First of all I would like to thank you Gee for giving me this precious opportunity to be part of Bears By The Sea in Nov 2017 , a social, informational and entertaining get together weekend. Being an outsider (from Nepal), I did not have much expectation about the event. I have been part of some gay so called social events in Hawaii which turned into a “sex” party. I was a bit nervous about the people I was going to meet and a bit skeptical about if the nature of the weekend is going to be as mentioned in the mission statement.
I must admit that the event was not at all a sexual gay event which I really appreciate. We generally have a notion in the gay community that the entire event should focus on a sexual part and ignore the rest. I would give 10/10 to this event. Another great thing about the event was the diverse group of participants which is very rare because we normally see a majority of white gay men in any sort of LBGTQ events.
I met amazing people at the event and made several friends and learned different, interesting and challenging things about the gay community in the US . Talking about the organizing part of the event, I think the organizer Gee, pulled it off with a very small budget. I felt that the organizer did not compromise to make this event greater. Food was out of this world, hotel room was great, breakfast place was great. My favorite night was cocktail night because I was a bit nervous after experiencing a little awkward moment with my room partner. I was thrilled to meet such great people in the cocktail night. My second favorite moment was the music night. I absolutely loved the music and singers. Even though I don’t know much about American music but overall I enjoyed the night very much.
It would be interesting if we all stick together most of the time during the weekend. If we all go to a movie, sight seeing, bar, museum etc. Also for next time people should be assigned their roles and duties in order to respect the mission of the goals. The game was OK to me because I was a little less knowledgeable about the subject matter but overall from my observation people really seemed to enjoy it.
I wish you nothing but good luck to the organizing team and looking so much forward for being part of this event again and again.
