PCNI Conference 2024

Our biennial conference, Power of PFLAG, on October 26th is the biggest project that PCNI organizes every two years. The nine volunteers serving on the Conference Committee have been planning for more than a year now to make the conference a memorable, educational, and fun event. We use a different venue for every conference because PCNI covers a large area, and we want members of all PFLAG chapters to participate and feel included. This year, we are bringing the conference to The Morton Arboretum, which has generously donated the space and use of equipment.

Everyone will enjoy a videocall appearance by Brian Bond, PFLAG CEO, the keynote by Art Johnston, a community activist, co-founder of Equality Illinois and partner at Sidetrack, and the closing presentation by Mike Ziri, Public Policy Director at Equality Illinois. The venue – Thornhill Education Center at The Morton Arboretum – has multiple rooms, which will allow us to run several presentations at the same time. During two breakout periods, we’ll offer six tracks – that’s 12 presentations in addition to common ones! The biggest challenge will be deciding which two out of these twelve presentations you’ll attend 😊.

During lunch, we’ll offer five informal Lunch Discussion Circles, each one discussing a specific topic in a round-table format. You may also choose to socialize with other attendees during lunch, outside of these Discussion Circles.

The conference will start at 8 AM and close at 3 PM. The Morton Arboretum has graciously offered us free guided walking and riding tours, which you may take after the conference ends. It’s a beautiful place, and we hope that a guided tour there will be a perfect ending to a day of learning, making new friends, reconnecting with old ones, and fully enjoying the PFLAG community. You may also choose to explore The Arboretum without a guide.

Breakfast and lunch will be provided. We have planned so many activities for attendees at this year’s conference. During the day, our community partners will host information tables where you can find resources, useful information and make connections. The Gay Men’s Chorus will sing for us. Our Button Brigade will share assorted buttons. We’ll have a prize raffle. There will be a special spot for taking fun photos and a board to write a message about what the Power of PFLAG means to you. The Conference Committee has put a lot of work into making sure that the event will be an unforgettable and uplifting experience!

Admission costs only $15 per person because we want to make attending the conference affordable for everyone. This covers only about 20% of the total cost per attendee, so we are asking you to also donate if you can to help PCNI offset the expense. The donation option is on the registration form.

Please consider volunteering on the day of the conference. The whole event is organized by volunteers and is a community event. If you can help, please indicate so on the registration form, and someone from the Conference Committee will contact you to discuss your engagement. Thank you so much!

RSVP for the Conference here: https://pflagil2024.rsvpify.com

PCNI Conference Committee:
Andrew, Ann, Beth, Jo, Kathy, Kelly, Lex, Marcy, and Ray