Announcing the 4th Annual DC Forum Lunch Get-Together Weekend - January 17-19, 2014

[leigh.bess.toad]

Ditto for me. I was crushed when I had to cancel at the 11th hour due to a family emergency. I was even going to buy my first piece of leather at MAL! I want details! I sure hope what happens in DC doesn't stay in DC.

 

I was very sorry to hear of your family emergency. I was looking forward to meeting you. I hope your family emergency is okay, or on it's way at least. As far as details go, I will let others go with their recaps first before I recount what I saw from my perspective. Don't worry. You'll get all you want to know, I'm sure. Patience, little grasshopper. Patience.

[DamienBrooks]

Very awesome event and so Happy to have met so many wonderful people. Hope to stay in touch with you all Until Palm Springs take care

[+ Chris Eisenhower]

Well, I was waiting for some of the others to post what they thought about the DC Luncheon weekend, but most everyone is still in hangover mode I guess. So I’ll go ahead and take the plunge.

 

Here’s the highlights from my POV…

 

The sheer number of people who showed up compared to last year was like night and day, and I know LBT would agree with that assessment. ’13 was by and large my intro to meeting up with Forum members, and this simply blew last year out of the water.

 

The Eagle… We took over a back corner of the bar and shirts all came off thirty seconds after everyone arrived. Gay guys are great in that they don’t do those weird fratboy handshakes as much as they reach for nipples and feel you up. Tony Bishop and his friend looked awesome in a rubber (?) zip suit shirt, Ace and Countryboywny and NYTomcat and his partner, Dane Michaels (who looks amazing), Prof. Mitch, and Mr. & Mr. LBT were all there.

 

MAL… When Prof. Mitch (big congrats on your first real outing, sir) and I first walked into the MAL function, we stood at the top of the escalator, turned and looked at each other and said: “OOOOH.” I’ve never been to one of these type of events either since I missed that part last year, so it was new to me as well. Leather men EVERYWHERE… the lobby and downstairs were packed to the gills. It was glorious. And all types too. Rubber, vinyl, porn star, fetish, eye candy, twink, otter and bear. Leather mart downstairs was HUGE and had pretty much anything you could possibly want for sex play, from clothing to toys to anything else you might imagine.

 

Hook Online… Met upstairs (just over Ace’s room) with other industry guys at a Hook-sponsored event, which was graciously fooded and boozed up for us (thank you Shane and Brian) and a great way to meet some other people and watch Nate Bruno get his ass smacked by a very, very hot dom with a slave. Nate was accused of cheating because his wallet was in his pants, but I'm not so sure.

 

Annie’s… CRAMMED into the top floor which was filled to the brim with people. About the only people I did not see were Mr. Draker, and Mr. Slater, and of course Daddy. Everyone from above was there, plus JJ, Jawja, Mike Cruise, Chris W, Zach Brown & Killian James, Damien Brooks from Raleigh, Steven Ponce, Tom Isern, ArVAGuy, PeneAmpio, Roughscort, Zach Wilson, Danny Cruz, Michael Bender and many, many others, and everyone seemed to have a great time. There were no wallflowers and everyone seemed thrilled to be there. I'm glad I wasn't the only one who thought our waiter was an escort (at least, he should have been). One thing… if you ever have doubts about whether one of these events is fun to attend, talk to Bart. I have never seen a bigger smile on his face during the entire lunch. And it was no small effort for him to be there. The bar staff was amazing, especially considering the number of people in the room… they cranked out the drinks quite well and were extremely friendly. Dane gave me an incredible introduction, and I got to tell everyone how much it means to be appreciated and valued. Nothing like giving a speech with your pants down and ass-less underwear. And I can’t remember the connection (unless it was to JJ in Vegas), but the two cigar leather daddies were just the perfect Greek chorus to every event we went to, and they were walking down the street as we were drove away.

 

Oh yeah, and I forgot Secrets... Niiiiice.

 

Again—thank you, guys. This weekend kicked serious ass, and I’m looking forward to PS, and DC ’15.

 

By the way, if you are ever staying in DC, the Hotel George did a bang-up job for us. It was a very nice place to stay, convenient to Union Station and dining, and the staff could not have been friendlier.

[+ Ace]

LBT you did it again! Yet another GREAT event!! So nice to hang with "my boys" & make new friends as well.

On the client end, (which by now we are all "old friends", SUCH a pleasure to just hang out & not have to "do the dance.").

I'm quite impressed with the "new crop" of escorts that are coming up in the ranks..& I wish you all GREAT success. (I passed out QUITE a few cards, so please get in touch if in Vegas or Palm Springs).

Speaking of Palm Springs, I will see you all there!

Thanks to ALL for an unforgettable weekend!!!

[jawjateck]

Well dang it! CE's testimony is proof of the wonderful attendance at the event. Peneamp and I were in the same room, and never met. And I thought I worked the crowd well. Reckon not, eh?

[nate_sf]

Again—thank you, guys. This weekend kicked serious ass, and I’m looking forward to PS, and DC ’15.

 

Fantastic recap Chris!

 

LBT, you did a herculean job organizing a wild big crew, and glad to see you're up for it again next year. And so glad that your mister is right there by your side, along for the ride.

 

I want to especially thank the newbies (both escorts and clients) who made the trip. I know showing up to one of these things for the first time can feel intimidating. I'll concur with Ace that the "new crop" of escorts is outstanding - hunky guys all of them, and a pleasure to be around. Chris W (nasty in the best ways), Zach Brown (strikingly handsome), Killian James (hunk hunk hunk), Damien Brooks (sexy and intriguing), Steven Ponce (ginger with a spanish accent, hot damn), Roughscort (oh daddy!), Danny Cruz (delectable in either brunette or platinum), Jake from Raleigh (mischievous glimmer in those sexy eyes), Amir (gorgeous and charming). And I'm sure I'm leaving someone out! There were guys I did not meet specifically but heard enthusiastic murmurs about: Mike Bender, Rick P, Jaris Baines, Antonn Harri. A client can't go wrong with any of these guys.

 

And great seeing friends from years past. What a way to start the year. I'm hooked on this thing!

[+ Chris Eisenhower]

And I'm sure I'm leaving someone out!

 

And I did. I spent a good thirty minutes talking to Amir at the Hook event. And I agree with Nate and Ace about all the newer guys (Amir included)—all of whom seem to be truly great gentlemen inside and out. Hope to see some of you in PS in March.

 

Also, I'm hoping to get a couple of drinks and stories from RM eventually.

[Professor Mitch]

I echo CE's high praise for the weekend. As a first-timer, I had no idea what to expect, except that I knew that Dane Michaels, my Friday date, and Chris, my companion for the rest of the weekend, would take great care of me. From the moment I checked into the Hotel George, I felt surrounded by friends and family. It was a great pleasure to meet so many great guys from the board, especially Bart, jawjateck, Rob, and NY TomKat. I enjoyed seeing old buds Ace and Ryan Morgan again and sharing a few adventures. Spending a little quality time upon arrival with Killian James was an unexpected extra. For a guy who is still finding his way, this was a breakout weekend for me with a lot of firsts. Thanks to everyone, especially LBT and his partner, all of the escorts, and all of the other clients in attendance who made it possible. I look forward to 2015! And CE...being with you at the moment you learned you won EOY and taking part in your "crowning" are moments I will never forget!

[leigh.bess.toad]

“A must see exhibit at the National Portrait Gallery. The exhibit runs through February 13, 2011. If you find yourself in D.C., this is something you don't want to miss. Progress on so many levels. Now, I just have to figure out how I'm going to get myself to D.C.!”

 

And that post by Brandon Michael Williams on November 13, 2010 began the DC luncheon. I arranged to get BMW to DC. And the luncheon started as a way to meet my best friend NYTomcat who was hiring BMW until lunch and I was hiring BMW afterwards. Since the 3 of us were meeting, I had the really stupid idea of opening it up to others in the area. I was so green and naive. I'd been on the forum less than 3 months when I announced the first luncheon. I had no idea what to expect. That first year, 2011, we had 9 of us. We didn't even make the connection that MAL was in town that weekend until we were at lunch at Annie's and saw something about MAL in the Washington Blade.

 

Year 2 I made the overt connection to MAL and people, clients and escorts alike, started traveling to DC to attend. And it started to turn into something more. Not only a great time, and a chance to socialize with other forum members, but it became a way for clients to meet new escorts they wouldn't otherwise meet and escorts to not only meet new clients, but to network with each other. We added a trip to Eagle, Ziegfelds/Secrets, and since our own rockstar fantasy was coming, we added karaoke (okay, Tomcat and I both love it too). We had 21 in year two with 8 escorts. It was becoming both a social as well as a networking event.

 

Year 3, it took another leap. We had to adapt since it wasn't on MLK weekend due to the inauguration. But the basic structure was set. DC Eagle Friday night. Saturday night Ziegfelds/Secrets. Sunday luncheon and Sunday night karaoke. And it grew even more. This year there were 32: 16 escorts and 16 clients (or client substitutes). This time, Daddy himself made the trip east. And escorts and clients alike really started to travel to attend.

 

But this year really took the cake. It is actually kind of hard to give an exact count. Some didn't show up, some showed up that didn't RSVP. But we had about 25 escorts, and about 25 clients. And it was a diverse group. We had escorts. We had partners of escorts. We had retired escorts. We had clients. We had partners of clients. We had long-time forum members. We had newbies. And we had a lot of people who had never been to a forum event, some never been to an event with a gay group like this. And we even had a "party crasher" -- someone who has lurked on the forum for a while but never joined. He came in, introduced himself, we made him at home and now we'll probably get a new forum member because of it.

 

The luncheon was amazing, to sit back and simply watch, which I did quite a bit. All the work had been done and watching what had been set in motion was so worthwhile to me. To see the clients interacting with the escorts (and each other), the escorts making new connections with each other and new clients. We started late just because everyone was having such a good time mingling. Finally, we some loudmouth ordered everyone to sit down (guilty) and lunch was ordered. But as soon as lunch was ordered, everyone was back up again, mingling, talking, having a good time. And after we ate, Dane Michaels presented Chris Eisenhower with the appropriate accoutrement of his new office: a beautiful bouquet of roses, a tiara and scepter. But we do need to work on a sash as well. Our people love sashes, as the picture from the Mr. MAL contest shows:

 

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And Nate: thanks so much for the t-shirt. I’m trying to figure out if I can wear it to work. And an especially big thanks to countryboywny for the green handkerchiefs. Everyone loved them.

 

And at the end, more mingling, more talking, so much laughter and friendship and fun. Eventually we were sort of forced out by another group who had reserved the room. And still we wouldn't leave easily. It was reminding me of the final scenes from the Mary Tyler Moore final episode where they sort of huddled together and moved as a group. Even outside of Annie's it was if people didn't want to leave. And so a good sized group of us moved to the Fireplace, a bar down the street from the Hotel Palomar. A bar that will have to improve to become a dive bar. But we had a great time there.

 

And yes Chris, Jim and Kerry (the leather daddies) were with JJ.

 

But for the 5th DC Forum weekend luncheon, we are at a conundrum: we have just about reached capacity of Annie's to hold our group. So do we try to move to a bigger, larger location and leave Annie's? Or do we stay there and limit the number of guests to the luncheon. Comments in the coming months would be welcome.

 

But the thought of another one right now is too much. And so to several people I would like to apologize. Between the stress of organizing this, trying to answer numerous emails, PMs, pages, texts and phone calls through the weekend, and a personal situation that was wearing on me enough to make me contemplate leaving the forum, I was not always in the best frame of mind at all times, and not as attentive as I should have been at times. So for anyone who was worried or concerned, I truly am sorry if I gave you any concern.

 

All in all, the weekend has become what I really envisioned: a time for our little community (with our shared unusual hobby) to socialize, and get to know each other better, and to maybe make the forum a bit more congenial. A chance to meet old friends and make new ones. For escorts to get noticed by the community. For escorts to be able to connect with each other, because having others in the business you can talk to about problems can be so helpful. And in the end, for everyone to have a good time.

 

Thanks to everyone for attending. I hope you had a great time. I hope you met some interesting people. People you’d like to meet again.

 

360 days until the next luncheon weekend begins. Stay tuned for details late fall.

[jj69action]

I just wanted to chime in and say THANK YOU to LBT for an OUTSTANDING job! My friends (the leather daddy and his boy)and I had a blast and a special thanks to NateSF for being my escort for the Luncheon! Sorry you fell "under the weather" and had to cancel later. But that opened the door for my meeting ChrisW from Seattle, what a fantastic young man! Thank you Nate! lol CE congratulations on EOY you deserve it! Ace my friend hope you see you at home in Vegas! NYTomCat, CountryBoy, thank you and your friends for being there and making everything so special. Looking forward to celebrating my birthday in Palm Springs in March!

[rickp]

This was truly an amazing event. I'm so thankful to have had the opportunity to attend. It was really great to be able to have met all of the escorts and clients that I did get a chance to talk to. There were so many of you at the event, unfortunately I didn't get a chance to meet all of you. But I guess there's always next year, right?

[MikeCruiseNYC]

So glad to be there and bring my buddy RickP to the proceedings. Dave's and my rather unwelcome impromptu "exhibition" doesn't touch the previous year's Fuck House Tour LMFAO! But it was great to meet and greet so many Daddy's forum members and make some new friends. Ace! Awesome to see you and reconnect. Thanks to pene-ampio for everything, Chris Eisenhower for being the most deserving pageant queen ever (love you to pieces buddy), and my Latino cuz Danny Cruz for stepping up. Antton Harri great to see that gorgeous ass in action this weekend ;-) Arvaguy looking forward to seeing you soon! Of course we'll always have Palm Springs. See you crazy byatches there!

And to LBT, you are the MAN!

Big wrestly Hug!

Mike

xxox

[zach_wilson]

I just want to say thanks so much to Lee for setting up this event up. Last year I was kind of scared and nervous, This year knowing a few people going ect made it easier! Danny, Mike, Dane,Ace, Damien,Amir all such sweet hearts of course along with lee, countryboy and everyone else. I truly loved this event and cant wait for next year, I am already planning and will be booking my hotel mid this year . Thanks everyone for a great time!