Good Vibrations Events

An Evening Affair with Dan Savage & Daniel Handler
Tuesday, June 11th
6:00 pm Check-in
Castro Theater, San Francisco
More info: commonwealthclub.org

In conversation with Daniel Handler, aka Lemony Snicket. After decades of braving dirty fantasies, obscure sex questions and all things taboo in his bawdy advice column "Savage Love," Dan Savage has become America’s go-to sweetheart for everything from parenting trans children to legitimizing poly relationships. Now, fresh off the success of his Emmy-winning It Gets Better Campaign, aimed at the prevention of LGBT youth suicide, provocateur Savage is at it again in long form with his newest book, American Savage. Join us for a night of straight talk, scandalous insights and political banter - infused with some trademark Savage Love. Good Vibrations Staff Sexologist Dr. Carol Queen is in attendance and Good Vibrations has donated raffle prizes and goodie bags.

blueMotion Launch Party!
Thursday, July 31, 2014
7:00 pm - 9:00 pm
Good Vibrations Palo Alto
534 Ramona St.

Join Good Vibrations as we host the launch party for OhMiBod’s revolutionary new app controlled vibrator, blueMotion. The blueMotion vibrator features the newest in sex toy technology with Wifi connected, Bluetooth enabled features that allow for intimacy between couples from any location. Attendees will get an exclusive showcase of blueMotion from ideation to creation, showing the early stage blueprints of the finished product. The event will host a Q&A discussion: New Intimacy in a Connected World with OhMiBod co-founder, Brian Gross and Good Vibrations Staff Sexologist, Dr. Carol Queen at 8pm. Attendees will have a chance to play with blueMotion at designated stations equipped with iPads, preinstalled with the OhMiBod app and Skype/gchat, to showcase long distance connectivity of blueMotion. Participants will also have a chance to win 1 of 6 blueMotion vibrators that will be raffled off. Light hors’deurves and beverages will be provided throughout the evening.

Abundance: A Sensual Exploration of Plus-sized Pleasure
Friday, October 17th, 2014
4:00-8:00 pm
at Good Vibrations Kearny Street Store
189 Kearny Street (at Sutter Street)
San Francisco, CA 94108
(415) 653-1364
FREE!

Sexuality and sexiness come in many shapes and styles, so celebrate your body-positive pride and your sexy curves at a very special event! Part of Good Vibrations's #SexyatEverySize campaign to emphasize that all body types are worthy of feeling sexy and admired, at Abundance you'll receive personalized fittings and product consultations, as well as see the latest styles in lingerie, boudoir accessories and strap-on harnesses. Emceed by the fabulous Virgie Tovar, author of Hot & Heavy: Fierce Fat Girls On Life, Love & Fashion. Plus treats and special surprises! AND! All week long shoppers can also to enter for a chance to win prizes from Dreamgirl, SpareParts, Coquette, Shirley of Hollywood, Oh La La Cheri and Sportsheets. The winners will be announced at Abundance. Watch Good Vibrations on social media and the GV blog all week to join the conversation.

CatalystCon (including Good Vibrations Bookparty and Panel Discussions)
Thursday September 10th - Sunday September 13th
Burbank, CA

Good Vibrations is proud to launch its now book and participate in its favorite sex conference—Catalyst! This year Catalyst West features a keynote closing discussion with Good Vibrations founder Joani Blank.

CatalystCon is a conference created to inspire exceptional conversations about sexuality. It seeks to stimulate those who attend to create those important conversations in their own communities, changing how we as a society talk about and treat sexuality. It is about stimulating the activist that is within all of us and sparking transformation in the way our friends, neighbors, children and even politicians discuss one of the most important aspects of humanity.

This is a conference where everyone is welcome, respected, and encouraged to share their knowledge and experiences. As the struggle continues over issues relating to equal rights, access to health care, and sex education, it is more important than ever to come together and have these important conversations on all areas of sexuality.

The fundamental principle of CatalystCon is that knowledge is power and sharing that knowledge is the first spark in igniting change.

To join the discussion, see http://catalystcon.com/

Good Vibrations Bookparty will be on September 10th at 7:30pm in Burbank.
More Info

Portal of The Feminine: Understanding The Erotic Equation and Female Arousal to Change Your Life
Friday January 15th - Sunday January 17th
$350
Location: The Center for Sex and Culture
1349 Mission St, San Francisco, CA 94103
Contact: Pamela@backtothebody.org

When/Where: Friday, January 15th from 7pm to 9pm, Saturday, January 16th and Sunday, January 17th from 10am to 6pm. Snacks will be provided and lunch is independent. Location: The Center for Sex and Culture 1349 Mission St, San Francisco, CA 94103

Who: Anyone woman 18+ with ID
This workshop is LGBTQ friendly and is open to any person that identifies as female.
Women will have access to the Facegroup group before and after the retreat is over for further support.

Are you ready to to developing an internal guide to successfully and sustainability explore your sexuality?

Please join Pamela Madsen and Mac S. McGregor, two internationally known sex educators who have done pioneering work in women's Sexuality, Fertility, Gender and Asian Healing Arts for a non-residential two day retreat created just for women.Pamela and Mac will be joined by Erica Anderson who is a psychologist in specializing in gender.

Perhaps you have never heard the term "Erotic Intelligence", "The Erotic Equation", "Erotic Guides" or even "Uses of the Erotic"?

Most women live outside ourselves, and rely on external forces, input and directives to guide our lives rather than from our internal knowledge and needs. When we tune out our own internal erotic guides we limit our capacity for creativity, sexual expression, pleasure, and our own ability to be powerful in our careers. This workshop will introduce you to your own internal guide perhaps for the first time, or take you deeper of the power of the erotic within ourselves.

The retreat will begin the moment you register with homework assignments and the opportunity to participate in a special Facebook Group created just for our participants attending this experience.

We will join together Friday evening before our Saturday retreat to know each other, share some light food and wine, create the intentions for our retreat and begin to explore this concept of the erotic as an internal guide for women.

On Saturday we will begin the process of exploring, reclaiming or getting to know our personal erotic internal guides.

Our process will include:

1. Guided meditation into listening to our own internal erotic guide.
2. Explore The Lotus Lift Meditation to tap into Arousal Energy to fuel your creativity
3. Explore our full female expression and how we hold those emotions in our bodies.
4. Understand "The Erotic Equation" and learn to utilize this in daily life.
5. Identify Your Erotic Creature.
6. Examine why we keep ourselves small erotically and practice opening ourselves up to our greatness
7.. Delve deeper in our sexual desire and learn to honor, access and express it.
8. Understanding menstruation, Peri-menopause and menopause: How do these stages of female biology affect our sexuality, creativity and desire. How does the voices of our
internal guide shift with each life change.
9. Confront our hunger in every form from sexuality, to food, to money.
10.Tell the stories of our bodies.
11. Learn to access and work with our Arousal and Orgasm as a holistic tool for healing and transformation in our lives.
12. Explore Tai-Chi as a means for connecting to the erotic with Martial Arts Master, Shihan Mac S. McGregor
13. Explore relationship issues with Pamela and Mac S. McGregor
14. Learn about the relationship's among sexuality, gender, and identity with Dr. Erica Anderson
15. Explore what it "means" to be a woman with Dr. Erica Anderson

About Your Educators:

Pamela Madsen is an Integrative Life Coach Specializing In Women's Issues: Sexuality, Fertility, Body Image, Wellness and Rejuvenation. Pamela Founded The American Fertility Association and is Co-Director of "Back To The Body: Sensuous Retreats For Women".
Her book "Shameless: How I Ditched The Diet: Got Naked, Found True Pleasure and Somehow Got Home in Time to Cook Dinner" (Rodale) has been a #1 Best Seller on Amazon. She is a sexuality blogger at Psychology Today and The Huffington Post and has made appearances on Oprah, The Today, and 60 minutes as well as many other news outlets. You can learn more about Pamela here: Http://www.PamelaMadsen.org/

Mac S. McGregor is a known as "The Gender Sensei. He educates about the gender spectrum, gender identity, and gender issues. His experience of teaching and competing in the martial arts (15 Black Belts and World Champion) has given him an edge that few are able to offer in this field. Mac has officially earned the title Sensei in the martial arts; Sensei meaning teacher in Japanese. He earns his title as he puts people at ease through humor and an open attitude when teaching and speaking about this very sensitive subject. Mac educates all over the country about Gender, but he also offers classes on self-defense, martial arts, tai-chi wellness, and energy at seminars, conferences, businesses, and groups all over the world. He is a professional life coach, personal trainer and a highly sought after motivational speaker. Mac also writes for The Huffington Post.

Erica Anderson, Ph.D. is a clinical psychologist and Professor at John F. Kennedy University where she previously served as Chair (Graduate Psychology and Healthcare Management) as well as Dean of the Graduate School. She trains psychologists in sexuality and sex therapy. She is currently working on several books. She is a transgender woman listed in Who's Who in America for several years as herself Erica and previously for many years in her male name Eric. Dr Anderson has a private consulting practice in Oakland, California focused upon Sexuality, Gender, and Identity.

After Dark: Sexplorations
at the Exploratorium in San Francisco
Thursday February 4th
6:00–10:00 p.m. • Galleries and bars open
6:15–10:00 p.m. • Tactile Dome

$15 General; $10 Members; Free for Lab Members; $10 Add-On Ticket for the Tactile Dome Available for Purchase Onsite Adults Only (18+)
Buy Tickets

Va Va Va Voom: Vintage Vibrators
With Carol Queen
Thursday February 4th
6:30–9:30 p.m. | South Gallery

Exploratorium SF
Pier 15 (Embarcadero at Green St)
San Francisco, CA 94111
(415) 528-4444

Reinvent your Thursday nights at After Dark. Experience a fascinating array of unique, adult-only programs and events that change each week. Grab dinner by the Bay, play with hundreds of hands-on exhibits, crawl through our pitch-black Tactile Dome, sip cocktails, and explore.

Note: Some programs have limited seating and will be made available to visitors on a first-come, first-served basis.

Va Va Va Voom: Vintage Vibrators
Eye an array of vintage vibrators and massagers from Good Vibrations’ Antique Vibrator Museum. Bring your sex questions, too, and “Ask the Sexologist,” award-winning author, activist, and sex educator Dr. Carol Queen. 

The Second Annual Sex Culture Book Fair
at Adobe Books
Saturday, February 6th, 4pm to 10pm
3130 24th Street in San Francisco


Join Carol Queen, Madison Young, Jiz Lee, Allison Moon, Bawdy Storytelling, and many other writers and sex culture revolutionaries for panels, readings, demos and more! Jiz Lee, editor of Coming Out Like a Porn Star, will be hosting a reading with contributors Lorelie Lee, Jack Hammer, Madison Young, Cinnamon Maxxine and Lyric Seal.

Author Talk: THE Sex & Pleasure Book
Tuesday, February 9th at 6:00 pm
South San Francisco Public Library
840 West Orange Ave., SSF CA
(650)829-3860

Staff Sexologist Carol Queen will visit the South San Francisco Public Library for its annual Love In The Library Day on Tuesday, February 9 at 6pm. She’ll talk about the new book she wrote with Shar Rednour, The Sex & Pleasure Book. www.ssf.net/library

Creature Crush NightLife
Thursday, February 11th at 6:00 pm to 10:00 pm
California Academy of Sciences
55 Music Concourse Drive, Golden Gate Park, San Francisco

From animal attraction to human nature, celebrate the science behind the things that make us blush at this special Valentine’s Day edition of NightLife. Snap a photo of your favorite Academy animal (be sure to tag it with #CreatureCrush) and tell us why you love it for a chance to win an exclusive, up-close animal encounter! In African Hall, hear fascinating talks on love and sex with Marcia Baczynski and Carol Queen and Robert Lawrence. Plus, get artsy while making your own liquid-marbled valentines, marvel at beautiful blooms from the Pacific Orchid Exposition, and view antique and modern vibrators with SF institution Good Vibrations. Take an R-rated Tour of the Universe during a special edition of Celestial Attractions at 6:30 and 7:30 pm, followed by two showings of Habitat Earth. Up for a challenge? Try to draw your date while blindfolded with local alternative art community Paint Pens Collective or type out a letter to your secret crush with a vintage typewriter. Learn about the animal kingdom’s weirdest mating and reproduction stories with Academy biologist Kelly Markello and stroll through the Animal Attraction aquarium gallery. Feeling the love yet?

NightLife Basics
What: NightLife at the California Academy of Sciences (for adults ages 21+) Featuring music, cutting-edge science, and food and drinks available for purchase
When: Every Thursday night, 6-10 pm
Where: California Academy of Sciences, 55 Music Concourse Drive, Golden Gate Park, San Francisco
Cost: $15 per person ($12 for Academy members); tickets available at the door or online

BRIEFS 2016
Erotic Short Film Competition
Thursday, February 11th at 7:00 pm
at The Grand Lake Theatre
3200 Grand Ave., Oakland CA, 94610
Buy Tickets

BRIEFS 2016 is the East Bay Express’ 5th annual Erotic Short Film Competition showcasing works by amateur and professional filmmakers from around the world. The one night screening will explore the limits of erotic filmmaking in a liberating and entertaining format ideal for sex-positive film lovers of every gender and orientation.

Held at the iconic Grand Lake Theatre in Oakland on Thursday, Feb. 11th, BRIEFS 2016 features a hosted screening by none other than Tourettes without Regrets founder Jamie Dewolf, and a non-hosted screening shortly after.

Films will be judged by all attendees, along with a handpicked group of special guests. A cash prize of $500 is awarded for the Judges Choice and $1000 for the Audience Favorite. Winning film teams will also walk away with bundles of sizzling goodies from local retailers. Previous judges include: iconic queer pornstar, Jiz Lee; East Bay Express Film Critic, Kelly Vance; social worker/performer, and RuPaul's Drag Race alumni, Honey Mahogony; national cannabis leader, and owner of Harborside Health Center, Steve DeAngelo; author of the Tales of the Pack series, Allison Moon; cultural worker of the urban landscape, social entrepreneur, and co-owner of Impact HUB Oakland, Ashara Ekundayo; artist, performer, fashionista, and graphic designer for The Watergarden, Kenshi Westover; and, artist, cartoonist, and tattoo artist, Mark Bode.

An after party & awards ceremony will be held after the event at the newly reopened Uptown Nightclub in Oakland. Attendees can most certainly expect controversial burlesque, wild interactive audience games, and jaw dropping dance performances creating an all-around crazy, fun event not intended for the light of heart!

Good Vibrations Birthday Bash
and Exclusive Moody G5 Launch!
Friday, March 18th, 5:00 - 7:00pm
FREE!

We are excited to celebrate a special event that is free and open to the public on March 18th at our Kearny St. SF store.

Join us for bubbly and cake to celebrate the exclusive launch of the Fun Factory Moody G5 Vibrator and our 39th Birthday! We say goodbye to the dirty thirties and celebrate 20 years of Fun Factory’s innovation and partnership. The Moody Vibrator is an exclusive launch of the latest version of an exclusive design originally collaborated on between Fun Factory and Good Vibrations. Body safe materials, flexible shaft and tip, German engineering motor, rechargeable, safe for anal or g-spot stimulation, and ridged for added sensation, the Moody is exclusively brought to market while celebrating the 20 year partnership that Fun Factory and Good Vibrations have had. We are proud to host Fun Factory and celebrate our 39th year in business with refreshments, raffle prizes, chair massages, tarot readings, bubbly, and cake!

When: March 18th 5:00 pm - 7:00 pm
Where: Good Vibrations Kearny Store, 189 Kearny Street, San Francisco (between Post and Sutter)

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Take It Off! The New Burlesque
Friday, March 18th, 9:00pm
Location: Jewish Community Center of San Francisco, 3200 California Street, SF, CA 94118
Buy Tickets

This event is part of Uninhibited: About Sex, an intriguing series of events on the topic of sex. Check out the full list of events at jccsf.org/sex. Join Good Vibrations educators as we sponsor this event. Get your questions answered with sex positive information and answers, see antique vibrators, the latest sex toy arrivals, and more!

Take It Off! The New Burlesque: With Miss Dirty Martini, Julie Atlas Muz, Miss Harvest Moon, Roky Roulette and Kitten on the Keys - From classic burlesque tributes to punk rock revisionists, women (and men) of all ages, sizes and backgrounds are rediscovering and reinventing the art. Burlesque queens Miss Dirty Martini and Julie Atlas Muz join aerial artist Miss Harvest Moon, Roky Roulette – the world’s only pogo striptease artist – and emcee extraordinaire Kitten on the Keys for a bubbly, bawdy evening of T&A (talents and attitude) showcasing the very best of this sexy revival. This show is for adults, 18 and over.

Use the promo code: JCCSEX for a 25% discount on tickets.

Bawdy Storytelling: True Storeis of Sexual Adventure!
Thursday, March 24th, 8:00pm
Location: Jewish Community Center of San Francisco, 3200 California Street, SF, CA 94118
Buy Tickets

This event is part of Uninhibited: About Sex, an intriguing series of events on the topic of sex. Check out the full list of events at jccsf.org/sex. Join Good Vibrations educators as we sponsor this event. Get your questions answered with sex positive information and answers, see antique vibrators, the latest sex toy arrivals, and more!

Presented by JCCSF and Dixie De La Tour - Leave your inhibitions at the door at Bawdy Storytelling, the nation’s original sex and storytelling show, which features people sharing their bona fide sexual exploits, live onstage. Bawdy’s storytellers are a mix of authors, poets, comedians and actors – along with people just like you – who were chosen for their panache and sense of misadventure. Winner of SF Weekly’s Best of San Francisco and LA Weekly’s Best of Los Angeles, and two-time winner of SF Bay Guardian’s Best of the Bay Award, this event features amazing stories of love, lust and self-acceptance, along with live music and Bang-o!, which dares to go where Bingo does not. This show is for adults, 18 and over.

Use the promo code: JCCSEX for a 25% discount on tickets.

Bawdy Storytelling: True Storeis of Sexual Adventure!
Thursday, March 24th, 8:00pm
Location: Jewish Community Center of San Francisco, 3200 California Street, SF, CA 94118
Buy Tickets

This event is part of Uninhibited: About Sex, an intriguing series of events on the topic of sex. Check out the full list of events at jccsf.org/sex. Join Good Vibrations educators as we sponsor this event. Get your questions answered with sex positive information and answers, see antique vibrators, the latest sex toy arrivals, and more!

Presented by JCCSF and Dixie De La Tour - Leave your inhibitions at the door at Bawdy Storytelling, the nation’s original sex and storytelling show, which features people sharing their bona fide sexual exploits, live onstage. Bawdy’s storytellers are a mix of authors, poets, comedians and actors – along with people just like you – who were chosen for their panache and sense of misadventure. Winner of SF Weekly’s Best of San Francisco and LA Weekly’s Best of Los Angeles, and two-time winner of SF Bay Guardian’s Best of the Bay Award, this event features amazing stories of love, lust and self-acceptance, along with live music and Bang-o!, which dares to go where Bingo does not. This show is for adults, 18 and over.

Use the promo code: JCCSEX for a 25% discount on tickets.

Communicate! The Sex Skill Everyone Needs to Master
Saturday, March 26th, 2:00pm
Location: Boston, MA –– MIT
If you’d like to enquire, please email here

Virgin or kinkster, monogamous or open, asexual or sex maniac, there’s one thing you have in common with everyone else: If you can communicate clearly (and, bonus, comfortably!) about erotic desires and limits, you’ll get more of what you want and less of what you don’t, and you’ll be sexually safer in more ways than one. So let’s practice! With sexologist Carol Queen, on loan from San Francisco (where she’s Staff Sexologist at Good Vibrations, co-author of The Sex & Pleasure Book, and founding director of the Center for Sex & Culture), we’ll explore communication skills and contexts… and then do some real-live-say-it-out-loud practice. Bring someone you want to talk about sex with… or pair up with another attendee. Special bonus: If you ever want to learn to talk dirty, this skill is pretty much a pre-requisite. (This workshop is not open to the general public, but may be made available to attendees affiliated with the MIT community on a case-by-case basis.

The Sex & Pleasure Book: Good Vibrations Guide to Great Sex for Everyone book launch with Carol Queen
Sunday, March 27th, 7:00pm - 9:00pm

Location: NYC –– Bluestockings Books
172 Allen Street, New York, NY 10002
OPEN TO THE PUBLIC!

The Sex & Pleasure Book draws on Good Vibrations’ years of diverse and informative customer interactions, plus Staff Sexologist Carol Queen’s academic training and community experience, creating a sex information book bar none aimed toward people of many identities, experience levels, and interests. Covering sexual changes across the lifespan, the identity spectrum, sexual anatomy, and of course sex toys and products, this ambitious compendium aims to inform and inspire sexual comfort and exploration!

CatalystCon Midwest
March 31st - April 3rd

Location: Chicago, IL
Hyatt Regency O'Hare
OPEN TO THE PUBLIC!

CatalystCon is a conference created to inspire exceptional conversations about sexuality. The conference mission is to reach out and stimulate attendees to create important conversations within communities and change discourse and acceptance of sexuality within society. These conversations are intended to stimulate the activist within us all and spark transformation and growth for all adults and children in one of the humanity’s most important aspects; sexuality.

Dr. Carol Queen is presenting Slut-shaming: Taking on intolerance about our open, unashamed sexualities, Writing Sex & Pleasure: Tackling a Comprehensive Sexuality Tome, Partners in Pleasure: Building bridges between sex positive retailers & educators , The Politics of Defining Sex & Anatomy and moderating the Opening Keynote Plenary Address.

View Our Press Release

More Information: catalystcon.com

The Big O: Women and Sexual Desire
Tuesday, April 5th, 7:00pm
Location: Jewish Community Center of San Francisco, 3200 California Street, SF, CA 94118
Buy Tickets

This event is part of Uninhibited: About Sex, an intriguing series of events on the topic of sex. Check out the full list of events at jccsf.org/sex. Join Good Vibrations educators as we sponsor this event. Get your questions answered with sex positive information and answers, see antique vibrators, the latest sex toy arrivals, and more!

The Big O: Women and Sexual Desire - With Nicole Prause - There has been no quick fix to revolutionize female sexual response the way Viagra did for men. Neuroscientist Nicole Prause is trying to change that. She founded a company to address what she feels is the woefully inadequate state of research into women’s sexuality and conducts scientific studies on orgasm as a way to boost desire and alleviate depression.

Use the promo code: JCCSEX for a 25% discount on tickets.

Red Light Lit
Sunday, April 17th, 7:00pm
Location: Jewish Community Center of San Francisco, 3200 California Street, SF, CA 94118
Buy Tickets

This event is part of Uninhibited: About Sex, an intriguing series of events on the topic of sex. Check out the full list of events at jccsf.org/sex. Join Good Vibrations educators as we sponsor this event. Get your questions answered with sex positive information and answers, see antique vibrators, the latest sex toy arrivals, and more!

Inspired by San Francisco’s poetic history, Red Light Lit brings together emerging Bay Area writers, musicians and comedians for a provocative evening exploring love, lust, sexuality and sensuality in the form of poetry, prose, comedy and song. Special guest 2016 Oregon Book Award finalist Nick Jaina reads love letters from his memoir Get It While You Can.

This show is for adults, 18 and over.

Come early to the JCCSF!
Starting at 6:00 pm, join us in the atrium for our Uninhibited: About Sex pre-event festivities! Our friends from Good Vibrations have some swag to share, just spin their wheel to see what you win. Come check out the other activities happening before the main event!