The Gender Spectrum Conference focuses on creating gender sensitive and inclusive environments for all children and teens.

By itself, gender is complex.  When you add other aspects of who you are--race, ethnicity, religion, family background and where you live, to name just a few--things can be complicated.  It's also what makes your story unique.  Join us in exploring these issues at the 2013 Gender Spectrum Conference, Gender: Just One Piece of the Puzzle.

In addition to workshops related to this year's theme, the conference offers workshops for adults around relevant topics in the fields of medicine, mental health, education, the law, and social issues.  At the same time, 5-8 year olds attend a fun-filled weekend at Kids Camp, 9-12 year olds have time to play and learn with other tweens at Tween Camp, and teens experience a unique weekend full of age-appropriate workshops and events solely dedicated to them and their peers at our Teen Conference.

Our workshops and other programming are designed for newcomers and experienced attendees alike.  Wherever you find yourself in your journey, this conference welcomes you with open arms.

Conference FAQs:

• Main Conference Registration Fees
• Camp Registration Fees
• Hotel Accommodations
• Program Overview
• Family Support Centers
• Conference Lunches
• Daycare
• Scholarships
• For More Information

Main Conference Registration Fees

You will see that there are many ticket choices for attending the conference, as we are trying to accommodate as many situations as possible and keep costs down for attendees.  We are offering the popular "family" ticket option again this year.  Our hope is that families will think about the entire support structure that is in place for their child or teen as they consider who should attend the event. "Family" in this case represents the entire constellation of adults providing that support. This ticket allows you to bring up to six people (13 and older).

However, if only an individual or small group is attending, such as 1 adult and one or more teens, purchasing an Individual Adult ticket plus individual Teen Tickets will be more economical.

Please note, children 5-12 need to purchase a separate CAMP ticket (for Kids or Tween Camps). 

Payment:

We have chosen to use PayPal to process conference registration fees due to its high level of security.  If you have your own PayPal account, you can use it; otherwise, there is an option for individuals who don't have one to use a credit card.

Don't use credit cards? If you do not use credit cards, you can pay for your registration by check or money order. Please send us a note with the type of registration(s) you wish to make and all of your contact information.  Use the selection process above to determine your costs, and mail a check made out "Gender Spectrum" to:

Gender Spectrum Conference Registration
1271 Washington Avenue #834
San Leandro, CA 94577

Please note that scholarships are available; see below for more information. If you have any questions about which type of registration is best for your group, please email us at info@genderspectrum.org.

Ticket Prices:

Family: Early Bird (by April 30) $325; Regular (May 1 to July 8) $400; Onsite $425

Individual: Early Bird $175 (by April 30); Regular (May 1 to July 8) $225; Onsite $250

Teen: $25

Camp for Tweens and Kids: $60 per child (covers both days of camp)

One Day Pass: $175 (by July 8); Onsite $200

Refunds:

Gender Spectrum will offer a full refund, minus a $25.00 processing fee, for cancellation until May 15, 2013. From May 16 until June 30, we will offer a 50% refund. Beginning July 1, we will be unable to provide any refunds.

Camp Registration Fees

A ticket for either camp (Kids or Tween Camp) will cost $30 per child per day.  Scholarships are available. No one will be turned away for lack of funds. For further information or questions, email info@genderspectrum.org.

Hotel Accommodations

We are fortunate to once again be holding this event at the Berkeley Marina Doubletree Hotel and Executive Meeting Center. Reservations at a special conference discount of $155 per night are available until June 21, 2013 or until the room block is sold out.  The hotel can be reached at 510-665-7122 or by clicking HERE. We have been told that this is a very busy weekend for the hotel, so we encourage you to reserve rooms early.  Our block of rooms has sold out for the past 4 years.

Program Overview

The 2013 Gender Spectrum Conference offers two days of amazing programming that is designed to optimize every attendee's experience. While workshops don't begin until Saturday morning (7/13/13), optional conference festivities start Friday evening (7/12/13) with a social event for teens and a pool party for younger kids.

Adult Programming 2013: This year's theme is Gender: Just One Piece of the Puzzle.  By itself, gender is complex. When you add other aspects of who you are--race and ethnicity, religion, family background and where you live, to name just a few--things can be complicated. It's also what makes your story unique. Join us in exploring these issues at the 2013 Gender Spectrum Conference. In addition to workshops that reflect this year's theme, the program will explore various issues--including medical, legal, educational, emotional, and spiritual--that are key to supporting children and youth as they travel the road to gender self-determination.

Teen Programming 2013: This year's conference will feature two tracks of teen programming, one for teens between 13 and 15 years of age, and the second for those 16 to 19. At times the two groups will be together, but many of the needs for these two groups differ, and this content must also adjust accordingly. A variety of workshop topics will be offered to teens, including many topics of interest to this age group.  In addition, the Teen Conference will feature specific sessions for siblings, opportunities for writing and reflecting, social events and more. We are extremely excited about the 2013 Gender Spectrum Teen Conference.

Tween Programming 2013: We welcome youth ages 9-12 to join us at Puzzle It Out!: Tween Camp 2013. Like pieces of a puzzle, we all are unique and also have so much in common. This camp will offer tweens their own space for having fun and socializing with friends familiar and new, while engaging in activities such as 'zine making, painting, poetry, acrobatics, outdoor games, a talent show and so much more. There will also be chances to explore ideas around gender, in a safe and supportive environment, with sensitive professionals experienced with this unique age group. Tween Camp will offer a dynamic and exciting weekend for all who attend!

Kids Programming 2013: While their parents/caregivers attend workshops, children between the ages of 5 and 8 get to go to camp! Surrounded by a diverse team of experienced, gender affirming staff, campers will spend the weekend laughing, playing and simply being kids.

The Kids Camp will take place nearby the adult workshop rooms. Our Kids Camp coordinators will be present at all times to supervise Kids Camp volunteers, many of whom are experienced teachers, youth service providers, and former camp counselors.

We will provide a detailed schedule of programming closer to the event on the Gender Spectrum website. If you have any questions about the programming before it is published, please contact us at info@genderspectrum.org.

Family Support Centers

We will once again feature our invaluable Family Support Centers designed to assist attendees with medical, mental health, legal, and spiritual needs.  These centers allow any attendee to meet with experts across these fields for one-on-one support. The centers will be available on both an appointment as well as drop-in basis.

Conference Lunches

We are asking participants to purchase tickets to pre-order lunch for Saturday and Sunday ahead of time. There will be a few standard sandwich choices, along with the option of ordering a special order lunch option ahead of time (vegan or other). If you do not place your order for a special order lunch ahead of time, we cannot provide it.  If you do not want to order lunches, we highly recommend that you bring your own lunches, as there will not be sufficient time during the lunch break to leave the hotel to purchase lunch elsewhere.  The $15.00 charge covers lunches for BOTH days for ONE person.

Daycare 

We will only offer daycare for children under 5 if there are enough families who request this service.

Scholarships

We offer scholarships on a sliding scale to make the conference available to all who are interested in attending. We are grateful to the many community members whose donations to our scholarship fund greatly increase the number of scholarships we are able to provide.

To apply for a scholarship for this year's programming, please fill out the online Scholarship Application. Once we receive your application, we will contact you directly to finalize your registration.

For More Information