FAQ’s

Sign up is online here! https://www.weareoutintheopen.org/registration

Please reach out if you can not register online. You can reach Out in the Open staff at info@weareoutintheopen.org or 207.808.0623.

Great question! Saturday is devoted to field trips/ workshops that you register for as an add-on to the Sunday Summit registration.

Campers can arrive Saturday afternoon to get settled in and oriented.

Saturday evening dinner will be open to all attendees of field trips, the full day summit, and some of our extended community.

For the full day event on Sunday we’ll gather in the morning for a brief orientation to where we are, the on site safety plan, and an introduction. There will be morning and afternoon sessions, light breakfast, snacks and lunch provided, and a closing circle together.

Topics at past Summits have ranged from things like tofu making to alternatives to policing to cross class conversations to building intentional kink dynamics and much more.

Summits are co-created by all of us who are there alongside and including Out in the Open staff and volunteers. It’s a participatory gathering for all of us to explore experiences of rural LGBTQ+ life, identity, and culture; to build connections and relationships; to talk through questions, challenges, and joys; and to share some hands-on skills together.

We hope to continue breaking down the power dynamic that sometimes exists at gatherings like this among “experts”/"presenters” and “attendees.” We all have knowledge to share and we all have things to learn! We’re all here as rural or small town LGBTQ+ people sharing this space together. <3

You can find the draft agenda for Saturday Field Trips and the full day Sunday event here: Draft Agenda.

We started offering Field Trips during the Summit in 2018 and are excited to bring them to the eastern Wabanakik/Maine-based Summit this year! Field Trips are a way for people to get to know others in smaller groups, spend more time really getting into something, and support and learn from other amazing facilitators, organizations, and projects in our local area.

We aim to have a mix of activities so hopefully you can find one that feels right for you Some are no-cost and others have a cost, details on the registration page: Registration!

We may add additional Field Trips over the next few weeks and will let you know when we do!

Registration for the full day Sunday Summit is sliding scale $0-50. To use the sliding scale, use one of the coupon codes (no questions asked, no volunteer requirements) available on the registration page.

We're aiming for a range of financial $$ accessibility within the Field Trips offered, as well. Some are no-cost and others have a cost (with sliding scale options) to cover materials. Those are also on the registration page via the link above.

As always, we work hard for money to not be a barrier to joining (as much as we can under capitalism!). We want you to be here! We offer childcare and transportation stipends, and free meals throughout the day. There is an option to request a stipend in the registration form.

Some added context for having a summit registration fee is that we try to recoup some of the cost of organizing and hosting the Summit, which allows us to keep hosting Summits. The true cost of a Summit is $10,500, and the value of a ticket (assuming 100 amount of people attend) is $105.

Camping is an option on site for this event! Indicate in the registration form whether you plan to camp out. Camping is first come first served in regards to location. Some sites are wooded, and some sites are in an nearby open field. Camping is in proximity to a structure with bathrooms and potable water. 

If you want to camp and are in need of gear, please reach out to these gear share programs that have camping gear to loan. And don’t hesitate to contact us with questions about what you might need!

Maine based (please let us know if you have a lead on VT and NH based gear shares!):

• Kindred Collective (Portland) https://www.kindlingcollective.org/

• Maine Gear Share (Brunswick) phone- (207) 200-3004, email- info@mainegearshare.org website-https://www.mainegearshare.org/

• Skowhegan Outdoors Basecamp Gear Library (Skowhegan) https://skowheganoutdoors.com/

There is a large building on site to accommodate overnight campers if extreme weather conditions make camping unsafe or intolerable.

Great question! Let us know what you’re thinking about on your registration form or by email. There will also be a few “Open Topic” spaces for attendees to offer a session you’ve just come up with in the moment. You can mention your interest in holding a session when you register, and we welcome folks to hold space for conversations that emerge during the day at the Summit.

If you’re thinking about hosting a session, let us know and we can send you a couple of guides & resources we’ve created to support great sessions.

Masks are optional and encouraged for indoor activities. 

Attendees who are camping overnight will be asked to take rapid COVID tests since they'll be eating together and sharing bathrooms over a longer amount of time. 

Attendees who are only coming for the day on Sunday will not need to take a COVID test but can bring tests home with them.

Rapid tests will be sent home with all participants, to be take 48 - 72 hours after the closing.

If you feel sick or have had a recent exposure to sickness, please stay home/ do not attend this gathering. Some members of our staff and community are at an increased risk for negative outcomes from COVID or other communicable illnesses, so please keep that in mind.

We will have more gatherings in the near future so if you have to miss this one, know there will be more soon!

On Saturday, lunch is provided for Field Trip participants. Dinner is provided at the primary event location Saturday evening for all attendees. 

There will be coffee and breakfast available Sunday morning.

There will be lunch on Sunday for everyone (including vegan, vegetarian, gluten-free, and omnivore/meat options). We will also have hearty snacks, water, and other non-alcoholic beverages available throughout the day.

If you have more specific dietary/food needs that will not be met by what we’ve described above, let us know! We can likely offer you a food stipend if what we’re offering doesn’t meet your needs. Just email us: info@weareoutintheopen.org.

Yes! The Summit and Field Trip locations include a four season structure that can house all attendees in case of rain, and we will have tents set up outside for shade and rain cover. Gender-free bathrooms are also inside with flush toilets and running water.

Please feel free to bring your own favorite camp chairs, folding chairs, outside blankets, or other seating for you to be comfortable throughout the day.

There is indoor seating and folding chairs that may be carried out side and will be used across the campus throughout the event.

Infants in arms are welcome to be with you throughout the entire weekend.

Childcare stipends will be offered during Saturday Field Trips, to support attendees to coordinate their own, off-site childcare with your own childcare provider.

Onsite childcare will be offered on Sunday, unless there is not a demand for childcare from attendees. Childcare stipends can be provided in the event that onsite childcare is not used by attendees.

Please let us know on the registration form if this is something you need. Email us with questions about childcare support.

As much as we personally love dogs, please leave them at home (or some other safe place!) during this gathering. Service dogs who are needed as support for a disability and are trained to do supportive work or a supportive task are welcome!

Let us know if you have questions.

Yes! We will email all registered attendees the location address about 2 weeks before the Summit and a reminder email even closer to the event.

There is an abundance of parking on site.

The Summit will happen rain or shine! There are tents and a large four season structure with for rain and sun cover and natural shade.

If there is severe weather, we may need to cancel or postpone some parts. There is a large building on site to accommodate overnight campers if weather conditions make camping unsafe or intolerable.

Organizers will update participants with information about next steps and plans if severe weather is forecasted. If there are location changes, we will communicate this clearly via email and with signage.

While we do not anticipate any safety concerns arising the day-of (and are not aware of any specific threats), we will have a coordinated team on-site available for de-escalation and safety support if needed.

Details about the event location(s), session hosts, field trip facilitators, and attendees will not be published online as a safety precaution.

Additionally, some members of our community are stealth in their non-Summit lives, others aren’t out in parts of their lives, others have other safety-related needs around attending LGBTQ+ community gatherings. While we cannot guarantee confidentiality, we’re asking everyone to be mindful of people who may have confidentiality-related needs around pieces of their identities & experiences when sharing about this event both before, during, and after.

In our experience, cell phone coverage is reliable at the Summit location and the off site Field Trip locations.

What a great opportunity to practice consent! :) If you want to take pictures, please ask those in the picture before taking it. People have many different reasons for not wanting to be in pictures! If anyone doesn’t want to be in pictures (even in the background), please respect their wants and needs.

There are two bathroom locations at the Summit— one is housed nearby the camping area, and the other is housed in a large central building.

Bathrooms are gender free, and the bathrooms indoors at the large building are ADA accessible.

The bathrooms have running water and potable water.

We will have designated smoking areas available with signage directing folks to where it is.

If you are not registered for this event, please do not join us this time!

In order to support being able to meet the needs of the group and of individuals at the gathering, we ask people to register in advance for Field Trips and/or the Summit full day gathering.

Payment for the Summit full day gathering is sliding scale $0-50, no volunteer requirements or questions for anywhere on the scale. Field trips are also offered on a sliding scale or at no cost.

We’ll be checking people in as you arrive. Registration will remain open until May 28 or until it’s full, which ever is sooner.

OMG we hope you do still come!

But, of course, that is totally up to you. For some people this might be the first large gathering they’ve been to in a long time. For others it might be the first time they’re in an all-LGBTQ+ space or in a rural LGBTQ+-focused space. For all these reasons and more, let’s all try to be gentle with each other at this gathering. We can help support each other in community through this shared experience.

Good question! Out in the Open a multiracial, mostly working class, grassroots movement building organization based in Wabanakik, with staff based in Vermont and Maine. We’ve held 11 Summits since 2015, including three in Waldo County, Maine and eight in Windham County, Vermont.

Learn more about our current staff members and our board on our About Us page.

Donations to support the Summit are accepted any time here on our website and we’ll have a jar out the day-of for cash/checks as well.

We’ll also share here that 10% of the budget for this gathering will been sent as a donation to our friends at Niweskok, who we consistently donate to when we are hosting large events that folks pay to attend. More about them and their work here.

Reach out to Out in the Open staff at any time and we’ll do our best to answer your questions: info@weareoutintheopen.org

Here’s a carpool sign up: https://www.groupcarpool.com/t/508dm2

If you are not able to carpool, we have some funds set aside for transportation stipends to offset the cost of fuel and/or travel. Reach out and we’ll coordinate this with you: info@weareoutintheopen.org