2000+ Bondage and Discipline fans coming to OC, MD convention. But it's a secret!

[astro]

OC community objects to alternative sex convention

OCEAN CITY – Many parents, business owners and town officials are concerned that a fall convention here attracting thousands of people who practice sadism and masochism could tarnish Ocean City’s “family resort” image.

Members of Black Rose, a large and private pansexual organization that promotes and teaches bondage, dominance, sadism and masochism, have already booked the entire Princess Royale hotel, and they have begun reserving rooms in several other nearby facilities for what the group’s Web site calls “three days of leather, workshops and parties.”

From Nov. 14 to 16, Black Rose members will participate in more than 100 classes on anything from torture to the various techniques associated with pain-induced sex.

According to its Web site, Black Rose is a nonprofit group, which boasts 2,000 members, and provides a forum for the many different expressions of power in love and play for the Washington community.

The group promotes anonymity and it intends to keep the Ocean City event a secret, according to its Web site.

Nardo Gorgonzola, media director for Black Rose, said: “BR2003 is a private function and is closed to the public and the media. The nature of our activity requires us to maintain discretion. … Therefore, we routinely decline to make any public comment on matters relating to any Black Rose activities or events.”

Ocean City Police Chief Bernadette DiPino said she was contacted by Black Rose members about the convention and she has been assured that no laws will be broken.

“Whether I agree with the practices of this organization is irrelevant,” she said. “Our responsibility is public safety and protecting everyone’s constitutional rights. Our job is to make sure all laws are followed.”

[Nangleator]

This:

The group… intends to keep the Ocean City event a secret, according to its Web site.

As a quote in a newspaper article is nearly as funny as the question, “General, what are your secret attack plans?”

I love that they post something secret on the web. I love that the newspaper reports their intention of keeping it secret. I love that the newspaper doesn’t mention that all pretext of secrecy is lost.

I tried to hold a convention of voyuers once, but the convention hall remained completely empty. Some people looked through the windows, though.

[RTFirefly]

*Originally posted by Nangleator *
I love that they post something secret on the web. I love that the newspaper reports their intention of keeping it secret. I love that the newspaper doesn’t mention that all pretext of secrecy is lost.

Maybe I don’t understand what you’re saying here.

Nothing in the link suggests that Black Rose broke the news about their once-secret convention. Nor did the newspaper, although the newspaper article made sure that fewer people were in the dark about it.

It sounds as if the local bluenoses raised the alarm, and the newspaper simply reported that.

JFTR, the thread title appears misleading. Black Rose is said to have ~2000 members. I don’t see where it says they’ll all be in OC that weekend.

[Nangleator]

It was fairly obvious when I read the quote from the article that the convention was no longer a secret. And the present tense of “intends to keep the… event a secret” seems a little silly to me.

And the group’s intention to keep their event a secret might have worked out a little bit better had they not advertised it on the World Wide Web.

[Evil_Captor]

A little backstory might well be proper here. Some national conservative religious group has already quashed several BDSM conventions, meetings, etc., by threatening boycotts of hotels that host them. Within the context of those events, the events you’re writing about make more sense.

While publishing things on the Web allows anyone to discover them, it doesn’t mean that everyone WILL discover them, as many a commercial site owner has learned to his/her dismay. So it may well be possible to publish something on the Web with the intent that it be known only to people interested in your particular fetish/hobby/art form/what-have-you, keeping it “secret” from others by simply not broadcasting it to them.