Love for sale

My big news of the week is that I have a full time job for the first time since 2003. That feels weird to say because for the last four years I’ve certainly worked more waking hours than the average person would call full time, with rests few and far between, but all projects that fit within my working philosophy of always and never working – meaning, I’m always on call and working/writing/brainstorming/doing something, but that I’m so obsessed with it all that it feels like it’s not “real” work. Plus I take sex and nap breaks (often in that order) around 3 pm on plenty of weekdays. That’s what I can flex time. Also know as prioritization of the afternoon delight. Hey, I’m a sex professional, I’m allowed my daytime indiscretions. And anyway, it’s research.

So, what, you may wonder, could possibly distract me from my personal goal of world domination? Only something that isn’t a distraction, but a contribution to my work, something that doesn’t make me feel pulled away from my obsessions, but strapped in a little tighter to this wild ride.

Starting this week, I’m going to be Community Manager for The Peeq, a new smartly sassy sex website that will combine top-notch content by stellar writers that you already know and love, plus social networking of the sexy kind. It’s not a dating site, nor is it a porn site, but a savvy community site for those amongst us whose tastes run to the naughtier side of the tracks. The whole idea is to provide space for playful and fun experiences/experiments with sexuality without insulting anyone’s intelligence. Or libido. Or intelligent libido. Also: it’s free free free.

My job resides somewhere on the continuum between the editorial staff and the PR firm that’s been hired to get attention for the site. I’m going to build up the community, resources and content like blogs, podcasts, and vlogs on the site, and the plan is to do it in a way that of course boosts traffic and usage of the site but that also really serves communities of people who like to play with sexuality online. So, there won’t be any mass emails asking for link exchanges or begging you to create a profile you’ll never use just so I can report to my bosses that I did something. Instead, I’ll be embarking on the task of identifying areas in which we can serve the community (plural communities, really) through the site, and then making it happen.

I’m totally open to proposals, feedback on the site’s functionality and really anything about the interactive and resources sections of the site. I know those parts of the site are pretty undeveloped at the moment, but that’s my job and I’m just getting started on it, so hold your horses. Or better than that, gimme some suggestions. Just drop me a line through the usual channels or at dacia [at] thepeeq.com if you’ve got anything up your sleeve that you think might be an asset to The Peeq, or if you can think of a way you can use The Peeq to do cool stuff, or ways you can cajole me into getting cool and interesting things happening on the site to serve your selfish little needs (or big needs). I hear I have the power to make those kinds of things happen.

I’ve been asked a steadily increasing number of times over the past year to promote people’s projects with my wily Internet powers, and across the board I’ve felt like I can’t do great PR for anyone but myself and projects I truly buy into. And so I turn a lot of stuff down. My reputation, personal happiness, and the value of not hating myself are pretty important to me. And then this kind of thing rolls along and things get clearer and I see what’s up, what I’m supposed to be working on and for. It just makes sense.

I’m also a really sucker for a project in its infancy, as proven by my two years at the Museum of Sex (one before and one after it opened, 2001-2003), my work with $pread (launched in March 2005), and my work at the helm of the now-defunct porn website review blog Sugarclick.com (spring 2006). I think I can officially say that it’s no coincidence that I keep working on projects fresh out of the gate. It’s what gets me hot and bothered and keeps me up at night all jazzed about what I’m doing. And hopefully I can get other people all jazzed about this site, not just because I want to stay employed, but because I think I can turn out some cool stuff for you-all, especially if you ask me for it and I don’t have to just guess at sexy, Internety things you might like to play with. Um, that’s a nudge nudge for you to email me at dacia [at] thepeeq.com with a laundry list of things you always wanted from the Internet.