What is a munch?
A munch is an event similar to a social mixer. It is a casual event held at a public venue for the purpose of meeting others and without the pressure of entering a space where kink scenes, nudity, or sex may be happening. Really, what you will find is not much different than if you were to walk into any other event held at a bar or restaurant. The idea is to help people build relationships and rapport within the scene rather than to force people to jump immediately into a play space. Check out the comic linked to the right about what to expect at your first munch.
Our munch has a color-coded name tag system that allows you to signal your level of conversational comfort with other people. If you just want to make new friends and are not ready to talk about your kink/gender/sexuality (or haven’t decided what or if those exist yet!) you can use a red tag. If you prefer to build rapport with others before talking about your or their kink/gender/sexuality, select a yellow tag. If you’re an anything-goes type of person, pick the green tag (but remember that not everyone is as open as you!). In a conversation the more conservative name tag color prevails and, for example, green tag type folx should not open with a story about a beloved rope scene from camp last summer with a yellow or red tag person.
We’ve been brainstorming ideas for months now and we’ve got some new ideas to try out:
- We’ll have a welcome table just past the bar to check in and make a name tag. We believe that the onus for making new people feel seen is on us, not you.
- Event hosts will wear a blue name tag so that you know who to talk to if there’s a problem. Nobody should make you feel unsafe at our event, but if they do please let a host know. Admin contact information will be available if you choose to let us know after the event ends and on this website as well as fetlife.
- All attendees will be asked to fill out a name tag the color of which will indicate your level of comfort with kinky conversation using the stoplight system:
- Green: Go ahead, let’s talk about our kinks!
- Yellow: Caution, get to know me before asking
- Red: Stop, vanilla conversations only please.
- Inclusion and use of chosen pronouns will be encouraged.
- We want to hear from you! Especially if you’re one of our enby, trans*, poc friends or simply new, your feedback is valuable to us. Each munch is intended to be a dynamic pilot for the next and some of our favorite features are ones that were suggested to us. We don’t want to stand still and we strive to improve ourselves and our event. Please leave us feedback about what you liked, didn’t like, and suggestions for our event. We promise to read all the feedback. Click here to fill out the survey!
Parking
We know that some of you may join us from outside the city and parking may be a concern. All street parking is free in the areas around Rocks after 6pm but sometimes is limited on Central Ave. There are two city parking lots across Central Ave, but they are not free and you must pay the meter. The easiest parking is in Washington Park and on State Street, there are always plenty of available spaces and it is only a four minute walk away. Before the event ends, speak to the hosts and we can help arrange someone (who you feel safe with) to walk back to your car as we know the neighborhood may not be familiar to everyone.
A note about accessibility:
Our venue has two stair treads to climb to get from the bar to the patio. If stairs pose a difficulty, please message todd@albanyboundinpride.org beforehand or talk to the bartender at the event and we will work with you to get you onto the patio.