7th annual iowa gay-straight alliance conference
On Saturday April 17, Iowa Pride Network will be hosting its 7th Annual Iowa Gay-Straight Alliance (GSA) Conference for high school and college students and advisors throughout the state. The conference will be held at Wells Fargo West Des Moines Campus, located on 800 South Jordan Creek Parkway, West Des Moines from 9:00 AM until 4:30PM. Check-in will begin at 9:00 AM, and the conference will start promptly at 9:30 AM. This is a FREE conference! Lunch will be provided to all registered attendees.
EARLY REGISTRATION DEADLINE FOR FREE T-SHIRT: April 3, 2010
General Conference Registration Deadline: April 10, 2010
REGISTER FOR THE CONFERENCE
MISSION:
The mission of the Annual Gay-Straight Alliance Conference is to celebrate the diversity and culture of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and allied (LGBTA) communities; collaborate across the spectrum of our identities and experiences; provide a safe forum to discuss challenges, issues and ideas facing LGBTA students today; and empower students to build not only successful student organizations, but healthy and productive lives.
NEW TO THE CONFERENCE:
This year we are honored to welcome Pride Players to perform at the GSA Conference! Pride Players is a teen theater troupe at the Rose Theater in Omaha that uses improvisation to create a theater piece about being a gay, lesbian, transgendered, bisexual, questioning, or straight allied teen in Omaha. Pride Players won a 2006 Human and Civil Rights Award from the National Education Association. We’re excited to have them attend the GSA Conference, and if you’re interested they will also be running a workshop to show other students how they can start their own LGBTA theater troupe!
CONFERENCE NEWS:
To accommodate the increasing numbers of students attending the conference, and to continue to make the conference relevant to the needs of the students and advisors who attend, the Iowa Pride Network is calling for workshop proposals (workshop proposals from high school and college students are especially sought, as our aim is to increase the amount of peer-to-peer education and networking. If you are interested in presenting at the 7th Annual GSA Conference or would like more information, please download a workshop proposal form.
For those who wish to receive a FREE Iowa Pride Network T-shirt, please register on or by the EARLY REGISTRATION DEADLINE: April 3rd. Those whom register after the 3rd but by April 10th will still be able to attend the conference but will NOT receive a free t-shirt. The official conference registration will end on April 10th if you plan to attend the conference you must be registered by April 10, 2010.
Also returning to the conference this year are our College LGBT Group/Organization information tables. Tables will be set up for Iowa colleges and university LGBT groups and business organizations to display information about their groups and to provide information to prospective students. If you would like a table for your business, college or university LGBT group, please visit www.iowapridenetwork.org and fill out a College/University Information Table Application.
(A $150 fee for non-college groups is required).
Again, this conference is FREE and is sure to be a tremendous networking and community-building opportunity. If you or members of your group are able to attend please register online or download the Registration Form and mail it to:
Iowa Pride Network
777 Third Street, Suite 312
Des Moines, IA 50309
More questions or need more info: Call the Iowa Pride Network office at 515-471-8063
or email Rachel at rachel@iowapridenetwork.org
