BDSM World announces first Meta Conference

NORMAL, OKLAHOMA

A group of BDSM event promoters have come together to create “Conference Con,” the first BDSM conference devoted to conferences.

“There are so many kinky events and conferences going on all over, we thought it was time to have a conference about it,” said Tim Beattermuth, producer of Portland’s annual Smack You Silly comedy and torture event and one of the organizers of Conference Con.

The event features five days of classes with titles like “Come to my Event, not the other one going on the same weekend” and “There is no good weekend: Scheduling your event in a sea of competitors.”

The event which hopes to draw more than 500 event producers, is designed to allow conference organizers to have conversations about conferences.

“We really need something like this,” said Debbie, producer of an annual rope event in Biloxi, Mississippi, “it helps you understand how many events there are out there.”

Beattermuth is optimistic about the future.  “Right now there are around 700 events going on each year, roughly two per day.  We hope to double that in the next year.”

According to insiders there is still some room for growth.  “We were shocked to discover that March 18 and August 7th have no events scheduled next year.  We are scrambling to find something to fill them.”

One of the tracks is designed to help nurture fledgling presenters, with classes titled “Narcissist?  Presenting is Definitely for You!” and “You Don’t Need to Know Much, Just More than the People You Teach.”  The most controversial class, “How to Study, Research Your Topic (and Teach it Responsibly)” is likely to be picketed and boycotted by most attendees.

“If you wanted to research stuff we teach, we’d go to school.” said one of the organizers, “this isn’t school.”

photo credit: Frano Folini