March 14th presentation debrief
Despite fretting that I wouldn't get to the venue on time, my second attempt at doing my BDSM history presentation at the Center for Sex Positive Culture in Seattle went quite well.
Last time I tried it, the border was no problem at all, but this time there was a delay of three hours or more. I was sitting in the bus most of that time, thinking that I was right in taking the 8:30 bus so there was maximum margin for error. I believe that this had something to do with lots of coaches taking people down to cruise ship departures in Seattle. The border itself wasn't too much of a hassle, apart from wondering what the toys in my bag would look like going through the x-ray machine.
On the way down, I thought it was good, but then there was some kind of traffic problem on the I-5, and the bus slowed to a crawl again.
Thankfully, instead of trying to navigate an unfamiliar transit system, the Center sent a staffer to pick me up. (My thanks to her.) We got to the Centre's Annex with 8 minutes to spare. Enough time to do a last minute edit of the slideshow and get the projector and screen set up, especially if you factor in leather/queer/poly time.
About ten people showed up, which means that the bus fare, meals and promotional costs are covered. If nothing else, this proves that it pays to advertise, as I made sure the Centre had posters, it was on Fetlife and Facebook, and that there was even a mention in Seattle's The Stranger.
After ten or so presentations after the last few years, I've got this one pretty much down. I try to keep adding new elements as my research continues, and this version put a much stronger emphasis on Atlantic slavery.
I love the Centre, though I didn't get a chance to see my favorite part this time around: the library. It's the kind of thing I'd like to see in Vancouver one day. Actually, I'd like to see something like the Centre in every city in the world. They're really doing a remarkable job of making it sustainable, and operating as a democratic institution too. Even things like the local TV news hack job a few months ago didn't really hurt them. I was told they actually had a spike in new memberships after that story.
After enjoying the Raw pansexual party as a guest, I spent the night on one of the beds in back, then used the showers the next morning. I wish I had stayed for around for the rope class, but I had to catch the bus back to Vancouver.
So, that was a success. Some people said that there should think about doing it in other places, which would be interesting. Portland is about as far as I can travel in a single day by bus, and I knew they had a pretty active Scene. Maybe do the "Beauty in Darkness Summer 2009 West Coast tour".