The 4 letters, N.E.S.T. stands for the Northeast Society of Ticklephiles. It was created by myself and a good friend, Pete. We started it because of several reasons. For one,the only community that people of our genre had was a small newsgroup. More importantly, I felt the need to create an environment where people attending could feel safe, normal, and validated.
A lot of thought went into our first meeting. We wanted to play videos (unheard of in a group setting at the time), have a venue to sell, trade, peruse items we had collected for years, and
have the freedom to talk about our favorite subject. It was attended by 8 people, including myself.
It has been over 14 years and over 20 official NESTs. With each new NEST, we strove to preserve our original paradigm. As we grew in numbers and moved out of my home and into larger venues, it became more time-consuming to maintain the level of professionalism that we worked so hard to accomplish. Over the past decade and a half, we clocked innumerable hours in pre-production which includes booking hotels, advertising and maintaining a good correspondence online, scheduling classes and workshops, renting play equipment, contacting food sources and caterers, as well as (in past NESTs) providing airport to hotel transit (thank you Jan). All this was done so that people can merely arrive and let us do the work while they had the fun. In most cases we ended up spending a lot of our own money.
There have been many tickling gatherings. The West coast gathering that Jan and Dave were a part of began even before NEST. Gatherings have begin to spring up all over the world. I'm happy to know that people are getting together. This was my greatest hope back in the mid-90's; the one that inspired NEST.
I will continue to support those gatherings, however, the NEST name, model, philosophy belongs to the people that created this philosophy. When a person goes to a NEST gathering they come to expect a high level of organization and quality. No one has the right to use the NEST name except those that have been putting them together every year in Philly. THis year, like the last several, we will have it the same time, the first weekend in May in Philadelphia.
I heard that there may be talk about a different gathering in Philly. I support them completely as long as they do not have it that same weekend or call it NEST. To do so would be the equivalent of grand larceny as far as I'm concerned. Since so much has been done by so many supporters over so many years, it would be similar to stealing to have an event the same weekend of NEST. Furthermore, it would be a spit in the face of everyone who has worked so hard for so long to make NEST successful.
In conclusion, I have never done NEST to achieve any semblance of 'fame'. Both Lee and I have done our work and let those who have enjoyed themselves speak about it in this great forum. I am constantly amazed at the work that Lee has done, mostly on her own during the many months of pre-production. She is, in my mind a great asset to our great community. It would break my heart and the hearts of many of us to see her work simply taken away.
I support free enterprise and I support our community. Let's strive to build our own castles and not simply inhabit those that have already been built.
Peace
Max
A lot of thought went into our first meeting. We wanted to play videos (unheard of in a group setting at the time), have a venue to sell, trade, peruse items we had collected for years, and
have the freedom to talk about our favorite subject. It was attended by 8 people, including myself.
It has been over 14 years and over 20 official NESTs. With each new NEST, we strove to preserve our original paradigm. As we grew in numbers and moved out of my home and into larger venues, it became more time-consuming to maintain the level of professionalism that we worked so hard to accomplish. Over the past decade and a half, we clocked innumerable hours in pre-production which includes booking hotels, advertising and maintaining a good correspondence online, scheduling classes and workshops, renting play equipment, contacting food sources and caterers, as well as (in past NESTs) providing airport to hotel transit (thank you Jan). All this was done so that people can merely arrive and let us do the work while they had the fun. In most cases we ended up spending a lot of our own money.
There have been many tickling gatherings. The West coast gathering that Jan and Dave were a part of began even before NEST. Gatherings have begin to spring up all over the world. I'm happy to know that people are getting together. This was my greatest hope back in the mid-90's; the one that inspired NEST.
I will continue to support those gatherings, however, the NEST name, model, philosophy belongs to the people that created this philosophy. When a person goes to a NEST gathering they come to expect a high level of organization and quality. No one has the right to use the NEST name except those that have been putting them together every year in Philly. THis year, like the last several, we will have it the same time, the first weekend in May in Philadelphia.
I heard that there may be talk about a different gathering in Philly. I support them completely as long as they do not have it that same weekend or call it NEST. To do so would be the equivalent of grand larceny as far as I'm concerned. Since so much has been done by so many supporters over so many years, it would be similar to stealing to have an event the same weekend of NEST. Furthermore, it would be a spit in the face of everyone who has worked so hard for so long to make NEST successful.
In conclusion, I have never done NEST to achieve any semblance of 'fame'. Both Lee and I have done our work and let those who have enjoyed themselves speak about it in this great forum. I am constantly amazed at the work that Lee has done, mostly on her own during the many months of pre-production. She is, in my mind a great asset to our great community. It would break my heart and the hearts of many of us to see her work simply taken away.
I support free enterprise and I support our community. Let's strive to build our own castles and not simply inhabit those that have already been built.
Peace
Max
