The Achievement of Five

A common truth in life is that where we are is because of where we’ve been. And it’s the past that helps to mold our future. The wisest of souls will always view the past and remember what was learned.

Now, calling it a common truth might well mean that where we are isn’t always because of where we’ve been. But every spring, for the past four years, quite a few ABDL-ers and AgePlayers have converged on the Chicago area with intent of reliving the same experiences again while embracing all the new ones that are waiting for them. And for those people, CAPCon is the reason.

CAPCon is where we are and it is where we have been and it is where we will be in the future … namely March 27th-29th, 2015.

Who would’ve believed that one day there would be gatherings of people who shared in common a rather uncommon interest?

Who would’ve believed that these gatherings would grow globally, not only welcoming in people from more than a dozen U.S. states but also people from Canada and one guy from Germany?

Who would’ve believed these events would reach their capacities and sell out, with waiting lists to boot?

Would you believe that one year, in the not-so-distant future, CAPCon will sell out an entire hotel? You’d better believe it. A single fetish convention that sells out an entire hotel. That’s an achievement.

And why will this be possible? Because of where we’ve been.

My first experience with CAPCon was in the spring of 2012. And the moment I got there, I instantly took in how significant it was that people had journeyed there, by planes and cars from quite some distances to be a part of it.

And CAPCon clearly knew what they were doing – having kept such control of the event that, from the perspectives of other hotel guests, there wasn’t any fetish convention in the building at all. But inside the convention space, fantasy became reality and a world unlikely any other opened up for the attendees. Some of those attendees had never been to any ABDL gathering before.

The convention space had an enormous main area, two enormous classrooms, a vendor’s room and a changing room. The space, in itself, was larger-than-life. They had a raffle table with dozens of things on it for ticketed auction. There were games everywhere and the biggest mound of coloring books and crayons I think I’ve ever seen. That vendor’s area didn’t just sell pacifier clips and ABDL such. They had all sorts of kinky stuff. I recall buying a certain little someone a checkered and pleated schoolgirl’s skirt that was way, way, way too short to cover her diapered bottom. In other words, it had been made perfectly by my standards.

And there were people everywhere, of all ages and persuasions. The classes of that weekend were interactive and had multiple topics – some of relationships, some of self, some of history and some of different kinds of kinky play. I recall I got so into the vintage class I attended that, by the end of it I was talking about my obsession in the 80’s with Hulk Hogan. If I remember correctly, I think I performed my Hulk Hogan flexing impersonation.

That Saturday night, I watched a pageant to crown the Little Miss and Little Mister of CAPCon. People got up there and gave it everything they had, each receiving well-deserved applause for their efforts.

Following that pageant was a presentation by the muchly-beloved Riley Kilo. Thank goodness the classrooms were so big as it seemed practically everyone was in attendance.

And as I drove home at the end of that CAPCon 2012 weekend, I experienced something I had never felt before … event drop. I had been to several other ABDL/BDSM gatherings, but none of them made me feel that way. And the reason why I felt that was because CAPCon actually meant something to me. It was where I was and now having become alumni to it, where I had been.

And I knew that I would be back in 2013 because it was where I wanted to be.

At CAPCon, there are no outcasts, no cliques and no tension. No one feels that they don’t belong there. Friendships are instantaneous and deep. And quickly, the sense of family is realized.

And all of this … equals … Little Space.

Though Little Space wasn’t something for me as a Daddy, I suddenly realized that there were dozens upon dozens of other BDSM events all over the place that could offer the dark along with the light, the butt whoopins along with the mind games. But what those events weren’t able to preserve … was Little Space.

Yet, seemingly effortlessly, CAPCon had done just that.

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The following spring of 2013, I returned to CAPCon again and brought friends from the east coast.

And in that weekend, I began to realize how it was impossible to be able to do everything that CAPCon offered – from classes to activities and so on. (This is actually a very good problem to have. And I hope it’s a problem CAPCon chooses to never fix.) At any given moment, the attendees had half a dozen options of things to do.

I remember making the joke that “if you couldn’t find something to do at CAPCon, it was your own fault.”

That year, Mako and Spacey attended. And on Sunday morning, we recorded an episode of The Big Little Podcast. Here’s the link to it: Leadership.

That second trip to CAPCon I also began to embrace the numerous room parties that kicked up each night after the convention space closed down. Notably: the room parties are not an official part of CAPCon at all. They are simply parties set up and held by CAPCon attendees. Some were drinking parties. Some were simple “hanging out” parties. And from one CAPCon to the next, even more party themes emerged – from Mario Kart tournaments to wide screen cartoon movies to Hitachi demonstrations to Spanking Exhibitions. (And this year, I have this sneaky suspicion that there will definitely be “Story Reading” Parties.)

It seemed that CAPCon couldn’t possibly get any better. But my, oh my … how wrong I was.

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The following spring of 2014, I drove out again with friends – opting to leave a day earlier than normal, just so we would have more time that weekend at CAPCon … where we wanted to be.

And in that year, I had the pleasure of being part of an impromptu guitar jamming session. I even had the pleasure of sitting in a room with many others while listening to Mako Allen read from his second book, entitled “Concerning Littleton”. Here’s the link to buy it: Concerning Littleton.

There was an ABDL clothing yard sale that year that added to the weekend. There was a tea party, a little detectives’ class, Squee’s story time class – all new additions to CAPCon … where we wanted to be. And there was a return of dark age play in one of the classrooms. Yet, Little Space was still preserved throughout.

I can’t even begin to imagine what they are planning for CAPCon 2015, but because of where we’ve been, of where we are and of where we want to be, the journey to the Chicago area will be well worth it, once again.

Imagine an environment that yields absolute acceptance and you’d be imagining that of CAPCon.

Well … you don’t need to imagine it anymore. CAPCon 2015 awaits you. Every year, it grows a little bit more. It sells out and people absolutely love it.

So will you.

By my guess-timations, CAPCon ’11, ’12, ’13, ’14 and the current ’15 have (and will) collectively bring together at least 600 or 700 ABDL-ers and AgePlayers.

You could be the 701st.

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CAPCon 2015 (Chicago Age Players Convention)

Dates: Friday, March 27^th – Sunday, March 29^th, 2015