FAQ
Where will the Conference be held?
The event will be online on Zoom due to the pandemic. The time zone on the schedule is CEST – it is the same time zone like Berlin in Germany. People from many time zones will join and people may enter and leave for any time to have their lunch breaks.
We will use the accessibility features of this platform. There will be live transcription in all sessions except the workshops since Zoom doesn’t offer this feature in breakout rooms.
What does “queer” mean?
There are several definitions of this word. We suggest the one of Michael Warner: The Trouble With Normal (1999) quoted in Meg-John Barker, Julia Scheele in Queer A Graphic History (2016): “We queer things when we resist ‘regimes of the normal’, the ‘normative’ ideals of aspiring to be normal in identity, behaviour, appearance, relationships etc.”
Do I have to identify as LGBTQIA+ to attend IQBC?
No. Everyone is invited who is interested in this conference. We believe that many topics are interesting for allies and the entire Buddhist Community.
Is it really the first Conference of its kind?
In fact, we don’t believe that. We hope that this will be part of a series of conferences which will hopefully take place in the future online or on different continents.
Why do I have to register via Eventbrite?
We need to know how many participants will join the conference and we will need a way to contact you to send you the Zoom links. We will send the links a few days before the conference starts. In the unlikely case that during the conference the Zoom platform has technical problems, we will contact you via Eventbrite if those problems have been solved.
Will there be Recordings of the Sessions and will there be Proceedings?
Some sessions will be recorded. We will spotlight the speakers so that participants are not visible. Q&A is not recorded. There will be proceedings published on this website.
Mindful and compassionate Communication in this Conference
Online discussions in times of social media are becoming politically and ideologically charged, and these political battles can be very personal and very emotional. This can easily become a toxic outrage culture, a form of public awareness that aims to hold individuals and groups accountable by calling attention to behavior that is perceived to be problematic. We believe that this can be used to divide communities – including the queer community. Instead, we should see this conference as an exercise in mindful and compassionate communication and would like to encourage everyone to re-read what the Buddha taught about right speech.
Mindfulness can be practiced also on Zoom: take a deep breath, check your intention, raise your hand virtually, wait until it is your turn to speak, unmute yourself before you are speaking, then mute yourself afterwards, lower your hand virtually to give other people a possibility to speak, too.
We believe that this conference will be a place for peacemaking in the community. But in case you feel harrassed or insulted by someone in the Zoom meeting please ask the Zoom Hosts or Co-Hosts for help.
How can I attend a Workshop?
We will use Zoom-breakout sessions for Workshops. You are free to choose the breakout room by clicking “Breakout Rooms”. If you don’t see the Breakout Rooms button at the bottom right of the window, maximize your screen, or find Breakout Rooms under More (…). Then you will see the names of rooms and participants who have already joined them. You can join a room by hovering over the blue number link and clicking “Join.” This video shows how to do this in minute 2:50. When you want to leave the breakout room you can click “Leave”, then “Leave Breakout Room”, to return to the main session window. Workshop sessions are not recorded and any recording is prohibited.
Breakout rooms will be created 15 to 20 minutes before the beginning. At this time, the hosts of the workshop will use it for preparation. So please wait to enter the breakout room until 5 minutes before the beginning of the session.
Can we use the Zoom Chat?
Yes. At the beginning of each Q&A / workshop the moderator will announce whether questions can be written in the public chat or should be sent to the moderator. Please don’t use the public chat for bilateral communication since others’ questions and comments could get lost.
We hope that this conference is a chance to get in touch with old friends but also to make new ones. So if you want to chat with someone we recommend to use the private message feature: https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/203650445-In-Meeting-Chat
What else do I have to know about Zoom?
We chose this platform since many people are familiar with it and many videos on the internet explain how to use the platform. During the conference, it will be very difficult to explain Zoom functions since the user interface differs according to the device and the language of the user language. We recommend getting familiar with Zoom features like entering breakout rooms. If you want to read the live transcription please press the “Live Transcript” button in the zoom control bar. It may be possible that you will have to use the “Live Transcript” button again after a workshop. Last but not least we recommend to update the Zoom client to its latest version like it is described here.
In Zoom, you can virtually raise your hand to signal that you have a question or comment. In some workshops and Q&A this feature may be used. After you made your question or comment you should lower it by clicking “Lower Hand”.
Especially for workshops we recommend getting familar with gallery view or active speaker view. You can switch between these as many times as you like during a meeting. Switch to gallery view to see everyone in the meeting at the same time or active speaker to see only the person speaking.
Is there anything else we should know?
Please introduce yourself with your pronoun: you can adding them to your name in Zoom. We encourage that participants use their webcams but they might also switch them off since webcams consume lots of bandwidth of your internet access point which can lead to technical problems.
What about the Social Event?
We will provide a space that allows gathering in small groups so that participants can come together to chat, network, and making new friends. We will use Spatial Chat for the social event. In Spatial Chat, you will find different rooms like an entrance hall, tea room, Buddha hall, and a forest. You can zoom in and zoom out, change the rooms, and can come together in groups. People who are standing near each other can chat. You will find a small introduction here. We will leave the Spatial Chat room open at the whole conference – so feel free to use it in breaks. Please be aware that changing from Zoom to Spatial Chat is possible but requires that you close the browser window resp. the Zoom client. Otherwise, your webcam and microphone will be still connected and not usable.
What do I need for Rebecca’s Course on Eating Meditation and Queer Body Gratitude?
Please bring with you:
- an apple or other food or a cup of water
- yoga mat and folded blanket or pillow to lie down
In this workshop we will practice:
- Gratitude for the Body Meditation
- Looking Deeply into Your Food Meditation
- Compassionate Touch Energy Meditation
All attendees will receive free guided audio meditations to save.