HOW PUNK FEMINISM SAVED MY LIFE, ETC.

For the Birds is headed to Ladyfest Philly this weekend to present our workshop Winging It: Nurturing Authentic Communication in Feminist Organizing for the second time (the first time was at last year's C.L.I.T. Fest). I wrote about some of my own experiences in feminist organizing, as well as the workshop for The Media.

The Media was established by Liz Pelly and Faye Orlove in the wake of The Boston Phoenix. Read Liz Pelly's super-satisfying inaugural article about their choice to create The Media here, and an interview with its creators at the Voice. The piece I wrote is in Issue 5, a Ladyfest Philly preview issue. It's a great one, and Katie Alice Greer's piece on community spaces is one of my favorite  things I've read in recent memory.

For more Ladyfest info, check out their website.
For information on For the Birds' Ladyfest workshop, go here or here.

PERMANENT WAVE FEST

Poster courtesy Permanent Wave

SATURDAY, AUG. 18, 2012

PERMANENT WAVE FEST: DAY 2
Big Snow Buffalo Lodge
89 Varet Street, Brooklyn, New York 11206

2:15pm: How to Succeed in Show Booking Without Really Crying 

There are quite a few ladies putting on badass DIY shows in NYC that showcase female musicians. We've rounded some of them up for a discussion about all the elements that go into putting on successful shows, from working with bands and venues to promoting to ensuring that the event is a safe space. Bring your questions!

Presented by Kiri Oliver (Permanent Wave), Heidi Vanderlee (Permanent Wave), Niina Pollari (Permanent Wave, Mustard Beak), Mindy Abovitz (Tom Tom Magazine), and Kate Wadkins (For the Birds Collective, International Girl Gang Underground)

For information on the other workshops & RSVP, see FACEBOOK or BUST MAGAZINE

TEEN ZINE WORKSHOP

Last night, Kate Angell and I took the Metro North to Westport, Connecticut, to host a Teen Zine Workshop! It was my first time working with 12-18 year-olds (since I was that age), and it was a really amazing experience.







Kate and I went on a shopping spree at Bluestockings this Tuesday so we could bring the Westport girls some zines to take home with them.



Zines ranged from "Diary of a 13-year-old Foodie" to "Gymnasts" to "Dear Beats," a music review zine, a zine list of favorite people, "Everything Under the Sun," and more. There was even a comic that I didn't get a picture of!









Thanks so much to Jaina and the Westport Library!



Can you imagine if you had this tote when you were a teenager? I mean, I'm jealous now!

WE DID IT!

[photos via for the birds collective]

Cross-posted with FOR THE BIRDS:

The Queer Eye for the DIY workshop we did at Visions in Feminism was a major success! There was super-smart audience participation, we received really great feedback, and we even got interviewed by The Nation and the Washington City Paper! We also met a bunch of nice folks and sold lots of stuff at the distro table. Thank you DC, for such an awesome Saturday. Photos from the workshop can be found on For the Birds' flickr, or on the gallery of our website.

FTB @ VISIONS IN FEMINISM CONFERENCE

I'm crossposting something I blogged about on FOR THE BIRDS. Myself and some other Birds will be presenting at a conference this weekend. Here's the info:

FOR THE BIRDS feminist collective + distro will be both tabling and presenting at the upcoming Visions in Feminism conference in Washington, DC on April 4th, 2009. Our workshop, "Queer Eye for the DIY," is in the 2:00PM-3:30PM timeslot.

More info on the conference can be found at: http://vifconference.wordpress.com/

From the website:

Visions in Feminism is a local conference held annually in the DC area since 2001. Originally hosted by the University of Maryland, the conference has been held at American University for the last three years. Each year Visions in Feminism seeks to provide a forum for diverse perspectives on feminist praxis.