Adrian
Forum Replies Created
-
First meeting of 2014
-
Tickets go on sale on Sunday.
The web site is entirely new this year – so you will find the process of purchasing tickets is different (but I hope not too challenging). I’m hoping the new site hasn’t introduced too many new bugs!
1) The new website has new logins – so your old login will not work.
Before you can buy a ticket you will need to create a login on the new site. When you try to buy a ticket you will be prompted to login. After you have logged in you will see step by step instructions on how to buy your ticket on the left hand side of the screen.
2) Everyone has to purchase a TransFormal Ticket for Saturday night.
When you purchase your ticket(s) you are asked to select which table you want to sit on. Read the instructions carefully – the site will tell you who is already sitting at each table. If you want to sit with a large group (i.e. Wendy’s table) then you should organise to purchase your tickets promptly. (It isn’t much good finding yourself on Wendy’s table if all the seats are reserved before Wendy buys a ticket!)
Your TransFormal ticket will be emailed to you. The TF14-xxxx ticket number allows you to reserve rooms in The Carrington Hotel at event prices.
3) You can pay by credit card, paypal balance or bank transfer.This year there is no booking charge for bank transfer – but you must quote your order/reservation number when you pay.
4) After purchasing your TransFormal ticket you can buy an add-on for the weekend.
There are two add-ons on sale. A lucky few will reserve the Value add-on that includes 2 nights accommodation in TransFormal central. If those tickets have sold out then you can buy a Weekend Add-on. Both add-on tickets include Friday night Reception and Saturday lunch.
Because the new web site doesn’t have a shopping cart you cannot purchase your TransFormal ticket and add-on in the same transaction.
5) As before we cannot hold tickets for anyone, nor can we reserve seats unless you purchase a ticket.
Any questions please first try the FAQ on the web site. If that doesn’t answer your question then contact us through the website contact form.
http://www.trannytix.com/transformal/contactus-
Ticket sales for TransFormal 2014 have been very strong in the first week. My thanks to the early purchasers who helped me iron out some creative bugs in the new website – but things seem to be working very smoothly now.
New ticketing structure
Just a reminder that the ticketing is different this year. Everyone must buy a ticket to the formal on Saturday night. If you want to participate in the other weekend activities then you need to buy a weekend add-on ticket as well. Splitting the tickets into two made it easier to implement the new web site (with seating for Saturday night).Seating
Table allocations at the formal are made when you reserve your ticket. If you want to arrange seating for a group of 4 or more on the same table then contact tickets@trannytix.com to arrange for a temporary block. We can hold back the seats you want to give your friends time to get ready to book. When you are all ready to book the block can be lifted and you can all jump in! Alternatively let one person book all the tickets for the group.Transformal Central
All 9 Value Add-ons including accommodation have now been reserved – though there is a possibility that a 10th room will be released when the event schedule is finalised in the coming month or so.
-
-
Quote:I am guessing here, but I think part of Petra’s concern is dealing with the changing rooms after going swimming.
At the risk of going off topic in an unmoderated forum….well why not?
a) Hotel pools I just slip on something and go back to my room to change/shower
b) The beach. Firstly I look for toilet blocks with external showers (to rinse off after a swim). I never go into the toilet/change block – unless it is a trendy one with an ‘accessible’ section. I either go to the beach with my bathers on under a dress, or I get changed under a towel. Never had any dramas.
-
Quote:Id love to be able to go to a place where I could be dressed for days on end without bother … Not really swimming ,but just during normal hours Oh why doesnt some enterprising entrepreneur establish some thing like this ???
What exactly is the issue here? I go on holiday round Australia and never have any issues with my presentation. I’ve just got back from a long weekend up in Port Stephens (including plenty of time on the beach) and we are off to Adelaide for a week in March.
What is it that the enterprising entrepreneur has to provide that we can’t find already in any hotel or motel in Australia? It is years since I had any unpleasant experiences even in the most rural country towns.
Even TransFormal doesn’t close the hotel down to other guests. And we have received nothing but good feedback through the hotel from non-TF guests.
Sounds like it is time to realise the fear is unjustified and just book your holidays like everyone else and enjoy.
-
Liz, as I disagreed with your last post now it is time for me to violently agree. Couldn’t have expressed my attitude to the privilege of being diverse better.
I am aware how this is not always the case – it is something that both you and I have come to apparently over time. Like you I wouldn’t have said the same thing 10 years ago. When we did the TgR survey in 2011 (http://www.tgr.net.au/cms/home/about-us) 46% had positive feelings about being “T” and 18% had negative feelings.
I believe that the sun shines on those who have a positive attitude to life.
Negativity breeds more negativity and depression.
I feel the signature tune of the Life of Brian fading in in the background….
“always look on the bright side of life…….
-
I think it’s time to close this very constructive discussion because it has moved on from the highly regarded posts on the subject.
If someone wants to open a discussion about which religions are more accepting than others go ahead. But this excellent discussion is now closed. -
Melissa_Mills
I’m sure you must have noticed that golf is now a regular part of TransFormal in May. Although the climate in the mountains in Autumn can be “bracing” those who have joined in have had an enjoyable and hassle free experience. But then this is Australia – I can’t talk for the issues you might find doing the same thing overseas.
So here are the fashion shots from the last two years:
-
It is interesting perhaps that as we traverse the gender spectrum the words we use to describe ourselves tend to reflect our presentation.
Crossdressing in my experience isn’t about your inner gender, or who you are. It is about how you express yourself – your presentation.
I would suggest that crossdressing is nothing more than occasionally wearing clothes normally associated with the ‘opposite’ sex. Most of us, irrespective of our inner gender identity tend to crossdress at some time or other.A similar line of thinking leads me to conclude that a transexual is also a statement about presentation. It is someone who has changed their presentation by surgery so they no longer appear externally to have their birth sex. The audience for genital viewing is I hope more restricted than for crossdressing but it is an important aspect of presentation for some.
Presenting as a transexual or a crossdresser tells us little about the inner state of mind. There is no subjective way of determining the inner gender identity – the identify that drives us to present in a certain way. Nor are there any labels that can be applied as the spectrum is continuous and without agreed dimensions. Only we could know how we feel inside – but we are so wrapped in discovering ourselves we have difficulty accurately explaining our gender to others.
Crossdressing and transexual are therefore superficial boxes – all about presentation and not about the person inside. But we love this superficial categorisation by presentation – we dismiss people as “only being a crossdresser” or “not being full time” as if the way we present says more about our true gender than our opportunities.
This leads me to strongly disagree with the concept that we might go on a gender journey traversing from crossdresser to transexual. Although you may crossdress, considering your gender to be “a crossdresser” is to confuse presentation with gender identity. Thinking we are what we present is too simplistic and ignores the biological and societal constraints we live with.
Personally I think the truth is that our inner gender never changes, but are awareness of how it can be expressed does. The journey is one of understanding and not one of changing gender. Many of us wander along changing our presentation over time till circumstances, understanding, and confidence allow our appearance and inner gender to align.
Whether we present as a transexual, she-male, crossdresser, androdyne we, and only we, know what is realy going on inside.
Chances are that what you see is not necessarily an accurate reflection of what is buried inside. -
Quote:I have bought mine from a number of the costume sale places on the Internet.
I guess this highlights the current reality. Long gloves are no longer a fashion item – but are a fancy dress accessory. So don’t wear them if you plan to blend in at the local Westfield shops! Like most fancy dress there is no need to build-to-last – it is a strictly one occasion life-cycle.
Good luck!
-
Quote:What are your thoughts Amanda.
Mmmmmmmmmmmmm
This is what I’m trying to push Virgin towards…
Back-office stuff does concern me…I’m not after some superficial change at the boarding gate (because the flight crews seem to take it in their stride).
Change 1: I have no problem being asked if I am Male or Female as long as the question asks what SEX I am. Sex is a biologically determinate thing and that is what is on your passport. Sex = M/F/X.
I would prefer they don’t ask for domestic flights where I use my NSW Drivers License as ID which doesn’t mention sex. But I understand the link to international flights in the big computer database probably needs to record sex. If they want SEX then don’t ask for GENDER.Change 2: My answer to the above question (my SEX) does NOT determine what if any salutation I associate with. If I tick the F, M or X sex box I shouldn’t be forced to be a MR or a MRS. I want to be referred to as Adrian Barnes and not as Mr or Ms Barnes.
I’m happy that my boarding pass has the first and last name on my ID. Any other arrangement would be a security hazard. I’m happy with my first name and have no need for femme names. I can’t see airlines printing non-legal names on boarding passes.
As for the seating arrangements for minors – I think that’s just a PR smoke screen. The seating for my flight was selected and allocated online. If when i come to fly they will probably re-ticket me if I end up next to where a minor will be sitting. This has happened to me on Virgin before. Anyhow if they have sex in their computer they can still avoid minors coming in contact with males presenting as females!
Do I expect any changes from the IS department….yes… if for no other reason they are going to have to add the X choice for sex before very long. I’m waiting and watching!
-
Quote:I frequently wonder if there is such a person as one of us who can venture out in public without a care in the world; I most certainly can’t. I’ve heard people say, ‘It doesn’t bother me at all’ and I think to myself, bullshit.
I always enjoy reading Liz’s perspective on the Transgender experience – invariably well thought through and charmingly expressed.
But we all live with our understanding of being transgender restricted by our own perspective. Things that lie outside our personal experience can be incomprehensible or inconceivable.
I for instance, am frequently unable to relate to the experiences of those who are happily male, or at the other end of the spectrum, to those who are repelled by their physical appearance. So I recognise that in questioning how a life can be without care, Liz has reached into the mists of incomprehensibility and dismissed the concept as bullshit.
But bullshit it isn’t.
Like all of us, I can only speak from my personal experience, as someone who has had a long journey of self-discovery since first going out to a cafe 18 years ago. When I realised a few years ago that I’m certainly not a blokey male, but more importantly, am I also not a 100% woman inside, my presentation to the world at large has increasingly been marked by gender ambiguity. Out went most of the blokey male clothes but also it was goodbye to the wigs and breast forms.
I know to many, my a failure to follow the “rules” of appearing (or actually slavishly attempting to appear) to be indistinguishably “Man” or “Woman” is incomprehensible. Conforming to what society expects to see is always going to appear to be easier, but at the same time it exposes you to a feeling that you might not be presenting flawlessly. The millstone of “passing” will always create doubt when you go out.
But if instead of passing you are just being yourself it seems to go underneath the radar of everyone you meet. I suspect this is what Noellena refers to in her posts.
I can honestly say that when I go out I do look in the mirror to check I’m happy with the “Me” on display. But after that I never give any thought at all to what others are seeing or thinking. I suspect that those who have been out with me in public can vouch for this.
So no Liz, it isn’t bullshit – it is Nirvana. We each have to find our individual ways there, because we are all so different. But when you get there, and those doubts recede or vanish, then you will understand.
-
Quote:It claimed it was sent at 11.23am but trust me it didn’t arrive until after 7pm, not that I’m complaining. I’m just glad it arrived.
That’s right – the server doesn’t use local time to stop all the squabbles between the states as to who is right. You will find that the server time is always GMT.
-
I have received a more personalised and constructive response from Virgin.
It is nice to see it doesn’t start Dear Mr Barnes
Quote:Dear Adrian,Thank you for taking the time to complete our online feedback form with regard to your experience when you booked via the online reservations system.
At Virgin Australia we believe that all our guests require to be treated with utmost care and respect. I have taken the liberty of logging your correspondence as an official complaint to ensure our Technology Development Managers are aware of your comments. We do not intend to make our guests feel uncomfortable or belittled in any way. I assure you that the Management Team will then review your comments and ensure this is addressed. In view of your overall experience, I would like to express my deep apologies both personally and on behalf of Virgin Australia for the disappointment caused.
If I can shed a little light on why we might require a guest’s gender at the time of booking, there are a couple of factors. Firstly, it helps us with seating allocations for even weight distribution on the aircraft. We use an average weight depending on gender, and only at the time of check-in, our Ground Crew, who has then sighted the guest, can make any changes to seat allocations, based on your request. Second, if we are caring for Unaccompanied Minors on the flight, our policy is they will not be seated next to another male guest, with the exception of Virgin Australia employees who travelling in uniform.
I would like to take this opportunity to clarify that it is not Virgin Australia’s intention to offend any individual. As an equal opportunity airline we not only welcome a variety of guests from different nationalities and cultures but also employ staff with diversified cultural backgrounds and from all walks of life. It was with regret to read of your feedback and it is disappointing that our service has not met your expectations on this occasion.
In closing, thank you once again for taking the time to inform us of your experience as it is only through receiving constructive feedback such as yours that we can make improvements and take appropriate action. All our guests deserve to receive a dependable, reliable service and I am sorry that your opinion of our airline as a result of this incident has been tarnished. I can only hope that this experience does not deter you from travelling with Virgin Australia and that all forthcoming flights will be enjoyable in every way.
Kind regards
Nicole Shield -
Quote:Difference can be a good thing.
Couldn’t agree with you more – difference brings so much into my life that I enjoy. By conforming totally and being “normal” you just become a grain of sand in the desert!
I fly Virgin quite a bit – and (as i said in my original complaint to them) I’ve always been treated with respect (and sometimes as special) by the flight crew. What I want to see is the ground support/booking system raising their game to the same level!
But I will try your idea of enhancing my boarding pass where necessary – a great idea!!