Jump to content
  • Welcome to the TransPulse Forums!

    We offer a safe, inclusive community for transgender and gender non-conforming folks, as well as their loved ones, to find support and information.  Join today!

Keystone Conference 2022


Sally Stone

Recommended Posts

Good news on the conference front.  TCPA (Trans Central Pennsylvania) has announced plans for the Keystone Conference in 2022.  The website is up https://www.keystone-conference.org/ and the dates are March 23-27.  

 

It's been too long since the last conference and I miss so many of my friends.  I plan to be there.  Maybe, I'll even be asked to present again this year.  It will be nice to have the conference back.

 

I know I've mentioned this before, that Keystone is a great conference for all, but it is especially great for anyone just coming out.

Link to comment
  • Forum Moderator

Than you for bring this up Sally.  I have never been there but have been interested.  At one point i went by as it was going on.  I  was in the  as i was showing some paintings nearby and saw the streets full of folks who were obviously enjoying themselves as gender diverse people.  Perhaps i may have the chance to be one of those folks.

I got on the mailing list.

Hugs,

 

Charlize

Link to comment
  • Admin

Thanks for letting us know, Sally.  I hope its a roaring success.

 

Carolyn Marie

Link to comment
  • Forum Moderator

You know what? I promised myself that I'd attend the next one and it happens on my freaking Birthday. I'm GOING in 2022. Joined the mailing list. Ready to rock-and-roll.

 

Hugs!

Link to comment
  • Admin

I have wanted to go to that one but it is the other side of the country from me.  Maybe by that time I will be able to make that long a trip again.  (I have been to Atlanta and Ft. Lauderdale).  I have other friends that have gone to it in the past.

Link to comment
  • Forum Moderator

If you do make it let me know.  I'm about 45 to 50 min. away from Philly with extra bedrooms.

 

Hugs,

 

Charlize

Link to comment

We should all stay in touch regarding our plans, because it would so awesome to have a Trans Pulse meet and greet sometime during the conference.  If I do a workshop this year, I'll be sure to let everyone know.  Anyone attending can join me for the workshop. 

 

Now, I'm really excited!

Link to comment
  • Forum Moderator
1 hour ago, Sally Stone said:

We should all stay in touch regarding our plans, because it would so awesome to have a Trans Pulse meet and greet sometime during the conference.

 

You're right, it absolutely would. Woot!

 

Hugs!

Link to comment

Just thought I'd let anyone who thinks they might be attending Keystone know that the Sheraton has started taking room reservations for the conference.  Not sure what this year will look like but the rooms sold out really fast in previous years.  If you want to stay at the conference hotel and get the conference rate, you should act fast.

 

You can make a room reservation through the Trans Central website, which is in my post at the top of this thread.

Link to comment
  • 4 weeks later...

Update:

I'm thinking this year's conference is going to be well attended judging by how quickly the conference hotel sold out.  There are no rooms available at the Sheraton for conference weekend.  However, there are several other hotels nearby, a couple within walking distance.  Every year they do a great conference "overflow" business and in many cases, the room rates are better than those offered by the event hotel.  

 

I'm still waffling about facilitating a workshop this year; fortunately, I don't have to commit until the end of December.  In years past my workshop has been titled: "Making the Most of Part-time Womanhood," but I'm thinking it is time to refresh the workshop so that it is more inclusive.  If I do the workshop this year, I plan to tile it: "Making the Most of Your Gender Expression." Instead of focusing on my experiences as a part-time woman, I think it is important to expand the discussion to all gender self-expression experiences.  So many of the personal experiences I have spoken of in previous workshops are applicable to all genders.  The greatest number of Keystone Conference attendees are still trans women, but each year there is a growing population of attendees whose gender identities span the spectrum.  It only makes sense that my workshop should support them as well.

Link to comment
  • 2 months later...
  • Forum Moderator

A friend is presenting a workshop on wigs and i'm going to be be a model for a video she is doing.  Being a bald trans woman has the occasional advantage.  At this point i can only hope that Covid takes a break or i won't even consider going in person.  With my wife and i to consider i simply can't risk it so being in a video may be my only presence there.😒.

 

Hugs,

 

Charlize

Link to comment

Right now the organizers are taking a wait and see approach.  Hopefully, this surge will die down so the event won't have to be cancelled or scaled way back.  The other big conference, First Event, had to scale back, but this is due to the fact the conference is scheduled for January.  

 

Charlize, I'm looking forward to the video, but it would be so much better to meet in person.  I am still planning to go to Keystone in March.  I hope COVID has settled back down before then.

Link to comment
  • 2 weeks later...

On this past Saturday, Keystone opened registration.  At this point, the conference is a go.  I have been asked to be one of the restaurant hostesses for the Friday night dinners in downtown Harrisburg.  I will be one of the hostesses for "Café Fresco," one of several restaurant choices.  In years past, Friday dinner night has always been extremely well-attended.  

 

Because there is still some uncertainty regarding COVID, refund and cancellation rules have been updated this year.  Hopefully, this latest surge will have run its course by conference time.

Link to comment
  • Forum Moderator

I really hope so. I've got my room. I'm registered. I'm going to be so very disappointed if we have to go virtual.

 

Hugs!

Link to comment
  • 1 month later...

As this year's conference grows near, I am excited it is happening.  I think I mentioned this before, but I have been involved in this conference every year since it began, so except for the COVID cancelled years, it is a perfect streak for me.  This year, however, the conference is going to be different for me.  Last year, I lost two dear friends, both of them integral parts of my personal Keystone history.  First, is my best friend Willa, who passed in November.  Years ago, she and I attended a spring formal in Harrisburg, PA together and it was there we met the girls from the TransCentral PA organization.  At that event they told us their spring formal was going to morph into the Keystone Conference, the following year.  

 

One of the TransCentral girls I met that first year was Katie Ward.  She was a TransCentral officer and over the years, she and I became best friends.  She and I spent lots of time together supporting the conference, but we also got together several times a year for girl's weekends.  Katie was an amazing woman, but sadly and suddenly she passed away last year.

 

So, it is with a heavy heart that I attend Keystone 2022, because two of my best girlfriends won't be there.  I'll miss them both, but the upside is that I will get to see a lot of other close friends that I've missed since the COVID plague has kept us all apart.  It won't be quite the same without Willa and Katie, but I plan to celebrate them by remembering the great times we had.  Rest peacefully, ladies.  I love you and I miss you both.❤️

Link to comment
  • 1 month later...

Well, it's been a week since the Keystone Conference concluded, and like so many years past, I'm left with so many fond memories.  I have to say that one of the highlights for me this year was getting to meet our very own Jackie C in person. Jackie, it was a pleasure meeting you and I will cherish the time we spent hanging out together and chatting.  If I'm gushing stop me, but I thought you were absolutely adorable.  

 

Keystone this year, was a bit different in that there were so many first time attendees.  Because of this, I got to meet a whole bunch of new friends.  Friday evening I played hostess for the downtown dinner crawl.  I was supposed to have 20 people in my restaurant group but when we finally sat down to eat at Café Fresco, there were only eight of us.  It turned out to be an intimate group and I think it helped us get to know each other.  It was so much fun herding my "cats" onto the bus, off the bus when we arrived at the restaurant, and then back onto the bus for the trip home later that evening.  I think everyone had lots of fun.

 

On Saturday evening, the conference Gala had us all dressing in our finest evening wear.  The outfits were all spectacular.  I danced and drank too much, but these were things were the result of having so much fun.  

 

If you've never attended a trans conference before, you owe it to yourself to go, and I am certain, anyone attending the Keystone Conference would not be disappointed.

Link to comment

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Who's Online   7 Members, 0 Anonymous, 83 Guests (See full list)

    • Heather Shay
    • Mirrabooka
    • Ashley0616
    • Betty K
    • AllieJ
    • April Marie
    • Petra Jane
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
  • Forum Statistics

    • Total Topics
      80.5k
    • Total Posts
      767.2k
  • Member Statistics

    • Total Members
      11,942
    • Most Online
      8,356

    taxicab
    Newest Member
    taxicab
    Joined
  • Today's Birthdays

    1. Amyjay
      Amyjay
      (58 years old)
    2. bettyjean
      bettyjean
    3. Breanna
      Breanna
      (52 years old)
    4. Emily Ayla
      Emily Ayla
    5. JET182
      JET182
  • Posts

    • Heather Shay
    • Heather Shay
      Having just a normal emotional day.
    • Heather Shay
      AMUSEMENT The feeling when you encounter something silly, ironic, witty, or absurd, which makes you laugh. You have the urge to be playful and share the joke with others. Similar words: Mirth Amusement is the emotional reaction to humor. This can be something that is intended to be humorous, like when someone tells a good joke or when a friend dresses up in a ridiculous costume. But it can also be something that you find funny that was not intended to be humorous, like when you read a sign with a spelling error that turns it into an ironic pun. For millennia, philosophers and scholars have been attempting to explain what exactly it is that makes something funny. This has led to several different theories. Nowadays, the most widely accepted one is the Incongruity Theory, which states that something is amusing if it violates our standards of how things are supposed to be. For example, Charlie Chaplin-style slapstick is funny because it violates our norms of competence and proper conduct, while Monty Python-style absurdity is funny because it violates reason and logic. However, not every standard or norm violation is necessarily funny. Violations can also evoke confusion, indignation, or shock. An important condition for amusement is that there is a certain psychological distance to the violation. One of the ways to achieve this is captured by the statement ‘comedy is tragedy plus time’. A dreadful mistake today may become a funny story a year from now. But it can also be distant in other ways, for instance, because it happened to someone you do not know, or because it happens in fiction instead of in real life. Amusement also needs a safe and relaxed environment: people who are relaxed and among friends are much more likely to feel amused by something. A violation and sufficient psychological distance are the basic ingredients for amusement, but what any one person find funny will depend on their taste and sense of humor. There are dozens of ‘humor genres’, such as observational comedy, deadpan, toilet humor, and black comedy. Amusement is contagious: in groups, people are more prone to be amused and express their amusement more overtly. People are more likely to share amusement when they are with friends or like-minded people. For these reasons, amusement is often considered a social emotion. It encourages people to engage in social interactions and it promotes social bonding. Many people consider amusement to be good for the body and the soul. By the end of the 20th century, humor and laughter were considered important for mental and physical health, even by psychoneuroimmunology researchers who suggested that emotions influenced immunity. This precipitated the ‘humor and health movement’ among health care providers who believed that humor and laughter help speed recovery, including in patients suffering from cancer1). However, the evidence for health benefits of humor and laughter is less conclusive than commonly believed2. Amusement is a frequent target of regulation: we down-regulate it by shifting our attention to avoid inappropriate laughter, or up-regulate it by focusing on a humorous aspect of a negative situation. Interestingly, amusement that is purposefully up-regulated has been found to have the same beneficial physical and psychological effects as the naturally experienced emotion. Amusement has a few clear expressions that emerge depending on the intensity of the emotion. When people are mildly amused, they tend to smile or chuckle. When amusement intensifies, people laugh out loud and tilt or bob their head. The most extreme bouts of amusement may be accompanied by uncontrollable laughter, tears, and rolling on the floor. Most cultures welcome and endorse amusement. Many people even consider a ‘good sense of humor’ as one of the most desirable characteristics in a partner. At the same time, most cultures have (implicit) rules about what is the right time and place for amusement. For example, displays of amusement may be deemed inappropriate in situations that demand seriousness or solemness, such as at work or during religious rituals.
    • Heather Shay
    • Heather Shay
    • Heather Shay
    • April Marie
      Good morning, everyone!!! Two cups of coffee in the books and I am just feeling so wonderful this morning. Not sure why, but I'm happy and smiling.   Enjoy this beautiful day!!!
    • Heather Shay
      A U.S. dollar bill can be folded approximately 4,000 times in the same place before it will tear. -You cannot snore and dream at the same time. -The average person walks the equivalent of three times around the world in a lifetime. -A hippo’s wide open mouth is big enough to fit a 4-foot-tall child in. -Chewing gum while you cut an onion will help keep you from crying.
    • Susan R
      Love it! This is great news. We need more of this to combat the excessive hate-filled rhetoric and misinformation. 👍
    • Susan R
      The experience was the same for me @April Marie. I slept much deeper and I woke up each morning feeling so much more restful sleeping with forms solidly in place. For me, wearing breast forms at night started when before I was a teenager. I had no access up to modern breast forms and certainly no way to buy mastectomy bras back then. I wore a basic bra my mom had put in a donation box and two pairs of soft cotton socks. I have some crazy memories of things I did in my youth to combat my GD but regardless, these makeshift concoctions helped me work through it all.   All My Best, Susan R🌷
    • awkward-yet-sweet
      Colorado isn't exactly a Republican place, and won't become one anytime soon.  I think those folks might be better off not spending their time playing Don Quixote.    We certainly have our share of California "refugees" moving into where I live, so I wouldn't be surprised to start seeing Coloradans too.  I suspect the trend over the next few years will see the blue areas getting more blue and the red areas getting more red as anybody who can relocate tries to find a place where they fit better.   
    • awkward-yet-sweet
      Well, at least it'll be a place some folks could choose.  Options are a good thing.
    • awkward-yet-sweet
      My family would have gobbled that jar up in a minute or two.  When we do have pickled herring, its usually for Christmas.  I didn't grow up with that particular dish, but I grew up in a Greek family so I like just about any kind of fish if I can get it.  However, ocean fish and freshwater fish taste so different.  We usually have more catfish and tilapia to eat than anything else.    What I can't quite get used to is the tons of cabbage my GF insists on eating.  When you live with a Russian, there is always cabbage soup.  Always.  When I first moved in with her, breakfast was "shchi" for soup and either bread or "kasha" which is a bowl of boiled buckwheat with butter and salt.  Those dishes can be made in any number of ways, some are better than others.  In the winter, it can even be salty and sour like kraut.  Not exactly sauerkraut, but packed in tubs with vinegar and salt so it keeps partially for the winter.  But I drew the line when the cabbage soup included pieces of fried snake one day.  😆
    • Ashley0616
      Good evening to you as well @Mmindy   That is awesome that you have support from her side. My dad has communicated with me once and that was because he was forced to. His new wife wanted to spend time with my kids. He hated me so much he was in the process of taking my rights away as a parent to my two boys. He was talking to a lawyer and I called him out on it. I don't love him at all. I'll respect him because I wouldn't be here without him but I wished I had another father. My uncles don't talk to me and unfriended me on Facebook. Almost all cousins except for two are still Facebook friends but they don't give me any support. My mom said she won't support me with that but she has said that she loves me. I have nieces and nephews that are still Facebook friends but they have yet to talk to me. I have one sister that supports me out of three. The other's disrespect me by deadnaming me. They have never called me their sister. I think for them they think it's still a phase. They don't ask questions about me being trans. I have to bring it up and on the look of their faces they don't look comfortable about it. 
    • Mmindy
      Good evening @Ashley0616,   I just got offline with HP tech support trying to get my printer tool box icon locked to my tool bar. This is one of the most important features of my printer that I like because it keeps track of ink, paper, and scanned documents. I'm diffidently not a computer geek.   I'll catch up with the other bookmarks next week. We leave to go home for the Easter Holiday with our families. Saturday with her side, and Sunday with my side. What's odd about that is I'm out to more of her side and they're reluctantly supportive. My side on the other hand are less supportive, and my sister just under me in age will not acknowledge my being there. She will be constantly moving to keep from dealing with me. I'm dead to her.   Hugs,   Mindy🌈🐛🏳️‍⚧️🦋  
  • Upcoming Events

Contact TransPulse

TransPulse can be contacted in the following ways:

Email: Click Here.

To report an error on this page.

Legal

Your use of this site is subject to the following rules and policies, whether you have read them or not.

Terms of Use
Privacy Policy
DMCA Policy
Community Rules

Hosting

Upstream hosting for TransPulse provided by QnEZ.

Sponsorship

Special consideration for TransPulse is kindly provided by The Breast Form Store.
×
×
  • Create New...