Online Registration Closes 1/16
First Event online registration will close Friday, January 16 at 11:59 pm. After that you must register in person at the conference. After online registration closes, evening meals and entertainment may be sold out since we must give the hotel numbers before the conference begins. Thursday evening is likely to be sold out. If you want to guarantee that you can come to any one of the evening events you must preregister online. If you decide to walk in and pay at the conference, evening events, if available, will be $70 each. Register now online and they are only $60.
Zukowski Scholarship in Memory of Jessica Garabedian
Dr. & Mrs. Mark Zukowski and family are presenting two community scholarships in memory of Jessica Garabedian, patient, friend, business woman, musician and longtime fixture in the Boston transgender community, who passed away unexpectedly March 20, 2014.
These two awards will go to deserving trans folk who are musicians, since Jessica was perhaps best known for her rock band, Temptress.
The scholarship awards are unrestricted grants. If you are a musician or music student in the transgender community, fill in this form to apply for one of the $500 awards. Applications must be submitted prior to January 21, 2015. Decisions will be made by Dr. Zukowski and awards will be presented on Friday night during the Fashion Show.
First Event 2015 Community Service Awards
First Event will present two Community Service Awards on Thursday, January 22, 2015. Each year the conference recognizes one or more who have made outstanding contributions to the transgender community. In 2015, Community Service Awards will be presented to Jennifer Levi and John Warrener.
“We are so pleased to be able to recognize these two who have done so much for our transgender community over so many years,” said Grace Stevens, Co-Chair of First Event 2015. “The diversity of our awards this year, going to a lawyer and a retailer, shows the range of services instrumental to transgender journeys.”
Jennifer Levi is the director of the GLAD Transgender Rights Project and a nationally recognized expert on transgender legal issues. She co-edited Transgender Family Law: A Guide to Effective Advocacy, the first book to address legal issues facing transgender people in the family law context and provide practitioners the tools to effectively represent transgender clients. Jennifer has served as counsel in a number of precedent-setting cases establishing basic rights for transgender people, including: O’Donnabhain v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue which established that medical care relating to gender transition qualifies as a medical deduction for federal income tax purposes; Doe v. Yunits, in which she represented a transgender student denied the right to attend school because of the clothing she wore; and Adams v. Bureau of Prisons, which successfully challenged a federal prison policy excluding medical care for transgender inmates who came into the system without a transition-related medical plan, among many others. She also has worked on a number of high profile family law cases including the Miller-Jenkins case establishing full parental rights for a Vermont civil union spouse and cases in Connecticut and Massachusetts that established the right of same-sex couples to marry. See GLAD.org for more information.
John Warrener opened one of the first transgender oriented web sites in 1996. It soon grew to include a brick and mortar store in Auburn, Massachusetts and eventually expanded to include a Glamour Boutique in Las Vegas and Studio City, CA. For decades, Glamour Boutique has been the go-to resource for transgender women requiring cross dressing advice, clothing and services, especially those new to the community. In 2007 he sold the GlamourBoutique.com web site and after a five year non-compete opened a second online vendor in 2012, TGFashions.com. From shoes to wigs, John has supplied generations of transwomen both locally and nationally, and has been responsible for developing many unique new product lines. His retail store is still located in Auburn, MA. For more history see TGFashions.com/about-us.
Wednesday Concert
To celebrate our new venue at the Westin Waltham-Boston Hotel, there will be a House Warming Concert in the four-story atrium and main bar on Wednesday evening. Join us early in 2015 for a wonderful evening if music and conversation. This event is open to the public. Read more.
Volunteers Needed!
This year’s First Event promises to be the biggest and best ever! In order put on such a great conference, we need committed volunteers to help out during the conference. In return for volunteering a portion of your day we have the following:
- A Volunteer’s Only room where you can store your belongings (it will be locked). This room will also have snacks and water.
- Each volunteer will be provided lunch.
- Each volunteer will be allowed to attend any of the daytime sessions that are opposite of the shift you are volunteering for – free of charge. So if you work the morning shift, you may attend any of the conference sessions in the afternoon. And, vise versa, if you work the afternoon shift you may attend any of the morning sessions. This does not include any of the dining functions or any evening functions – those you must still pay for.
And, finally, you get to work with a great group of people!
If you are interested in volunteering, please contact our Volunteer Coordinator, Shelley Hart, by filling out and submitting the form just below.
First Event 2015 Volunteer Form: If interested, please submit your name, email, cell phone, and times available with our online form. Thank you!
Workshop Schedule Posted
The First Event 2015 Workshop Schedule (also known as the Daytime Program) has been posted. These schedules are preliminary and subject to change. Additional presentations may be added in coming weeks. A few may be withdrawn or change times. Click on a workshop title to jump to its description along with present biographies on the Workshops and Presenters list. Check back for information about our planned smartphone / tablet interface for viewing the First Event 2015 Schedule.
Register and Reserve Rooms Now to Save Your Place
First Event is booming… I mean BOOMING! Right now the hotel has only 100 rooms left for Friday night. There are more available for Saturday night, but if you want to stay right here with us at the Westin, I suggest that you book your rooms immediately! In addition, we have less than 80 tickets left for Thursday Night’s Night on the Town.
It is the week before Thanksgiving. If you register now, and book your room you will surely have something to be thankful for this year…
Grace Stevens
First Event Co-Chair
