NEHG Is Now BEHIVE

This was written collectively, but I sketched out the first draft, and I'm particularly proud of the part about IVE.
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NEHG has a very exciting announcement: we’ve officially changed our name to BEHIVE! Please join the new Fetlife group. You don’t have to rejoin the mailing list or Discord server; we’ll rename them both accordingly.

That's

Boston
Erotic
Hypnosis
Initiates,
Virtuosos, and
Enthusiasts

Why the name change?

"New England Hypnosis Group" hasn't been a good fit for us for a while, for a few reasons:

• With very few exceptions, we organize events in the Greater Boston area. People come to our events from all over, and once in a while we will do something outside of Boston (like help organize the hypno lounge at the Winter Flea in Rhode Island), but the Boston area is our home base and the core population we serve.
• We would never want to appear to supersede totally independent (and awesome) New England groups such as New Hampshire Hypnokink or HypnoRI.
• It's confusingly similar to NELA, NEEHU or NEDS. (That’s New England Leather Alliance, New England Erotic Hypnosis Unconference, and New England Dungeon Society.) We’re distinct from all those groups, although we remain a NELA Special Interest Group, and will keep collaborating with NEDS.
• The old name didn’t include “erotic.” We also considered "kinky," and "recreational," but we want people to know what to expect: you're probably going to interact with people who find hypnosis at least a little sexy. You aren't required to feel the same way, but you may see demos of erotic triggers and trance experiences, and you're probably going to hear conversations about how to use hypnosis to enhance eroticism, how hypnosis fits into a framework of consent, and how many of us had our sexual awakening because of that Scooby-Doo clown episode (it's a lot). We’d also never want someone to come to the group thinking it was going to be about hypnotherapy or vanilla stage hypnosis.

Nothing else is changing except for the name. The current executive committee has been running the organization for six months, since leadership was transferred by the previous leader, DeCordazon, in February of 2018. In those six months, we have posted and run 18 events, including:

• The Cambridge munch
• The additional weekday "munchkin"
• The revival of the study group (thanks, @DeviantSimian!)
• A class taught by Wiseguy, presented in collaboration with NEDS
• A presence at the NELA summer Fetish Fair Fleamarket
• The Hypnosis Lounge at the 2018 winter Fetish Fair Fleamarket, with 150 attendees

At munches alone we've had 231 visits by people all told - a minimum of 13 every time and the biggest headcount at a Boston hypnosis munch so far (27 people!).

Also in that time, we've initiated some changes such as leadership by a five person executive committee that meets at least every month, a constitution with a voting protocol, a consent and conduct policy that has been used as a model by at least one other group, a Discord server, and a monthly email newsletter.

A bit more about the IVE part:

Initiates are anyone who has the courage to walk through that door to a munch or study group, to take the first step of joining the IRL hypnosis community. That's a huge moment! We all went through it. Our focus is on you and making that experience as welcoming and awesome as possible.

Virtuosos are whoever is working on developing their mojo as a hypnotist, hypnotee, or both. (And initiates can be virtuosos!) Erotic hypnosis as an artform and a community thrives through mass creativity, and everyone has something to share and teach.

Enthusiasts are all of us who are enthusiastic enough about erotic hypnosis to go out and meet people (even if just on Discord or FL!) As long as you can follow our consent and conduct policy, we want every possible voice.

We have so much stuff planned for our first year as BEHIVE, and we're so excited to do it with you.

Welcome to the BEHIVE!