This is a friendly (yet urgent) reminder to those of you who have expressed interest in attending or have already signed up for ModProm II.
To secure a place at the event of the year please ensure you purchase your ticket and t-shirt from BMEShop post-haste, time waits for no ModPrommer!
Regarding the Hooker School, we are still looking for people willing to suspend as part of the tutorials, please contact Philip Barbosa for details.
IMPORTANT INFO YOU SHOULD READ!
Great news! Event planning is steamrolling along and I guarantee this will be a week you will all remember! We just launched www.BMEfest.com as the main hub for updates regarding the week of events. Event updates are expected daily or as anything new develops and will have information about the city of Toronto and things to do outside of the planned events. If you have questions or ideas please email me ([email protected]).
Here are some short details you should take note of..
My Art Opening: Shameless self promotion! I have an art opening of my fine art suspension portraits. The show originally debuted at the 2005 contact photography festival in Toronto and has been in hibernation since, so we brought it back for you all to see. The opening party is on June 22/07 at BlackLine studios on King Street West and the show will remain up until the end of July so please go check it out. Just look for a huge canvas print of Allen Falkner on hooks in the window of the shop. Also check out www.philipbarbosa.com for a preview of the show.
BMEfest in the park: Those of you who remember last years BMEfest day at the park may remember where it was, High Park. Last year the event proved to be a nice low-key family oriented day and a successful warm up to the after party. We chose to host the early party there again this year because its a lovely location and with the subway so close, the convenience can’t be beat! I will hit the park this week to take some photos of the area and work out a map from the parks front entrance. If you can I would leave your car at the hotel since there’s parking there, though there is tons it’s usually packed from about 10am onwards.
You should bring sunscreen, bottled water, some cash to buy food and a BMEfest t-shirt. BME will be buying a quantity of fresh fruit and bottled water for all the guests to partake in. We do ask that you not litter the park!
Although this is all free to you there will be an honor system bucket you can toss the change from your pockets in to help cover the costs of catering the event.
ModProm II: This is gonna be one killer party! Taking place at the Academy of Spherical Arts in Toronto. The Academy is accessible by streetcar (trolley off king street) or likely a $10 cab ride from most hotels in the city. The venue is nestled in the heart of Liberty Village and if you can’t tell by the name it’s a Snooker Club. We have a great evening planned of dinner, dancing and unique entertainment as well as some awesome door prizes and a parting gift from your friends at BME. Hurry up and get your tickets before the event sells out! For those of you who have received your shirts, your E-tickets will be emailed to you in a few days.
Suspension School: The class is full and we have a great group of people! Now we need suspendees who want to be test subjects for the students. The cost of your participation is $25 CAD, this covers all the catering and supplies we use for you as well as a little aftercare kit you will leave with. If you think you want to suspend while you are in Toronto, June 30th is it! If you are interested email/send me a message over IAM and I will reply with the application information. There are no guarantees you will be selected since time will definitely not be on our side and we are looking for people with different levels of suspension experience.
Scene Points Scavenger Hunt: Some of you have expressed mild offense to this event. Allow me to make it clear that this is not meant to be a hazing ritual just a humorous social experiment born out of an IAM-wide joke. Taking place at BMEfest in the park the game gets people to socialize and recognize those that have given gallons of their own blood sweat and tears to make this community a better place for us all. The winner gets a big bag of prizes from a great group of sponsors.
Naked Wars Invades Hanlan’s Point: Naked Wars recently gained widespread popularity at the APP conference in Las Vegas. This event gets attendees to visit the lovely Toronto Islands, lose their inhibitions and challenge each others creativity covering their unmentionables with unique props all in the name of the fine art of the one-up. The Event will start at the Weston Harbor Castle Hotel and move as a group to the Toronto Ferry Docks and finally to the picturesque Hanlan’s Point – Clothing Optional Beach. The goal is to get as many not so naked IAMers to have their photo taken with the Toronto skyline in the background (that includes the worlds tallest phallic structure the CN Tower). It is also meant to be a nice warm up and a few hours to spend unwinding while working on a full body tan.
The IAM Hungover Brunch and Wrap Party: This is still in the planning stages and will happen on Monday (the day after ModProm II). So far I am considering hosting this event at the Golden Griddle (think waffle house or TGI Friday’s) on Front Street since it has a huge seating capacity and a brunch buffet. I will post this as an event as soon as I can research the logistics a little more.
For more details about all these events you can check here (obviously) or the BME Events page.
Big News! To coincide with upcoming BME Toronto events: BMEfest 2007 and MODPROM 2, BME will also be hosting a small private suspension seminar class for body art professionals only. The class will be led and taught by Allen Falkner (suspension.org/TSD) and assisted by some of the most well trained professional suspension practitioners in the world. Confirmed teaching assistants are Emrys Yetz, Jill Allen, Jon Pett and Jason Shaw with possibly more to be announced.
The Suspension School Seminar is a rare opportunity for piercers to further raise their skill level and become a strong and active part of almost any suspension team/event. Due to the nature of the class and that we only have one day to present the seminar emphasis will be placed on safety as well as the practical discipline and mechanical practice behind how body suspension works as well as an important lecture on the history of modern body suspension.
This is an intermediate/advanced level course, so it’s primarily intended for piercers and people who already have a solid and practical understanding of skin, contamination control, and so on (no suspension-specific experience is needed) but you must already be able to demonstrate a professional understanding of bloodborne pathogens & the principles of infection control.
To ensure that everyone has a complete hands on experience the class is kept small, only be 15 student spots are available. There is a charge to attend the seminar approx $200 CAD to cover costs (like supplies, space rental and flying up the instructors!). There will be a few scholarship spots available to apply for as well so don’t stress it if you don’t have any money*, we want to help you out.
If you’d like to come to learn, please sign the RSVP on the Events page and we will contact you as soon as registration opens up. The class will also require a few suspension “test subjects” for the students to work on, if you would like to apply for this please email me** and I will reply with an application form, there are No Guarantees you will be selected.
And finally lets all remember that “Rome Was Not Built In A Day” and as professionals you all did not learn to pierce overnight. It is our goal with the seminar is to educate and empower you further as body art professionals. This class will not certify anyone to be a solo suspension practitioner but more a really strong addition to any professional suspension team where you will further gain experience and confidence in your practice.
We are actively looking for sponsors for the event if you have something you can offer offer please contact me for our sponsors wish list.
If you have any questions please email me at [email protected]
*Scholarship application requests may be forwarded to [email protected] with the email title “scholarship application request”. You will then be sent the application to fill out and reply by June 1, 2007, no later!
**Student Test Subjects or guinea pig application requests can be emailed to [email protected] with the subject tittle “Student Test Subject”.
There will be 10-15 student spots, and there will be some opportunity for others to suspend as well (but this is not a SusCon — it’s a teaching event). There will be a charge to cover costs (like flying up the instructors!), but there will be scholarships as well so don’t stress it if you don’t have any money. If you’d like to come to learn, please sign the RSVP list and let us know what you’d like to learn in the course so we can taylor it to everyone’s needs.
