From Crown to Kilt: Adventures of a Volunteer Supervisor at SmutLovers Con 2025 | S4 EP98

Julius shares his third year volunteering at Smut Lovers Convention 2025 while reflecting on the challenges and joys of being an introvert in social spaces. 

• Teaching an improv panel for writers to help them develop characters and scenes for their books
• Supervising the convention registration area and demo dungeon while wearing a crown and kilt
• Experiencing cognitive dissonance between personal presentation and upbringing
• Observing the excitement of readers meeting authors and filling carts with books
• Appreciating the respectful behavior of attendees during demonstrations
• Finding value in volunteering as practice for social interactions
• Planning to increase involvement and teaching responsibilities at future conventions

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Chapters

• 0:00 Welcome to Kinky Campfire
• 3:10 Smut Lovers Convention 2025
• 7:21 Teaching Improv Panel
• 10:50 Volunteering as a Supervisor
• 17:45 Thursday Night Demo Dungeon
• 23:33 Reader Day and Vendor Madness
• 29:52 Reflections and Future Plans

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:37

Welcome to Around the Kinky Campfire. Grab a seat, pour a drink and let's turn up the heat. This is the podcast where we explore the wild, wonderful and sometimes wicked world of kink, bdsm and alternative lifestyles. Whether you're a seasoned player, a curious newbie or just here for the stories, we've got something for you. Join us on Thursdays on your favorite podcast platform as we share experiences, dive into deep discussions and maybe even spark a little fire of your own. No shame, no judgment, just real talk around the Kinky Campfire. Let's get lit. Let's get lit.

Speaker 1: 1:32

Julius Marquis, or just Julius, if you're feeling less fancy, I'm here again for another episode to tell you what I'm thinking, and if you've been listening over the last couple of years, you know it's that time of year once again where I go to a particular convention filled with a bunch of literary folks, either creators of the literature or receivers of the literature and they love it so much that they actually come out to a convention with thousands of hundreds and millions of people. One of those numbers is correct. The others are falsified information that I came up with myself, and I volunteer my time because I enjoy partaking of the experience. I don't really read the literature myself, unless it's like a friend's book or something. But I do enjoy being around, especially for the education part, which I'll get into. That I got to do this year Hooray, I got to do it. But before I get into it, let's start the ASMR 5 Seconds. Today I'm drinking since it's the morning still decaf coffee Shockingly Of the Great Value brand Not sponsored, but it is delicious nonetheless. It is the classic roast decaf and we will begin the ASMR 5 Seconds, which is probably like a second now at this point and it is still hot, so probably even half a second will be more appropriate. Here we go Three, two, one. Yep, that was maybe a second because it's still hot, but it's still delicious, mmm, yummy. Okay, let's get into it. If y'all don't know what I'm talking about, I'm talking about Smut Lovers Convention 2025 edition.

Speaker 1: 3:25

This is my third year volunteering I think the numbers are correct in that one and once again, I had a great time. I actually got to teach a panel this year, so we're elevating ourselves. We're getting better and better More volunteer hours, more volunteer time and then teaching a panel. And then I was officially a supervisor a volunteer supervisor, mainly for the registration area and the raffle area and once again had a great crew that came out. We are in a chat together over the year until the in-between conventions, but it's great seeing people that I've seen before and then also new people that decided to volunteer this year. Thank you everybody for being great with that and helping out, and everybody was very helpful when it came to filling in gaps as well, so people didn't just stick to their ships, they helped in between, which was great, and once again, our leadership team killed it and I'm looking forward to more responsibilities and more teaching opportunities next year and also hopefully in between time, and I'll try to keep you guys posted on that, cause you know this is like two weeks, two, three weeks in a row in the second convention expo thing going on and I'm very excited for it and be able to do it more, and I got to introduce some improv into, uh, the smut book lover world, which I hopefully was helpful for the people, and if you are listening to this, I appreciate you.

Speaker 1: 4:47

Coming to my panel slash workshop, slash breakout class uh, it's kind of an umbrella term when you talk about a panel, but that was great as well. Only problem is I wish I had more time. I kept saying that as uh, during the the panel and while teaching the class I have once again is made for an hour and a half and I have to teach it in 45 minutes, which is like oh gosh, and I actually forgot about questions. So hopefully those people come in ask me questions on the instagrams and the emails now, because there's a bunch of stuff I still wanted to talk about and also answer questions, which I will have to remember because getting into the improv is important in the way I teach, but also I want to answer questions. I got to remember to do that next time, but it was great. Okay, so, leading up to the Smut Lovers Convention, let's talk about that right off the bat.

Speaker 1: 5:40

It is very stressful for me as a certified introvert and socially awkward person, recovering I should say recovering socially awkward person and introvert going into a public situation and then also having responsibilities, any kind of leadership. It's like oh God, even more. And then teaching a class for the second time in public now, instead of just yapping into a microphone, which I appreciate. You guys, the downloaders, it's great, it's going up and down, but we're staying consistently over 100 in a 30-day, or 100 downloads in a 30-day period. I should finish that sentence before I move on to the next one Over 100 downloads. Thank you so much for the campsters that continue to listen.

Speaker 1: 6:18

In my sporadic uploading we are going to try to be more consistent with the uploads of the episodes and of the social medias which we are still figuring out for podcasts, youtubes and also IRL, because that is all different demographics and it's annoying. Let's just say it, it's annoying. I do not enjoy that part. I just like talking. I need an assistant to upload all the things for me, or like a manager or something to upload all the things for me and I can just go ahead and just speak into record stuff. That's it. Whatever content creation it is, just record it in video form or in speaking form, whatever, and then somebody uploads it for me.

Speaker 1: 6:55

Okay, I prepared for my panel and I tweaked it after the expo the itchy expo and I tweaked it a little bit to change up the the timing of things so I could get through all the materials this time, which I did not for the expo. But I got through all the material. We only got to play one improv game, though, so that was sad, and then also I got to play one improv game though. So that was sad. And then also I got to wear a crown and tiara for my supervisor position, which was interesting as well, because coming in, I kind of forgot that I volunteered for supervising. And then a couple weeks beforehand I was like, oh yeah, I'm supervising. I got assigned to supervising for a couple of areas and I was like, oh, I totally remember that. Sure, yep, I know what this is for. So it was great coming in there. And on the second day because I don't usually go on Wednesday, but I think I'll probably have to change that as my responsibilities go up, probably be there for all the days, but we will rectify that next year.

Speaker 1: 7:57

Stuff to work on, because you all know, campsters, that there's a couple other conventions that I go throughout the year, which is all experimentation. I say that to say that it is all work in progress, always experimenting with new procedures and tactics and operating procedures. Yeah, I said procedures twice, but it's two different things. So, seth Julius, anyways, it was great Once finally getting there. It's always like a big buildup beforehand, which is so annoying because it's like weeks ahead of time, but then you do it and it just flies by every single time you get there the first day you wake up, it's the last day you're going home. It's like I packed and somehow these clothes got dirty and I don't know why. Something happened in between me packing and unpacking. Yeah, it's kind of interesting. Even now, it's like almost a week after the event that I am recording this and I don't even know where the days went, because it's like decompressing and all that. It took me a couple of days to decompress.

Speaker 1: 9:01

But it was great being out with people that are very enthusiastic and passionate about their chosen hobby. Is this a hobby? Is smoke book reading a hobby? We'll go with that their chosen hobby and being around those people, and then the passion, and then all the readers and the vendors that are there. Everybody's on the same page and very jovial and sociable. It was great being around the vendors as well as the authors Some were doing both, but it was great because they were there the whole time and not far from registration and then attending all the events and the demonstrations on all those different things and it's like, oh, that's great.

Speaker 1: 9:44

Uh, I will tell you, though, supervising is a lot different than just being on the volunteer thing. It's very interesting, decisions were being made and after the fact is like, oh, I was making those decisions. I was like, oh, my goodness, this is so weird, um, because I'm helping out at an event in a world that I know, um, like, uh, objectively, except for the actual material. So I'm speaking specifically about writing books or reading books. But the material that they talk about, which is a lot of BDSM and kink, which all know I have experience with and I do research on, is fascinating and I was going somewhere with that point and I lost my point. But my new point is that it is great to be around people that like to learn and talk with them. Hopefully get in the future, get to do more sessions where there's communication.

Speaker 1: 10:38

I would hope that people feel comfortable just asking questions. Sometimes you don't know who to ask the question to or what they know, and it's like I know a lot and I like to just talk a lot. Don't think I'm right, but I have experience with a lot of it and I'm willing to share with y'all and everybody there at the conventions or expos or whatever it is that they come in and they want to do these things that they read about or they just want to get more knowledge. I like experience as well. So if you are interested in the primal scene, go ahead and try it with your partner, if they consent, because consent is sexy. Remember that it's a great thing to see.

Speaker 1: 11:19

I will say, going up into the week I got less and less sleep just saying that right now because of all the socializing I had to do and bless us. Thank you so much for the leaders, because they had way harder time than I did with all the stuff that was going on, but then they still got up early and went to bed late and I was like I don't even know how y'all socialize, because there's like after parties and trips to different places and it's like, wow, you guys actually went down and did that and it was like, oh, there's no way I would. I, I passed out at five o'clock pretty much ate, ate dinner and then passed out and woke up late, which is ridiculous. But yeah, there was pretty much a day where it was like light outside, sleep and then light outside again. That's how early and late that waking up or sleeping and waking up happened. Ooh, socializing is a thing I got to practice more. You would think with improv I would get more socializing, but it's not true people.

Speaker 1: 12:14

If you don't know anything about improvers or people that participate in the comedic arts, we are introverts. I'm just speaking for everybody else. As the representative in this little world that I created, I speak for all of them. So come at me. Most of them are introverts and I am included, even though I can go on a stage and perform in front of tens of people. It's very interesting. Oh boy, yeah.

Speaker 1: 12:42

So pleasant little surprise when I got a few days away from the convention that I thought I was going to be traveling back and forth, but luckily I had a partner that was there and surprised with the on-site accommodations, which was great, and then had a little mini vacation in that sense, which was also great, and that was nice. Just being able to walk to the room instead of having to get in the car and drive 30, 45 minutes back and forth Made it a little bit easier. You'd think I would actually show up on time or a little bit early, but that is incorrect. Tried to make it happen, didn't work. Y'all don't know anything about Julius. Julius is not a morning person, not anything that happens in my world. I literally tried to have a 6 am workout routine and I ended up gaining 14 pounds. Just to let y'all know, because I do not like waking up early. It is ridiculous.

Speaker 1: 13:37

Also, as I said before, I got to wear a crown and tiara that night and hopefully y'all see a picture of one of those things at some point on social medias. But I completely forgot about that and I was the only supervisor out of the four or so that wore a crown or a tiara. So I was looking crazy and a little bit extra, and I made it very much a point to tell everybody about this that I was the only one wearing these things and nobody knew what I was wearing it for, which was ridiculous. I was very upset by that, but not seriously upset, just a little bitaggeratorily upset, because it's like y'all could have worn a crown or a tiara too. Doggone it. It's like I'm just going around looking. I got compliments that's a positive but still it's like I'm the only one doing it. So I'm looking extra for no reason and I decided to wear a kilt and do my nails, which I am getting more used to.

Speaker 1: 14:38

A lot of people don't realize that that takes years of preparation beforehand to just be able to do the mental gymnastics of being able to go out like that. So if y'all don't know, or you were there and you saw me I will say right now that the cognitive dissonance of growing up a certain way and then going out in public and dressing that way is not an easy thing. That was very stressful and that depleted the energy as well. Just to let y'all know, in the midst of it, I am enjoying it and of course I wouldn't buy and do all the things if I didn't enjoy it myself. But it's like there's a thing of being allowed to do that as how I present and how I was raised and it's like that was not a normal thing growing up for me. So that took a little bit but it was great, yeah, amazing.

Speaker 1: 15:28

Uh, let's talk about the days. I was there Thursday I came in and got acclimated with all the things and then that night I wore my kilt and my crown and there was also a demo at night. So I was having to get used to the structure of the area, because I'm of the primal play person where we like to nest, so I like to know all my surroundings. Luckily, everything was in kind of two areas and it was great because you didn't have to travel very far to go to all the different things. A lot of walking, which my calves told me. I did a lot of walking when I tried to go to bed at night and I couldn't because they were so sore, which is interesting because I run twice a week at least six, seven miles in the middle of the day. And even then all the walking that I did for the convention just on the first night was very sore on my calves, which I don't have the medical knowledge to understand what happened there. That was kind of interesting.

Speaker 1: 16:30

But I will say I wore better shoes because I was not dressing up in cosplay and if y'all don't know about cosplay, the footwear for cosplay is not that great. So if you see somebody with actual boots from the show, that is not comfortable. They hopefully have correct arches, which I do not 100% flat-footed, collapsing arches. So what I wear on my feet is very important because my knees will not like me and my feet will be sore. But I actually wore the correct shoes this time with the correct arch support. Thank you very much. Got super um medical there. I don't know if y'all care about that point, but I am doing better now. Knees hurt less and not as sore, which is great goodness, a lot of walking on thursday.

Speaker 1: 17:11

But I was also that night thursday night the demo supervisor for the demo dungeon, quote-unquote, where different activities were going on and people were doing demonstrations and I got to be the overseer, the supervisor for that. So that was actually great for me. Oh, so fantastic, it was so great. And seeing everybody excited and trying things out for the first time and experiencing all the different things for the first time, uh, in the kink world, it was fascinating. It was so great. Oh, my goodness, uh, that was. That was exciting to see. And, um, the demonstrators were great, the people coming in were great and it was ran very soon, smoothly.

Speaker 1: 18:50

So if you were there and experienced that, uh, thank you very much for making that a smooth experience, because I'm pretty sure all of us that have been to dungeons especially public dungeons, even private dungeons if you know somebody that has a house, there's eventually some creepy person that does something and it's like God, why? And unfortunately, you know, most of the time they're just new or they just don't have the experience with it and it's like, okay, luckily we didn't have that, even though there was a lot of new people there. Everybody was very respectful and mindful of the time, so there was very short windows that people could come in and experience the things. But people came and left very orderly and that was very much appreciated. Because I thought I was going to have to play bouncer and I was like I don't want people to see that side of me here. I want to be jovial and happy and very welcoming or at least act like I am with that, yeah. So everybody was cool.

Speaker 1: 19:43

It was a very chill experience and it was great Ran smoothly. We got everything set up and people in and out and got torn down pretty quickly. I actually got to bed before midnight, I think that day, or back to the room before midnight, which was shocking considering how many demonstrations we had going on. That led to Friday. Friday was a somewhat chill day. More people were coming in getting registered, a lot of classes that 9 am.

Speaker 1: 20:10

If you all listened to the last episode, I said 9 am and once again I. To the last episode, I said 9 am and once again I'm not a morning person. But we got in there on time, just barely got everything set up and working and I taught the panel had a good I don't think it was like 15, 20 people. Once again, very much appreciate y'all If you came in at 9 am and sat through my class as I'm still trying to work on it with the limited time that I have and and was great, and especially the people no judgments here, because some people are very nervous and everything but the people that came out and, um, actually the people that came and participated in the improv scenes. I very much appreciate you, very much because it was kind of put together and the the games hopefully were explained correctly, just enough that everybody got something out of it. Hopefully that was helpful. The practical experience and, yeah, I enjoyed the scene, so I hope everybody else did and hopefully it was very educational in some sense. Seeing the actual topic that was discussed and then being put to use in front of you right away is something that happens in improv and hopefully I can spread that around for all the different classes that I teach, especially with the relationship anarchy and then hopefully primal play. I can figure out a way how to do that by myself and teach it, um, in a way that people will get enough information and then hopefully try it themselves with a consensual partner, so that was great.

Speaker 1: 21:34

So after that I was pretty much like there's so much emotional buildup going into that panel and teaching that many people that after the rest of the day I was kind of like a zombie going through everything else. I was a lot of sitting, so feet were less sore, calves were less angry just a positive note on that sense. But I don't really remember what else happened because I was not privy to the nighttime activities that time I didn't have a supervisor shift and I was just kind of done at five. So once registration shut down, that was pretty much it for me. I did some moderating in some classes, which was pretty cool, which was my shift in the morning, but I got switched out and put in a substitute in the second half of the day, which I probably should have went and checked out some of the panels. I need to look at the schedule some more, not so much that I need the information, but I would like to get some teaching notes on different things which I did not consider because I was so drained Did not think about that. So once we get this thing figured out because we are still experimenting we will one, hopefully teach some more panels and then two also observe other panels and then have discussions with people about that. Yeah, those different things. We got to generate more energy. We're working on the social skills, but we're doing all right so far. So that was pretty much it for Friday Just teaching panel and then supervising Saturday.

Speaker 1: 23:01

Saturday was the go-they go-day because that's when the readers could go talk to the authors and then everybody was selling their stuff. So the main room was nuts from 11 am until like 5 because everybody was well, actually 4.30. Everybody was getting to do their authors and it was interesting to see people. Interesting to see people with carts because they had so many books that they had bought that they had to make multiple trips back and forth to the room. So that was interesting to see. And then everybody getting to line up to see their authors. Some of the lines were pretty long, which was interesting.

Speaker 1: 23:39

I kind of avoided the whole room because there wasn't actually a whole lot of room in between in the aisles. So I was like I'm just not going to, I'm just going to just chill, goodness, yeah. So that was very interesting to see all those people in that room. Hopefully everybody got to see who all they wanted and had plenty of time to do all that. I just know from the outside, uh, the outskirts of the room and then, um, just it, outside the, in the hall, outside the room, a lot of stuff going on. Didn't really know what was going on like specifics or anything, I just knew where people were supposed to be. And then the madness yeah, wasn't really that bad. Thankfully nobody was too eager, I'll just put it that way and everybody was pretty much orderly in there, which was great, considering how many people were in that room, because that's the most attended day of the convention, is that reader day, and people get to go do all that. So that was great. And then we got everything cleaned out for the after party, which was great. I did not stay for the after party because too much peopling for the weekend. That was pretty much it for me. I helped set up a little bit, but then I was like I'm gonna go and I've vegetated for the next two days, which was, oh goodness, yeah, much needed. So it was great. Oh boy, yeah, great times.

Speaker 1: 25:03

Okay, try to finish this up in a few minutes that I have left. I talked about my panel thoughts. It was great. I want to do it again, hopefully for the full hour and a half that I have, but now that I'm having to teach in multiple 30-minute chunks or 45-minute chunks, I'm getting better with it and I'm going to tweak the class again, so that'll be interesting. But I will say I enjoy a good panel. I just like talking, as you all know, because you keep downloading these episodes and listening to them. If you enjoy me talking, I would hope it transfers into real life too and you enjoy the real life stuff. I get a chance to get more feedback in person and y'all know I like my comedy, so if you're laughing at my jokes then that's even better because I can see it and thrive off of it. So it's great.

Speaker 1: 25:55

And then, once again, the vendors and the authors and readers y'all are great. I like seeing the passion from everybody, and I don't know what it was, but yeah, especially this year's vendors were really great and very sociable the whole time, which was interesting. And I uh, I wonder. I know that some of them are like in the kink world. I don't know if they were smut, um enthusiasts as well. I can't, I can't remember that, uh, that part, but yeah, a lot of them were kinky minded, so it was great to see that. And then, uh, talking with them, uh, yeah, getting all that information and, uh, being in the same space, so similar minds, not so much into the smut books but more into the kink, and then educating people about those kinds of things. And the vendors, yeah, getting to sell their wares out there.

Speaker 1: 26:43

Oh, I will say that security was great this year too. Shout out to security very sociable, which was interesting. Not always a thing, if y'all know about certain events, some of those security people and I'm not a small person, but they intimidate me too, so I'm right out there along with you. So it's nice to find security people that are very sociable, which is great. It's like, yeah, just, you know, just put a smile on your face, just greet people. You don't have to scare people off, that's not a thing and it's not cool, Okay, okay, that's not cool to do. Just a little note you can be nicer, not just security people in general, but just like people. There's no reason for you to try to scare people off. Just a little smile goes a long way. That's it, and I'm just saying that this year, 100% hit that goal, probably 110%, great.

Speaker 1: 27:31

And then, once again, the volunteers Great team, everybody was very helpful stuck around. I understand that people wanted to go participate in the actual convention stuff. I feel like, from my end, there was a good mix of that. Everybody showed up to their shifts, at least with the registration table and the raffle table. There was a little thing with the Wi-Fi, but everybody was very willing to use their hotspot, which was uh amazing and very helpful as well. And there was workarounds and uh, yeah, there was just people that were very cool about hanging out past their shift. Uh, instead of like going and doing nothing quote unquote, I don't know other than nothing in this case is just other than volunteering and helping. But people stuck around and then that was very cool and, I would say, a good use of time.

Speaker 1: 28:20

But of course, my opinion is biased, because I like volunteering and I think that is more helpful. Not helpful, that's the wrong word to use. I would say it's better to use 100% subjective of my time volunteering at a convention expo what have you than actually participating? Just because I'm a huge nerd too, I like the back story stuff and hearing what's going on in the background and wondering like, oh, why is this person not here? Oh, there's a reason for it. Why'd this person cancel? Oh, there's traffic, construction, whatever.

Speaker 1: 28:52

There's all that stuff you get to learn if you're doing volunteering work. And, yeah, it's hard not to go into specific information, but I'll keep it general for now. There's all the stuff you learn when you volunteer and it's like I prefer that kind of stuff, and also the enforced social interaction, because you have to talk to people, especially if you're like a supervisor position, and that is helpful for socially awkward people. Yeah, because some of to talk to people, especially if you're like a supervisor position, and that is helpful for socially awkward people. Yeah, because some of us want to be social. We just don't know how, or just yeah, it's just really weird for us. So, yeah, having that opportunity and for me, volunteering is great for that. Just so, saith Julius, because this is my podcast.

Speaker 1: 29:30

Okay, lastly, next year's plans, like I said, are going to hopefully have more responsibility and teach another panel and figure out some way to either spread the word of smut and or kink out there to different conventions or just like go to other smut book conventions and see what's going on there. Something's going to happen and guess what campsters. You will get to know about it because I will come back and tell you because, once again, julius likes talking and I like talking about my experiences, but for now we're going to be kind of focusing on the improv stuff. We've got monthly shows going on, adult-friendly and also kink-friendly. There are going to be kink elements inside of it, so that will be great. And then it will be monthly and we'll be talking about it here and I'll share my experiences and also just like the family-friendly improv as well, because it's all fun, fun and games so far. But for now this podcast is over, but hopefully it will still come out every week for you all to enjoy.

Speaker 1: 30:41

And this is HH Julius Marquis, aka Just Julius, for Around the Kinky Vampire. Please catch us next time. Hello, catch us next time. Hello. That's a wrap for this episode of the Around the Kinky Campfire podcast. We love having you by the fire and we love to hear from you. Got a kinky question, a steamy story or a topic you want us to cover? Slide into our DMs and send us a message at aroundthekinkycampfire campfire with a K at Yahoocom. Don't forget to subscribe, rate and review wherever you're listening. Your support helps keep the flames burning and the conversations flowing. Follow us on Twitter KinkyCampfire Campfire with a K, youtube AroundTheKinkyCampfire Campfire with a K or Instagram CampfireKinksters Campfire with a K To stay in the loop. Join the community and keep the kink alive. Between episodes on Thursdays Until next time, stay safe, stay sexy and keep that fire burning.