Our Messygirl team had so much fun at the 25th Anniversary UMD Vegas gathering this year. So we thought why not make this an annual event. We think it should be in Vegas or Florida and in May before the heat of summer. What are your thoughts?

YES Please. Make it an annual event of your own Wam-con. Now Vegas it a cool place but is also expensive. You should try Florida (which that's where I'm from) has awesome beaches and some nice hotels. If you ever do you wam-con in Florida that would make my day.

Yes, FL would make for a nice location as well. Tampa maybe?

Tampa is nice, thought I live in the middle of Florida but if you find somewhere closer that would be nice, if you can't that's still okay.

Vegas is getting super expensive, pick that and some people might not be able to afford it. I have to pay $250 a night for AVN, staying at the Wynn is now $550 a night!

Florida is much cheaper, but avoid Aug to Oct as all the bad hurricanes come around that time.

And if it Florida I can help organzie it

Phil

All good points. Actually FL is sounding more desirable now.

I would love Wam-Con in my back yard. I would second this.

This would be really amazing I'm down

If it's in Florida, I might go.

If it's in Orlando, it'll increase my odds of attending.

I just keep thinking about merch tables lol

UK Gunge mixes

Autographed prints of Wams top models

A BOOK A SHOOT / Session - both where you quickly organize an after hours session.

What else should be there at the merch section?

Pick a location that is cheap to fly to. like Orlando or Tampa would be a cheaper location, I might suggest West Palm Beach. A location will be key, a place where UMD members can take part in or watch a demo, pies, slime or Mud. We can not make it too expensive or UMD members will feel excluded. Luckily Florida is home to many fetish models and good weather.

I could provide:
Kendra James
Vika
Sydney
Carmen
Amy
Indica
Anna
Morgana
And possibly many more FL based models. Some will have no issue making the trip as FL is no hardship to travel to.


Phil

Other cities with good nightlife that I've thought would be fun for this are Nashville and (especially) New Orleans

I suspect east coast you've got a better chance of getting people across from the UK (and europe generally). Even if the cost difference isn't massive for flights, the time difference might make a long weekend more viable.

I'll be keeping one eye on if this happens and we may well be tempted across (myself and Luna) if we can make it work.

That sounds great I'd definitely try to attend, especially if it was in Florida.

Orlando traffic is a pain in the ass plus there are no beaches.

Also St. Pete is already where fetcon is. There is a. Massive amount of Adult and fetish stars in Tampa Bay. Vika was my neighbor and. Still in the area. an AVN HoFer is also living just in my condo community. I know Charlee Chase is in Tampa.Bay.

Jane and I aren't horribly far from Florida so between the two, we would probably have better luck trying to make it to an event there. It will depend on finances and our personal lives when the event is scheduled but it sounds like a fun event to try to attend. The only reason I've never tried to go out to the Vegas meetup is because travel-planning to get out that far has not been majorly successful for me but Florida being closer may make things a bit more accessible so I think that would be an awesome idea!

I've always wanted to get to a UMD event but Vegas just isn't my thing.

Tampa's got a cool vibe, not too expensive, lots of cool little nooks to hang out in.

I'd find a way to get there once a year, I think it'd be great.

My former military community is headquartered there though, ha ha.

Be interesting to run into some old teammates with this crowd.

All part of the fun, I'd be down.

And depending on when it happens I might even be able to help set it up.

Hey Phil if you need some assistance I can help you out. Same to you MG. But if you got it covered that's fine.

It's definitely a yes from me

Summers in Florida lately have been brutally hot. You might want to consider April as a better time.

I vote YES!

I have been publicly and privately advocating for the event to be annual since the first one. And I remain 100% supportive. I have even been talking with people about how to possibly "join in/tag along" the Fetish Con that is going on this weekend. At least two wammers are there now.

We even started a Discord group to chat among attendees this year who said they were willing to help plan it for 2024. But it soon died. In part because it is not an easy task to plan an event, esp as a group of volunteers who dont have financial skin in the game.

Till now it's been easy because MM and Mrs MM initiated it, set the date and location, picked the hotel and finically supported many parts of it (A million thanks to them for all that BTW!!!!).

Moving forward, I believe we should be respectful that the event so far is their creation, their vacation and their vision. So a healthy amount of deference should be given to their views about how to move forward, in my opinion.

Keeping it in Vegas, on the same weekend and at the same hotel has a lot going for it. It's proven to work. It has grown in size each time. It's an open and safe space for fetishes and our community (people were literally being pied on the street in public and no one cared or complained). The hotel is more than tolerant and accommodating (not every hotel is going to be cool with rooms being turned into session playgrounds, pie catapult display parties, and fetish models rooming the halls passing other guests - no less kids). While Vegas is not in the middle of the country, it's not on one cost or the other, and the airport is close to the hotel (I have been to WAM/fetish events that were hours from the airport... thats no fun and a rental car is another expense). There also are supply stores like Walmart near by and Airbnb houses for special events. A big part of the success of previous years was the ability for everyone to get together outside the hotel to socialize on the strips, at clubs and restaurants, at the pool... ex. Vegas has a lot of options. Other cities have lots of fun too... but are they as diverse and accessible. Yes parts of Vegas are expensive, but the Golden Nugget hotel is on the more reasonable side, and plenty of attendees had roommates, stayed at other less expensive hotels (and then regretted being disconnected from the fun) to save money or did and went to less expensive options for food and entertainment.

My opinion... the formate works pretty well in Vegas, it's not perfect - no place will be. I believe it's the most likely chance of an event being successful next year. I suggest a small group of committed volunteers work to make it happen, focus on growing and improving it, and reducing the financial burden on MM. I am happy to be part of such a group.

That being said... I am open to other options and want it to happen.

Planing it someplace new, will require a lot of thought and research, and will require compromise to build consensus. Or, unless someone simply takes ownership of it all by making all the decisions, booking it, and announcing it... but that likely will require they take a huge financial risk and will set them up to be attacked.

However, a group will need to deal with questions like, are location suggestion based on facts ei real costs and availability, or just personal interest... like the statement "the closer to me the more likely I am to attend". When to have it? No date will be perfect for everyone.

Things to consider... when picking city, date and location
* Picking a city that is generally centrally located... just as someone in FL might not love the idea of flying to Seattle, others in Phoenix might not love flying to Maine.
* The date works for things like weather, the local tourism season and other events (I am going to Chicago in Oct for a conference and the hotel is 100% booked the days before and after for other major events and festivals - so you cant come early or stay late.) And is it their high or off season, which will impact price, and our enjoyment (picture a pool party in Chicago in say March or hotel availability over St Pats weekend.
* It should have a big airport that supports many airlines and is near where we are likely to be
* Should have a social scene so there is lots of options for everyone to have fun
* Is open and welcoming to all, and is especially comfortable with fetish participants in public. Nashville and Savana are crazy fun, have tons to do, are bachelorette party wild... but I'm not sure those communities would be super tolerant of our fetish community out in the open like Vegas is.
* Has a hotel that will work... unlike Fetish Com who pre books the entire hotel, we dont have that many attendees yet (and who's going to make the reservation for an entire hotel?). The hotel will need to be comfortable with fetish activites going on in it, not just in the rooms, but people bringing the supplies in (sort of easy) and out (not as easy), using the rooms for session and events without fear of noise complaints, and our attendees walking the halls and if there is a bar and pool... just hanging out. Also, many attendees booked large suits so they had room to play, not all hotels have such suites or only have a few that are super expensive.
* A location should have mega stores near by for supplies.
* It would also be great if there were places where producers could host events, or the organizers could host social or even wam events.

Some have suggested finding a location near a lake or river so after a session everyone can just jump in... does that exist near a Walmart, or near Broadway street in Nashville or Bourbon St in New Orleans?

Others suggested we find a bunch of Airbnb houses in a cluster to rent. Are there big group Airbnb houses all clustered around each other, that are all available the same week and are affordable? How would we reserve them all while people decide if they want to attend? Will people want to cohabitate in a group house? Can we trust everyone will respect peoples privacy and safety while living together? And what will happen when 60+ people are all walking around the cluster of houses while enjoying our fetish, my guess is the community residents will freak out and the property owners will be stopping by to investigate. I have heard that at least one Airbnb house was shut down this past year, thankfully without significant penalty for the attendee who booked it.

So, I am not trying to shit can other options. Id love to go to Tampa, it's a fun, friendly city with tons of cool people, things to do and places to go... and in May the weather would be good without fear of hurricanes. Im just suggesting, in my typical long winded way... that there is a lot to consider and solve. Who will do all that work so that the event has a high degree of change to be successful.

I am happy to help. I suggest a small, manageable committee. Who will form and who will lead it so it's successful? Who will it answer to?

Ideas and suggestions are great, but actions and decisions will be needed, and quickly. Plus, I promise you, most of the time the committee will only hear self interested suggestions, ideas from people not willing to actually do work, and mostly an endless sting of complaints.

So, after all that.... I suggest we stick with what has worked... Vegas Baby!!

Jefe'

(just my humble two cents as an attendee, wam producer and fan and event/conference planner and frequent attendee)

Can confirm East Coast would be much better for people from the UK. Flights are much more reasonably priced!

Florida please.

Another vote for Florida. Would definitely increase my chances of being able to attend if I ever opted to.

Messtique and I are in the Central Florida area, so if this takes place in either Tampa or Orlando we'd love to attend.

I was thinking of some different ideas for your future Wam-con annual event. Maybe a couple of pie booths with some of the Messygirl models, a meet and greet area where the guests can meet the creators of MG, some slime booths as well, including some mud pools. What do you think.

Both are good ideas and Savannah does have a lot of batchelorette party shenanigans going on, along with being one of the few places where people can drink openly and on the street downtown. However it's missing one big thing nobody has thought of...

US Foods Chef Store. Anything you can think of, in bulk, no membership or tax ID required. Get what you need locally there, Sam's Club or multiple Costcos.

Charleston has that, along with a well run airport with a lot of connections and tons of lodging that is mostly empty during the tourist off season. Major wedding destination combined with college town so whatever you can think of, someone's already done it. Also lots of tidal mud if that's anyone's thing.

It's the only city on the east coast that has all of those things combined. Just food for thought.

Florida may be easier to attend for me. Chicago would be great one year too

I'll likely travel no matter where it's at but Chicago could be a great option as it's centrally located in the US.

There are numerous venues/hotels that host kink and fetish parties. For example, IML (international male leather) heavily focuses on gay leather BDSM and vendors are out in the open. This is currently at the Congress hotel.

Big rope events are held here too.

If you need any assistance looking into venues/hotels that could host, let me know.