Smartphones and Darkrooms

[AirmaxUK]

So, this evening I went to the Athletes party at Laboratory in Berlin. 

the format is that you get a numbered wrist band which you charge your drinks to and pay on exit. 

what’s new is they are allowing smartphones inside the venue. They put orange stickers over the camera lenses to stop Photography and video. The problem is this is easily defeated by peeling off the sticker.  While this isn’t a problem for most, a few visitors are having trouble and I found someone FaceTiming his boyfriend while getting railed in the sling. 

I think that’s unacceptable behaviour. A club like lab needs to remain very private. I would t do half the stuff I’ve done in there over the years if I thought there is a risk someone was recording or broadcasting it. 

lab says smartphones are allowed because of the need to pay for drinks … but the wristband negates that. 

I spoke to the staff about it but didn’t want want to be too much of a Karen about it and get on and enjoy myself. 

and yes, the hairy Yugoslavian body builder was awesome so this is not sour grapes

Am I being unreasonable ?
 

[NWUSHorny]

19 minutes ago, AirmaxAndy said:

 A club like lab needs to remain very private.

I would have to agree with you, if they start allowing this in places I go I will have to invest in a light weight comfortable ski mask of some sort.

[LetsPOZBreed]

You're being completely reasonable here.  I'm with you in that I wouldn't have done many of the things I've done in Lab through the years if it were filmed and could be plastered on whatever tube site is out there (or worse). 

Also, phones take away from being in the moment, which is the best part about these events.  I have a plethora of available men ready to rail me, so why on God's Green Earth would I waste time on a smartphone looking at anything other than the swinging dicks ambling about?

[ffWhole]

I agree with you all...
That said - I love to get filmed and photographed doing my most slutty thing, but not at the cost of getting recognized by the world.
So I think if Lab wants to give visitors the option of photographing or filming your friend - since the drink paying function is a doosy, I think the venue organizers should give out special hoodies to stay incognito and maybe even hire a dozen professional camera men and make the films available after the event for people to buy and download their personal performances...
But I think there will be to many concerns and problems with that scenario.
You want to be filmed, set up your own event, or join a sex film studio...

[SpectreAgent]

1 hour ago, AirmaxAndy said:

So, this evening I went to the Athletes party at Laboratory in Berlin. 

the format is that you get a numbered wrist band which you charge your drinks to and pay on exit. 

what’s new is they are allowing smartphones inside the venue. They put orange stickers over the camera lenses to stop Photography and video. The problem is this is easily defeated by peeling off the sticker.  While this isn’t a problem for most, a few visitors are having trouble and I found someone FaceTiming his boyfriend while getting railed in the sling. 

I think that’s unacceptable behaviour. A club like lab needs to remain very private. I would t do half the stuff I’ve done in there over the years if I thought there is a risk someone was recording or broadcasting it. 

lab says smartphones are allowed because of the need to pay for drinks … but the wristband negates that. 

I spoke to the staff about it but didn’t want want to be too much of a Karen about it and get on and enjoy myself. 

and yes, the hairy Yugoslavian body builder was awesome so this is not sour grapes

Am I being unreasonable ?
 

I think you’re being entirely reasonable. I’d just find it so off putting. (And did you get the body builder’s number…?) 

[AirmaxUK]

2 hours ago, RawPlug said:

I think you’re being entirely reasonable. I’d just find it so off putting. (And did you get the body builder’s number…?) 

I didn’t get his number but I did get something else from him. That’s a story for the back room forums. 

[AirmaxUK]

2 hours ago, LetsPOZBreed said:

You're being completely reasonable here.  I'm with you in that I wouldn't have done many of the things I've done in Lab through the years if it were filmed and could be plastered on whatever tube site is out there (or worse). 

Also, phones take away from being in the moment, which is the best part about these events.  I have a plethora of available men ready to rail me, so why on God's Green Earth would I waste time on a smartphone looking at anything other than the swinging dicks ambling about?

Present in the moment is quite the point.  Lab parties and similar are all about the guys who are there and the guys playing around you. If you have to live broadcast it on instagram or FaceTime your friends to validate the reality  then you’re completely missing the point. 

[ErosWired]

Venues like that owe their existence to the willingness of the society they’re in to turn a blind eye to what actually goes on behind the doors. As long as the community at large isn’t exposed to the truth of the depravity, the powers that be can act as though it isn’t happening. The key is that it never gets dragged into the light, and the regular public is never faced with it.

The internet, however, is a terrible place to keep a secret - like, for instance, video footage of the inside of a sex venue. Eventually, clips purporting to show activities going on inside will start making the rounds, getting more public as they get shared - as the saying goes, a secret shared by two is known to two; a secret shared by three is known to all the world. In time, someone will be scandalized (or some high-level person will be compromised) and a hue-and-cry will ensue that something must be done about these dens of iniquity.

It is not in these venues’ best interests to allow phones, and the sooner they realize how useless their camera stickers are, the better.

[JamesL100]

No doubt there will be some guys logging on from this venue saying they are bored, nobody around, can horny guys turn up .. just like they post from saunas and cruising grounds.

[LDNbttm]

Oh. Totally agree. 

No phones.

[Read1]

Concentrate on cruising and sex, not f------ phones! You learn cruising by practice. Men in(to) men!

[ellentonboy]

18 hours ago, AirmaxAndy said:

So, this evening I went to the Athletes party at Laboratory in Berlin. 

the format is that you get a numbered wrist band which you charge your drinks to and pay on exit. 

what’s new is they are allowing smartphones inside the venue. They put orange stickers over the camera lenses to stop Photography and video. The problem is this is easily defeated by peeling off the sticker.  While this isn’t a problem for most, a few visitors are having trouble and I found someone FaceTiming his boyfriend while getting railed in the sling. 

I think that’s unacceptable behaviour. A club like lab needs to remain very private. I would t do half the stuff I’ve done in there over the years if I thought there is a risk someone was recording or broadcasting it. 

lab says smartphones are allowed because of the need to pay for drinks … but the wristband negates that. 

I spoke to the staff about it but didn’t want want to be too much of a Karen about it and get on and enjoy myself. 

and yes, the hairy Yugoslavian body builder was awesome so this is not sour grapes

Am I being unreasonable ?
 

Smartphones and cameras have been an ongoing problem at certain ABS and even the bathhouses that have since closed.  People were being filmed without their consent from guys in adjoining booths or in some cases, rooms at the baths.  I have seen people fist fight over phones and other banned from the property because they were filming guys fucking without their consent.

It's different if you are live streaming yourself from your own room at the baths, or a place like Inn Leather where many guys keep their curtains open and allow others to watch (Palm Springs as well).  As long as all the participants are aware what is going on I don't see that as a problem.

I agree with you.  Some people do need to have their phones for work reasons or personal emergencies.  But to remove the sticker off of a phone at a group play area like the one you described is just awful.   It ruins the fun for everyone and eventually people may lose the phone privilege all together.

[hntnhole]

18 hours ago, AirmaxAndy said:

Am I being unreasonable ?

I don't think so; all the fuckjoints have certain rules to gain entrance.  If some guys sneak disallowed phones/whatever into the club, there are all kinds of things wrong with that.  I've seen it happen occasionally at Slammer - where phones are explicitly disallowed.  Once  several years ago in the darkroom, some guy took a photo, some other guy grabbed it, threw it on the floor and stomped on it.  Fight ensued, employees rushed in and most of the other witnesses explained who did what - and that guy got thrown out, sans his broken phone.  

I wouldn't mind at ALL if someone took pics of me Breeding in the darkroom, and I'd expect to get a copy too.  But, it's against the list of rules you sign (every visit), so it's either obey the rules or find some other place to fuck.  

[topblkmale]

1 hour ago, hntnhole said:

I don't think so; all the fuckjoints have certain rules to gain entrance.  If some guys sneak disallowed phones/whatever into the club, there are all kinds of things wrong with that.  I've seen it happen occasionally at Slammer - where phones are explicitly disallowed.  Once  several years ago in the darkroom, some guy took a photo, some other guy grabbed it, threw it on the floor and stomped on it.  Fight ensued, employees rushed in and most of the other witnesses explained who did what - and that guy got thrown out, sans his broken phone.  

I wouldn't mind at ALL if someone took pics of me Breeding in the darkroom, and I'd expect to get a copy too.  But, it's against the list of rules you sign (every visit), so it's either obey the rules or find some other place to fuck.  

I love Slammer's (FLL and LA) policy of no cell phones allowed. All phones must be checked at the front desk, stored in a locker or left in your car.

[JamesL100]

No phones at the dining table, no phones at the sex table 😄