Our Experience at Frolicon 2016
For those not familiar with the convention, Frolicon: The Naughty Side of Paradise, it is a kink convention held each Spring in Atlanta, GA. Imagine 2500 individuals with a diversity of interests in alternative sexuality and lifestyle taking over a swanky hotel. Ranging from curious to experienced, they look like any other professional convention except that it is not unusual to see people in corsets, wings, latex, or furry costumes. Some people are naked or proudly sporting bruises, brands and 
piercings. They are all genders and no gender, and every stripe on the relatiolnship and orientation spectrum. For three days, there are classes, and entertainment, and discussion groups or panels. Vendors sell everything from books to electric stim kits. It’s adult fun on many levels, and Pleasure Evolution was thrilled to be invited back this year to teach. Last year we held a Being Social and taught one class. This year we held a Being Social and taught 3 classes. It was fantastic fun!
We had the chance to not only meet some great people, but to hear and interact with other professionals and presenters that were there. If you’ve never been and are curious about kink and lifestyle experiences, we highly recommend it. Classes ranged from How To on everything from rope to pole dancing, to discussions on how be a trans ally or how to get your book published.
What We Learned
One of the things that stuck out to Trevor the most, not only at Frolicon, but at many of our workshops, is how certain information one person takes for granted is something that many others are unaware of. He says, “I myself somehow was unaware that there is a vaccination for Hepatitis A and B. I blame myself for being unaware of this. I must also say that since I pass as a hetero male, perhaps the doctors I’ve seen have not bothered to inform me either. I gleaned this nugget of information from a great panel with some MD’s in a talk about the lifestyle.”
For Rebekah, watching people gain a first exposure to solid information about how to implement kink is a big turn-on. She says, “I loved talking to people who were excitedly giving themselves permission to try new things. In community, we can break out of our shame around our sexuality. It’s like, if they are into that, and nobody is freaking out, then what I like must be okay too.”
What We Taught
In the classes we teach, people often come up to tell us how much they learned. Our Joys of Oral Sex class was standing room only. Sorry to say, we did not perform a live demo, but we had a fun slide show! During our experiential Energetic Sex Magic class, several participants were brought to tears as we used erotic energy to move through blocks they had been carrying for years. Another couple was shocked by the intensity they achieved when connecting to each other through gazing, breathing in circulation and exchanging energy through the chakras. Moments like these are why we do what we do. Both of these classes were recorded by Woody of KinkyCast and will be available later this year. Our class on Old Lovers, New Games – How to Negotiate Change in Relationship gave us an opportunity to test drive some of the concepts we will bringing to our couples retreat in Costa Rica in October of this year.
We revel in the kinky, sex-positive culture we get to work and play in. We love people like you who are always wanting to learn more and happy to share information and thoughts. For too long sex has been a subject of shame in our culture. The fact that sex is such a repressed part of our lives (repressed by society at large) is why so much of our media capitalizes on its impact for advertising and solicitation. At conventions like Frolicon we get to “let our freak flag fly” and spend some time without judgement or shame as we revel in our authentic sexual selves. It was truly wonderful.
Thank you Frolicon staff and volunteers, especially Chrissie who coordinates the Think Track which we teach on. And thank you everyone who attended our classes and events.
Pleasurably Yours,
Rebekah and Trevor
