KNaNO Frequently Asked Questions
KNaNO Frequently Asked Questions
No, you can start your registration anytime, whether you're new or a returning guest.
Not if it's your first KNaNO. If you've been before, then yes you can, though every guest still needs to be registered separately. You can either:
The former path is easy, but has the disadvantage of binding their registration to your email address. If they later attempt to register themselves directly, they'll appear to be a new guest (and will require confirmation at that time).
The hosts allow returning guests who are in good standing with the party to sponsor a small number of new-to-KNaNO guests at each event, to whom they act as hosts.
More fully, a sponsor's duties include:
Sponsors are encouraged to arrive together with their guests and not leave them "stranded" or unsupervised for too long during their first event. Please make a point of introducing your sponsored guests to the hosts!
Once you're registered and are pending confirmation, go find someone in our community (generally a partner or friend you've made) who:
Please note that it is rude to spam friends and known guests with requests to be sponsored. It's a big responsibility so please be judicious with your requests!
If you're coming to the current event and are willing to sponsor a guest, please email registration@knano.org a note indicating:
Please note that sponsoring is a privilege, not a right. Choose wisely!
No, registrations are non-transferable as they are tied to a unique email address and handle combination.
Also, letting us know in advance gives us a chance to give your spot to someone on the waitlist.
Registrations are non-transferable as they are tied to a unique email address and handle combination.
If registration is still open, you should be able to bring them as your guest.
Letting us know that your guest has cancelled lets us offer that spot to the next person on the waitlist.
Sure, come out and meet a host.
Please respect our process and policies, they are the way the are for a reason. If you nevertheless feel like you deserve special treatment, feel free to reach out with your compelling argument.
It's not about who you know, it's about us knowing you. We have a new-guest process for a reason, please follow it.
Yes, but you'll need to prove you are who you claim to be, rather than someone stealing your identity.
If you still have your confirmation number or code from a previous event, please send a note to registration@knano.org including the approximate date of that party, the email address you used to use and your confirmation number or code.
If you don't have that anymore, you can either meet a host (so we can confirm you are the person you're claiming to be) or come as someone's guest.
Open the link we emailed you when you pre-registered.
Once you've sent us your registration, you'll need to wait to be approved to join the waitlist.
Each invite key can only be used once and they expire if not used within a few days.
If your link has expired, you can request a new one by starting another registration.
Otherwise, it probably means you're attempting to register twice, either by accident (like from a doubled click or because you didn't realize you were already registered) or because you're trying to add a guest.
Pretty much! We tend to close our registration system a week or two ahead of the party, or if we sell out of spots early. We will also sometimes temporarily close registration if we're experiencing system errors.
You can send a note to registration@knano.org to try getting on the waitlist.
Note that we've had consistently inconsistent issues with our system's ability to send emails to Outlook, Hotmail, Live, or Yahoo email addresesses (messages are sometimes silently discarded). For best results, please consider using a different email address to register.
[topics]Reissue your confirmation email.
We're sorry to hear that but we get it: life happens!
If you have a minute, please send a quick note to registration@knano.org to let us know you can't make it after all. If there's sufficient time left before the party and we have a waitlist, we'll give your spot(s) to someone on it.
To help ensure fairness as the party grows, we have introduced a waitlist for all guests, with the exception of recent volunteers (who will automatically bypass the waitlist upon registration).
The hosts will move guests from the waitlist to the guest list in batches ahead of the event.
Put simply, it's matching a real person's face to the email and handle and managing expectations.
We want our guests to arrive with a reasonable picture of what a KNaNO party consists of, and what is expected of them in turn. To that end, the KNaNO hosts provide an orientation followed with some Q&A wherein you get to know us and we get to know you ... at least a little bit. These are typically held off to the side at a munch, though we can sometimes accommodate a virtual session if pre-party travel is impractical.
Guests who are being sponsored are expected to get this orientation from their sponsor.
Once you've been confirmed (either by meeting with a host or when your sponsorship is accepted), you'll receive a confirmation email.
Assuming you've checked your spam folder and searched for emails from "registration@knano.org" to no avail, you can reissue your confirmation email here.
We're sure you did, but we also meet a lot of people! Please send us a note detailing where, when and you you met, the name or handle you used at the time, and something memorable that will help us recall who you are.
The most common reason for our system to "forget" a returning guest is because they've changed their email address. If this is you, include your previous address and confirmation code (and the rough date of the event it was for) in the Notes box when you register so we can cross-check that it's still you. If you've already registered, you can send that same information via email.
The second most common reason for not appearing in our system is that the last KNaNO you were at predates the current organizers' tenure. In that case, come out and meet the new hosts!
Come out to the EhBC Munch (held on the first Wednesday of each month), where you'll be almost certain to find at least one of the KNaNO organizers.
We're also regularly found at the K/W Poly Munch, the K/W Rope Social and sometime at the Guelph or other local munches and events. You can contact registration@knano.org if you'd like to confirm that a KNaNO host will be at a given event.
The KNaNO organizers are unpaid volunteers who process registrations, payments and emails in intermittent batches. We most likely have not forgotten about you: we're just slow and dealing with a lot of things in parallel. Thanks for your patience!
It's your one-stop shop for party details!
Once your registration has been confirmed, you'll receive an email containing:
Note that confirmation emails are only valid for the current event. You'll need to register again for future parties (though the process is simpler if you're a returning guest).
See the "I've lost my old email" entry.
KNaNO depends on volunteers for a variety of roles:
Over fifty of our guests help each and every KNaNO, enabling a great party for themselves and for all of the other guests. We very, very much appreciate and depend on help from the community!
If you are new to KNaNO, helping with Setup is a great way to meet a much smaller group of people and ensure you will know a bit about what is going on during the party. Strike, at the end of the party, is always the most difficult to find help for (and hence why all such offers are so deeply appreciated!) and is a great way to give back after a night of fun. Both of these roles need no training.
KNaNO's DMs (Dungeon Monitors) are a part of the DMzRUs group. They have attended an afternoon training session and have had at least three previous training shifts. We always need more DMs but if you have not done the training that will need to be your first step. See this FetLife group for details.
Our Door and Equipment Table volunteers often find themselves quite busy during peak hours, so we tend to place more-experienced people in those roles, pairing them with newer folk until the latter develop a feel for how things work. These folks also need a calm demeanor and some ability to thrive under pressure, since they regularly face problems. Whether it's a hundred people trying to enter all at once, with varying amounts of preparedness (remember your codes, folks!) or being the only thing standing between a full queue of players and the empty equipment stations they want to get to play on, these are good places to both meet a lot of people and to help find ways to make the party even better for everyone.
Definitely not! We aim to ask no more than one hour of any guest's time during the party, with Setup and Strike sometimes lasting up to 90 minutes. Chief DM shifts can also run longer as we want them to have context. No matter how much you sign up for at registration, in ordinary circumstances we'll only give you at most one shift.
Yes! Our current policy is to grant complimentary admission to guests who actively volunteered an hour of their time at the previous KNaNO.
Editorial: While this approach has greatly simplified our accounting over the years, it penalizes volunteers who cannot make the very next event for whatever reason. We're working towards an update that will make complimentary-admission credits earned from volunteering last a year or so.
When registering for an event, you will eventually reach the main Registration page, where you will be presented with a set of checkboxes. Click the ones you're interested in and our Volunteer Coordinator will reach out to you with roster assignments.
It sure is! The Registration page with the role checkboxes also has a "More info about my volunteering" text box that you can add a note to with your particular constraints or preferences. Examples could include "later shift, please", "I can't lift my arms over my head", "please pair me with my partner/friend/sponsored guest, X".
A week or two before KNaNO you will get an email with your planned shift and instructions for your role, if one was assigned, or our sincere gratitude for offering if not!
That means you can't bring in an energy drink, a bottle of water, water in your Yeti jug, homemade "thank you" cookies or even cupcakes. We encourage people to bring (empty!) reusable jugs and fill them from the provided water supply.
This is a venue requirement, hence why it's in the "Respect the site" section of the rules. If a liquor inspector sees an outside drink, the venue can lose its liquor license ... and we lose our site. If venue personnel see someone with outside food or drink (which violates the terms of their catering license with the city), they might cancel the event, cancel future events or charge us $250 ... or all of those!
Please don't risk losing our venue for KNaNO (as well as other kinky events): leave outside food and drinks outside the party!
We get it! If leaving your items in your vehicle is insufficient or infeasible, please reach out to the hosts before the event with your reasonable accommodation requests.
This is a venue requirement, hence why it's in the "Respect the site" section of the rules, and is a condition of their insurance. The venue is not willing to take the additional risk of open flames, even prohibiting tealights on the tables for wedding receptions. Please don't burn down our site ... sites are hard to find!
Having said that, if you know of a site that is willing to let us host a party, is big enough to handle a KNaNO, isn't insanely expensive, and doesn't have the very few restrictions that our current site has, we would love to hear from you!
Our Photo Policy is one of our "Respect the guests" rules. Pictures can be fun memories: go ahead and take them ... with consent! That means there can't be anyone else in the picture -- face, foot or otherwise -- without their consent.
This also means no audio / video recordings are allowed. Can you imagine trying to get consent from every voice on your video in advance of recording it? No? Well we can't either, which is why we prohibit audio and video recordings!
DMs are really your friends. Do talk to them. They will try to help make sure your scene goes smoothly. Want to do something outside the roped spaces? Just ask, they will try to make it happen. Someone bothering you? Wave a DM over and they'll help. Worried that people will jump into your wild CNC scene? Warn the DMs, and they will make sure people don't. Wondering if something is allowed? Ask the DMs! Can't wipe down the station because your bottom has collapsed, and you need to carry them to the aftercare space? Tell the DMs! They're doing a job, yes, but they're still nice people who want to help.
Everyone attending is hoping to have a good time. Don't be the person who ruins it for other people! Don't crowd anyone in scenes, in hallways or in social spaces. Don't be loud where people are trying to be quiet (like in the aftercare space).
And especially don't be a creep! Be sensitive to body language: if they don't look completely into your conversation / flirting / being in that precise space ... move along. Take the first NO (no matter how soft!) as the NO it is and ... move along. Make people remember you as "the nice person who took a hint!" not as "the person that made me uncomfortable".
When a first-time guest tells us, "everyone there was so nice!" it makes the hosts very happy. When we hear that a guest made them feel uncomfortable though, that guest is less likely to be readmitted to a future KNaNO.
Our photo policy is here - it notes that videos are not allowed but, with some conditions, photos are allowed. Part of your waiver is to agree that you have read and agree with this policy. Violations of this policy are treated like any consent violation.
If you are concerned about someone taking photos that would violate the policy, please report the problem to a DM (one armband), the Chief DM (multiple armbands) or one of the hosts right away. We will ask the attendee to show us the photos they took and will confirm that they meet the photo policy, or ensure they are deleted and that the attendee is flagged. If you are not comfortable talking to one of us, please ask a friend to do so.
Please note that letting us know about an issue after the party has ended doesn't leave us in a position to do anything about it. Timely reporting is of the essence!
KNaNO allows a large number of types of play, some of which may not be within your comfort zone. So long as the scene is consensual (or consensually non-consensual) and doesn't violate the rules, it is likely okay. If you are concerned, please do not hesitate to discuss the problem with a DM (one armband), Chief DM (multiple armbands) or the hosts. Only DMs can intervene in a scene ... do not choose that path.
While DMs are watching and listening for this, with many stations, players, guests, background lighting and music playing, things do get missed. Please report the problem to a DM (one armband), the Chief DM (multiple armbands) or the hosts. We will follow up with the players. Only DMs can intervene in a scene ... do not choose that path.
While we do expect players to wipe down their station after they are done, people do sometimes forget, or the scene can end in a way that interferes with their ability to wipe down the station. While DMs are watching for this, with so many stations, players, guests, background lighting and music playing, things do get missed. Please report the problem to a DM (one armband), the Chief DM (multiple armbands) or the hosts. We will follow up with the players and/or simply clean the station.
If you're worried about this in general, please feel free to use the provided wipes (or bring your own) and wipe the station down to your satisfaction before you play, as well as after.
There is an opening in the roped-off dungeon area. In that opening is the "equipment table", staffed with people who will be happy to help you book a station.
We do NOT accept bookings for "9:05 pm" or "after my shift" because that type of booking means stations will be unused for varying periods and a lot of people want to play at a KNaNO.
What you can do is add yourself to the queue for a given station. We ask players to limit scenes to 45 minutes maximum when it's busy, so if there are two people ahead of you, your reservation will land in the next 1.5 hours. Now, if the 2 people signed up both have 15-minute scenes you might have a space much faster, so be ready! We will give the furniture over to the next available name on the list after a short waiting period if the "next" guest doesn't show up in time.
We have restaurant-style pagers, given out to the "next" person for each station, paging them when the station has feed up (or will soon). If you are later than the "next" person, check back from time to time and, when you're "next", you'll get a pager.
NOTE: We aim to give you 5 minutes (and 2 pages) to come claim your playstation. If you miss that, the next-in-line person gets the space: we're aiming to let as many people play as possible.
KNaNO is a social space, not a dating app. How to find play partners is the subject of many different articles on FetLife and other places, as well as classes.
KNaNO holds one room aside, prioritized for aftercare. This area is also a good place to go if you are feeling overwhelmed by the party.
We do ask that space in that room be prioritized for players that need it. If you have been there for a while, please yield space for new arrivals coming in from their respective scenes.
The rules say "Play only in designated areas unless cleared by a DM".
Space inside the cordoned-off "dungeon" area and around the massage tables is prioritized for players. People outside the cordon (in the social space) and moving to or from playstations should respect that focus: please be quiet and don't interfere with any scenes.
Spaces outside the dungeons and aftercare space are prioritized for non-playing guests. You can play there -- lighter play like collar-and-leash or a single-column tie can just happen, though spicier play should be coordinated with the DMs -- but please respect non-players' ability to move around and socialize. If you want space / respect / quiet for your scene, take it to a playspace.
Scenes occurring in the social spaces should be purely optional for non-participating guests. For example, you may think it's great to have your naked sub-type holding markers for people to write obscene things on them with (and so do we!) but understand that your enthusiasm might be taken as an unwelcome intrusion. When in doubt, ask a DM.
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