BiJou 26 - BiNe Bisexuelles Netzwerk eV

BiBerlin Camp 2012
On September 23rd, 2012 the BiBerlin Camp
2012 was held on occasion of Bi Visibility Day.
The BiBerlin Camp 2012 was an event all about
bisexuality, with emphasis on queer lifestyles,
public relations, anti-discrimination, LGBT, social
networks and groups.
A BarCamp is usually organised by enthusiasts
for enthusiasts, who want to discuss and pass
on knowledge in an open environment. This was
also the case at the BiBerlin Camp. Five young
bisexuals between the ages of 26 and 34 got
together and invited to the Sonntagsclub (the
Sunday Club). We mainly wanted to appeal to
bisexuals and friends who were in the mood to
discuss and engage themselves politically. Over
30 participants showed up and they all did a
splendid job. After all, BarCamps live off of their
participants. There weren’t any planned speakers,
and sessions and topics were agreed upon
after a quick introduction round where everyone
got to briefly introduce themselves.
Together with the participants we created a
secure space where we could discuss issues and
aspects of bisexuality. The exchange between different
kinds of people with their own individual
experiences was very important to us. What was
especially nice was that the participants were
very open towards the queer-feminist stance of
the host/esses.
Topics included: queer, coming out, public relations,
relationship models, gender, and visibility.
Unfortunately everyone could only participate
in one session at a time and we had three sessions
running parallel so people had to choose,
and we felt that the decision wasn’t always easy.
Logo BiBerlin Camp
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We’re particularly pleased with the following
results of the BarCamp:
- We’re planning to organise a booth on bisexuality
at the gay-lesbian city festival 2013.
- Various groups and individuals were able
to network and plan joint activities such as cooperation
in political and public relations work
throughout Germany, by creating current and
modern flyers about bisexuality to name just one
example
- On top of that, a special forum and blog is
going to help in raising public awareness and
organising public relations for bisexuals in Germany
and beyond
There were also plenty of new experiences and
impressions, many of which will be found in future
articles or podcasts in BiJou or on the bisexuality
blog at bisexualitaet.org.
It’s been proven that the will and desire for
more visibility exists among bisexuals and that
there are activists that want to stand up for the
rights and freedoms of bisexuals.
The protocols will soon be published on the
event’s website http://biberlincamp.de. All participants
were encouraged to record the sessions,
to blog or tweet about it, or in any other way
make it available to the general public. The costs
for the event were kept to a minimum as well.
The entire event and its organisation cost far
below €100, including flyers and the website.
BiNe e.V. supported us financially so that participation
was free of charge. We would like to organise
another BiBerlin Camp next year, this time
over a span of two days with longer sessions and
only two sessions running parallel at a time. We
had specific rules for the BarCamp like a balanced
speaking list and hand signals for approval
or rejection, which we will keep for future camps
as this gives way for a fair and non-dominating
speaking culture.
Thanks to all the participants, because you
played a big part in making the BarCamp possible.
Special thanks to Frank who set up the book
table, BiNe e.V. for the funding, and the Sunday
Club that made its facilities available to us for
free.
I’ve realised that it’s not that difficult to organise
something like this and to do something
for bisexuality. You just have to really want it.
Then, even with short time and little money, something
big can be put together. And if you end
up finding a bunch of cool people to do it with
then it becomes all the more worth it. My thanks
go out to Elisa, Paula, Katha and Matthias.
John
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Flyer BiBerlin Camp