#hypnocon

Every year, I present a recap of HypnoCon at a very high level so everyone can get an idea of what to expect at a HypnoCon. I refuse to use names unless I ask for permission to do so. 

This year HypnoCon resided in Dallas, Texas, for a second time. As usual, HypnoCon’s unofficial start is on Thursday. That’s when the organizers and friends get together and buy snacks and make last-minute arrangements. I picked up some friends from DFW airport, then made our way to the Hidden Door. There were fewer people than in previous years. At least this year, I got to sleep in on Friday, since I took the day off!

Friday, I collected even more people from the airport. I overpacked with different gear that I hoped to use in sessions (Yes, I got to use most of it). I got into the hospitality suite early, and HypnoCon was off and running! People started streaming into the hospitality suite. The meet and greet had a lack of wine due to the hotel not having a free wine bar like I thought. We had dinner at Streets Fine Chicken. After dinner, the first group hypnosis and gym session took place. The number of people who participated surprised me. The group filled the hotel gym. In the meantime, some people went to the Dallas Eagle, or stayed at the hospitality suite. I’m old and stayed in the hospitality suite. 

Saturday, we had a second group hypnosis session to help the participants to work out better. A mix-up in the schedule caused the gathering to start at 10 am. (I forgot to proofread the schedule, my bad!) With the loss of time, I went through the major rules of HypnoCon in record time (I may be a Texan, but I can talk fast!). We then went through the steps of an erotic hypnosis session. I began with the pre-talk and showed the magnetic fingers suggestibility test. Then three people came to the front of the room to be subjects for the rest of the session. A different hypnotist worked with the subjects through each part. We went from induction, to deepening, to suggestions, to awakening, and lastly, aftercare. I really enjoyed watching each hypnotist with the wonderful subjects. Lunch happened next. After lunch, the topics that were popular among people who filled out the interest survey before HypnoCon. Becoming a better subject, hypno-bondage (in which I got hypnotized to be put on a Saint Andrew’s Cross and flogged), power exchange, and some examples of technology to aid in hypnosis. The fractionation circle was next. The subjects outnumbered the hypnotists two to one. Dinner took place at Ojeda’s Mexican Restaurant. After dinner, some people went to a cigar social at a local cigar bar, karaoke, or gear night at The Dallas Eagle. 

Sunday started on time with a remembrance of Bobby Berstler. I will post my eulogy after this post. Several other people spoke about Bobby and what he meant to them. We then shifted to discussing the future of HypnoCon. HypnoCon is a great little gathering; however, it should grow, so it was decided to incorporate and get a non-profit status. A staggering number of people volunteered to assist in making this transition from a group of guys to a non-profit. After lunch, Master Dominic presented a wonderful stage hypnosis show to end the gathering. I got to relax and have some fun. Meanwhile, some of the group decided to have pizza. I mentioned that there is Dallas-style pizza, which only true connoisseurs of pizza would know about. Then I went off and had an incredibly hot hypnosis session. I got back only to find out that pizza was ordered; however, the deliverer got involved in a wreck, and the pizza place would send out another driver with the pizzas. The pizzas never came. After a few hours, the group got their money back and everyone raced to find dinner. So, of course, I remarked that Dallas-style pizza is pizza that is promised, but never delivered. 

I want to thank Master Dominic for his stage show. This HypnoCon only worked because I had SEVERAL people assisting me. Next year, HypnoCon will be in Atlanta, and probably after Atlanta Pride. 

So we're back! We're doing a few new things this year, which we've detailed out here below in a post on the Charmed Website.

Just like in 2022, Charmed! 2023 is going to be both online and in-person, but we are taking things up a notch from last year’s con! Our goal is to provide a more integrated experience so that as much as possible can be enjoyed by both online and in-person attendees (we heard the feedback from our attendees).

I’m teaching for Beguiled Conline!

I'm teaching my class, Closing the Gap: Trance Using Technology at #BeguiledConline on 6/28 from 1-2:15PM CST. Special guest demos with @h-sleepingirl!

Check out the schedule and more details! tinyurl.com/y9xfz2nt

To register- tinyurl.com/ycbo6zeb.

@beguiledcon

There is still time to register! Registration/ age verification closes tomorrow 6/21/20!

I've tried and failed to write this post several times. And the problem I'm having is that there's that much to talk about I just find myself diving down rabbit holes… let's try again.

Last weekend, I attended my first hypnocon ever, Charmed 2020, and it was glorious. There are so many highlights from it, it's difficult to pick them out, so in brief:

Highlights

Getting to play publicly with my amazing, beautiful play partner, the legendary and fabulous @lizzidoll (@tennfan2 called us "aggressively cute").

Getting to meet Lizzi's circle of friends: @enscenic, @zanydanger, @hypno-sandwich, @theleeallure, @carneggyblog, @tennfan2, @h-sleepingirl, cckitten… the list goes on.

Watching Lizzi's friends, most of whom she's not seen for some time, greet her with such genuine love and affection that it filled my heart with joy and brought tears to my eyes.

Being Lizzi's assistant / handler for the Gallery of Living Art, turning her into a poseable and stunningly attractive doll with a twist for those brave enough to investigate more closely.

Being sung down into trance by @enscenic, Lizzi, @theleeallure and @zanydanger — by far the most intensely beautiful hypnotic induction I've ever experienced, and a wonderful surprise which felt a lot like an initiation ritual.

Watching @zanydanger tie Lizzi in the dungeon in a scene that was so unbelievably fucking hot.

@hypno-sandwich proving that I am very responsive to a spiral drawn in the air in front of my eyes.

Demo-bottoming for Mazirian and Velvetine Rabbit's dual induction class — I was told afterwards that I had a hot trance face, much to Lizzi's agreement.

Trancing with and fractionating Blue Prime, which was a journey for both of us -- and for me, my first time solo-topping with someone other than Lizzi for the first time in far too many years.

Spending a few days post-con decompressing in Baltimore with Lizzi — we can firmly recommend Sullivan's Steakhouse and the Lump Crabcakes at Faidley's in Lexington Market.

What I wish I'd done

I don't know if it was the intensity of the experience, the jet-lag from flying 8.5 hours, or the late nights (most likely a combination of all three) but I spent quite a bit of time sleeping during class times. Next time I'd like to do more classes and less napping. But I love napping, so…

Also, I wish I'd have played with more people. That was partly down to my own insecurity — it was only thanks to Lizzi that I actually tranced with Blue at all — and partly down to the fact that even when I put my search for partners on Discord it was actually pretty difficult for us to find each other. Also, there wasn't really a quiet space to do random trancing in, which would have been nice.

What I learned

Oh, so much. I learned a bit of history, a lot of theory, a huge number of little tricks that I'm dying to try (even second-hand learning: @theleeallure apparently had a genius method for bringing someone all the way out of a deep trance which I'm going to keep in my back pocket).

Most importantly, though, I had it reaffirmed to me that I'm not alone in my weirdness. And that not only am I not alone, but that most of the people who are in this weird and kinky hypnoboat with me are thoroughly delightful human beings, around whom I want to spend more time ere too long.

General Thoughts

Charmed! is a great con, especially for a con newb like me. Sure, there could be some reorganisation of classes to make things a bit easier to access for journey-folk hypnokinksters like yours truly — being able to chop and change between -101 and -201 would have been great, for example. But that's a difficult thing to orchestrate.

Much was made of the new consent policy, which explicitly disallowed CNC play (or at least stated that "CNC is not an excuse in the event of a consent violation). I'm not going to go into that here too much — the ConCom took legal advice and were following it in the best way they could. Some CNC-playing people felt kink-shamed. I didn't, but I can see why people did. As far as I can tell, though, the consent policy didn't cause any actual problems, and was more of a problem in people's minds than in actuality.

What's next.

Did you go to classes at Charmed 2019?  We want to know what you thought of them!

https://charmedhypno.org/feedback