New versions of old email lists

by unchartedworlds

YahooGroups shut down in December 2020, and that had been what we were using for the local bi email lists.

I still think email lists are worth having! as not everyone likes Facebook or Twitter or whatever. So I’ve re-set-up the lists on Groups.io.

If you were on one of the old lists, you probably had an invite at the time of the changeover, but you can also just join from the group page.

If you’d like to (re)join, take a look: https://nottinghambi.wordpress.com/email-lists/

Events for Bi Visibility Day

by nottmbitopia

Soon it will be Bi Visibility Day, which is also known as International Celebrate Bisexuality Day.

Can you make it to either of these two events?

First Event

There will be a photo with bi flags at the Robin Hood statue in Nottingham at 6:30pm on Wednesday 23rd September. This will be a very brief event. About 15-20 mins long. We will just take photos with bi flags and there will be a short speech too. We will hopefully have lots of people show up. People from the Notts IDAHoBiT group, reps from the police etc. have been invited to show their support. Address: Castle Place, Nottingham, Notts, NG1 6EL These pictures will be posted on the Internet and maybe even in magazines such as Bi Community News, so there is absolutely no pressure to attend if you don’t want a public photo. After the photo, people can walk up to the Friends Meeting House if they want to join in with the BiTalkia social. (See below!) People who are not attending the photo can just go straight to the Meeting House for 7:30pm. 🙂

Second Event	The BiTalkia Social at The Friends Meeting House 7:30-10pm, also on Wednesday 23rd September
Format of BiTalkia	This is a chance to chat and chill out with others in a private, alcohol free setting. There aren’t any workshops or activities planned this time (yet!), so please bring games, crafts, things to do, tea to drink, snacks, etc etc! Doors open 7:30pm. We´ll start packing up, washing cups and so on to ensure we´re out of the room by 10pm.
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 which is where we were last time. It includes a small kitchen.
Cost	“Pay the amount that seems right to you”. Any donations will be used to pay for the cost of hiring the room. Any surplus will go towards to the costs of future events.
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 7:15pm to walk up to the FMH together.  Someone (tbc) 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. Meet outside the library doors. (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.
Who can come?	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.) We also warmly welcome anyone who is attracted to more than one gender who doesn´t use the label bi, for example heteroflexible, pansexual, or biromantic.
Volunteers Needed!	A person to meet and greet people at the library at 7:15, and walk up the friends meeting house with them. A person to arrive at the friends meeting house at 7pm, and set up the room and put up a bi flag or two, that kind of thing. (I can provide these!) Then will also be the person in charge of BiTalkia, then I will assist once I get there later.
Where will Hannah be?	After the photo taking at the Robin Hood Statue, I will be giving a talk to the LGBT Youth Group Outburst – but once that has finished I will dash up to the Meeting House to join the fun!
Bringing Snacks?	Please bring a list of ingredients if you plan to bake anything, or keep the packaging if it´s shop bought.

 

Important Pride News!

by nottmbitopia

The time and route for the Pride parade has now changed! Please refer back to the previous post to get the latest information as I have now updated it.

I also borrowed a banner from the group leader of BiPhoria for us to use during the Nottinghamshire Pride Parade.

Excitement levels are rising. Less than two weeks to go!

Flat-access doorbell at the Maze: working on it…

by unchartedworlds

Latest on the Maze doorbell saga: no guarantees, but there’s now a radio-remote doorbell ordered and supposedly on its way to my house, so fingers crossed 🙂

(This doesn’t affect people who can get up a step; the front door has one step and will be open from 4pm.)

Further updates will be here or at #EMidsBi. Meanwhile, people who need flat access, it’s still worth keeping the venue’s phone number to hand – 0115 947 5650 – and the event’s temporary phone/text number – 0794 115 1276. Better still, get in touch before Sunday lunchtime to plan one of us looking out for you.

Big thanks to Keith, ex-electrician friend, who was up at the Maze with me on Wednesday night to explore if the old one was fixable! And thanks to Gaz at the Maze for an encouraging response to my questions about this, and for approving the money on the new one. Even if we don’t have it sorted for Sunday, I’m pleased we took steps on this – it’ll be a good thing for future events at the Maze.

Counting down…

by unchartedworlds

Only a few days to go now before our event for International Celebrate Bisexuality Day, 23 September 2012 at the Maze in Nottingham!

Latest updates…

Music & words: The three main performers we’ve got lined up are Sue Warren (60s & 70s songs), El Dia (hip-hop & poetry) & Warren Volume (featuring the Dr Who Song). I’m looking forward to it! There might still be room for a couple more spots to be added on the night, and we promise to give nervous performers a warm welcome.

We’ll have other interesting spoken-word stuff too, including some info on bisexuality from Grant, and some crowd-sourcing of ideas for the future.

Smoking: Several people have ticked the “smoke makes me ill” option on the “fine-tuning” survey, and no-one with mobility difficulties has said they need to smoke, so we’re going with a smoke-free back courtyard. Smokers can still smoke – they just have to nip out the front entrance, i.e. the front of the Forest Tavern.

Food: As we’re starting at 4pm and they don’t do food, the Maze management has kindly given permission for us to bring in sandwiches or takeaway. We’ll have a kind of tea-break about 6pm or so, followed by a tidying-up session so as not to leave any mess.

Please buy drinks from the venue – that’s the only way they make any money from hosting us.

Newcomers’ meetup: If you’re coming to the “newcomers’ meetup” at Fade (2:30-3:50pm), the thing to look out for when you come into the café is a (newly-acquired) bi flag! Pink, purple and blue. It’ll be on or near “our” table.

Setting up: We could still do with one or two more people on the team that’s setting up at the Maze before the start – probably around 3pm. Some of it is moving chairs and tables, which I realise some people can’t do. But there’s also stuff like putting out books or information, or blu-tacking things to the walls.

Your help would be much appreciated! and it could be a good alternative to the “newcomers’ meetup” for meeting a couple of people and settling into being there. If that sounds like your cup of tea, please drop me a line.

Hashtag: For following Twitter, we’re adopting the hashtag #EMidsBi for this event and future similar things in the area. (You don’t have to be on Twitter to view this link.)

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The rest of the details are all available via the event’s main page.

Second survey: smoking, topics, “x-only space” ideas

by unchartedworlds

Thanks to everyone who did the first survey about our event in Nottingham on 23 September, which helped to reassure me we could make it happen!

I’ve put together a second survey now, with different questions, to influence the shape of the event. This is mainly for people who might turn up on the day.

If you’ve only got 1 minute, please just fill in the first two questions, about

• your needs for smoking or smoke-free space
• an updated “which bit of the event might you come to”.

If you’ve got another 5 minutes or so, you could also give your thoughts on

• topics we might include somehow
• the possibilities of “x-only space” for various groups.

Fill in the new survey

Thank you!