With the pandemic measures, it was decided to run the event at smaller scale compared to last time. There were a bit over 30 people, all fully vaccinated and tested to make sure we could do this safely.
After the introduction, SensualSpiral and Imaginatrix did a really lovely Embodied Consent workshop. Sharing FRIES (Freely given, Reversible, Informed, Enthusiastic & Specific) as a consent model and asking people to use opt-in for their negotiations. The talk was very lighthearted, caring and informative.
To help people randomly connect, LordofTurtles ran a Kinky Bingo directly after. Where you had to find who fitted the many different options on the card. The wild chaos that ensued with everyone talking to everyone was a great repeat of last time. I was one short of completing it...
The evening continued with a different chaos after this, since we started the Koalabox activity. Very simple, write down suggestions, shuffle them and randomly pick one out. Then someone can be either subject or hypnotist to do this and the rest watches. What makes this extra fun is that the suggestions range from simple and sweet (big vs small) to very silly (Sean Connery induction). Some of my favorites:
And last we did a fun thing with 4 hypnotists each saying one word at a time to create (or at least attempt to) a functional induction. Good fun!
Time for the bulk of the talks. It started out with a really nice presentation by MrSnake: Introduction to Hypnosis. It contained a lot of good tips for new people and was given with really good energy. An awesome way to start.
Next was my own presentation: Inclusive Sexy Language - Sexy Trancing For Everyone. The focus was on how to use words that apply to any gender identity and also focus on how similar words can have a very different meaning or direction to people (like "thrust"). The active participation of the audience was really good and some wonderful words were shared. The demo focused on using these words, going from a very soft, generic and gentle language slowly to more explicit. Also to show that even explicit language can be gender neutral and enjoyed in different ways. Some delicious fun (and frustration) was had. And, with consent of the volunteers, the audience could ask questions about how certain things felt.
SensualSpiral follow quickly with The Art of Gentle Femdom. An outwardly almost innocent, soft talk about how you can treat your submissive, with some deliciously sharp wit and stings. "I'm on the edge of being *very* disappointed."
After lunch, Imaginatrix and Sinister showed off their amazing chemistry with Dual Inductions & Induction Duels. Not only is it a joy to watch them work, but the dynamic between them is both inspiring and infectious. Way too many people (myself included) got some good ideas out of that one. Their tips for dual inductions were very fun and practical and I wonder how many people will use them. The duel on the other hand was more hands on (literally) with the inevitable loss a joy to watch.
Unfortunately I missed SensualSpiral's Fractionation and ways to do it, as I really needed a bit of space, but was back in time for Englishharry and Pebble's An Extreme Fear Play Journey. Outwardly it looked almost like old black & white horror movies. With a clear bad guy, monster or dangerous situation and the mighty hero swooping in to rescue the damsel in distress. However... For Pebble it was all too real, with deep expressions of fear rippling across the audience.
The evening, after dinner, was filled for me with the speed trance. Where 5 rounds easily took up almost 2 hours. It was chaotic, loud and silly but also a lot of fun and the atmosphere was amazing. Some private sessions afterwards took up the rest of the night and left me with just about enough hours of sleep (cough) to prepare for the next day.
Being the first presentation on the last day is a mixed bag. People are tired, overstimulated (even more so after so long of no events) and possibly fractionated. But... There's still time for some final fun before it's all over.
Different Depravity - One Trance, Two Perspectives was a demo where I had two subjects reacting to one trance. I've worked with both of them (Unicado and SecretSab) for many years and we had prepared quite a few different elements to show together. The demo started out with some scientific brainwashing and moved to monsters, sensations and more. The different reactions were (at least to me) a joy to behold. Even as they both heard the same words, there were some very strong differences. Afterwards, the audience could ask questions to further highlight how the same phrase can mean something so different. Like "you have no choice" can be an invitation to resist or a confirmation of the current state.
SensualSpiral was next with: Hypnotic Drones, How to Build and Use. It was a talk I wasn't sure about and *very* happy to attend. Her gentle, caring, internally motivating handling of drones was really lovely. The concept of permanosis and the implications of it are very hot. It wasn't the induction that did it to me, but the lovely way in which she weaved in the motivation for being useful into the feelings of satisfaction, combined with the blankness of the state. It became a reward for the subject to be there. A joy. It was beautiful.
Imaginatrix/Sinister: "Thanks, I Hate It", Hypnotic Shame Play. I don't dare to comment on this, as I won't be able to do it justice. It was so well done, so nicely described, demonstrated and elaborated on. I may have asked for their notes to learn more of this. Moving on...
After lunch it was really clear people were grabbing a bit of time for themselves. My fantasy group trance and Sinister's Improvised Inductions, Robust Suggestions had only a handful of people. The intimacy of it made it kind of nice compared to the crowd of before, though.
Finally, Sensual Spiral repeated the very popular Restoring and refreshing session to round us off. And after that it was all over...
Well, after we all thanked Pebble, of course! And the helpers, and the presenters and everyone who came. The energy was so positive and (as part of the clean-up crew) the helpfulness of everyone involved is deeply appreciated.
And this isn't even close to it all, but I have to stop writing at some point...
Thank you all. I had a lot of fun.