Has anyone heard what happened at the conference in London?

Hey Lindsay:
I have not personally heard anything from any of those who took part in the conference, but this press release is now on queersport indicating there will be an ongoing communication between the two main organizations (the FGG and GLISA). The full release can be read here.

http://www.queersport.org/pages/news9971.html

It's good to see people organising to further sport. And towards that end, I shouldn't be critical. There is a varied list of organisations involved in the conference: some big, some small, many very closely tied to the FGG (which is okay.)

As a martial artist, I see IAGLMA (international association of gay and lebsbian martial artists) on the list. They did a very good job of running the Martial Arts in Sydney, but as a member-driven organisation, well, they really aren't. A trip to the web site shows it is under reconstruction and expected to be up and running in June ---which sounds reasonable, unless you know that that is LAST JUNE they're talking about. Up until the "web site reorganisation" the Sydney 2002 Gay Games were still listed as an "Upcoming Event." I am/was a member, but emails to renew went unanswered, like other communication. There was a notice sent out about a year ago (?) extending memberships. Votes for the Executive were supposed to happen last July, according to the web site, six weeks after a pay-pal system was up and running. People were supposed to be notified. I don't think it's up and running yet. Or if it is, you can't tell by the disfunctional web site, and I know I was notified of nothing.

IAGLMA does some exciting stuff: clinics, judging certification, helping with events; mostly in locations where executives are already, doing stuff connected to the FGG. Nothing wrong with this, it makes perfect sense to piggyback things. It's good that this organisation exists. It's mechanics are volunteer driven, so if things don't work, really it's no-one's "fault." But..

Where I have questions with IAGLMA and others like it, is in terms of representation. How many of the organisations listed actually DO represent people, and how many people, and in what way, and how is that number verified? Until those questions can be answered, perhaps it would be better to just list the individuals attending and go from there.

Hi Chuckvank,

can't speak for the others, but SC Janus is a Cologne (Germany) based Sports Club with over 1100 members. Our board is elected every other year by our general assembly. Guess that should be enough legitimation ;-)
For some of the other attendees I know for sure that the same applies.

Hope that helps with your worries.

Greetz
Christian