In this week's TGCD blog:

• Creating an Exploritory Committee for Transgender Image in Film/TV/Media
• ALL ABOUT GOLD RUSH 2010 Conference, Denver by TGCD member Holly
• Pics from Week 4 of LBK, Live Band Karaoke Fridays, week 5 booked!

Hello everyone!   This week I want to share a blog posted to TGCD posted by Holly regarding the Gold Rush Convention in Colorado.  Also for those who might want to join our TGCD exploratory committee for Transgender Image in Film/TV/Media, just send me an email.  Details in the TGCD Forums.   Also, pics are in for week 4 of LIVE BAND KARAOKE Fridays at the OX. Ck out the montage BELOW from week 4 and what everyone is saying! I'll see you all this Friday at the OX for LBK night and Sat. for Club SHINE! xoxo Laura Gonzales
ALL ABOUT GOLD RUSH 2010!   Posted  03/03/2010  by holly   
Hey girlfriends, Laura asked me to share some of my observations and thoughts about Gold Rush 2010. For those that may not be aware there is a series of transgendered conventions held around the country every year. Kind of like a Winston Cup series for TGs but without the fast cars (fast women maybe) <chuckle>. Gold Rush is one of these conventions. It was held Feb 24-28 and is sponsored by the Gender Identity Center [http://www.gicofcolo.org] in the wonderfully T-friendly and beautiful city of Denver. First, some particulars: The convention was held at the classy Renaissance Hotel just off of I-70 and easily accessible from the Denver International Airport. You know the one whose terminal looks like a circus tent. The convention format was similar to the other conventions: lunches and dinners with speakers, cocktail parties, evening entertainment (DJ one night and live band the other), a vendor area, and multitudes of educational seminars addressing topics of particular interest to TGs. I estimate there were 125-150 girls in attendance.

Now, I’ve only attended one other convention (Southern Comfort 2009), so I can only compare Gold Rush to Southern Comfort (SCC). SCC is the biggest in the country drawing over 500 people in 2009. So in general, Gold Rush had a more intimate/regional feel to it even though there were many out of state t-girls and t-guys there: Virginia, Indiana, Pennsylvania, Illinois, South Dakota, Ohio, and New Mexico just to name a few. Of course Liz (of Shine/Oxwood fame) was there representing California, or I as call it the Left Coast <giggle>.

In a snapshot, the accommodations were first class, the hotel staff fantastic and the convention attendees friendly, supportive and beautiful/handsome. The food was excellent, speeches motivational and seminars informative. The full list of topics covered is available via the Gender Identity Center’s website. Liz and I compared notes on the last evening and our assessment was that the average person at Gold Rush had a perchance to be more intellectual and actively involved in promoting our community than you’d find at SCC. Meaning, at SCC you’ll find more people looking to just party. That doesn’t mean everyone at Gold Rush was a fuddy-duddy. On the contrary, I was intrigued by everyone I met. Each of us had a strong common bond, but also unique experiences and looking to enjoy themselves during the convention.

I highly recommend to any TG to attend a convention, whether your new or experienced in this genre and no matter where you are in your soul searching. If you’re also looking to take in a day skiing, Gold Rush may be a perfect fit.   From here on I’ll move to a more chatty narrative on what happened to me personally at Gold Rush. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to get to the conference until Friday afternoon. I live about an hour outside of Denver, so I drove up to hit the hotel’s check-in time. Yes, I did arrive enfemme (purple turtleneck, jeans and boots w/2” heels). Interestingly, we were sharing the hotel with a boat load of teenage girls (and their parents) who were participating in a volleyball tournament nearby. From what I could tell, we mixed pretty well. As Liz observed, it’s in our best interest to engage these girls if we find ourselves in the elevator together, because they will be mothers someday and how wonderful if they become open-minded parents. An encounter with people like us, who they discover are actually beautiful people inside and out, will further their understanding and appreciation of diversity in society.

The first event I attended was the Friday evening cocktail party. The registration, seminar, and vendor areas were on the mezzanine just above the lobby, the reception and banquet area was on a level just below the lobby. I’m a visual person, so bear with me. Our area was just at the bottom of the stairs/escalator. There was another group, associated with the University of Colorado, having an event at the hotel that evening too. Their attendees needed to pass through our reception area to reach theirs. It was so refreshing (and confidence building) that I never observed a snicker or even a second glance from these people as they made their way toward their party. I met so many people that evening, some I’ve seen on TV documentaries or on TG sites I belong too like http://www.pinkessence.com, but never had the chance to meet in person. They had a person on keyboard providing music and a t-girl named Rickie demonstrating her skill at speed painting. She had recently come out to her family and at work and had her sister come along for the convention.

I didn’t attend the banquet that night (what can I say, I’m cheap). Instead I had dinner with a new friend, Ashley, in the hotel restaurant. Ashley is a Colorado girl that hails from the west side of the continental divide. The wait staff was falling all over themselves to make sure we were enjoying our meal which was scrumptious. Ashley and I spent a good hour and a half there eating and getting to be good friends. While we ate, I got a text out of the blue from a Denver friend, Kelli Jo, that I hadn’t seen or heard from in probably 8 months. She, for some reason (I think she’s psychic) thought I might be at Gold Rush and texted to ask me. She was there as a vendor (http://www.spectrumhealthresources.com). We arranged to link up and head to a local night club later (http://www.Tracksdenver.com). I also found a few other girls who wanted to checkout Tracks, including Liz. Turns out Nina Flowers (of Drag Race fame) and troupe were performing their Drama Drag show there. Well, Kelli Jo couldn’t break away and another girl, Lisa from Ohio, complained about her feet, so it was just Liz and me. It was fun, packed and Nina was really working the crowd. However, Liz and I left to come back to the hotel about halfway through the show. So I guess we went to paint the town, but forgot the brush. We spent the rest of the evening socializing with girls hanging out at the lobby bar.

Saturday morning I left my room just before the start of the 2^nd round of the day’s seminars. As I approached the elevator, I ran into another Denver friend I hadn’t seen in many months. Her name is Kelly, but a different one than the one mentioned earlier. She had a guy in tow and we caught up while we rode the elevator down to the mezzanine. She asked me if I was going to listen to Mark’s presentation. I assumed the person she was with was Mark. I said I was going to check out the vendors, but she insisted I go with them to the presentation. Well, “Mark” turned out to be Dr. Zukowski (Dr. Z). After listening to his pitch on FFS, my friend, Kelly insisted I sign up for a consultation. I did.

I joined Kelly, Beth, and Rene (from Denver, Denver, and Castle Rock respectively) for a tasty lunch in the restaurant. Once again the wait-staff worked hard to make us happy. After lunch I hung out at the vendor area. Kelli Jo had me enter her drawing (which I found out on the following Monday that I’d won a free massage). At 2:30 I kept my appointment with Dr. Z. He told me all the things he could do to make me look young and beautiful. After hanging out with all these beautiful girls and getting compliments myself, it was a bit hard to hear him go through all my flaws. <sigh>

After more socializing in the lobby, I got ready for Saturday’s cocktail party. I fell back on my reliable little black dress. This time there was a group from Frito Lay that needed to walk our gauntlet. They too didn’t think twice about us. Of note, there was a presentation Saturday night about transgendered youth. There were two 5-year (guess) old MTFs and one adolescent FTM in attendance. I had dinner with Ashley again and we were provided with complimentary minestrone soup by hotel management. While we ate, I was pleasantly surprised by the arrival of another friend, Roxanne, to the festivities.. We spent the rest of the evening meeting and greeting at the lobby’s bar. Once again, more friends were made and life stories exchanged

The next morning I checkout (enfemme) and headed home, taking with me great memories and a plethora of new friends.  With Love, Holly

   
Mezzanine level/Restaurant from out my room’s door... Friday's Cocktail Party!... Holly and Friends
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And Don't forget, LIVE BAND KARAOKE RETURNS THIS FRI, 9PM at the OXWOOD!
Songlist in EVENTS Calendar on TGCD.net!