like minded friends and potential friends. In comparison to events like DLV......well, I guess I can see the possible joy in both kinds of events. Aren't we lucky that these different fuctions exist?:battingeyelashes:

[Jodi]

No one has yet mentioned the Lake Erie Gala held each year in Erie, PA on the week before Thanksgiving. The official gala runs from Wednesday and ends Sunday morning, but many of he girls come in and spend the entire week. It is held at the Avalon Hotel in downtown Erie. The Avalon is very tg friendly, and they want our business. The hotel rate is well under $100 and the overall experience is rated as the best activity for the money spent. For the entire event--hotel, registration and miscellaneous, I can get by for well under $600.

For further info, go to www.eriesisters.org.

Jodi

[Alice Torn]

Sometimes, i feel like i live ina different time and world, and i still see great financial and economic woe today, and few jobs in the paper. I now live on one or two smal meals a day, to survive financially. Butterfly Bill, i hear you. I am not even considering going , because eating, car insurance and repairs, cat care, and other survival issues come first. It seems that many are not affected by this re-depression we are not getting out of.

[Beverley Sims]

Conferences are great for networking, I always survey the situation of any I wish to attend with an outside view beforehand.
I never go cold turkey to anything.

[aprilgirl]

My wife and I attended the now defunct Be All in Chicago. We went back a second time primarily due to the friendships we forged from the previous year. Valerie stated about "stepping back into a bigger closet" in referring to these conferences, which pretty much sums up how I feel towards them. Though they do have their benefits and believe its something that anyone who is interested should do at least once if they are able. Kim

[2B Natasha]

Thanks all. I wonder if there is a list of all the conferences around the country?
I think I and the wife need to put a couple on the travel itinerary for a later date. While I am out and about and don't need another closet. Well. Except for more clothes. It could be fun. Especially SCC. Never been to Atlanta.

Cheers.

[Lorileah]

Marvelous thing I have on my computer to find out if there are conferences and where and when...Google (although I hear Bing and Yahoo works too)

Try yearly transgender conferences USA

(and if anyone builds that list don't post it in MtF...

[bimini1]

I always wanted to do SCC but at the time was living and working close to Atlanta area and as closeted as I was, I was too paranoid to go down there. The old Eureka En Femme Getaway in Arkansas was lots of fun in the early y2k's and still is, even though it's much less structured and on a much smaller scale. Although not a full fledged conference there is an event starting to brew up in Michigan with DRAB To FAB in June that certainly looks like fun.

[Sometimes Steffi]

I've been to the Keystone Conference each of the last 3 years. I guess you could treat is as a bigger closet, but even at that, it would be a bigger closet filled with friends or potential friends.

However, I treat Keystone as a closet with a swinging door. This year, as last year, I arrived early enough Wednesday to meet the girls to go out to have dinner at Carrabba's. Thursday night, I went out with the girls to the casino for dinner and gambling. Friday I met the girls to go out to a Mexican restaurant for dinner, and then to a disco bar for dancing. And Saturday was the Gala Ball where I got one of my few opportunities to go out in my long gowns.

One of the best things about Keystone for me is that it's only a 2-hour drive. That means I can take as many shoes and clothes as I can fit into the car, and not be limited to what I can fit into one or two suitcases.

[BLUE ORCHID]

It must be a very wonderful time to spend a week with other ladies.
That is something that I want to do.

[Jamie Marie]

The one conference I haven't seen mentioned here is Fantasia Fair that happens every year in October in Provincetown MA. I looked at their site Fantasiafair.org and they have quite a varied and interesting program. I hope to get there if not this year then soon.