Speakers, Sessions Named For CatalystCon East

ARLINGTON, Va.—Dee Dennis, founder of the CatalystCon sexuality conference, has announced more than 60 speakers participating in CatalystCon East in Arlington, Va., March 14-16. Created to inspire exceptional conversations about sexuality, CatalystCon will return to the east coast with more than 40 sessions and panel discussions on sexuality-based topics. CatalystCon East’s schedule will include sessions on sex work, polyamory, sex and aging, virginity, sex education, and business, and panel discussions on creating change in the sex toy industry, living with an STI, and sex and the media. A complete list of sessions may be found at catalystcon.com/sessions. “CatalystCon epitomizes the evolution of sexuality conferences, encouraging discourse and collaboration among different fields in sexology. From sex workers and therapist to educators and researchers, attending CatalystCon offers an environment to discuss a wide range of sexuality topics and work being done by sexologists on the front lines of social change,” said Dr. Hernando Chaves, who will be speaking on the topic of 21st century sex ed. Speakers include sex educators Carol Queen and Robert Morgan Lawrence; academics Rosalyn Dischiavo and Jamie F. Lawson, activists Ducky Doolittle and Melissa Gira Grant, and industry superstar Jessica Drake, plus sex workers, sex writers, sex therapists and other experts. A complete list of speakers may be found at catalystcon.com/speakers. CatalystCon East will also feature the return of Tristan Taormino’s Sex Educator Boot Camp, and the debut of two pre-conference writing workshops with Rachel Kramer Bussel, former Village Voice sex columnist and editor of more than 50 anthologies, including The Big Book of Orgasms, Lust in Latex and the Best Bondage Erotica series. “CatalystCon is the perfect venue to teach the ins and outs of erotic writing and debut my new workshop on nonfiction sex writing,” said Bussel. “I know from attending in previous years that attendees will be prepared with insightful pieces to be edited, open minds and an extremely high level of professionalism. I look forward to the workshops and to hopefully publishing work by the participants in future anthologies.” “It's truly inspiring to be involved with such a strong group of like-minded people that are so passionate about topics many people are afraid to talk about,” said CT Schenk, CEO of CatalystCon East Platinum Sponsor Aneros. Schenk will be speaking on “The Ass Panel: The Ins and Outs of Anal Pleasure.” CatalystCon East takes place March 14-16 at the Hilton Crystal City in Arlington, Va. Discounted early-bird registration is available until Dec. 30 at catalystcon.com/register.