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I interviewed Skitty, the CSPC’s newest board member, to ask about how the Center is weathering the COVID-19 crisis, as well as to inquire about her social distancing garb today.
Skitty: Is that a round-about way of asking me what I’m wearing?
7: Yes. Roll with it. The readers want to know.
S: I’m wearing a tie-dyed hoodie that says “SCRW 2018,” from a sex-positive event I go to every summer, but which has been canceled this year due to social distancing.
7: That is sad, but it’s a good segue to my next question: How is the CSPC dealing with all the changes these past few months?
S: Parties have been the main way the CSPC helped the community come together in recent years, so losing those events has had a huge impact. Even before social distancing orders were in place, there were heartfelt discussions within the board about what direction we needed to go, followed by initial scrambling to cancel events. It’s especially disappointing because we’d planned to increase the number of parties starting in March.
We’ve put a hold on everybody’s memberships so that they’re not paying for a period when parties are not occurring. That’s the right thing for us to do, but it also puts us in peril. No tickets are being sold and virtually no membership renewals are happening, while we continue to have ongoing costs. We’re in a loss period right now, so we’re thinking of creative ways for the organization to weather this storm. It’s important that we be here when this is all over.
After the governor’s order, we also needed to look at running the monthly board meeting online. We realized that the need for a virtual board meeting was an opportunity for us to better serve the community. A lot of preparation went into clearing the technical hurdles, advertising in a timely manner, and gathering community feedback prior to our first virtual meeting. It was the highest attendance we’ve ever had at a board meeting, in part because location, parking, and travel time were no longer factors. Our plan is to continue to offer virtual participation even after the stay at home order lifts.
7: How is the CSPC preparing for life after the ban on gatherings is no longer in place?
S: No one is sure when this is going to end or what the long-term effects will be. So we have to figure out how to best be a community within the new reality.
We’re looking at things like gathering sizes, activities, and of course our sanitation protocols so we can improve them to the level we’ll need when we’re sharing spaces again. We’re going to need policies for things like hand sanitizer, hand washing procedures and facilities, best practices for cleaning of equipment, as well as other items like pens – everything from top to bottom.
7: Pun intended?
S: Ha ha! It will be also important to know what people’s concerns and priorities will be when we do start getting together again. With a better idea of what people want to get back to and what their comfort levels are, we can try to accommodate that in the safest way possible.
It’s worth mentioning that we’ve discussed the feasibility of virtual events from day one. One of the CSPC’s primary concerns has always been protecting the privacy of its members, and this is new territory with novel challenges. We can get behind virtual events if there is demand for them from the community, and if there are members with the necessary expertise who we can assist to get an event off the ground in such a way that everybody is aware of any risks.
7: When can we expect in-person parties to start again?
S: We do not anticipate holding any in-person events in the month of May. We’re as eager as anybody to get back with our friends and playmates, but we have to be patient and prioritize the safety of everyone. Some of the way forward will be determined by city, county, and state leaders. However, there’s a huge amount of work for us to do in the meantime.
This crisis has highlighted the importance of the CSPC being a community center. At our events, members get to express themselves and aspects of their sexuality authentically, and present the way they feel inside. We’re looking at how we can continue to support members until we’re again able to offer a safe space for that.
7: Speaking of safe spaces, any comment on the search for a new CSPC location?
S: We are looking for a new venue which would allow us to hold a greater variety of events and gatherings, at different times and days of the week. We would have permanent use of the space, which would mean less worry about ticket sales covering the cost of a rental. This would allow us to open our doors to small groups of say, ten people who want to gather, which is potentially a safer first exercise than trying to pack a party with seventy-five people.
A couple of board members are leading the search for a new location, and have spent a lot of time scouting properties. We’re considering factors like having more available parking, access from public transportation, etc. And of course, it’s important to have a place we can call our home. It would give us flexibility to build out the space to best meet the community’s needs.
7: That would be great. I’ve seen board members continue to volunteer a lot of time during this period, and I’d like to extend that into a wider call to action for our members. Can you help provide one?
S: Yes. We’re prioritizing communications right now, and we’ve assembled a brand new communications team, currently made up of six volunteers. Internally, we’re working on keeping members and volunteers informed (including sending out this newsletter on a regular basis), seeking feedback and ideas, and making it easier for our members to become involved if they want to help out, because we’re all volunteers at the CSPC.
We’re also working on our outward communications with the sex-positive community as a whole. This includes improvements to and more content for our web site, increased activity on social media, and monitoring of various platforms so that we can engage in a timely manner with people who reach out to us.
The purpose of the communications effort is to have a free exchange of ideas, so the CSPC reflects what its members want it to be. We are all stewards of the organization. Not everybody can volunteer, but people can also give input, donate, and help spread the word. And of course once we have in-person events going they can come out to parties, participate, and have fun.
The community is ours to shape, and it’s up to all of us to sustain it. If you’d like to volunteer some time and expertise to the communications team, or if you have an interest in or idea about any sort of volunteer leadership role, please let me know via email at SkittyCSPC@gmail.com.
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