The actual “owner” of SPLF is SPL Enterprises, LLC. The shareholders of SPL Enterprises are Master Jim, slave marsha and Sir Cougar.

The owners do all live in the Houston area (as a leather family, but that’s a topic for another FAQ!) – however, SPLF has its roots deep in the Dallas leather community, where Master Jim and slave marsha were active members for years. The owners have no plans to move the event.

You can contact us by email at southplainsleatherfest@gmail.com, by phone at (713) 299-9696 or by mail at SPL Enterprises, 22136 Westheimer Parkway #202, Katy, TX 77450.

On average, about 50% of the event registration fees covers the travel and hotel costs for our presenters – in other words, that money goes directly towards supporting what you come to SPLF for – great presenters giving outstanding seminars. We strongly believe we should not build our event on the backs of our presenters, or make profit off of them, by requiring them to pay their own travel costs.

Another 30% of the event registration fees goes to hotel costs such as rooms for our directors, the brunch, food for the International Master/slave judges, and AV supplies for the seminars.

About 8% of the fees goes to registration costs (supplies, wristbands, program, run pins, publicity, website, etc.).

About 7% of the fees goes to supplies and AV for the International Master/slave Contest.

And finally, the remaining 5% of the event registration fees becomes the seed money for the next year.

So no – we definitely aren’t getting rich off of South Plains!

All requests for refunds must be made in writing and sent to southplainsleatherfest@gmail.com. Please include in the request the legal name under which you registered. For requests received on or before December 19, 2010, a refund of registration and other fees, minus a 20% processing charge, will be issued. For requests received between December 20, 2010 and February 13, 2011, a refund of 50% of registration and other fees will be issued. No refunds will be given on or after February 14, 2011 for any reason. You may transfer a registration to another person before February 13, 2011. Please contact southplainsleatherfest@gmail.com for more details. South Plains cannot be responsible for illness, Acts of God, or other events that may preclude your attendance at the event. Under all circumstances, South Plains will refund fees paid in accordance with our Refund Policy.

Welcome home. South Plains has a specific mission to create a home for the gay/dyke/queer leather community. All three of the owners of South Plains are gay – Master Jim is a gay leatherman while slave marsha and Sir Cougar are leatherdykes. It is our goal to make South Plains a welcoming space that understands and meets the specific needs of our community. Come join us.

Absolutely. Part of South Plains’ stated mission is to create a home for the gay/dyke/queer leather community – but we welcome all who are interested in learning about and sharing in leather/SM and Mastery/slavery.

Not at all. We do seek to serve the Master/slave community through our M/s Track of seminars and the International Master/slave Contest, so if M/s is your “thing,” you’ll find an amazing weekend here! But if you’re just into hard and heavy SM, we’ve got you covered with the SM/Leather Track. And if you want some of both, you can mix and match to fit your needs!

You must be at least 21 years of age to attend South Plains. Yes, we realize that some leather/SM groups are allowing those 18 years of age and older to attend and we salute them for doing so. However, because there remains a division of opinion in the law as to when someone is fully an “adult,” and we as owners could be personally at risk for liability arising from South Plains, we feel we must play it safe and limit attendance to 21 years of age and older, so that there can be no question that only adults are allowed to attend.

South Plains is geared toward the “advanced player” in the community, so you won’t find many “SM101” classes at our event. Nevertheless, someone brand new to leather/SM events with a willingness to take a “crash course” will fit right in! (Just understand that you may need to go some more basic classes at another event or group before you’ll be ready to do some of the things you see at South Plains.) We even offer a “South Plains 101” class to help you feel more at home. Many folks have made South Plains their first leather/SM event and lived to tell the tale!

The host hotel for South Plains is the Radisson Hotel and Suites-Love Field at 1241 Mockingbird Lane in Dallas (at Mockingbird and I-35E). All South Plains affiliated activities, including the play parties, are held at the host hotel and when on-line registration is open, you can link to the hotel page directly from the South Plains page!

By the way… did you know that one of the best ways you can help South Plains continue to bring you an incredible event every year is to stay in the host hotel? The most important leverage we have with the host hotel to get the best room rates, prices and loyalty is through the number of rooms we book. So help us help you – book your room early and stay in the host hotel!! (Besides, you’ll save time and avoid Dallas road rage plus have more fun – we promise!) See the Hotel page for more details.

Our host hotel is only 2 miles from Love Field (home of Southwest Airlines), so if you can fly into that airport, great! Most people from outside of Texas and the surrounding states, however, find they have to fly into DFW-International Airport, about 15 miles (30 min.) away. The hotel does not offer shuttle service from DFW-International. Rental cars and cabs are readily available at the airport, or check out Super Shuttle (supershuttle.com).

Feel free to join us in the South Plains Leatherfest-International M/s Weekend group on FetLife (www.fetlife.com). You’ll find announcements from the SPLF-IM/s owners, information about classes and special events, and introductions (and more!) from attendees. Or, feel free to follow us on Twitter where we’re @splfdallas!

Not everyone wants to go to the brunch or the play parties, so why should they have to pay for them? We try to make South Plains as affordable as possible for everyone!

Yes, as along as the transfer is made no later than February 13, 2011. If you need to transfer a registration, please contact us at southplainsleatherfest@gmail.com for further instructions.

For some time now, South Plains has offered separate men only and women only space at its play parties and we sometimes offer gender limited classes.

Why do we do this?

From the beginning, we’ve said that South Plains is not about being “politically correct.” Instead, South Plains is about remembering our leather history – and that means providing a home for the queer leather community that has been at the heart of that history.

In a speech slave marsha gave a few year ago, she talked about the need to accept that in a community as diverse as ours, not everyone will want to play together – or learn together – all the time. Sometimes, groups will need separate space – and that’s okay. In fact, if we as the greater Leather/SM community honor that need, we may find that everyone is more willing to come together when it really counts.

At South Plains, we believe providing that separate space doesn’t do harm to the community’s diversity – instead, it supports it by acknowledging the fact that not everyone has the same needs and wants when it comes to leather/SM. It honors the simple truth that not everyone is going to want to play together all the time.

Rest assured that the majority of what we do at South Plains will remain open to everyone. But from time to time, we will have some restricted seminars or spaces, in particular to help engage and build the queer leather community and its allies.

As event owners, we want South Plains to be different – and it’s likely that at some point, one or more of those differences will challenge you in some way. We hope you’ll keep an open mind and join us in supporting our community’s diversity.

Quite simply, if you identify as and live as a man 24/7, you’re welcome in “men only” space. And if you identify as and live as a woman 24/7, you’re welcome in “women only” space. And for all the other wonderful, diverse genders and identifications, there’s pansexual space!

We aren’t the genitalia police – no one is going to check your ID or what’s in your pants at the door (unless you ask nicely). Please respect the energy of the separate spaces.

Part of the excitement and atmosphere of South Plains is seeing what everyone is wearing, whether, whether it’s leather, latex, rubber, collars, covers, boots, stilettos, or… you name it!

However, please be aware that the hotel is not completely closed off to the public, so we ask that your dress be both “street legal” and respectful of those not attending the event when in public areas: no bare breasts for women and no bare butt cheeks or exposed genitalia for any one. The bottom line is, if you wouldn’t wear it out on a public street, please don’t wear it in the public areas of the hotel. These dress guidelines are in effect in the hotel lobby, the atrium area outside of the meeting rooms, the hotel restaurant, bar, and in all hotel hallways.

It is especially important that all South Plains attendees follow these guidelines when going to and from the play parties.

Nametags are not only expensive, they take a lot of energy to do right. (Think of all the unique scene name spellings and capitalization conventions. Then think of how upset people get when you don’t get their name right!) We prefer to put the event’s money and energy into other things we think add more value like bringing in the best presenters we can find for you! Besides – we like to cruise the old fashioned way – by actually asking someone what their name is!

But if you really, really, really want a nametag, we’ll have some do-it-yourself stick on nametags and markers available at Registration. Have fun!

This is nametags, part two – t-shirts are expensive and it’s difficult to guess how many you’ll need, much less in which sizes. (Even requiring people to request sizes in advance doesn’t help much – trust us.) And there’s no market of any consequence on eBay for left over event t-shirts. So again, we’d rather put that money into bringing in the best presenters for you!

We generally select our presenters in May/June the year before the event (so presenters for South Plains 2011 were chosen in May/June 2010). The owners of South Plains select the presenters for both the SM/Leather and M/s Tracks. We look for presenters with a proven track record of presenting in the Leather/SM/M/s community who we believe will bring something new and/or edgy to the event. We welcome and rely on recommendations from our attendees.

If you feel you meet these criteria and are interested in presenting at South Plains, please send a “leather resume” listing your presenting experience and a list of your seminar topics with descriptions to southplainsleatherfest@gmail.com.

South Plains is proud to offer an exciting and varied selection of vendors each year. If you’d like to join us, you’ll need to complete a vending application and send it electronically to southplainsleatherfest@gmail.com by the deadline that will be posted on the Vending page. Please note that we do not select our vendors on a “first come-first serve” basis – we select vendors based on product type, diversity, uniqueness, etc.

South Plains is proud to be one of the few events that thanks its volunteers for their hard work by providing a full event package in exchange for 6 hours of volunteer time over the South Plains weekend. (Play party and Sunday Brunch tickets are not included.)

In order to be eligible to be a South Plains volunteer, you must be available to work at any time during the event. This means you must be available between Friday at 8:00 am and Sunday at 4:30 pm, including during the Friday and Saturday night play parties. There are no exceptions to this requirement – please do not apply for a volunteer position if you know you will not be available throughout the event.

We’ll say it again – you must be available to work any time during the event in order to be a volunteer and there are no exceptions to this requirement.

Interested? First, please read the Volunteer page for important information, including the deadline for submitting your application. Apply by sending an email to southplainsleatherfest@gmail.com, with “Event Volunteer” as the subject by the deadline on the Volunteers page. Include the following information in your email – your application cannot be considered if it does not contain all of the following:

• Your legal name
• Your scene name (if any)
• Address, City, State, Zip Code
• Phone number
• Email address
• Any physical limitations
• Confirmation that you understand you may be assigned to work any time between 8:00 am on Friday, February 25 and 4:30 pm on Sunday, February 27

Please note that we do not necessarily select volunteers on a first come, first served basis – factors such as past reliability as a South Plains volunteer and special skills/talents needed by the event will also be considered.

To be a dungeon monitor at South Plains, you need to have some previous DM experience, be willing to go into male only space if you are a male and into female only space if you are a female, and you must be available either Friday or Saturday night. First, please read the Volunteer page for important information, including the deadline to submit your application. To apply:

(1) send an email describing your experience as a DM to southplainsleatherfest@gmail.com with the subject line “Dungeon Monitor” and

(2) do NOT buy a play party package. You will be contacted closer to the event regarding your status as a DM and if not selected, you will be able to add a play party package on to your registration at that time.

Over the years, we have found that what we charge for ads does not offset the additional printing costs created by having more program pages – and if we raised ad prices, there would be little to no market for ads. So we have discontinued selling program advertising and will only be accepting ads from regional feeder contests, certain sponsorship levels and a couple of other events/contests with which we have cooperative relationships. But you’re welcome to put flyers/cards in our run packets – see below. (Or consider becoming a sponsor of South Plains!)

We’re glad you asked!

For the first time, you can easily support your “leather home” at any one of 4 sponsorship levels. Whether you own a business, lead a group or just want to show your love of South Plains as a leatherman or leatherwoman, we’ve got a sponsorship level that’s right for you:

• “The Heart of South Plains” Sponsorship: $1,200 (only 1 offered!)
• Leather Sponsorship: $600
• Levi Sponsorship: $300
• Friends of South Plains Sponsorship: $100

For more information on specific sponsorship levels and how to become a sponsor, please see our “Sponsorships” page.

You are welcome to send us flyers/cards to put in the South Plains run packets. Unlike some events, we do NOT charge for this service – we think it is part of our “give back” to the community to help spread the word about other resources and events. Please send 600 pieces to SPL Enterprises, 22136 Westheimer Parkway #202, Katy, TX 77450. The deadline for us to receive your flyers/cards is February 1, 2011.

Our commitment to the Master/slave community is to select judges for the International Master/slave Contest who have demonstrated significant real life experience in and/or knowledge of Master/slave relationships and who have a desire to support the IM/s title. In addition, we do our best to select a panel of judges diverse in gender, sexual orientation, role (Master or slave) and geographic region. The judges are selected by the owners of the International Master/slave Contest and each year’s judging panel is announced at our “brother” event, International LeatherSIR/Leather boy.

The International Master/slave Contest has established 5 regions covering the United States; if you and your slave live in the U.S., you must compete in and win the regional contest (or whatever selection process that region uses) in your geographic region. If you reside outside of the U.S., you may apply directly to compete at International Master/slave. (There is a limit to the number of international contestants that will be accepted each year in addition to the 5 regional contestant pairs.) For more information and contest rules and requirements, please see the section of the South Plains website entitled “IM/s Contest.”

The money for the International Master/slave travel fund comes entirely from money raised at fundraisers during the South Plains weekend. 100% of the money raised in the fundraisers goes into the travel fund, so please support your titleholders by participating in the fundraisers! If you would like to make a direct donation to the travel fund, you can do so at the time you register on line or please contact us at southplainsleatherfest@gmail.com.

Yes, there are. On site play parties are Friday and Saturday nights, from 9:00 pm to 2:00 am. There is pansexual, men only and women only play space. The cost for a play party package (both parties are included) is $25 per person. We do not sell individual play party tickets. You MUST be registered for South Plains in order to attend the play parties and you can purchase your tickets on line at the time you register for the event.

Please send an email to southplainsleatherfest@gmail.com with the subject line “Dungeon Equipment.” We’ll forward your email on to our incredible Team Dungeon!

Yes, you can – you’ll need to go to the registration desk at the event first to sign the event release and get a vendor only wristband and then you can shop the vendor area at no charge.

But while we’ve got you here… remember, we can only bring you this great selection of vendors if we have folks wiling to register for the event. So at the risk of sounding like public television, won’t you do your part to keep South Plains going strong by registering for the event? Then you won’t miss a single fabulous part of South Plains!

It is an unfortunate truth that being involved in the leather/SM community may make someone vulnerable to loss of job, family and friends if their interest becomes public. Because of this concern and the need for many in our community to practice some level of identity protection, we do not allow coverage of South Plains by media outlets outside of the leather/SM community. Registering for and/or attending South Plains with the intent of covering it in any form of media (print, broadcast, cable, radio, online, etc.) without the consent of the owners of South Plains is strictly forbidden. Violators will be escorted from the event and will not receive a refund. Don’t make us be mean.