AE meet-up in Zurich

The AfterEllen meet-up in Zurich was so much fun, just that evening was worth the whole trip. But I’ll start at the beginning: When Bridget and Karman first came in, seeing them was really surreal. It didn’t seem to me that that was finally happening. They shook hands with everybody and we sat in a big circle and talked. Later, even more people showed up and then we split the circle up, with various groups talking. Karman and a few of us talked about the vlogs and she said that she thinks Sarah (Warn, for the non-AE regulars) created a lesbian TV-channel without even aiming for that. Mainly because there’s just no lesbian content on TV and she wanted to create something that she was missing. I think it’s pretty amazing that she just thought “I would like to read/see this or that” and then created it. We also talked about pride parades and the LGBT offers in various European countries and it seems that there’s a very common theme: There are nearly no lesbian offers, but loads of clubs, parties and meetings for gay men, which honestly, sucks! But that’s just the same in Austria. Karman said that she thinks once advertisers realize that lesbians do have some money too things will change, also for AfterEllen. Let’s just hope that that day will come sooner than later.

I also had the chance to talk to Bridget alone for a while, which was amazing!! We talked about chocolate (I brought them Austrian chocolate), my dreams to move to the states and the fact that she was Hottie No. 4 on AE’s Hot 100. Her comment: That is ridiculous. My comment: I voted for you, you’re beautiful.

They had to leave after two hours to meet with their tour guide but some other girls/women stayed longer and I had some very interesting conversations with some of the ladies. I met two Vicki’s from California and their partners/wives Alex/Alexis, which was fun. Both couples met in California and moved to Switzerland and there are a few more parallels between them, which is really interesting because they share names. There was some joking going on that there might actually only be one Alex/Alexis because all four had never met or that the world would implode when they finally met (It didn’t, just in case you were wondering). I also had a very interesting conversation with Julianne (I hope that’s how she spells her name) from Australia, who might come to Austria in a week or two.

Anyways, I had so much fun and if you like AfterEllen and have the chance to go to one of those meet-ups, I can only recommend it. Should there be another one in Europe I will try everything to go. Bridget and Karman were very nice, sweet and inclusive, they talked to everybody and it was a really great experience. I have to admit that I’m biased, because I love AE so much and they are like TV-stars to me, but still. I’m not going to post all the pictures I took because some people don’t want their photos to be on lesbian websites, which I understand. Someone took a great picture of me and Bridget that I hope will show up on AE, or else I’ll try to get into contact with her so that she can send it to me. For now, those two will have to do. (They probably do for you anyways.). I’ll post some pictures of Zurich later on in a separate post.