Posted on by Miss Brook$

desiree alliance conference 2010

Registration is now open for the Desiree Alliance 2010 Conference! I’m so excited! Yes, I’ll be there. No, I don’t plan on presenting. I want to enjoy the full week. (Though I’ll no doubt be doing some on-site volunteering and I’m already doing behind-the-scenes planning work.)

We’re looking to put together an amazing program for everyone who attends, so if you think you might want to present on a range of topics, please submit a proposal! We have 5 different tracks: Academia, Activism/Leadership, Business Development, Arts/Media, Harm Reduction.

I toured the grounds of the conference shortly before I left the States and it’s ideal for everyone. The room rate is great and I’ve already booked my room. It’s going to be very budget-friendly this year too. (Yes, there’s a pool. It’s Vegas in July. Bring sunscreen too.)

Yes, you have to register in advance. Yes, we are screening. This has to be a safe space so the general public just can’t wander in. That being said, you don’t have to be a sex worker to attend. Allies and supporters are always welcome. And no, you don’t have to live in the US to be welcome either.

If you’re not interested in attending but still want to help out, you can always volunteer your time (behind the scenes), services (like printing programs) or just a plain old financial support always helps. DA always offers scholarships ever year so sex workers who are on tight budgets can attend and have their expenses covered. The more money we can raise, the more scholarships can be awarded.

It’s always about networking, learning, making new friends and just seeing friends you haven’t seen in a year! It’s something sex workers in the US rarely get. It’s going to be so great this year!

Posted on by Miss Brook$

seriously (fixin’ to get ready to) travel

I know I’ve been MIA for the past couple weeks. Got serious about traveling and so had to make some changes in order to be on the road for the next several months. All my stuff is stored in Texas (including my car) and mail and bills are as taken care of as possible. My system isn’t perfect, but it’s better than it was a few months ago. I’m in Dallas taking care of a few more things, like replacing my luggage that the USPS lost when I mailed it in for repairs (next time: FedEx).

There’s a conference in Toledo where I’m co-presenting a paper about labor violations in the Nevada brothel system (yes, it’s focusing on one particular brothel but it’s not named in the paper and won’t be named here – ahem). That’s the week of my 34th birthday! That takes care of the first week of October. After that…probably wandering around the US for a bit. There are people I would like to see in Chicago and DC, if nothing else. Then out again. I’m looking hard at Asia right now. There are a lot of things attracting me and there are a lot of places to go and see on that side of the world. It should occupy my interest for a while.

No plans are set in stone and I don’t have dates until I have tickets in hand. I Twitter when I’m traveling and post stuff in my Personal Updates column to the right.

So there you go: The Plan — such as it is. For once, my silence has not meant anything negative, just busy and pre-occupied (and minimal Internet access).

Posted on by Miss Brook$

what are you really paying for? 2

Another online advertiser that’s been around for years has never changed one highly offensive paragraph on their site. They offered me a free ad a long time ago but when I read through their site, I decided they weren’t for me. They’re still in business, so they must be doing something right. I’ve just wanted to write about this one for a few years.

Though they give some basic common-sense advice to potential advertisers, they offer to re-write your ad to appeal to “upscale clientele”. Fair enough. But do “upscale” clients visit this site? I question this because…they immediately follow the mini-advertising lesson with making sure a girl understands to price herself “reasonably” because clients aren’t going to pay good money to take her out on (movie, yachting, dinner, etc.) dates if she expects to be well-compensated for every hour even if she doesn’t “have to take her clothes off.” They think an escort should only charge a lot per hour if she’s entertaining a bachelor party of 30+ guys (and I guess a smaller bachelor party doesn’t count). Which every escort I know does every weekend (rolling my eyes).

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Posted on by Miss Brook$

online advertisers aren’t always netural

While surfing around checking out some online advertising venues, I came across one site that made me say rude things to my screen. No, I’m not linking to them here, I’m not giving them the traffic or PageRank. And no, I will not be adding my information to their site.

This particular site not only warns clients against paying fees in advance to the escorts listed on the site, but encourages the clients to report who is asking for advance fees.

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