Overcoming your fears, building confidence!

[Cami desiree]

Hello everyone. I am sure many of you are on the fence relative to attending Diva Las Vegas this year. Let me try to assist you with any fears by posting a small piece from a Chapter in my memoir. I hope you will consider coming as many of us were in your shoes at one point in time, just like you.

Back in 2010 I was spending a lot of time on the internet looking for information on crossdressing and transgenderism. I came across a website called Diva Las Vegas. I was curious as it stated it was not a convention, more of an outing. It looked like fun, but I had rarely ventured out of the house dressed. The thought of it scared the hell out of me. I talked to Teri about going and she said yes. I could not wait for the week to come. I packed more stuff then I could possibly wear in a month. I was so excited to go that the night before there was a threat of snow up in the mountains, so I left then and stayed at a hotel on the way down.
It turned out to be an exciting week. I met lots of people with similar stories. I had a blast. I attended events, ate dinners with strangers and danced and drank until the wee hours. I had found a community that I was immediately welcomed into. I met girls who would become life-long friends.
The way it works is that some attendees organize an event and thru the website attendees can sign up to go to that event. It requires some volunteering, so the next year I jumped in with both feet and ran a couple events. Year after year I would attend and got more involved in planning events. One year I won the prize for most hospitable and welcoming attendee. Over 150 people attend so it was a big honor for me. After years of being one of the most active attendees I was appointed as one of three national organizers. It is one of the largest transgender/cross-dresser’s outings in the country and I am proud to help in it happening each year.
People attend from all over the country and from overseas. It gives me huge satisfaction to organize events and see the joy that many of these cross-dressers or trans people get from participating. Like my first DLV in 2010, it is the first time many girls have been out in public. They come to Vegas scared to death and they leave with unbelievable confidence. I enjoy helping my trans community grow thru Diva Las Vegas.
Over the years me and my trans girlfriends had some incredible experiences. Most of them involve things like eating, being tourists, golfing, gambling, drinking, partying and dancing, but each year my takeaway is the friendships I created that have become lifetime. I love the feeling I get when I see a “newbie” come out of her shell for the first time. I remember more than once walking out of a first-timers room, down the elevator and helping that person walk thru the casino for the first time. Watching fear become confidence is just addicting. I love that each year I can help trans-women have a special time in their lives. To some, it is everything.