Your kink community will help you build it.
This time last year, I was talking about starting a group on FetLife for people in New Mexico. The site was 10 months old, and so far as I could tell, nothing NM-specific was present. I was spending many an evening wandering through the site, thinking, This is it, this guy has done it. By “it,” I mean the next big thing in kink. The site that would tower over the others. The virtual place that would allow for serious organizing, serious networking, purposeful growth.
Finally, I did my “it,” and I started the New Mexico FetLifers group. A few months later, in February, with 56 members and not quite 200 people in New Mexico on FetLife total, I set a date for a “Meet n Greet.” I then personally emailed every person in NM who had not joined the group and invited them to do so, and to attend the event. 109 people showed up that night.
Now, over 1,000 New Mexico kinksters fill FetLife’s halls. Our events consistently see 40-100 attendees, depending on the type of event we offer. Our next event is Saturday, where I expect 70-80 guests to attend our “Submissives Speak!” Panel and our play party.
Since that Meet n Greet on February 28th, I’ve dreamt of getting FetLife creator himself, Mr. JohnBaku, to New Mexico. What a coup that would be for us! We are a small community perhaps in numbers, compared to large urban cities, but in the last 8 months I’ve learned that we are united–perhaps more strongly united than an outsider might suspect. As a whole, the NM kink community is among the most welcoming I’ve known.
And, we are raising the money to bring JohnBaku here. And, he is willing and happy to come. We are over half-way to our goal, with a year to plan a smashing event. I say “we” because though I whispered the idea, though I decided we would work toward it, the hundreds of people in the NM kink community are making it happen. They are donating money, running errands, responding to email queries, helping me organize …
This time next year, I’ll (fingers crossed) be posting about JohnBaku’s visit. I’ll be swimming in pictures, community, grace, laughter, play, and joy. I can’t wait to share all the details, gory and delightful.
