Gold Rush 2010
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 2nd 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
