It is exactly 10 days until the start of Eroticon, well 9 if you count the Friday night Meet and Greet as the official start. It seems like only yesterday that we finally got the confirmation that Eroticon was in our hands but that was in fact back in late July 2016. Since then Girl on the Net, Michael and I have worked all the hours and more, on this project. It has not been without its nightmares I can tell you that. Getting a bank account really should not be that figgin difficult and let’s not even talk about the quest to find a venue or the insanity that is Paypal. Despite those things, which at times have made me question my sanity and my decision to take this on this project, here we are 7 months later and we have just days left until the big event.
I just want to say at this point that when Michael and I decided to take on this project we were utterly thrilled that Girl on the Net wanted to join us and time has only showed us that we were absolutely right to be thrilled because working with her on this has been fucking awesome. She is possibly one of the most hardest working people I have ever met, she types like the fucking wind, seriously, her fingers dance over the keyboard so fast it is mesmerising and she is a true optimist. She has been the perfect partner in this insanity and we love her to pieces.
We are so close to being ready. The conference bags will arrive at the end of the week along with the programs. Next week we will be printing all the delegate badges and sending final numbers to the venue and then it will be Thursday and time to leave my children to their own devices while we head off to London and get this show on the road (just to be clear my kids are totally of an age where being home alone is not an issue)
I am both excited and terrified all at the same time. I am excited to see all my friends, some of whom will be traveling a very long way to attend. I am excited to meet all the new folks attending. I am excited about the fantastic speaker line up and the brilliant sponsors who will be showcasing their products. I am excited to show off the venue. I am excited for the Meet and Greet and the Saturday night social. However I am also utterly petrified.
Everything I have done as part of my blogging/writing career has opened me up to judgement. Every post I write I am exposing myself, sometimes literally, to the keen and critical eye of whomever happens to stumble across my work but also to my fellow bloggers and writers, people who I like and respect. There is also that moment when you press the publish button or send a commissioned piece off where you hope and pray that you are not about to make a total dick of yourself. Eroticon is like that but times by a 1000.
I love this community and I believe that it deserves and needs a shit hot conference that both nurtures and celebrates it many talents and diversity. Sometimes I wonder how the hell I ended up being one of the ones whose job it is to provide that, after all what the hell I know about anything, scream the voice of self-doubt in my ear. I am asking the community, my community that I love and respect to trust in me (us) enough to part with their hard-earned money, which they have done in their droves, and next weekend they will get to judge if they were right to do so or not. That thought scares the hell out of me.
I have done many things that have challenged me when it comes to sex blogging and sex writing. I have exposed myself both literally and figuratively and I am hugely proud of what I have achieved in doing so but Eroticon is going to take that to a whole new level. I have committed myself both emotional, mentally and financially to this project. It has been a steep learning curve and there have been moments when I have felt like I am completely out of my depth and doubted that we would ever get to this point but I was wrong about that and here we are, almost, nearly, ready to expose myself in a whole new (terrifying) way.
12 comments