But nowhere is the fun as prevalent as within the fetish community. Which makes sense considering that conventions are ideal gathering places for like-minded people and professionals to share information, make new contacts, listen to keynote speakers, sell their wares, attend seminars and enjoy good times.

What Happens at a Fetish Convention?

Well, without meaning to sound glib, pretty much the same things that happen at plastics, dentistry or any other kind of convention. You'll see booths for vendors and exhibitors, technical workshops, and information seminars. The difference is that vendors might be selling a new kind of gag ball, the workshop might be on effective bondage roping techniques, and the people attending the event might be walking around clad in dominatrix wear, or dressed up as a furry animal.

What Doesn't Happen at a Fetish Convention?

While you may find what you're seeing at a fetish convention rather titillating, you're not going to find an orgy taking place in Meeting Room B at the local convention center. That's looked upon as a no-no. Sure, a private orgy might be taking place in someone's hotel room, but that's pretty much a given at any convention, isn't it?

So... What's the Big Deal?

Um, there isn't one, although you would never know it from the puritanical reaction to a fetish convention that was planned to take place a few years ago in Kenner, Louisiana. The convention had to be cancelled because the local police chief (I'm picturing the cop from Dukes of Hazzard), started whipping the locals into a frenzy because, as he wrote in a letter to hotels in the area, "Allowing the event to take place would seriously jeopardize the family atmosphere for which Kenner is noted."

Perhaps that doesn't surprise you. Even though the National Coalition for Sexual Freedom called the Kenner incident a case of "persecution," you might be thinking that right-wing "family values" and the fetish world just don't mix. Well... you'd be wrong.

When delegates from the Republican National Convention stormed into New York in 2004, calls for dominatrices went through the roof. As dominatrix Mistress Natasha, says "Republicans are way freakier, probably because they're way more repressed... they are so scared that anybody would ever think they were submissive that they overcompensate and come across as this demanding, hard person (in day-to-day life)."

As the number of fetish conventions grows, barriers do seem to be coming down. Genesis Lynn, a co-founder of Fetish Con, one of the most popular fetish conventions in the world, says that their annual get-together in Tampa, Florida goes off without a hitch. "We've been welcomed by just about all of the local groups and organizations. It's really been wonderful for us."

For more information...

Check out some links to fetish conventions around the world here: http://www.fetishscene.com/fetishscene/cgi/category.cgi?category=/a-conventions&start=0