SAN FRANCISCO – It is time to select the next Leatherwomen who have the courage to represent us with a vision and show us the diversity of our leather community and announce the International Ms Leather (IMsL) 2014 Weekend! Twenty eight women have stood up and served their communities as International Ms Leather (IMsL). Another 15 women have stepped up to be International Ms Bootblack (IMsBB). We are pleased to release the dates, new location and welcome everyone to the next step in the evolution that is IMsL/IMsBB.
Mark your calendars for April 24-27, 2014! We are also pleased to announce our new venue at the recently remodeled Doubletree San Jose. A whole new look with lower room rates starting at $109 a night (tax not included) with more rooms for that weekend getaway (king rooms) or space to bring your crew (double double rooms), parking only $6 a day and close by both San Jose Airport and the Santa Clara Caltrain station.
The parts that you love about the weekend will all be there! A very large and well equipped play space open longer hours. New Friday all day and half day intensive courses that will challenge us and help us build our skills. More spectacular classes over the weekend, as well as an expanded vendor market and lots of space to network and hook up with friends old and new! Of course, the evening events and contests are still an integral part of the weekend. So start making plans! And like all things IMsL, we are working hard and fast on the nailing all the details down.
You might have heard IMsLs and IMsBBs talking about being part of Generation 1, 2 or 3. As the event has grown and with each change of ownership, a new generation is born. So we also want to let the community know that we at the birth of Gen 4! Sharrin Spector and Pat Baillie have taken up the reins of producing the IMsL Weekend as the new owners. We know all the work and passion it has taken to get to this point in our history and we thank all those who built this event through the previous generations. We also know the importance of learning from our history so expect to see some new structures and changes to address those lessons learned. One of new structures will be that there will be a business entity that will actually produce the events associated with IMsL which will be called IMsL Productions LLC. IMsL Productions is already in place and will be headed by Sharrin. We are also in the process of creating a nonprofit foundation, tentatively named the IMsL Foundation that Pat will lead. We hope to unveil the details at IMsL 2014 but the focus will be the educational, historical, and philanthropic aspects of the organization and handle all the charity and travel funds for the titleholders. We will share more about these plans soon.
We are just 7 months out from IMsL 2014 so we will be moving quickly to make sure all the details are in place. Many of you have asked what you can do to help? First, plan on attending this year to experience the birth of International Ms Leather’s Gen 4. We are planning on opening up registration very soon so register early! Second, please help us get the word out about the event! If you are interested in sponsoring, vending or getting involved, please contact us and join us for the Next Generation!
