I enjoyed BiCon and thought almost all of the organising communications were bang on.
The only think I’d like future BiCons to do differently was the policy on speaking about BiCon.
I think the BiCon 2015 Policy sheet I was sent as a session facilitator would be perfect for core team members. I think an agreement when making corporate decisions to not speak as individuals much about the event is sensible. I can also see why limiting internet arguments and being careful with the press would be important to the team.
For non team members I also think that asking everyone to be super clear that they are not speaking for BiCon is a good idea: it may not be obvious to everyone who does what in the bi community. When people are helping on BiCon’s behalf such as on the desk, I can see them getting mixed up with core team in unproductive ways especially when “on duty.”
I think it is an entirely reasonable request that people who have a problem with BiCon try to sort this out with the organisers in the first instance. I also hope that everyone would check facts and get some background from BiCon before giving interviews to the press and would be clear what were personal impressions, feelings and opinions rather than speaking for the event or the wider community.
I thought a policy that I read as attempting to bind say workshop organisers to not speak to the press and not discuss BiCon online was overly restrictive.
I’d prefer people to feel they can and should discuss our community openly where they wish. Being given suggestions and requests from BiCon is fine and helpful. I don’t want to feel the need to ignore BiCon guidelines or argue with them, possibly with official sanction against me for doing so. I don’t want to be seen as lying about accepting rules or breaking agreements. I like the role other policies such as the code of conduct have in setting joint community aims and expectations.
As it was, I didn’t have a single bad thing to say about BiCon, didn’t see any internet arguments and was happy to check-in for a briefing before speaking to the press. Still, I’d like future BiCons to not try to limit the speech of attendees.
[Edit: An organiser tells me the sheet was written for the team and should have been edited for volunteers]
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