We started off the meeting by taking a look at the fall 2011 update from NOCIRC. It mainly discussed the effort from earlier this year of putting an anti-circumcision measure on the ballot for the city of San Francisco. Enough signatures were gathered, but it was eventually stopped when the courts determined that it would violate a 2010 law preventing individual cities or counties from regulating medical procedures. NOCIRC and a few other intactivist organizations helped with the effort. Even though it ultimately failed, much discussion on the subject was provoked not only in the San Francisco area but throughout the country. As the measure would have been unlikely to pass, it's likely that the idea of stirring public debate over circumcision was part of the motivation behind the effort in the first place.
As we got to talking about restoration, one man in our group talked about his experience discussing the subject recently with a urologist. The doctor hadn't heard of foreskin restoration, as it seems most haven't, so our group member spent some time educating the guy on the subject.
Lastly, we spent some time answering some questions about devices for a man who had completed his restoration long ago, using tape, and was curious about what new methods everyone used these days. Up through the late 90s, most of the available methods consisted of weights, tape, or cones placed under the developing foreskin. Around then, a few crafty restorers started coming up with tapeless devices, and a few of them started selling them over the internet (even one from our group). While there are still plenty of do-it-yourself device users out there, many NORM SoCal attendees of late - and probably a significant number of restorers in general - have found it convenient to use these commercially available devices.