Community Matters: Staying Safe with More Sexy People

As the public health guidelines for COVID-19 precautions continue to shift, The CSPC is committed to protecting the safety of our members to the best of our ability. We want all our members to make decisions about purchasing tickets for CSPC events with full knowledge of protocols that will be in place at the time of the event. That means that our protocols will shift more slowly in practice, as we want to make sure that events uphold the protocols in place when the event was first advertised and tickets were sold.

As you know, The CSPC has three primary areas of safety precautions in place for in-person events at this time: mandatory proof of vaccination; mandatory masking except for eating, drinking, or using your mouth in a scene; and capping event attendance at 100 tickets sold in order to create space for more social distance.

We have sold out nearly all in-person events since we returned to holding parties, so it is clear that our community is eager to gather, and we want to be able to welcome as many members as possible at our events. 

In the interest of serving our community’s need to connect in-person while maintaining the safest environment possible, we are pleased to share that events being scheduled for April will have an increased cap of 120 tickets sold. Vaccination and masking protocols will continue to be unchanged at this time.

We appreciate the willingness to consider each other’s safety and comfort you have demonstrated by supporting the ongoing vaccination and masking policies, which made increasing the number of members at our gatherings an easier choice.

We will announce further changes to The CSPC’s standing COVID protocols in the newsletter and will note the pertinent expectations for each event in the specific event descriptions.

Stay safe, stay sexy!

–The CSPC Board

Community Matters: Covid-Related Updates

The in-person Fresh Meet event on 1/21 has been cancelled, and the Myself! Party is the only in-person event scheduled in February. The CSPC is committed to safe, consensual experiences for both event attendees and volunteers. The current levels of illness (Covid and otherwise) in our community have put tremendous pressure on our healthcare workers and systems, and have made staffing for our in-person events impossible to predict and fill. We anticipate going back to multiple in-person events per month beginning in March, as levels will hopefully reduce and there will be correspondingly less pressure on healthcare resources.

As a reminder, all CSPC events require full vaccination for all attendees and volunteers, and we require masks to be worn at all times except when it is necessary to remove them. Some examples of necessary times are eating, drinking, or using your mouth in a scene. We strongly recommend N95 or KN95 masks be used at this time. We have a limited supply available for use by volunteers and members. While rapid testing is not a substitute for vaccination as a requirement to attend in-person parties, you may consider rapid testing prior to attendance as another measure you can take to help prevent Covid spread in our community. Free rapid tests are now available for order at https://www.covidtests.gov.

Additionally, the Board has established temporary guidelines for eating and drinking at in-person events in order to minimize unmasked exposure. Hydration and nutrition needs will continue to be prioritized, especially during aftercare, but sipping and nibbling throughout the party will be discouraged. While this measure is in effect, canned drinks and pre-packaged snacks will be available at reception. We ask that, if possible, you take these outside. If they are needed for aftercare, they may be taken back into the playspace. Water will continue to be available at the water dispenser, and members may bring their own snacks as needed for personal health and comfort.

Community Matters

By Eirikah Delaunay

Huge thanks to our Volunteers of the Month as recognized at the Board Meeting on December 8, 2021. Nicole and Shelley have worked hours upon hours to help prepare and organize the CSPC’s volunteer team that is so essential to our Community. Since our organization is entirely volunteer run and led, this is an enormous undertaking! Nicole and Shelley’s work makes everything else we do at the CSPC possible. Thank you, Nicole and Shelley!

Speaking of volunteers, the more volunteers we have able to serve at events, the more events we can offer. Volunteering is also a fantastic way to get to know other CSPC members and build your personal circle of friends within the larger Community. Join the volunteer team today!

IMPORTANT REMINDER: Now is also an excellent time to purchase a membership renewal. Standard membership dues will be going up to $10/month for monthly membership or $100 per year for annual membership in January 2022, with Reduced ($5/month) and Supporter ($20/month) membership levels available to allow members to easily select the price point that best reflects their ability to support the Community that adds so much to all our lives. Renewing by December 31 lets you lock in our current rates (only $5 per month) for up to a year. Treat yourself this holiday season to the gift of CSPC membership. You can give yourself access to all our Community benefits--our play parties, discussion groups, Discord server, etc.--for a whole year to come!

There will also be a change in our Discussion Groups in the new year. Beginning in February, Discussion Groups will still be free for members, but will cost $5 for non-members. Membership is $10/month, so if you’re going to two Discussion Groups, your membership is essentially paid for!  To become a member, sign up for a New Member Orientation here!

However you contribute to the CSPC Community, thank you! Your generosity of time, money, thought, and energy is what makes our Community what it is. 

Protecting Our Community--COVID Policies and Practices

Hello our marvelous members and vivacious volunteers,

November marked our third month of hosting in-person events, and we couldn’t be more excited to see all of you coming out to play with us! 

This was also the month during which we had our first member report a COVID-19 infection after attending one of our events. Our best information at this time indicates that the infection was likely contracted prior to our event. All attendees and volunteers have been notified, and we want to share this here in full transparency. The fact that we’ve gone this long with only one known infection is on one hand an indicator that the precautions we’re taking are effective. On the other hand, this is a reminder that no precautions are perfect, and we should all continue to be cautious.

Communicating symptoms and/or positive test results to people we’re in contact with is an important part of keeping one another safe. We encourage anybody who suspects they might have COVID after having recently attended an event to alert any play partners as soon as possible, to get tested, and to email info@thecspc.org to notify the CSPC Board of any positive tests so that we can help keep other attendees informed. Transparency is important not just for managing risks, but also helps us all practice fully informed consent.

Meeting in person has some risks, as we all know. We’re attempting to manage these risks using a multi-level defense strategy:

• We currently limit event sizes to 100 tickets sold, plus up to 20 volunteers. In practice, all of our events so far have had fewer than 100 people total due to no-shows.

• We require proof of full vaccination of all attendees and volunteers. Booster doses are not currently required, and we will continue to evaluate this policy and King County requirements around vaccination.

• We require attendees and volunteers to keep masked at all times other than when mask removal is needed (for eating, drinking, or using your mouth in a scene).

• We provide condoms and other safer sex materials, and encourage their use. These are primarily useful for prevention of unwanted pregnancy and STIs, but they could in some cases reduce risk of COVID transmission (e.g. the possibility of transmission through semen or fecal matter).

• We encourage full communication surrounding risks and testing, both before and after scenes.

Some of these methods require work on the part of our members. The payoff from doing this work is helping to protect the health of the community as a whole, so that we are all able to continue to meet and play as safely as possible.

Here is current guidance from the CDC regarding self-isolation periods, which we ask all members to observe strictly if you should have or suspect a COVID infection. We encourage members to use tools like WA Notify, which exchanges codes with other users’ phones anonymously and can provide notifications of possible exposure much faster than we can share them. 

We’d also like to mention that if you’re not feeling well as an event approaches, we will gladly help move your tickets to a later event or credit your account. We want to help everybody make choices based on informed consent, to better protect yourself and our shared community.

Stay safe, stay sexy,

--The CSPC Board of Directors

Community Matters

By Eirikah Delaunay

You know the CSPC’s mission, right? The Center for Sex Positive Culture creates spaces to celebrate, develop, and explore sexuality and sensuality among a diverse, supportive community.

One of the defining features of a true Community is the sense of belonging that comes from contributing to its well being. At the CSPC, that might mean volunteering your time at parties or behind the scenes, donating your financial abundance, sharing your great ideas, adding your energy and enthusiasm to our many online and in-person events, and using your voice on Discord and our social media spaces to connect with and support each other.

The CSPC is an organization created by our members in order to serve our members. As the number of in-person parties increases, so does our need for trained volunteers! The more volunteers we have able to serve at events, the more events we can offer. Volunteering is also a fantastic way to get to know other CSPC members and build your personal circle of friends within the larger Community. Join the volunteer team today!

Now is also an excellent time to purchase a membership renewal. Standard membership dues will be going up to $10 per month for monthly membership or $100 per year for annual membership in January 2022, with Low-Income and Supporter membership levels available to allow members to easily select the price point that best reflects their ability to support the Community that adds so much to all our lives. Renewing now lets you lock in our current rates (only $5 per month) for up to a year. Treat yourself this holiday season to the gift of CSPC membership. You can give yourself access to all our Community benefits--our play parties, discussion groups, Discord server, etc.--for a whole year to come!

However you contribute to the CSPC Community, thank you! Your generosity of time, money, thought, and energy is what makes our Community what it is. 

New Parties are Coming! Renew Your Membership Now at 2021 Rates!

Hello, beautiful people! 

The CSPC is again running parties in person. The Myself! Party has sold out in both September and October. In November we will be hosting three events: Fresh Meet on the 5th, LaQueer on the 13th, and another Myself! on the 21st. 

December will feature Fresh Meet on the 10th and Myself! on the 12th. And at our last Board Meeting we approved two more exciting parties for December: a reboot of Power Play Mixed Tape (Dec. 4) from the Interbay era, and the brand spanking new Femme Dominion (Dec. 18)! Watch our newsletter and website for more details and ticketing links.

We’re maintaining policies to keep our events as safe as possible, but it’s safe to say that our COVID-19 shutdown is over. For the past year and a half, we’ve kept all active CSPC memberships active at no charge to you. This is your notice that the membership clock is once again ticking as of November 1st.

Speaking of memberships, 2021 is an excellent time to purchase a membership renewal. Membership dues will be going up in 2022. Renewing now lets you lock in our current rates (only $5 per month) for up to a year. Treat yourself this holiday season to the gift of CSPC membership. You can give yourself access to our play parties, discussion groups, discord server, etc. for a whole year to come!

So many events! What's new at the CSPC?

It’s a busy time at the CSPC!

Following up on the sell-out of both The Frolic in August and September’s Myself! Party, we have three in-person events planned during the next month or so.

Myself! comes again (and again) on Sunday, October 24th, continuing its victorious run as the CSPC’s most long-lived active party. The energy at the last Myself! was fantastic, and we’re looking forward to doing it all again with you.

On Friday, November 5th, we’ll see the return of Fresh Meet, our party that is all about meeting and connecting, building community, and trying new experiences. Popular with new and experienced members alike, Fresh Meet features ice-breaker activities and tastings to help people connect and broaden their horizons.

And on Saturday, November 13th, we’ll see the long-awaited return of the LaQueer Party! A sex-positive party created by and for people in the LGBTQIA+ community, LaQueer is as unique and diverse as the individuals who attend. Come have fun and play with us!

While doing our best to help the sex-positive community create events and opportunities to connect, we at the CSPC remain focused on safety and consent. In addition to Washington state’s requirement of masks at indoor events (at all times when not eating, drinking, or engaging in a scene), we’re requiring proof of COVID-19 vaccination for all persons at all of our events.

We’re also limiting the size of all in-person parties to a maximum of 100 tickets sold. Volunteer staff is in addition to this, but on average we expect to have fewer than 100 people in the building at any given time (staff come in multiple shifts, some number of ticket holders end up unable to attend, etc.). We’re also experimenting with ways for attendees to flag their availability/willingness for closer contact.

It’s an exciting time with in-person events returning after a long hiatus, and even more in the works. We also recognize that meeting in person isn’t realistic for everyone just yet, and we’re continuing to offer orientations, munches, discussion groups, and other events online.

We’re doing our best to ensure that everybody in the community has a place here that matches their comfort level. As an attendee or volunteer, at events in person or online, come and join us! Help us build the community you want to see.

Restructuring the CSPC -- want to play a part?

Greetings, cherished members!

The CSPC’s Board of Directors is planning to discuss and vote on a restructuring plan at the next Board Meeting. The proposed organizational structure is summarized in the below document. Note: the document below should have vertical and horizontal scroll bars so you can see the entire org chart. There’s also a “Pop-out” button to get a larger view of this document. Or, here is a downloadable PDF version of the same chart.

As always, Board Meetings are open to the public (and accessible online). We welcome all community members to come and give their thoughts during the attendee comment period. Join the discussion at our Board Meeting on October 13th, starting at 7 pm Pacific time.

If you see a volunteer position or task below that you’d be interested in helping with or learning more about, please consider joining our merry band of volunteers. You’ll meet amazing people, have fun, and help out with the cause of sex-positivity.

Important Changes for In-Person Events

As the CSPC returns to indoor events at the Gallery Erato, we have put some changes in place to help keep our members and volunteers safer during the ongoing pandemic.

First, we are requiring proof of COVID vaccination for all attendees and volunteers at in-person events. This will be checked at the registration desk. Please be sure to bring your vaccine card or state immunization record along with your ID.

Second, at our indoor parties we will be requiring masks for all party attendees and volunteers. The only times masks should be taken off are when it would be necessary to do so. Some examples are eating, drinking, or engaging in a scene with a partner. If you’re in a scene and need to leave it temporarily (e.g. to go to the restroom) please mask up first.

Third, we’re asking that all attendees give one another space. We find that people in the sex-positive community are already good about asking for consent regarding touch, and this will be increasingly important now after so long apart. Please be extra careful to ask before entering somebody’s personal space or touching them. It’s exciting to see all of our friends again, but not everybody will be comfortable going in for hugs just yet.

To make the transition a little easier, we’ve limited the size of the Myself! Party in September to 100 tickets, plus up to 18 volunteers to staff the party. This will keep us well below the Gallery’s maximum occupancy, and allow for more personal space. We’ll be monitoring this policy and revising as necessary for future events, to find the right mix of fun and safety.

Thank you all for being here with us. We’re very much looking forward to seeing you soon, in person and/or at our virtual events. Stay safe, and stay sexy!

Questions? Comments? Please write us at info@thecspc.org.