Hotel and Registration Deadlines, Plus
Information about Individual Activities
DENVER, CO, AUGUST 8, 2012 — It’s “Crunch Time,” as the
saying goes! The last day to make hotel reservations at the Grand Hyatt Downtown
Denver and get the ifCON group rate of $115 is Tues., Aug. 14.
And the LAST CHANCE TO REGISTER for ifCON Denver
2012 is Fri., Aug. 24. In order for ifCON to get proper credit,
be sure to make your hotel reservations through our website,
www.ifcondenver2012.org, where you can also register for the
conference itself. To have your name and contact information in
the conference program, you will need to register online by Fri.,
Aug. 17. If you have questions, contact Conference Chair Alan
Esler at jinglesp@msn.com.
Below is a conference overview for those who have not yet registered, as well as for those
attending who will need to make choices about their preferred activities in certain time
slots. For other information about Denver and beyond, go to www.VisitDenver.com, or
stop by their storefront at 16th and California, three blocks from our conference hotel.
Thursday, August 30
Registration opens in the Hospitality Suite, sponsored by PFLAG
(Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays), on the
lobby level of the Grand Hyatt at 3:00 p.m., and we hope to see
the majority of you at that time. We are so excited to be hosting
you! At 6:00 p.m. we’ll be on our way to the historic mining
town of Black Hawk for a five-hour trip to Isle of Capri Casino
(back at 11:00). For only $20, you’ll get $10 in tokens, a buffet
dinner, and the roundtrip bus. Now THAT’S A BARGAIN!
Friday, August 31
Morning features a walking tour with one
of Denver’s most famous historians, Phil
Goodstein. He is the author of numerous
books about Denver’s past, and we have
asked him to include as much Asian
history as possible. The other morning
option is Denver’s Downtown Aquarium,
on the banks of the South Platte River,
whose freshwater and marine aquaria total
approximately one million US gallons.
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Friday afternoon offers a choice of two Denver-only attractions:
The “Unsinkable” Molly Brown House Museum just east of the
State Capitol OR a free tour of Rockmount Ranch Wear in LoDo.
The museum, which offers guided tours by docents in period
costume, currently features a special exhibit in commemoration
of the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic.
Rockmount was founded by Jack A. Weil, who worked daily until
his death in 2008 at age 107. Jack was to Western wear what
Henry Ford was to the car; he introduced the first commercially
made shirts with snaps and bolo ties. The Western shirts worn
in Brokeback Mountain were from Rockmount Ranch Wear,
and the two lovers’ shirts that Ennis Del Mar (Heath Ledger)
retrieves after Jack Twist’s death (Jake Gyllenhaal) were
auctioned for charity. Gay activist Tom Gregory, life partner of
GeoCities founder David Bohnett, paid $101,100.51! At the time
(Feb. 2006), Gregory told Gay.com that he will never separate
the shirts and he won’t let anyone try them on.
After dinner on your own, this day of decision-making activities ends with ifCON Denver
2012’s Opening Reception at the Grand Hyatt, sponsored by Visit Denver.
Saturday, September 1
A full day is in store for Saturday with a bus trip, departing the
hotel at 7:00 a.m., to the Royal Gorge (the grand canyon of the
Arkansas River), home to one of of the world’s highest suspension
bridges. This is the area where we’ll be whitewater rafting
and horseback riding and/or have a chance to go over the bridge.
The Arkansas is rated one of the top
whitewater rivers in the entire country,
but the rafting is open to those of all skill
levels (i.e., no previous experience required).
And let your “inner Brokeback
Mountain self” out with a morning or
afternoon of horseback riding.
We’ll have lunch in small groups,
sponsored by Beta Nightclub in lower
downtown (LoDo), which is offering free entrance (waiver of the
$15 cover charge) on Saturday night to those showing their
conference ID badge. PFLAG will be providing snacks for the
bus ride back to Denver; then dinner on your own at 7:30 p.m.
Sunday, September 2
Another day of choices begins with either the Denver Art Museum OR the annual Taste
of Colorado festival, both in Denver’s Civic Center area at the south end of downtown’s
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16th Street Mall. The Art Museum is famous for its American
Indian art, a collection of 16,000+ works representing over 100
tribes across North America — the first art museum in the U.S.
to collect American Indian arts, exhibiting these items as art
rather than anthropological artifacts. The museum’s Pre-
Columbian collection is also outstanding — and expansive —
representing nearly every major culture in Mesoamerica, lower
Central America and South America. The North Building
(1971) was designed by Geo Ponti, and the Frederic Hamilton
Addition (2006) by Daniel Libeskind.
Afternoon means more choices: the History Colorado Center
on the southeast edge of Civic Center OR the Denver Botanic
Gardens in the Capitol Hill gayborhood. History Colorado’s
new home is a 200,000-square-foot LEED-certified building
completed in April 2012 at a cost of $110 million. It’s a great
place to learn about Denver’s and Colorado’s Wild West past!
The gardens are ranked in the top-5
most visited in the country. Shofu-en,
the recently expanded Japanese Garden, includes a new Bonsai
Pavilion (open, but still in development). This year’s special
exhibit, Kizuna: West Meets East, features large site-specific
bamboo works by installation artists Tetsunori Kawana and
Stephen Talasnik. Bring $15 cash for combination group rate
($2 off) and roundtrip bus fare.
The LYCI/IFA Annual Meeting will take place 4:00–6:00 p.m.
in the Hospitality Suite. Then it’s time for the Grand Banquet
and our headliner entertainment, comedian Dat Phan, winner
of NBC’s original “Last Comic Standing” (2003). Born in Saigon
and raised in San Diego, Dat Phan lampoons stereotypes in his
comedy, and shares his experience of being a regular American
guy with a Vietnamese heritage, and we understand that he is
looking forward to playing to a gay audience.
Monday, September 3
And ifCON Denver 2012 concludes with a
Farewell Luncheon at Fogo de Chao Brazilian
Steakhouse. Conference Chair Alan Esler
reports that the Latino waiters are as outstanding as the food!
Odds ‘n’ Ends
If you wish to share a room at the hotel, go to the ifCONDENVER2012
Facebook page and let others know. For those staying an extra day,
some of us will be doing the tour of the U.S. Mint at 8:00 a.m. Tues.,
Sept. 4; to sign up: www.usmint.gov (click “Tours” & “Denver Mint”).
