Thank you for your interest in being a support person for Pick Your Poison. This page will explain your responsibilities in detail.

Please start by clicking through and reading the following links:

1. If you haven’t seen Pick Your Poison in action, this page explains what the experience is all about.
2. Please review our Safety and Consent policy. (This link is from the experience pitch that we send to event organizers. You’re welcome to read through the rest of the pitch if you’d like.)
3. Please familiarize yourself with the Print Materials that will be displayed at the event and handed out to interested guests. You’ll be discussing this information with them, so you obviously need to know what is on there.

Next, read on for specific information on your role as a support person:

About the Role

You will be acting as an ambassador to kink. Many of the people who approach you will have little to no experience with impact play. As such, your broad mission is to emphasize consent and safety throughout all your interactions with guests, whether or not they end up participating.

Skills You’ll Need

Below are the broad skills you’ll need as a support person for Pick Your Poison:

1. Be outgoing. As an ambassador to kink, you’ll need to be ready to chat up perfect strangers. Maintain a friendly and approachable persona, so that people will feel comfortable approaching you and asking you about the experience.
2. Consent awareness. At the same time, we practice enthusiastic consent, so skip the high-pressure tactics. Please do talk up the experience! But please do not tease, coerce, or even shame guests if they show even the slightest hesitation to participate. Your default attitude is, “We’ll be right here for you whenever you’re ready for us!”
3. Boundary-setting. You may encounter people who are eager, enthusiastic, and … not the most sober. Be mentally equipped to determine and communicate appropriate boundaries for the safety of yourself, the tops you’re supporting, and the participants themselves. It is perfectly okay to tell a guest that they don’t look sober enough to participate.
4. Broad knowledge of the kink community. Beyond questions about the experience itself, you’ll probably get asked about how and where to explore kink. It would be nice if you’re able to answer such questions.

Specific Duties

Now that you understand the broad skills you need, here are your specific duties as a support person:

1. Coordinate with your teammates. You will be working in a team of three (two tops and one support person). Check out the Guidelines for Tops to get an understanding of what their responsibilities are.
2. Explain the experience and answer questions. Once the event gets busy, you will be the first point of contact with guests, so please make sure you have thoroughly acquainted yourself with the Print Materials mentioned above. This information will be posted prominently, and you will also have laminated copies to hand out.
3. Start the safety talk. If someone is ready to try Pick Your Poison, go over the safety checklist (as outlined in the Print Materials) and address any concerns they might have.
4. Handle liability waivers. For events that require a liability waiver, make sure every participant signs one. To be transparent, the liability waivers are more for show than for anything legally binding, so our default is not to bother checking names and signatures against ID’s. Just be prepared to do so if requested by the venue/event.
5. Manage the waitlist. Make sure guests are only added to the waitlist after they’ve been given the safety talk. This is the easiest way for you to keep track of which guests are ready for the experience.
6. Introduce participants to their top. Some guests may request a specific top. It’s up to you and the top to decide whether to honor their request.
7. Make sure tops use the hourglass. To keep things fair and to accommodate as many guests as we can, please make sure tops use the five-minute hourglass for every scene. This step is easy to forget for the tops, so they will probably need your help.
8. Crowd control. Make sure guests don’t accidentally step into the play area. If stanchions are available, make sure stanchions are respected. If the area gets too crowded, encourage guests on the waitlist to come back after a certain amount of time.

And that’s basically it! If you have any questions or concerns, please reach out to D or whomever is leading the experience at the event you’re working.