Thank you for your interest in being a top 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 top:

About the Role

You will be acting as both a service top and an ambassador to kink. Many of the people you top will have little to no experience with impact play. As such, your job is not only to deliver an impact taster that feels fun and safe for them, but also to model best practices in kink. Offer them different sensations and demonstrate that kink isn’t just about beating up on someone. Practice negotiating and show them how to play safely. Emphasize consent throughout your entire interaction.

Skills You’ll Need

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

1. Warmth and approachability. As an ambassador to kink, you’ll need to be able to talk to strangers in a way that demonstrates that you’re warm, that you’re welcoming, and most importantly, that you’re safe. If you cultivate a public image that says, “I’m an intensely sadistic kinkster, and you don’t want to fuck with me” … why you even here, bro?
2. Experience negotiating pickup play. If your standard practice includes intricate contracts and negotiations that last for weeks, Pick Your Poison is the diametric opposite of that. For Pick Your Poison, you’ll need to know how to condense the most pertinent elements of safety and consent down into a two-minute talk with someone you literally just met.
3. Consent awareness. We practice enthusiastic opt-in consent, so make sure participants are 100% on board with whatever you’re planning to do. Please do not tease or shame them if they show even the slightest hesitation with any specific activity.
4. 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 both yourself and the participants. It is perfectly okay to tell a guest that they don’t look sober enough to participate.
5. Versatility with a variety of impact toys. Remember that we offer six categories of impact play. Make sure you read through all of them (see the Print Materials) and feel confident delivering all six categories.
6. Stamina. Depending on how busy the event gets, be ready to feel like a carnival ride, servicing a seemingly nonstop stream of excitable participants.
7. Liability Awareness. Every event has their own rules when it comes to anything sexual or sex-adjacent. Many of these rules are in place to protect the venue from the scrutiny of vice officers. Please make sure you are aware of any activities that are prohibited. If you’re unsure, please check with D or whomever else is organizing the experience.

Specific Duties

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

1. Coordinate with your teammates. You will be working in a team of three (two tops and one support person). Once the event gets busy, you may end up spending most of your time topping, while your support person talks to guests, starts the safety talk, and connects them with you. Check out the Guidelines for Support to get an understanding of your support person’s role.
2. Help participants pick a poison. Once you are connected with a participant, have them spin the wheel and make sure they understand what the poison they land on entails. Let them spin again if they land on something they really don’t want. Remember, we are all about enthusiastic consent.
3. Review the safety checklist. Your support person will go over the safety checklist with an interested participant before connecting them with you. You will then complete the negotiation process and make sure the participant understands everything on the checklist. The checklist is in the Print Materials mentioned above, so make sure you have thoroughly acquainted yourself with the information on there.
4. Start the hourglass. To keep things fair and to accommodate as many guests as we can, remember to use the five-minute hourglass for every scene. This step is stupidly easy to forget, so do your best to stay on top of it, because forgetting to use the timer is always the biggest source of slowdowns for us.
5. Deliver the experience. Whatever poison the participant lands on is whatever they get.
6. Debrief. After the experience, have a quick chat with the participant to see how it was for them. Offer them information on where to continue exploring kink if they are interested.

Materials to Bring

1. A wide variety of impact toys. Please bring enough toys to deliver all six categories of impact play. Then again, keep in mind that you’ll be sharing space with other tops. As such, don’t bring every toy you have. My recommendation is to bring 3-4 items for each category. Or even better, coordinate with the other tops and potentially share toys.
2. A small table, shelf, or rack for your toys. Please also coordinate with the other tops to make sure you have something to display your toys on. Again, keep in mind that space may be limited, so try to arrange everything in a way that allows maximum visibility and accessibility while taking up the minimum amount of space.

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.