FIENDISH x JOYSTIX:Lovebytes Event Report

HELLO FIENDS!

We hope you're having an amazing start to your week and that you got everything you needed this weekend.

We've got a few things to start updating you on, so we're going to do this as a quick-fire list with links and let you in on our development path for the next 6 months in another blog post, but first, let's cover our latest event, LOVEBYTES!

FIENDISH X JOYSTIX: LoveBytes Event

Thank you to all our lovely attendees who joined us for the first of the special FIENDISH events for the year - this one was LoveBytes, our special blend of Arcade, Cosplay & Kink.

We had a great time and we hope you did too! You were all very respectful of the equipment, arcades and consoles and we thank you for that.

You also had an incredible array of cosplay and costumes and it was a JOY to behold!

There are a few things we need to reiterate to all attendees, however.

ASKING TO JOIN SCENES IN PUBLIC PLAY SPACES:

1. If you're occupying a public play space and engaging in a scene, it is normal for attendees to occasionally ask if they can get involved.

2. We reinforce Informed Consent and Ask Culture and therefore this can result in attendees asking to engage in active scenes.

3. However, this doesn't mean you should pester multiple attendees, shark or stalk people in the venue nor respond negatively or aggressively to being told 'No.'

4. You should also not approach active scenes which are incredibly intense, 'heavy' or in scenarios where asking could interrupt the flow of a scene.

5. If you're told No, then the acceptable response is to thank them for consideration and to move away from the scene.

6. We may in future divide the public rooms into 'Ask To Participate' and 'Voyeur Only' rooms to help give a better delineation and to provide specific spaces.

7. We will be producing an educational content piece around etiquette which covers this topic and will include when it is and isn't appropriate to ask to be involved in an active scene.

SEE SOMETHING, SAY SOMETHING SOCIAL CONTRACT:

1. It is a requirement that if attendees notice or suspect a rules breach, such as dress code, inappropriate intoxication or NC activities, you should notify a member of staff AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.

2. Our staff cannot have eyes in all spaces at all times, even with the presence of CCTV - so we ask that the community protects each other by alerting members of staff to resolve the situation as appropriate.

3. If an active issue occurs and it is ignored or not reported, it can precipitate further issues in the future and also can prevent us doing our due diligence in that particular moment.

4. If an issue is noticed but isn't reported until the event is over, staff may lose their chance to rectify the issue promptly or it could result in a hindrance to gathering or recording data regarding the incident.

5. Even something small, such as white trainers being worn, could indicate issues that are magnitudes larger than just breaking an element of the dress code, such as that attendee not having read the rules.

6. So, remember - if you see something, say something. Staff are posted all over the venue and also perform floating duties, so you'll always be able to find one of us to help - even if you don't want to bother us, please do. We're here to be bothered.

As always, if you have any concerns or questions, please use the contact form on the website. We use the form so that all appropriate staff members can access concerns, complaints and active incident reports and to prevent things getting lost in inboxes.

LOVEBYTES EVENT PHOTOS:

Lovebytes event photos have now been uploaded - but, we're doing things slightly differently.

Event Photos from Lovebytes onwards will be hosted on the website exclusively.

To get access to a photo gallery, a couple of criteria need to have been met:

1. You have to have attended the event that you're wanting to view photos from

2. You need to be a member of the website

3. You need to have the password to access the gallery contents which will be sent to you via e-mail if you bought digital tickets in advance through HeadFirst

4. You need to provide proof of attendance at the event if you didn't purchase digital tickets, such as:

   1. A screenshot of the door ticket payment with the time and date of transaction

   2. If you paid in cash, a description of what you were wearing at the event is also acceptable as we will check the galleries for someone matching that description

We've taken these steps to help add another level of privacy to our events. Previously, we would post them on the private Facebook group - but with over 1000 people and not all of them event attendees, we've decided that this has too much scope for malicious or improper downloads or dissemination.

Further to this, right-click downloads, screenshots and similar have been disabled in the photo galleries. If you spot an image of you that you'd like, please use the Photo Request form here and quote the image or image numbers or name to ask for high-res copies of the image and we'll send them to you after we complete our checks.

With all this said, the photos from this event are particularly lovely and I can't thank you enough for really engaging with the theme and looking spectacular. We're super-hopeful that we can make the cosplay and arcade event a regular feature - but in the meantime, we've got two other specials to present this year!

Keep you eyes peeled for the Gallery Password email if you attended the last event and send us a request if you didn't prebook but did attend.

Stay Fiendish & With Love,

Autumn @ FIENDISH