Dee Dennis, founder of the CatalystCon sexuality conference, announces the lineup of opening and closing keynote speakers for CatalystCon West, which will take place in Burbank, CA, September 11-13, 2015. Created to inspire exceptional conversations about sexuality, CatalystCon features more than 40 sessions and panel discussions on sexuality and related issues.
CatalystCon West officially begins on Friday, September 11 with an opening reception, followed by the opening keynote plenary address: "Sparking Communication in Sexuality, Activism and Acceptance." The panel will include Dr. Chris Donaghue, Jenny Block, Alex S. Morgan, and Dr. Mireille Miller-Young, and will be moderated by Tristan Taormino. The panelists will address the ongoing debates over sexuality at the local, national and global levels and discuss how they’ve created their own sparks and been catalysts for change.
"Current culture is still unable to have a healthy conversation about sex,” said Donaghue, who is a nationally recognized sex & relationship expert, sex therapist, and author of Sex Outside the Lines. “CatalystCon creates the needed space for important and diverse conversations in the field of sexuality, that expand and push us all forward. CatalystCon is the much needed antidote and healing force that we all require for our sexuality."
The closing keynote plenary address will take place on Sunday, September 13 and will feature author, educator, and Good Vibrations founder Joani Blank, who will be interviewed by Lynn Comella. “Joani Blank is a sex-positive pioneer,” said Comella, Associate Professor of Gender and Sexuality Studies at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. “She helped popularize the idea of vibrator shops for women, and I’m beyond excited that she’ll be the closing keynote speaker at CatalystCon West. We’re in for a treat.”
“I'm thrilled to take part in the closing keynote at CatalystCon West,” said Blank. “It will be fun to go back in time and talk about what motivated me to start Good Vibrations in 1977, and reflect on what’s changed the most—and least—over the past 40 years.”
More information on the opening and closing keynotes may be found at CatalystCon.com/sessions/keynotes.
CatalystCon West takes place September 11-13, 2015 at the Los Angeles Marriott Burbank Airport. Registration is currently open at CatalystCon.com/register. Regular registration ends August 30.
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