Hooking it up
No, this is not about a suspension show with flesh hooks, or pulling some hot body at a club.
This is about the type of hook up one does when aiding someone in various ways.
In the past week, I've had about 3 requests for help in a particular area.
Since the beginning of the year about three times that.
For some reason, it's picked up lately but even before I'd get a decent amount of requests each month.
What am I talking about?
Hooking models up with ways to find work, particularly in Europe.
They also request to get set up for gigs at events as well as introduced to the designers I know and work with.
The majority of the girls that write me, to be honest, are probably nice enough - they usually are at first - but then I really couldn't know that since I've never actually spoken to any of them for more than 2 minutes - if at all. But three of the times I did help out in the past, I ended up getting fucked - well actually, it was the guy I was seeing at the time that ended up getting fucked or some kind of attempt was made. In any case it got kind of ugly, full of drama, and generally sucked for all except for me. (Supposedly I got rid of a crap 'friend' or two, learned something new from the experience, etc. And yes, I did get most all of her shoots canceled and recanted all recommendations so that no future work was ever likely).
When I first started traveling to the EU for work, there were no other US models that were going out there that I could ask. There were a couple but I didn't know them well enough to ask. I did the research on my own. After several years, I can mentally list off the individual times a US model has introduced me to a photographer or set me up with a paying gig: 1. Emily Marilyn introduced me to a CH-based bondage photog who turned out to be a egotistical dick (to me) in the end. 2. ivy_red & Kendra James have sent me links to some UK-based producers after we worked together out there a couple of times. (If I'm missing someone do comment!)
I have invested time, money, and effort in order to nurture and expand my network. Some of it has been quite enjoyable and rewarding because I have also met some truly great people as well as established wonderful friendships with individuals that I really trust. And so, through hours of e-mails, phone calls, and face-to-face contact I've been able to put a decent sized string of fetish-friendly (to a certain extent) places together in the EU (UK, FR, ES, PT, IT, GR, AT, CH, SK, CZ, PL, DE, NL, BE, DK, SE, LV, ES). There are also more places, but those are still in progress but that's almost 20 years of being in the fetish "community" which means a lot of people had to suffer my yapping at them.
(BTW, last year I did a month+ long tour of New Zealand and Australia - and as far as I can recall, there were no other US fetish models I could talk to about getting hooked up for shoots).
It can take a lot of physical as well as mental energy - sure anyone can just go and buy a ticket and fly, but I enjoy doing things personally and often without having to depend on people all the time. I've sorted out the best ways to travel for certain routes on my own, and luckily I've also avoided getting lost too horribly. Learning another language, or two, or three, or more also helps. Oh, and of course, I've experienced shooting with some photographers no other models known to me have worked with before. I'm not bragging about getting there first, what I'm saying is I couldn't just trust a familiar model I knew for a reference if I wanted to know if a particular producer was safe.
What else? I have attempted to recommend some model/performers for gigs and those producers have gone forward to book them on my recommendation. Sometimes no one shows up, or if they do, things go horribly wrong due to lack of professionalism from the person I suggested. I refuse to back someone who will end up breaking down any sort of trusting relationship I've built up. If I want to screw things up with a promoter or producer, I'm well-capable of doing it on my own. If someone's going to ruin my reputation in fetish, regardless of what its current status is, I can do that myself too.
Another thing? Why would I want to introduce you to my designers? Sure, I want them to make money and sell their clothing. Here's the link to their site, here's their address. Go buy lots of latex! I want them to sell a lot because that's why they use me. But you want me to introduce you to them so you can work for them the way I do?
(I think Darenzia put it best "Kumi, can u just give me money? And latex. All of it.")
Understandably, the economy sucks for a lot of people, but it's not necessarily better across the pond, it's just different. But as it is in most parts of the world, people that work for a living in a competitive area are highly unlikely to simply give up their contact lists, unless of course they enjoy slitting their own throats.
So then, will I help anyone? Perhaps, on the rare chance the opportunity arises and I'm feeling charitable (and my brain takes a dump).
However, I am lecturing on the subject (Models-A-Broad) at FetishCon in August this year.
I won't give up my contact list or phone numbers of the best paying producers, but I will have information some might actually find useful since it's obvious most are too lazy or incapable of doing the research themselves.
oh, and sometime photographers that i've worked with do ask me for models. And I do give those out, but I'm highly selective and chances are, I usually help out models that have helped me out ... er... yeah.
This is about the type of hook up one does when aiding someone in various ways.
In the past week, I've had about 3 requests for help in a particular area.
Since the beginning of the year about three times that.
For some reason, it's picked up lately but even before I'd get a decent amount of requests each month.
What am I talking about?
Hooking models up with ways to find work, particularly in Europe.
They also request to get set up for gigs at events as well as introduced to the designers I know and work with.
The majority of the girls that write me, to be honest, are probably nice enough - they usually are at first - but then I really couldn't know that since I've never actually spoken to any of them for more than 2 minutes - if at all. But three of the times I did help out in the past, I ended up getting fucked - well actually, it was the guy I was seeing at the time that ended up getting fucked or some kind of attempt was made. In any case it got kind of ugly, full of drama, and generally sucked for all except for me. (Supposedly I got rid of a crap 'friend' or two, learned something new from the experience, etc. And yes, I did get most all of her shoots canceled and recanted all recommendations so that no future work was ever likely).
When I first started traveling to the EU for work, there were no other US models that were going out there that I could ask. There were a couple but I didn't know them well enough to ask. I did the research on my own. After several years, I can mentally list off the individual times a US model has introduced me to a photographer or set me up with a paying gig: 1. Emily Marilyn introduced me to a CH-based bondage photog who turned out to be a egotistical dick (to me) in the end. 2. ivy_red & Kendra James have sent me links to some UK-based producers after we worked together out there a couple of times. (If I'm missing someone do comment!)
I have invested time, money, and effort in order to nurture and expand my network. Some of it has been quite enjoyable and rewarding because I have also met some truly great people as well as established wonderful friendships with individuals that I really trust. And so, through hours of e-mails, phone calls, and face-to-face contact I've been able to put a decent sized string of fetish-friendly (to a certain extent) places together in the EU (UK, FR, ES, PT, IT, GR, AT, CH, SK, CZ, PL, DE, NL, BE, DK, SE, LV, ES). There are also more places, but those are still in progress but that's almost 20 years of being in the fetish "community" which means a lot of people had to suffer my yapping at them.
(BTW, last year I did a month+ long tour of New Zealand and Australia - and as far as I can recall, there were no other US fetish models I could talk to about getting hooked up for shoots).
It can take a lot of physical as well as mental energy - sure anyone can just go and buy a ticket and fly, but I enjoy doing things personally and often without having to depend on people all the time. I've sorted out the best ways to travel for certain routes on my own, and luckily I've also avoided getting lost too horribly. Learning another language, or two, or three, or more also helps. Oh, and of course, I've experienced shooting with some photographers no other models known to me have worked with before. I'm not bragging about getting there first, what I'm saying is I couldn't just trust a familiar model I knew for a reference if I wanted to know if a particular producer was safe.
What else? I have attempted to recommend some model/performers for gigs and those producers have gone forward to book them on my recommendation. Sometimes no one shows up, or if they do, things go horribly wrong due to lack of professionalism from the person I suggested. I refuse to back someone who will end up breaking down any sort of trusting relationship I've built up. If I want to screw things up with a promoter or producer, I'm well-capable of doing it on my own. If someone's going to ruin my reputation in fetish, regardless of what its current status is, I can do that myself too.
Another thing? Why would I want to introduce you to my designers? Sure, I want them to make money and sell their clothing. Here's the link to their site, here's their address. Go buy lots of latex! I want them to sell a lot because that's why they use me. But you want me to introduce you to them so you can work for them the way I do?
(I think Darenzia put it best "Kumi, can u just give me money? And latex. All of it.")
Understandably, the economy sucks for a lot of people, but it's not necessarily better across the pond, it's just different. But as it is in most parts of the world, people that work for a living in a competitive area are highly unlikely to simply give up their contact lists, unless of course they enjoy slitting their own throats.
So then, will I help anyone? Perhaps, on the rare chance the opportunity arises and I'm feeling charitable (and my brain takes a dump).
However, I am lecturing on the subject (Models-A-Broad) at FetishCon in August this year.
I won't give up my contact list or phone numbers of the best paying producers, but I will have information some might actually find useful since it's obvious most are too lazy or incapable of doing the research themselves.
oh, and sometime photographers that i've worked with do ask me for models. And I do give those out, but I'm highly selective and chances are, I usually help out models that have helped me out ... er... yeah.