22 June 2009

Affirgreen Conference, Here I Come

I'm so tempted to attend two very... *ahem* ...different conferences concurrently this September in Salt Lake primarily to test my own emotional and intellectual reaction but also to compare their flavors back-to-back and, hey, just for the sheer giggle of the humorous duplicity. Could be fun. ...but expensive. Dang, I can think of a lot of fun or useful things I could spend $300 on. Hm, I'm going to have to think about this...



Ridiculously long P.S. -- Suggestion to Affirmation: get a new copy editor for your web sites. There's a handful of pretty dopey typos and grammatical foibles in your copy. Oh, and a little more substance to the conference might be nice. I mean, the shirtless missionary calendar guy? Really? Am I actually supposed to give a rat's rectum about his excommunication, especially when it's not like he was exactly lovin' the church anyway and basically flipped them off? And are you really going to try to convince me he had some noble mission in mind other than selling a tacky, controversially tongue-in-cheek skin calendar? Anyway, speaking of substance, Evergreen may have fringe psychologists with lots of theories and not that much in the way of statistically significant research studies to back them up, but at least they have Master's and PhD's. Of course, a play or film debut, those are cool, if they're at all good...that would really spice up the Evergreen Conference's dry, clinical and doctrinal approach that has me asking my neighbor to slap me to keep me awake, especially if he's cute. And lunch is covered? Nice. I had to buy my own lunches at the EG Conferences I went to. Although I must say the Saturday dinner banquet was quite nice both years. Oh, and to both organizations: we really need to talk about your web sites (although the Affirmation Conference's web site wins, aesthetically, from among anything those two organizations have put out). North Star's beta site is better than any of them. Of course, I may be biased...

5 comments:

El Genio said...

With $300 you could get yourself a new iPhone, or a deluxe annual passport to Disneyland!

I'm not a big fan of the Mormon Missionary calendars either. Don't get me wrong... they're HOT. But therein lies the problem. If you want to sell the calendars, that's fine. But you have to accept the consequences, and also be honest about what they are. The whole attempt to pass them off as broadening people's views of Mormonisms and shattering stereotypes seems like a huge farce to me.

D-Train said...

"tacky, controversially tongue-in-cheek skin calendar?"

How dare you talk about my Christmas gift like that! :P J/K. The guys weren't cute enough to warrant a purchase in my opinion.

Max and I met the guy that made the calendar at LA Pride, and you might be surprised how relatively normal he is.

I personally have not been to any gay conferences (unless LA or Long Beach Pride count), but I personally would recommend coming down for Anaheim Gay Days in October instead. It's the first weekend in October, which means there won't be any Mormons there!

Anonymous said...

Wow, I am really intrigued by you and your desire/capacity to straddle those two worlds. I thought I was unique because I attend Sunstone and Education Week back to back. And I love to do it cause each offers things that the other lacks, and I always feel a sense of well-rounded expansiveness when it's all finished.

I look forward to hearing your report of affirmative green-ness. Heaven knows we need expansive souls who can bridge these very different communities. Be that soul. I dare you.

Saint Job said...

you're a funny man O.M.

JonJon said...

I'm so glad there will be dueling gay conferences in SLC. What makes me happiest of all is that I will actually be in SLC that weekend for a wedding. I'm pretty sure I wouldn't pay money to attend either one. Does anyone know if there are options for auditing either conference? :) Or am I going to have to sneak in?