I want to congratulate Pat Billie and Sharrin Spector as they take the reins of the International Ms Leather and International Ms Bootblack contest which will be held the last weekend of April in San Jose, CA. I know of Sharrin and her high credentials and I have known Pat Baillie since she held the International Ms Leather 1994 title. She has remained active in the Leather community and has worked well with past producers Amy Marie Meek and Glenda Rider. I'm not sure that anyone more suited and acquainted exits than Pat Baillie.
That is the new, now for what was new until Labor Day Weekend in Dallas, TX. The International Leather Sir, Leatherboy and Community Bootblack contest was under the new producer Jeffrey Payne. Jeffrey is co-owner of the Dallas Eagle with the man who owned the Leather Sir title system and that really helped for a smooth transition.
The International Leather Sir, Leatherboy and Community Bootblack contest is off to a great start as the vast majority of the support team is still there. The Texas hospitality was great. As good as Jeffrey is at what he does though, he has no control over the weather and it was summer, Texas-style, too. No matter, it worked well.
If you have not read yet, all 32 recipients for the Pantheon of Leather Awards 2013 have been announced. This year's winners are listed in the Pantheon section along with their self-written biographies.
We started doing something different last year when we announced the Regional Award recipients and a few others in advance and naming the major level award winners on stage at the Pantheon of Leather Awards show. In years past, many of the nominees would attend with high hopes, only to find out that they did not win while as many as half of the people who did win awards, were not there. It was frustrating and disheartening to me when the most common words throughout the show from the emcee would be, "Is there anyone here to accept the award for........?"
This year we have announced all recipients ahead of time, enough so that they should be able to arrange their travel schedule so that they could be there, and wishfully bring a few friends who would share in their special moment. There are two ways of doing awards shows. One is to announce all of the nominees like the Oscars, Emmys and Tonys do, and the other is to spare the suspense in favor of allowing those being honored to plan for it. Plan one is more exciting come show time and the latter has everyone knowing.
A few simple facts had to be considered in deciding to make the change. The first option was not working. Not enough people attended and it made me wonder, why am I doing this? 300 hours of work invested every year to have a small room a little over half full is discouraging. Does the community really want the awards, at least enough so to actually support it, not just a patronizing pat on the back, but little in the way of support to fund producing it. Another is a guilt factor.
We would know who won the awards, but would being selling tickets to people who we knew were not going to win. The Oscars have a private agency tally their award votes and only that firm knows the winners until the envelope is opened on stage and the winners' names announced. We don't have the mega million dollar budget.
We never have been afford the luxury of doing that. We do have the comfort now of giving award recipients the 411 in advance. Other nominees hopefully will attend, but not with the broken hearted frustration of not winning after the high expectations and cost of travel. They will be there to support their peers who have.
Pantheon of Leather Awards 2013 will again be held during DomCon: Atlanta at the Double Tree Hotel on Friday night, October 18. Make plans to be there. Go to the Pantheon section to find out more.
On to the topic of teaching the Next Generation and the one after that. Mr. San Diego Leather 2012 Aaron Duke may have hit the nail on the head in his step down speech in late August at ROMP San Diego. The gist of what he said was about educating on how to hold a flogger, where to hit and that educations seems to be coming in the form of an operations manual. Not his exact words, but this is what I got from it. People want to play.
I have often thought that teaching by books, etc. on how to lock handcuffs, how to Florentine flog and more is like trying to read a computer instructions manual written in English by Japanese techies is not as helpful as the manufacturers might like. True, such books and manuals are necessities, but teaching the Next Generation has to include more than that. How about instructing on the truisms of life.
I've seen more successes and failures caused by basic understandings, or lack thereof, based on peoples' understanding of human nature and functioning in a particular society. How about teaching about basic manners instead of parroting off the phrase, "Trust, Honor. Respect?" Teach what it means and does not mean.
Here is one such truism that is a basic fact of life: There are two kinds of dreams; ones acted upon and those that are not. The progress of the world depends on dreams realized by action. And the quality of that progress is dependent upon which dreams are acted upon.
Another thing Aaron said that I've believed for so many years, at least as long as I can remember, and I am paraphrasing because I do not have the exact words, "It is not how much Leather one has hanging in their closet that makes them Leather, it is what is inside them that does." The audience went wild. San Diego has an unbelievable community and it is full of heart. I can think of at least 20 people the off the top of my head that make it that way. Aaron and Wish are two of them.
Enjoy reading The Leather Journal,
Dave Rhodes
The Leather Journal was founded in May, 1987. The Leather community was hungry for news magazine that covered clubs, organizations and events. TLJ has successfully met that need for 34 years. We have adapted to change more than once and when the Internet came about we were there by adding www.TheLeatherJournal.com
