2010-08-23 Who ARE These People?
I'm still doing a write-up of last night's event… Short version: It was wonderful! Total success, yet again. You're gonna love the picture. It's as cute as hell. There was no room for a group photo, so I thought that we'd go close-up, personal and cute.
This post is about one aspect of last night's event that some folks might have questions about:
If you were there, you may have noticed a good number of people in attendance who were clearly and identifiably NOT gay fetishmen. They weren't there to crash the party and pee in the pool, or to cock-block the cruisers. I spoke to everybody that I could, and I noticed a pattern. The people who weren't gay fetishmen (lesbians and straight folks), and who specifically wanted to be right there with us, had several things in common:
- They were 110% supportive and friendly
- They're all community leaders
- They all want to learn what the heck we are doing, so that they can repeat our successes with their own groups.
At this point in history, FetishMenSanDiego is the fastest-growing, most-active and snazziest thing happening in town.
- Our mailing-list is growing by around ten members a day, every day. NOBODY has unsubscribed so far. In the modern Internet age, that's freakin' unusual. I predict that we'll be up to about 3,000 members within a year, just like I had with the old PT-List.
- Each of our events are highly-regarded. Word of mouth is INTENSE in town, and all over the world. I'm getting email from Russia, Brazil, Argentina, Florida, Chicago and on and on, and everybody wants to know what we're doing, because they want the same thing in their own communities.
It;s 2010, and the old rules don't apply any more. Everybody who wants to make a difference has been feeling blue, wondering where everybody else went. Leaders hate it when they can't find a constituency, and they take it personally, when they really shouldn't. The Internet has been a huge blessing in so many ways, but it has also isolated us. Old-style clubs, with memberships, by-laws, elections and planning committees don't work any more, but everybody has been waiting for a new paradigm to arrive. The current situation has been a real drag for anybody who cares deeply about community, and I've been studying the problem for a long time.
FMSD is a test-tube environment for using new technology in ways that actually work, with the goal of re-connecting with each other in meaningful, satisfying ways. With that in mind, I hope that the gay fetishmen that I'm focusing my efforts on can keep an open mind about our super-friendly guests.
Just visualize them in white lab coats with clipboards! :->
