My wife, Wisteria, and I went to a new local kink con this weekend, Northern Lights Kink. It was a hotel event, and we took over the entire hotel and bar/grill. This was a first time event, but obviously these people have run some kind of hotel events before, because everything went nearly flawlessly from a participant standpoint. I know these kinds of events often have circumstances that occur behind the scenes, but in this case, if anything happened, it never reached awareness of the event goers.
They had 230 registrations, though I’m sure a few of those didn’t make it. The event was set up in the usual manner for these things. Classes during the day, play space at night. We had the whole hotel, the only outsiders being the hotel staff. All but 3 rooms of the hotel were rented.
Friday had a BBQ and Meet-and-Greet that we couldn’t attend, and then play time. Saturday had 4 class sessions, Sunday had two. The 5000 sq. ft. of playspaces (one small quiet space and one large noisy one) were spacious enough for the number of attendees, making for a minimum of wait time for equipment. The range of equipment was excellent, going from the prosaic St. Andrew’s Crosses and spanking benches to the magnificent 15’ x 15’ steel pipe jungle gym and 20’ x 20’ wrestling mat.
Some outstanding presenters were there including Lochai and Lqqkout in the rope bondage area, and Jim and Jerith from Chicago presented on edge play topics. Other presenters included Jack Rinella and Jazz Thomas, as well as local experts. The classes were excellent and entertaining. Lochai was wonderful, making his sub moan and gasp practically on command, while he explained how to communicate your intentions with rope. The next class with Lochai and Lqqkout was also very good, where one tied while the other talked about the issues with having dual rope tops. A session called Sublime Predicaments taught by Captain Bea and Ben was very informative, detailing the elements needed to go from good to transcendental: discomfort, fear, imagination, and arousal. Their use of power tools to generate fear in an safe, well-controlled environment was superb. The breath play class by Jim and Jerith was extremely well-researched, giving details of the respiratory system, and the demonstrations on Jerith of choking, strangulation, and carotid blood play, including passing out three times, were riveting. Their other class on adding fear to scenes was just as well-researched, with an amazing demo.
In the playspace, we mostly watched. I saw some things I’d never seen before, like a waterboarding and a few severe takedown scenes. Some really talented riggers did suspensions, and watching Lochai be sensual and loving in a floor work rope scene was not what I expected. I did some hair and biting play, but otherwise was very happy to observe. One thing no one seemed to know how to do to my satisfaction was violet wand play.
The dealer area featured four excellent vendors, selling violet wands, floggers, corsets, fucking machines, single tails, and riding crops. I’m lusting for a solid-state violet wand that was very reasonably priced, and a full-sized flogger. My current flogger is small. Wisteria got fitted for a corset, and saw two she liked. The hotel was very decent, and the hotel staff was accommodating. The pool, class rooms, and playspaces were clothing-optional. The con suite was well-stocked with food, and stayed open until an hour after the playspace closed. The food plan was good, though standard. Wisteria found plenty of things to eat.
My one complaint was the coffee at breakfast, which often included an unsatisfactory amount of grounds. Thankfully, the con suite had better coffee and better additives, including the hazelnut syrup. We had a wonderfully fun weekend. All in all, we definitely plan on going again next year.
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