I am not attending the conference (I would if I could afford it) and so you may rightly consider it inappropriate for me to suggest this, but what the hell, ...

I think the AVFM conference has some terrific speakers, speaking to an issue that has profoundly affected my life: fathers rights.

I'd like the conference to get maximum publicity for its content, not for the surrounding controversy.

Perhaps even better, I'd love for the conference to change views of prominent journalists and even feminists regarding fathers' issues.

So I am just wondering, just some 5pm beer speculation, would it be a good idea for AVFM to invite three feminist journalists into the conference? Send them press passes. Make whatever accommodations for journalists are typically made.

My suggestion would be to invite feminist journalists who in the past have shown some ability to sympathize and understand men's issues, even if mens rights groups have disagreed with their specific positions.

  • Emily Bazelon, Slate XX legal writer
  • Hannah Rosin, Slate, author of "The End of Men"
  • Susan Faludi, author of
    • Backlash: The Undeclared War Against American Women
    • Stiffed: The Betrayal of the American Man

The basic idea is the conference is so good, that it can only do good to get the actual conference presentations seen and understood by feminist writers, as opposed to the alternative, these same writers just perceive it as it is presented on blogs and Jezebel or at the Guardian.

Okay, this is just beer speculation, how inspired or stupid is this idea?