SSB-B Diplomatic Corps
The SSB-B Diplomatic Corps is a loosely (very loosely) organized network of friendly, caring folk throughout the world, all of whom have graciously volunteered to donate some of their time and energy to fellow kinky people who may be traveling to their home areas.
The idea was born of an incident in which two readers of the newsgroup soc.subculture.bondage-bdsm set out to meet one another in a city halfway between their hometowns, but through a series of random and peculiar misfortunes, missed their planned rendezvous. Unfortunately for them, their Plan A had been so simple and so straightforward, they hadn't really thought of preparing a Plan B, and when they missed their planned meeting, they had no way of contacting one another. Each quickly became convinced that something terrible had happened to the other. There were times when they were literally within a few yards of one another, but had no way of knowing it, and it took more than a day before they finally sorted it all out.
Because the SSB-B newsgroup is such a kindly, caring, compassionate place, there was a good deal of discussion on how to prevent such a thing from happening in the future. Out of those discussions grew this concept, the Diplomatic Corps. When I originally proposed the idea, I envisioned it strictly as a safety-network, a system that would allow newsgroup readers who were traveling to another city for romantic liaisons to arrange some sort of safe-call or emergency message relay contact. But as the idea took shape and acquired a life of its own, the participants quickly realized that it provided a perfect mechanism for traveling newsgroup readers to make social connections with some of the people whose posts they've been reading for years. The Dip Corps has thus evolved into a larger, more freeflowing entity than had been originally intended, but the net result of that transition has been the formation of some real-life friendships that might never have happened without it, and in an increasingly impersonal and digitized world, that's a Good Thing.
So. How's it work? Simple. Anyone who is interested in being a Dip simply sends me an e-mail stating their willingness to participate. Dip volunteers announce themselves as to the newsgroup as members of the Dip Corps simply by adding a sig line to the bottoms of their newsgroup posts - like mine; "SSB Diplomatic Corps, Hilo, HI". If you see that, and you're thinking of coming to Hilo for a visit, you know you've got a potential local contact here.
Your next step should be to go check out the Dip Corps web page. I maintain a website that lists everyone who's signed up, sorted according to where they live. If you're thinking of traveling to that area, and would like to set up a safecall or learn more about whatever local organizations there are in the region, just go to the website and see if there are any contacts listed for your intended destination. Most of the Dips have also included some comments explaining what sort of service or contact information they're comfortable with - some of them are interested only in providing emergency assistance, some of them would be eager to have lunch with a fellow "SSBeing" (cool phrase courtesy of Volcano), some of them are even willing to provide crash space.
If there is text with the listing, please read it, and decide whether what you're looking for matches up with what the person is offering - if it is, drop them an e-mail. If their text specifically states that they're not interested in providing the type of help you're looking for, please respect that and don't pester them - for example, if someone's contact info says "emergencies only", please don't send them an e-mail asking about munch groups. If what you're looking for doesn't seem to be something they've mentioned at all, one way or another, or if you're just honestly not certain, go ahead and drop them a courteous e-mail. But no matter what, please remember that whomever you're e-mailing may have a very busy life - don't wait until the last minute to contact them. Give them plenty of notice if you're thinking of asking them for a favor.
So, that's the deal. Please notice that all e-mail addresses are spamproofed, so pull the plug from whichever one you're replying to. If you see any changes that need to be made, or if you want your name removed or added to the list, e-mail me and I'll make it happen. But please be aware that I travel a great deal, and it may sometimes take a week or two before I can get to it.
With respect,
Panda
P.S. Panda seems to have gone missing. Please contact me for updates, changes, etc.
N.B.: Dates in parenthesis are when I made a change or addition. No date, means I haven't gotten anything since I started maintaining this page. (12/01)
North American contacts
"Spyral Fox"
http://members.aol.com/spyralfox/corps.html (This is the resource-laden webpage that Spyral is most likely to refer you to when you e-mail her anyway, so try here first and see if the answers to your question may be contained therein.)
San Francisco
"anne f(raser)"
Available for airport pickups, safe calls after working hours, empathetic shoulder or emergency accomodations (this would be a motel, our accommodations can't expand further.) I'm good in an emergency, useless as a tour guide.
Vallejo
"Binder"
Available for safe calls, call relay (not after midnight except in near but not quite 911 level) and pointers to the local (greater San Francisco Bay Area) scene. Also happy to talk, learn, and teach whipmaking.
"Rogue"
Available for safe calls, emergency assistance (may just be a phone call to someone depending on time of day and distance), call relay, and some local info though I just moved here not too long ago so may be limited in this capacity. (12/01)
"Panda"
I don't have much personal info about the local scene, having just moved here earlier this year, but I can share with you what little I do know. And I am getting to know a lot about the general area, so I can help out with general tourist questions, but best of all - if my schedule permits, I'll be happy to take you snorkeling! Trouble is, I travel a lot, and my e-mail is occasionally unreliable. So plan as far ahead as possible, and don't be discouraged if I don't respond immediately.
"Naughty But Nice"
Available for local information, both general and BDSM-related. Also available for help with emergencies. Familiar with Rockford, Chicago, and the Northern Illinois area. If there's a question we can't answer about the area, we'll be happy to research it.
sltanoswat@aol.plug.com (primary address)
ngtybtnice@aol.plug.com
(secondary address)
Chicago
"The Lone Stranger"
"Muse"
E-mail contact is best. I'm willing to help with just about anything - providing a safe call, helping someone who's in desperate need of floor space, a little bit of trip planning, or just meeting people who come through and want to know someone. I'm not terribly tied in to the local kink community, but I know where to find them.
"Kay"
Happy to act as tour guide for local area. Able to act as phone contact/relay and provide a safe place to stay in case of emergency. Can give advice about hotels, restaurants, places to go, things to do. The more notice you give me, the more I'll be able to help. SSB regulars only, please. I check my e-mail regularly.
"Bladerunner"
I can't do much in the way of emergency rescues, as I don't drive and me and my family have wacky schedules. But I can help with information on hotels, events, and touristy stuff in town, scene (most any kink) or vanilla related. I can also meet with folks at some events and do a little bit of tourist guiding myself. And if someone wants to get hooked up with local discussion lists, I have bunches for most of the Pacific Northwest. I can also provide some information for Seattle and other parts of the Oregon, if need be.
"Karl Kleinpaste"
"The Preacher"
I'm only in town about half the year, but when I'm not around I could still provide some interesting logistical support on the area. I have a penchant for incredible, out of the way restaurants, interesting local "to-do" ideas as well as general info on Austin and the Hill Country.
preachertx@mindspring.plug.com
Dallas
"Kelvon"
Local information resource, local contact - frequently travels out of town, but usually has reliable e-mail and cell phone access when traveling.
Houston
"Ms Judi"
San Antonio
"Volcano"
Local information for the San Antonio/Austin area. Active in Group With No Name (GWNN) up in Austin, as well as San Antonio S/Munch and Darkest Desire Central Texas in San Antonio. Also the founder of the Central Texas chapter of Pink Pistols. Can provide info on upcoming activities of all the above groups. Also happy to meet fellow SSBeings who visit this area, and can act as an emergency contact, and safecall.
"DonSideB"
International contacts
"jacqui {JB} (aka shining one {WH})"
Recent transplant from California to Copenhagen
shining_one_wh@hotmail.plug.com
"Ben"
Can definitely use me as an emergency contact and safe-call. I'll also do my best to help out via email with any queries about London. Note, though, that I expect people to do their own web-searches first, so that I'm asked to fill in the gaps rather than tell them everything there is to know! :-) I go to clubs infrequently, and then mainly outside London, so can't help much there. The best place to look is http://www.informedconsent.co.uk. I do, though, know a fair number of people in the scene, so if you're considering playing with someone you haven't met before, I will at least be able to tell you if they are known to me. (12/01)
Links to local info and organizations
http://www.bdsm-berlin.de/kontakt.html
Hamburg
http://www.schlagwerk.org/schlagwerk/kontakt.html
Greater Germany