BiTalkia, Monday 23 Feb 2015: details

by unchartedworlds

Date	Monday 23 February 2015.
Start time	Doors open 7pm, discussion 7.30 till 8.30, chatting time afterwards. Then washing-up-cups, and out of the room by 10pm.
Theme	“Fitting & misfitting in the bi community”.
Format	The hour of discussion will be fairly highly structured, for equal shares of talking time. Mostly in small groups. Couple of go-rounds in big group, where everyone gets a turn but doesn’t have to speak if they don’t want to. Little bit of writing; if you like, you can ask in advance for a scribe to do your writing-down, and we might be able to find a friendly volunteer. More info below about the theme and the format. The chatting time afterwards won’t be formally structured.
Venue	Friends’ Meeting House (FMH), 25 Clarendon Street, Nottingham NG1 5JD. This is round the corner from the Women’s Centre. It’s a beautiful modern building with flat/ramped access and a wheelchair-accessible toilet. We’ve booked the Social Room. That has pretty good acoustics for talking, and includes a small kitchen. Its max capacity is 60, but I think it’ll feel fine with the 15 to 25 or so participants we can probably expect.
Cost	“Pay the amount that seems right to you”. For more background on this, see below.
Travel info	See the Friends Meeting House “Finding us” page for lots of useful info on roads, parking and public transport.
Optional pre-meet	Optional:  Leaving Central Library at 7pm to walk up to the FMH together.  Hannah will be there to welcome people and lead the way. This pre-meet is designed for people who don’t want to arrive alone via the quieter streets near the FMH after dark – or who know the library as a familiar landmark, or who just like the idea of having company on the way – and who can walk or wheel for about 500 metres.  Feel free to come straight to the FMH if that works better for you. Depending on your travel situation, an extra possibility might be to come to the Central Library a bit earlier and have a browse round. If you’ve brought a snack, you can eat it in the food-and-chat-allowed area on floor 2. Meet outside the library doors at 7pm. (The library shuts at 7pm.) The Central Library is on Angel Row, just off the Old Market Square in Nottingham City Centre. Nearest tram stop: Old Market Square. Access note:  If you want to take advantage of the communal walk, but it would take you longer than about 15 minutes to travel that far under your own steam, let me know, and we can probably organise a bonus earlier slower walk-up-together.
Open to	Bi people and anyone with a positive interest in bisexuality, including friends or partners. (Not sure if you’re bi?  Take a look at the Bisexual Index’s quiz.)
Theme blurb for “Fitting and misfitting in the bi community”	Ever been dissatisfied with the words “bi” and “bisexual” because they don’t quite fit for you? Or ever wondered whether you’d be welcome at bi events? Ever looked around a bi group and felt “odd one out”, unfashionable or not quite at home? Ever questioned where you fit in the community (including for instance as the non-bi partner of a bi person, or as someone wondering whether they might be bi)? Ever felt like you’re “not a proper bisexual”, or “not bi enough”? Or, on the other hand, ever thought how much you like it here, even though you’re not bi?
Facilitator for this discussion	Jennifer. (me!) I first invented the “Fitting & misfitting” format in 2002, I’ve run it a few times since then and so have other people. Totally not necessary in order to enjoy the evening, but if you’re interested, you can read about its history here: http://www.uncharted-worlds.org/bi/fitmisfit.htm http://www.uncharted-worlds.org/bi/BiCon/fitmisfit2005.htm
Co-facilitator	Ideally, I’d like to collaborate with someone else who wants to be on a learning curve towards leading similar things. No previous experience required. Talk to me if you fancy it.
Other help required	two or more currently-ablebodied people to turn up no later than 7.10pm to help set out the room. This mainly just means moving chairs and maybe tables. Good opportunity for people who find it easier to settle in when they’re being collaboratively helpful 🙂 two or three people to wash up cups at the end. Hannah is bringing tea & coffee supplies.
Other contributions possible	Optionally, bring cakes / snacks! as long as they come with a piece of paper listing the ingredients.
Background on money	We want to cover the costs of hiring the room, the tea and the coffee. We decided not to set a specific price, because it’s so hard to make that fair, given that some people can easily spend £10 without noticing and others are carefully managing pennies. Instead, we’ll have anonymous contributions to some kind of box or hat. To give a sense of roughly how we expect the money to work: The room is £37.50 (subsidised by the FMH hire rates because BiTalkia is non-profit). In the survey, we asked people “Per meeting, an amount I would feel was an amazing bargain for such a rare & useful event is: ….”. Most people replied something like £2, £3 or £5. Then we asked “Per meeting, an amount I could stretch to if needed without feeling bad about it, to make things work well for the event as a whole, is: ….”. Most people replied around £5 to £15, a few either higher or lower. This gave us confidence to go ahead and book the room. So if there are one or two people who can’t even stretch to £2, we’ll probably still be OK. In other words, do chip in, and don’t miss it due to worrying about the money!

Update 6 Feb: added money info, which I’d forgotten before!