first asked in the Friday 11 February 2000 issue ~ v02.n05
................................................................ ........ w e e k l y . s u r v e y . r e s p o n s e s ......... ................................................................ THE SURVEY QUESTION WAS: "What experience do you have with play parties and public play?" As promised here are the results of the Play Party Experience Survey we began two issues ago. Following the facts and figures we're including some of the many anonymous comments we received from those who took part in this survey. Enjoy! PLAY PARTY EXPERIENCE 53% have never been to any kind of play party 37% have attended at least a private play party 31% have also attended a public play party 32% have scened at a private play party 25% have scened at a public play party 10% have been a dungeon master at a private play party 9% have been a dungeon master at a public play party Comments from survey respondents... "The BDSM community is growing so fast that education on how to behave at a public or private party cannot keep up. DM's are now people who have less than 5 years experience in the community and in some cases have only had "online" experiences not real ones before volunteering to DM. This is not only not safe, it's scarry! We need a real push to get those real experienced players with many years of experience back into the community and into being DM's again. But unless someone can help with party manners to the droves of new people, the experienced players will continue to only play in private." "This is an EXTREMELY good idea! Run with it. I spend much of my time at events coaching newcomers on etiquette (I seem to be approachable), and although I don't mind, it would be nice to have a known & reliable resource out there to refer them to." "Being a female sub/dom who is married to a male dom, we often get invited to private and public parties, as we often start the play sessions. Most people are initially inhibited because they are still too worried about what others will think - just get over it and get on with the fun. You find that if you are open and obviously enjoying yourself then others will join in and start to relax and enjoy themselves - that is the key." "It is very arousing, especially as a male (I think) to be displayed and used in front of people who I haven't met before. It makes it much easier for me to accept Mistress' strap-on..." "i enjoy scenes in public, not only can they be 'safer' in my eyes, but much more exciting." "For an exhibitionist such as myself, public scening and being watched are integral parts of my roleplaying. Without voyeurs, there would be no exhibitionists. Having said that, sometimes it takes very little for an audience to be distracting and disruptive. Getting too close to a scene, especially ones needing more space, makes it difficult for the Dom to focus on his willing victim. The willing victim ( me) picks up on the Dom's distracted manner and starts thinking, which stops the submission, so... And if you dont know the players? Then take another step or two back, and introduce yourself later in the socializing area." A BIG thank you to all the readers who participated in this survey and a special thanks to those who took the time to write to us in the comments box. We got many more responses than we had room to include here but we read and were glad to receive each one of them. In fact it was partly the fact that so many commented on wanting to be involved but their partner wasn't interested that influenced our decision to add the two pages now available on the menubar in the Fetish Information Exchange.
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