Official International Wrong Planet Conference / Festival

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Yeah. I for one, think it would be neat to see if we can read each other's body language just fine, like if we really do just speak a different body language.

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Anyway, speaking of the festival...has anyone made any progress organizing? I feel like there was a flurry of activity for a week or two...then nothing.

You can obviously read minds ...that is something I wondered as well, and can tell you from experience that I am able to read my aspie friends' body language, because I UNDERSTAND the thought processes behind it. It's strange to think of it that way, but you may be on to something.... we have our own *language* ?? Something to ponder, no doubt!

P.S. I love it when people put their scores... you included type theory as well... I'm an INFP!

I'd definately be interested in attending such an event. Maybe we could invite experts in the field like Tony Attwood and Temple Grandin etcetera for a panel offering Q&A and practical advise. It would take alot of planning and work. I'm trying to organize an Autism walk in my area which is challenging. This would be a much bigger comittment/challenge.

Sadly, it seems like right around the time the thread got stickied, it dropped off a lot of people's radars and lets face it, most of us pay a lot less daily attention to the stickies up top, than the stuff moving around that is actively being participated in. I'm thinking one of those cases where the sticky wasn't such a great idea, even if it made the thread easier to find for those that know about it. Just my 2 cents

yes, strange phenomenon.


factotum666, do you have the go-ahead to connect your site with the conference?

I would love to go, but I´m in Peru....

When would it be?!

Saludos!

mary

1 ) Re. this thread being invisible now that it's a sticky:

I only just spotted it today, because I got a subliminal impression that there were more stickies than usual, but I totally missed it whenever it was "live". ...

I think it could do with a bolder title in capital letters and more exclamation marks, or being put back in the "live" threads and kept alive by alex or other seriously involved participants bumping/adding info/ideas etc AND

... as several people have suggested, a temporary separate forum for it and other related threads as the sub-committees form, or several new stickies with titles clearly indicating which aspect of the project they relate to.

2 ) Re. what the point of such an event would be ( was it aussibloke who was asking? ) :

I totally identify with that "puzzlement". :lol

In what ways would this "new and cool" event, as described by alex, differ from the 2 already existing 3-4-day conferences run/created/organised annually by and for people on or near the autism spectrum, ( and which welcome non-AS family members/carers etc where interested ) which are:

Autscape in the UK ( which attracts about 70 people each year, quite a few of them from the rest of Europe and further away, KenG in Israel for instance ), and Autreat in the USA?

I went to Autscape once, and got a 30% reduction on the fee because I gave a presentation. But although I was and still am grateful to Autscape for giving me the opportunity to talk to 45 odd people about my special interest :lol I didn't "get it". It was pleasant, the people were nice, but most of the presentations didn't interest me, ( as I suspect mine didn't interest more than a couple of people ), and I have still not been able to work out who Autscape is for REALLY! ...

I think that it may be mainly for the people on the autism spectrum who organise and run it, because so few people on the spectrum, at least those on WP, seem to have the money and/or the skills/energy/confidence/time whatever to attend anything not taking place in their own/home town, UNLESS it is to do with their special interest ... ie. perhaps Autscape and Autreat appeal to people whose special interest is autism or some subject relating to it ... eg. when I went to Autscape I was still obsessed by diet/nutrition and mental health and neurological functioning.

If not interested in autism or a related subject, and not actively involved in organising and running it, then my impression is that these conferences are actually "simply" rather large social events which make little sense if are unlikely to be able to meet up again with the contacts made ... UNLESS succeed in attracting so many hundreds, even a few thousand people ( as at early Glastonbury, as KenG suggested in 2009 when several of us tried to organise a large European event for WP members, and eneded up with 8 people in Avignon for 2-4 days :lol ) that could break the event up into a cluster of "special interest" groups, as someone else already posted, with the subject matters based more or less on WP forum/message board categories.

3 ) Re. it being in the USA:

In light of the powers now vested in the Homeland Security and similar anti-"terrorist" organisations in the USA, and the increasingly heavily armed police with increasingly unrestricted rights to search and detention etc, ( and its record of killing innocent children, American citizens without a trial, and many hundreds and thousands and more other people in so many countries ), I actually wouldn't want to risk stepping onto north american soil right now, or in any way exposing myself to the vagueries of its justice system, however much I'd love to visit the country at some point.

If the conference was held somewhere truly international, ie. a country which genuinely encourages diversity, supports difference, does not send its military all over the world killing people who disagree with its agenda/actively resist its hegemony ... I might come!
.

According to the CIRI:

:lol

Costa Rica spends no money on defence/military at all for example. It abolished its army in 1949.

I don't know where Costa Rica ranks on their list, but it can't be much below these. It has an excellent healthcare system, and is one of the 27 oldest true democracies in the world.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Costa_Rica and http://wikitravel.org/en/Costa_Rica

A small country, with a warm climate, beautiful beaches, amazing wildlife, etc, one which embodies the principles of non-violent relationship with other countries by having no military at all, etc etc etc, which gets 90% of its energy from sustainable/renewable sources, and is one of the foremost sites of ecotourism in the world, might be very interested in hosting, perhaps even promoting and supporting, the world's first truly international autism festival/conference ( if alex really is "dreaming a little bigger" here than Autscape or Autreat ). ...

You don't need a visa to visit it, and I see that there are return flights from the USA to San José, its capital city, for a couple of hundred dollars ( 229$ on one site ).

To get there cheaply from Europe it looks as if would have to go via the USA, ( on a cheap flight ), and I don't know whether that would mean having to get a visa for the USA, and/or if it would involve passing through those airport scanners and/or full body-searches that the USA now engages in, or whether simply changing from one flight to another doesn't require all that? And of course it would therefore be more expensive for us here in Europe than if it were held in the USA. But for people in the USA, who would most of them have to spend quite a bit on travel anyway it might not increase their budget that much ...

You can get lunch in Costa Rica ( eg. Gallo Pinto or Casado/a plus a fresh fruit juice ) for under 5$.

Perhaps hotels would be significantly cheaper too ( enough to make up for the extra spent on getting there for people from Europe etc ? ) ? ... And what a destination, the only country ( other than Grenada and a few other microscopic places ) in the world without a military! :lol Perfect for an autism festival.

Edit: Wow! Out of 78 hotels in San José listed on Trip Advisor, 33 are less than 39£/night, ( and another 39 are still under 52£/night ). There are hostels for less than 10£/night ... guest houses for 3£!

.

It would seem that many things should be considerd when having a conference like this. Besides how "good" the country is, things like where does everybody reside should be a factor. That plus where likely attendees would originate from.

Let us say for example that the largest nunber of members of WP are citizens of Elbonia. That would argue for having the conference in Elbonia. But if all members of Elbonia are poor, and their country lacks inexpensive transportation and lodging, or for other reasons elbonians would not be attending, like the state religion prohibits elbonians attending conferences where girls and boys will co-mingle, then that is a good argument not to have the conference in elbonia.

Has anybody taken any information on this, and possibly other related topics.

factotum:

Im in ! Consider me the first to sign up. And as im either Sociopathic or have no sense of Ego, you can shout whatever you like about me over an Intercom with a bullhorn pointed into it! Besides, id rather anyone Im getting involved with know what theyre getting into. Less dissapointment that way. And as for the ppl that wouldnt be compatable? Well , who wants to talk to the people you arent compatable with, for goodness sakes? Screw em, let em think what they want!

Ouinon: Unfortunately for us here in the USA, Finances are at an all time low. I mean money REALLY REALLY sucks here. And at the end of the day while I agree with you totally on a philosophical level, financial concerns are going to make such things a far less esoteric decision.

I'm reviewing how this thread has been going. I'm very busy with a lot of commitments but am still very interested in participating if enough people are willing to put in the effort to make it happen.

The thread seems to have moved in an odd direction, so I'm not sure what everyone is thinking.

we're awaiting orders. not too many aspies are natural organisers, due to our executive function deficits, so we usually need clear and specific direction in small chunks. we want to be involved but don't really have any idea where to go from here.

since you're here... do you know anything about factotum666's idea for having some kind of dating service involved with the conference? i'm gonna splice it out of the thread if it is not approved as i don't want to encourage people to share personal information with an unknown quantity.

I'm unfamiliar with it.

I love the idea of the conference, but it will be no small venture. Many, many people would have to be willing to dedicate enormous amounts of time to it, and I feel like a lot of people lost interest.

I was waiting to see if people would step into leadership positions and break up separate team threads like the one I demonstrated.

Not a lot of people jumped at the opportunity. No blame cast though. This kind of event requires absolutely Herculean effort and enormous teamwork. It is a big leap of faith. It could work though...

I've been lurking this thread regularly. I made a demo of the Brainstorm design logo but never received a definite enough response to it to go ahead with making a final official logo. If I get an approval on that, then it'd be something to tag onto solicitations from sponsors, etc.

But the questions linger. Who is organizing? Who has the final word? Should I PM alex about all that? I just don't want to commit 25 hours into designing something only to have the details need changing, or to find that it won't get used at all.

I would encourage you to pm Alex. I talked to him briefly about it on the phone the other day and he is still enthusiastic but I'm not sure he has the time to make it happen. If he wants to head up this whole thing he won't be sleeping or eating much for awhile. It will take A TON of time and energy. The only way it will work is if we have a very large and coordinated team of people... as in dozens and dozens.