Merb get together

[LC18]

I don’t really see the appeal of those for SPs. To be quiet honestly I don’t see the appeal for clients either.

An industry based on discretion and you’re meeting with maybe face out escorts in a bar. Aren’t y’all married?

To circle back to the SP POV (at least mine). There’s nothing to gain from those events. No money, no clients, nothing but wasted time. Luna is right, the men that want to book me, don’t need to go meet me in a bar with a bunch of random dudes to book me and those who are hesitating are probably better not to book. What you would see in a bar isn’t what you’d see in a 1on1 date anyways.

Being active on merb for free (actually I have to pay to be here) is one thing. It gives good visibility and people can see that I have opinions and beliefs

Being active on Twitter is the best, it’s a complete package. Opinions, photos and naughty tweets.

I still encourage you to do it and hope you will have fun and be safe while doing so

 

[urquell]

I was subtly trying to point out the fact that I don't think any of the gentlemen who would show up at a meeting like this will want to book me... They already would have.

Everything you're saying is accurate. I wouldn't go to a meeting with potential clients unless I knew more providers were coming, which would bring clients who are outside of this group.. which won't happen without compensation

There's absolutely no reason for providers to show up unless there is going to be some kind of economic benefit for them. That's why I said initially that this sort of thing isn't done for free. Likewise, while it may have been $40-50 back in the day I think the door charge would probably need to be double that now. Also Luna, sometimes a personal meetings develops some attraction or chemistry that just doesn't show through on a website. I think you might be surprised to find that there would be people who didn't consider you before that might very well consider you after having met you in person. I've seen that happen any number of times. I also don't think you have to worry about being the only provider. If that were the case there would be no get together. If guys are going to pay an entry fee plus whatever else they're going to want to know that there's enough people of interest to know that it will be worth their while to go out and see the crew. They might want to have a decent idea of who's going to be there too, so it's a knife that cuts both ways.

 

[Enjoying life]

I'd be willing to go to an event like this for free, if I knew there was a chance of getting clients, and if I knew people would behave in respectful ways, but I'm not so sure that the people who would show up would be interested... And it's like you're saying, most providers wouldn't show up if there was no compensation

The last one I went to sucked! No friendly providers but that was like 2014! I find providers so nice so far!

 

[EagerBeaver]

There's absolutely no reason for providers to show up unless there is going to be some kind of economic benefit for them. That's why I said initially that this sort of thing isn't done for free. Likewise, while it may have been $40-50 back in the day I think the door charge would probably need to be double that now. Also Luna, sometimes a personal meetings develops some attraction or chemistry that just doesn't show through on a website. I think you might be surprised to find that there would be people who didn't consider you before that might very well consider you after having met you in person. I've seen that happen any number of times. I also don't think you have to worry about being the only provider. If that were the case there would be no get together. If guys are going to pay an entry fee plus whatever else they're going to want to know that there's enough people of interest to know that it will be worth their while to go out and see the crew. They might want to have a decent idea of who's going to be there too, so it's a knife that cuts both ways.

Your logic on the economics of these parties and how they worked is off. Too much analysis of this from the Indy point of view. The Iggy parties of past years were dominated by agencies and MP ladies. The ladies didn't make the call on whether to attend- the agency owner did. They got publicity and free advertising on MERB. I would suggest you go back and read some of the party threads. Let's please stop the revisionist histories and economic analyses.

Due to the success and size of the parties, some indies, who had been invited, started attending. From what I saw they picked their spots. I can remember one lady (hate to say this but I forgot her name, but she was great- 5'11" black lady from the Caribbean, I saw her maybe 3-4 times- someone remind me of her name). She wasn't really into parties but came to a couple of the Iggy parties. She didn't stay for the whole of the party. At one of them I persuaded her to come and told her I would be there. I bought her a number of drinks and she ended up getting drunk. This was one of the Lord Berri parties. Anyway my sidekick who came to the party excoriated me for not getting her a taxi or Uber after she left the party on her own. And Iggy was not happy with me either. I didn't actually see her leave (or maybe I did), but because I had gotten her drunk I did feel responsible. I texted her and apologized and the next day we texted and she made it home fine. I think she took the Metro. The other party she came to she didn't stay long, just long enough to be seen. She wasn't comfortable and felt it was a meat parade, which in truth is kind of what it is. But she understood it was good for business to bite the bullet and be seen. The party where I got her drunk she stayed longer because she was mostly sitting with me at the bar. But after she got drunk she actually gave some other guy a grinding lap dance right at the bar. This was kind of out of place with her personality and one reason I got my ass chewed out for not getting her a taxi or uber.

If you are buying drinks and getting someone drunk please keep this in mind.

 

[911Daddy]

It's not win-win for me.

I think it would !!
You would meet future regular clients
It’s a good investment
My opinion

 

[Lunaseraphim]

Also Luna, sometimes a personal meetings develops some attraction or chemistry that just doesn't show through on a website. I think you might be surprised to find that there would be people who didn't consider you before that might very well consider you after having met you in person. I've seen that happen any number of times.

I'm well aware of that, which is why I would consider going to a meeting like this if the conditions were favorable, and if the client base was larger. If there were more than 5-6 providers going and multiple clients who aren't just coming from the Merb lounge, I'd definitely consider it. I'm more referring to interactions I've had with some people here..

To put it simply the conditions are not favorable

 

[LC18]

Besides the orgies organized by providers. Those type of events don’t seem so appealing…

Maybe it depends on who you are trying to invite, I am sure some people would be happy to spend a whole evening with merb strangers for free instead of getting paid bookings. Some people are all about fun and you know what they used to say back in 2010, yolo

 

[Lunaseraphim]

I think it would !!
You would meet future regular clients
It’s a good investment
My opinion

I don't think going to a get together would ensure that I meet future regular clients, but I would go if the odds of meeting at least one client would be in my favor.
It would be cool if I could meet clients and know they will become regulars, but the truth is that you only know over time if someone will become a regular or not. I've had many clients tell me they will become regulars, and they didn't.

I'd be way more likely to go to an event like this if it was organized by providers

 

[EagerBeaver]

BTW Iggy in his capacity as organizer and host was huge and pointed on proper behaviors and etiquette at the parties. There was one guy who was a real nice kid who was coming to the parties and Iggy had to ban him because he had "savior complex." He would approach the invited SPs and interrogate them about why they were working as SPs. He managed to creep out a few girls and as soon as it got back to Iggy his ass was banned. I think Iggy did unban him after he promised to cut the savior shit and just work the coat room. Like I said he was a nice kid but young and naive and didn't have savvy social skills. But Iggy was totally on top of these kinds of behavioral issues.

 

[911Daddy]

I don't think going to a get together would ensure that I meet future regular clients, but I would go if the odds of meeting at least one client would be in my favor.
It would be cool if I could meet clients and know they will become regulars, but the truth is that you only know over time if someone will become a regular or not. I've had many clients tell me they will become regulars, and they didn't.

I'd be way more likely to go to an event like this if it was organized by providers

Yess I agree
So you could do it with your friends provider
It could be done in a nice restaurant like the Keg or an Asian resto like PF Chang or even a gathering in a pool salon
I’ll give you free lessons Luna lol

 

[EagerBeaver]

I am sure some people would be happy to spend a whole evening with merb strangers for free instead of getting paid bookings.

For the second time: NOT the reality of what occurred. The indies that came, came early, middle and late, NOT whole evenings, before, after, and in between whatever bookings they had. In other words they figured it out. Usually the appearances were 30 minutes or less. Whether they got anything out of it I don't know but the parties were largely agency and MP driven. The value was in being seen and discussed on the boards and they didn't want to be left out of the discussion.

 

[LC18]

I'd be way more likely to go to an event like this if it was organized by providers

I think if I were to organize something like that, out of discretion, it would be a strict no phone policy.

You’ve spotted a SP you’d like to meet outside of this? Pen and paper my friend, just like back in the days.

And I would probably have a masquerade madness themed to keep it discreet. I feel it’s a bit strange for men to see each other etc. if a lady wants to bring a man in a more private area and take her mask off that’s her choice. This way it would prevent gossiping on ladies because I know some men here do that…

But those kind of events can’t be free because like mentioned earlier, even if you went the cheapest route which is to meet in a bar. You’d likely have to rent a room there or to at least call the bar ahead and they will charge you a deposit for a group of 10+

If it was in a private venue, then you need to rent the venue, have alcool, food and then hire a chaperone

 

[urquell]

Your logic on the economics of these parties and how they worked is off. Too much analysis of this from the Indy point of view. The Iggy parties of past years were dominated by agencies and MP ladies. The ladies didn't make the call on whether to attend- the agency owner did. They got publicity and free advertising on MERB. I would suggest you go back and read some of the party threads. Let's please stop the revisionist histories and economic analyses.

Due to the success and size of the parties, some indies, who had been invited, started attending. From what I saw they picked their spots. I can remember one lady (hate to say this but I forgot her name, but she was great- 5'11" black lady from the Caribbean, I saw her maybe 3-4 times- someone remind me of her name). She wasn't really into parties but came to a couple of the Iggy parties. She didn't stay for the whole of the party. At one of them I persuaded her to come and told her I would be there. I bought her a number of drinks and she ended up getting drunk. This was one of the Lord Berri parties. Anyway my sidekick who came to the party excoriated me for not getting her a taxi or Uber after she left the party on her own. And Iggy was not happy with me either. I didn't actually see her leave (or maybe I did), but because I had gotten her drunk I did feel responsible. I texted her and apologized and the next day we texted and she made it home fine. I think she took the Metro. The other party she came to she didn't stay long, just long enough to be seen. She wasn't comfortable and felt it was a meat parade, which in truth is kind of what it is. But she understood it was good for business to bite the bullet and be seen. The party where I got her drunk she stayed longer because she was mostly sitting with me at the bar. But after she got drunk she actually gave some other guy a grinding lap dance right at the bar. This was kind of out of place with her personality and one reason I got my ass chewed out for not getting her a taxi or uber.

If you are buying drinks and getting someone drunk please keep this in mind.

It's not revisionist history. It's evolution to the present day and not a grip on the nostalgia of how things used to happen. I've been to a couple of hundred of these things. It's just not the same world now that it was back in the day, and priorites are not the same. What was sufficient then is not sufficient now to bring the girls out . Times have changed and they simply don't look at things the same way anymore. That's reflected in the current SP offerings in general now too. I think that's in large part why the get togethers don't happen often these days. Where the offer of presence and free drinks and fun and likely a client at the end of the night still exists is internationally, but that's just not the mindset here anymore.

 

[EagerBeaver]

It's not revisionist history. It's evolution to the present day and not a grip on the nostalgia of how things used to happen. I've been to a couple of hundred of these things. It's just not the same world now that it was back in the day, and priorites are not the same. What was sufficient then is not sufficient now to bring the girls out . Times have changed and they simply don't look at things the same way anymore. That's reflected in the current SP offerings in general now too. I think that's in large part why the get togethers don't happen often these days. Where the offer of presence and free drinks and fun and likely a client at the end of the night still exists is internationally, but that's just not the mindset here anymore.

Maybe, but it was not all that long ago when the Iggy parties peaked- 2014 and 2015 if my memory is correct. Have things changed that much in 10 years?

 

[Flyingby]

Maybe, but it was not all that long ago when the Iggy parties peaked- 2014 and 2015 if my memory is correct. Have things changed that much in 10 years?

Is that sarcasm?

 

[Anong]

Fun fact, the spvm once paid a visit at one of those gts, but they didn't stay long.

They did not like the girls?

 

[urquell]

Maybe, but it was not all that long ago when the Iggy parties peaked- 2014 and 2015 if my memory is correct. Have things changed that much in 10 years?

Yes, very unfortunately, but they have.

 

[UncleBob]

Some here might remember why the GTs era from 2013-2017 organized by the Epic Party Planner (EPP= Iggy) ended abrubtly...

One of the reason was because of personal info leak. (The leak happened because of a mistake from the EPP...)
A psycho got his hands on these personal infos and threatened some organizers (The psycho was (is) also a known SP stalker... might still be around who knows)...

Luna mentionned "Negativity in the Air". It was a lot worst by that period...
Different opinions about different subjects here (Sports, Politics etc) divided people.
And among these people, there was some psychos that were taking things way too seriously.
There was at that time also another dying board called MERC where some members on this other board were very mean and some like infamous Tony trolling on merb...
They were threatening to send police, or film people entering GT venues etc...

But despite all this animosity (Animosity against the organizers too), All the GTs were mostly a success and quite safe with lots of attendees (Guys and Gals).
I've heard that VIP#5 GT was visited by morality police but that's the only event of that sort I recall. (I was not there).
I would bet a toony that it was a stunt from the infamous Carol Cash et BookerL that were on a vendetta by that time against EPP, MERB, The World lol...

I went to many GTs. I started with the GoodGirls (GG) GTs (FREE).
Most GTs were free except maybe when GG# GT's turned into "VIP#" GTs (I think I stopped going after VIP#4).
I recall some Private GTs were not free like 100$, like the XO party.
However I also recall the Mojo Party who I believe was free but not sure. GG (GoodGirls) party were free.
VIP's GT were organized by the EPP, not agencies.

There was door prize draw for ladies like Gift certificates etc...

Nobody took over the GT organization job after EPP left .
GT Organisation needs a truly dedicated person or team.
VIP10 has been canceled because of a psycho's threat but VIP 10 strike 2 has been organized by MUH agency about a year after, in july 2018, but not with the same dedication.
Result, it was considered a flop. Not much ladies, not much attendees... So Party Planning is NOT that Easy.

The difficulty for the EPP was to attract agencies that were often in competition.
Indies were usually coming with no hassle...
Not only because it was a good place to get known and maybe make new clients but also because it was a great festive moment.

I personnaly went to the GT for lurking and meet other buddies...
It's a good therapy. No judgmental eyes there...

Immediate banned if you were surprised filming or taking pictures.

I met some very good friends. I met my very best friend Pat98 at GTs.
I met some Indies who became great friends too at GTs. Never booked them though
Pat98 was also making private BBQ gt's by that time where some Merbist and indy friends were invited.
But this is another side story...

So in conclusion, GTs are great but there may be a dark side if you're not careful enough...

 

[pat98]

Thank you, Uncle Bob, for this detailed résumé of that GT era!

Nowadays not sure this could happen again as things had really changed since the whole COVID mess.

I just want to highlight two points from Ubob’s post:

1. Those GTs were a safe space for us Johns to talk freely, without any stupid social judgment. That in itself was kind of addictive. At least there were real people behind those escort forum handles, instead of the stereotype that every John is just some married guy stuck in a sexless relationship with his wife or girlfriend (which, to be fair, is sometimes true, lol). I also met a lot of great people there—and of course, my best friend, Ubob.

2. The whole thing actually worked really well, but it took a ton of organization and dedication! Iggy was on another level—way beyond just throwing an improvised GT somewhere.

Here’s a picture of the Girls List for VIP4, which took place in November 2014. Not every girl on the list showed up, but about two-thirds did for sure. And believe me, getting that many girls to come was definitely a challenge!

 

[LeDodo]

It's a good therapy. No judgmental eyes there...

1. Those GTs were a safe space for us Johns to talk freely, without any stupid social judgment. That in itself was kind of addictive. At least there were real people behind those escort forum handles, instead of the stereotype that every John is just some married guy stuck in a sexless relationship with his wife or girlfriend (which, to be fair, is sometimes true, lol). I also met a lot of great people there—and of course, my best friend, Ubob.

That's a very encouraging reason to have those GT

GT Organisation needs a truly dedicated person or team.

2. The whole thing actually worked really well, but it took a ton of organization and dedication! Iggy was on another level—way beyond just throwing an improvised GT somewhere.

Having helping organize events for hundreds and at some point thousands, I agree you need a dedicated team for the preparation but also during the event. There's always something happening and you need to handle matters directly.

If something has to happen for sure it will need few gents or ladies (I would recommend, to make sure we have a POV in the logistic, security and incentive) to be involved in the organization.