Trans Camp 13th January
Trans Media Action is organising a 1-day social innovation camp!
What is it? A 1-day event to come up with ideas to improve media coverage and awareness of trans people in the UK.
Where? Channel 4, Horseferry Road, London
When? 13th January (Friday) 9.30am – 5.30pm (with drinks afterwards)
How does it work?
We’ve done some investigation into the difficulties facing our community in the media and have come up with the following questions:
- There is very little awareness of the existence of trans children. How do we change that?
- What can we do to help the media create more accurate coverage about trans people? Headlines are appalling – how can we start to change them?
- Can we find a constructive way of galvanising the trans community to report on transphobia in the media in a way that can be acted upon?
- How do we make producers of comedy aware of who they are making comedy about?
- How can we use the web to help family, friends and partners better accept and support trans people?
We think that these are some of the toughest, most important questions facing trans people and their relationship with the media today – questions, that if answered positively, can dramatically change a person’s life for the better.
We want to bring together five teams of people from a variety of backgrounds – software developers, journalists and media producers, trans people and people with trans relatives or friends, service and product designers, and innovators and social entrepreneurs. In groups, we’ll tackle these five questions and, in one day, come up with five really good, well-thought out product ideas that use web and mobile technologies and the media to make life better.
What are we looking for?
We’re looking for a handful of great, well thought-out ideas to come out of a one-day event – these could be for profit, non-profit, community interest – your imagination is the limit. We’ll support some of the ideas after the event, and, to keep things interesting, Channel 4 and a team of expert judges will choose a winner who will get £1000 to develop their idea.
Who are we looking for:
- Software Developers
- Service & product Designers
- Project managers
- Journalists and producers
- Trans people from all walks of life
- Innovators and social entrepreneurs
Why would you want to come?
- You’ll have a chance to work with some fantastic people for a whole day, being creative and helping to solve big problems for a marginalised community
- You’ll learn about the trans community and meet some wonderful people with great stories to tell
- You and your team will have the chance for your ideas to receive funding
- You’ll be wined and dined, Channel 4 style
Places are limited at this 1-day camp (50 in total) so if you would like to come, please let us know here.
We’re being helped out by our friends at Social Innovation Camp who are specialists in turning ideas into real projects.
Why do social innovation camps work?
Trackbacks
- “Trans Camp” seeks 50 bright sparks for January 13th « Trans Media Action Blog
- Trans Media Camp = Social Innovation Camp + On Road Media + Trans Media Watch | Social Innovation Camp
- Trans Camp needs your videos! « Trans Media Action Blog
- Trans Camp is looking for 2 volunteers « Trans Media Action Blog
- Trans Camp video responses – Practical Androgyny
- Talk About Local » Reflections on #Transcamp
The only criticism I would have of this laudable project is the timing.
I am working full-time, as I have been doing for the past 13.5 months, and am doing my bit in every way I can (simply by being very open) to educate those I encounter about Trans issues. I am a member of my local church, church choir and Samaritans branch – as a Listening Volunteer. I go to zumba classes twice a week. As a result of this range of activity I had 3 Christmas parties in the last 6 days. I am helping serve Christmas Dinner at my local ‘Open Christmas’ in Great Yarmouth. I have a full and meaningful life despite having had just one gender clinic appointment (the next one is in May).
My earnings, however, mean that I have to plan well ahead – and less than a month’s notice gives me no opportunity to either book time off work (I am using all my Holiday entitlement to cover the compulsory Christmas shut-down) or book transport at an affordable rate.
So well done for making the effort, but a weekend event with more notice might have enabled me to gather a car-load of people together
The last focussed gathering I attended, for example, was the GIRES Annual Meeting which was notified 3 months beforehand and gave me the chance to take a fully-transitioned friend from Great Yarmouth and an ‘about-to-go-full-time’ friend from Chelmsford, so sharing the fuel costs. All GIRES events are planned around the knowledge that financial issues stymie many trans people.
Please bear these points in mind when planning future events.
Hi Ashley
We appreciate your concerns.
Trans Media Action is a funded project which is being run to a very exacting timescale in order to fulfil the aims we agreed with our sponsors. Most of our workshops have necessarily had to be organised at quite short notice.The majority of those attending the SIC will be non-trans techie and media people. With a maximum of fifty people attending on the day, places are therefore very limited.
I hope it will reassure you somewhat that the purpose of the day is not to speak for the trans community but to facilitate ways in which many more different trans voices and different points of view can be heard in the media. When the project moves on from this initial investigative phase, this means we’ll be needing volunteers from all parts of the trans community to take part in and help with developing the different projects we hope to see emerge from this day and the other workshops we are holding. Hopefully it may also be possible to fund travel etc. so that nobody will be excluded.