Good Vibrations Magazine

SF Pride weekend has come and gone, and everyone at the stores and main office are winding down and getting back to the daily flow of operations. We thought we’d share some pictures and experiences with you, thanks goes out to our Marketing Department and all our customers, vendors, and staff. And our float won “Absolutely Outrageous” Award!

Gallery: Pink Pleasure Party at Valencia Good Vibrations:

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From Misty, Senior Buyer:

After spending a few hours taking in the sights at the hot-in-the-shade Dolores Park I headed over to our Valencia store to get ready for the Dyke March. It was amazing – Dykes on Bikes, bicycles, and scooters rolled past revving their engines, cheering and waving to us as we cheered back waiting to hand out discount cards to the marchers! As usual the march was a blur as person after person came through – in all states of dress, undress, costumed and more!

Our Pink Pleasure Party was a flurry of activity with people coming in off the streets to enjoy our Lusty Lady Go-Go dancers, take a spin on our Wheel-of-Pleasure, nibble the treats (including a rainbow & unicorn themed cake), buy raffle tickets benefiting the Center for Sex & Culture and taking in loop-preview of Reel Queer Productions first release – Roulette. Both director and a few of the stars were on hand for signings and chatting people up!

Sunday was incredible – our shimmer-and-shine float was packed with queens including THE Dr. Carol Queen and an amazing country band who twanged along the entire route! We were all decked out in our country-western best and handing out coupon cards and give-aways from our some of our vendors! There were marchers from our three Bay Area stores as well as folks Vibratex and LELO! We had country dancers, representatives from Olivia Cruises and more… it was a blast and amazing to hear the crowds cheer for us when we walked by! It was a long hot route but I was thrilled to be a part of it!

From D in Merchandising:

Good Vibrations turned up the heat in the city on one HOT pride day! The crowds and participants were all enthusiastic and amazing!

From Managing Director Jonathan Plotzker:

Floating down Market St to the cheers of adoring fans (customers) was exhilarating!

From Steve Duncan, Creative Director:

SF Pride is such an amazing celebration of diversity and self expression It was an honor to be able to celebrate it this year with all of the fans of Good Vibrations and with our wonderful vendors, Olivia Cruises, Dr. Carol Queen, our LGBTQ community partners, the Foggy City Square Dancers and the Western Star Square Dancers and “the all-gal, honky-tonk” band, the Dosie Dildos, who rocked our float all the way down Market Street”.

It is an honor to start Good Vibrations’ Pride Celebration curating Joey Plaster and Gabriela Hasbun’s multimedia presentation “Polk Street Stories Project; Lives in Transition” at our Polk Street Store. It is a moving and honest testament to the many people who pioneered San Francisco’s first gay neighborhood and the transitions, over the last three decades, that neighborhood has undergone. The exhibition runs through August 25 in Good Vibrations Polk Street Store’s Gallery Space.

Good Vibrations’ Post Dyke-March Pink Pleasure Party at our Valencia Street Store is always one of my favorite SF Pride Events. This year we celebrated with over 1,100 fans of G.V., partying with a live DJ, Olivia Cruises (whom we’re partnering with on their Halloween Cruise), LELO and queer artist and NoFauxxx.com film director Courtney Trouble. This was the third year that I’ve been involved with the party and each year it gets better and better.

Marching with Good Vibrations in this year’s Pride Parade has a very special meaning to me. My family was with me marching in the contingent, including my gay partner and our 19 year-old gay son. What a way to spend Pride Sunday than to march with Good Vibrations promoting sex positivity and true family values!

Gallery: Marching on Sunday

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From Camilla Lombard, Events Coordinator:

I cannot imagine a bigger thrill than performing and participating in the best parade in the world! There was so much love and creativity expressed, it’s a memory I will always cherish. The Dosey-Dildos were thrilled to be a part of the Good Vibes float. That’s one for the grand-kids!

From Nyx in Marketing:

It was so inspirational to watch the Dykes on Bikes roar down Valencia Street outside of Good Vibrations’ Mission store. As one woman rode by and flashed her post-mastectomy breasts, she shouted “5 year survivor!” I thought about how all of these women were survivors in their own way. I felt proud to support them as they celebrated themselves and their community.

While waiting to march with the Good Vibrations contingent, I considered the place this Pride Parade held in the current political climate. I thought about how much this community had struggled in the past, just to get where they were today, facing more struggles in the future. I felt like I was a part of something important, the fight to recognize rights, and the truth that everyone deserves equality.

From Joel:

I’m still feeling giddy from having such a great weekend with GV and pride. The Pink Pleasure Party at Val on Saturday and being “inside the ropes” on Market St. on Sunday…seeing all the diverse smiling faces while handing out shwag made me proud. It was worth traveling 3000 miles to be there.

From the Internets

Our award winning float! (Earphone warning: the crowd is cheering very loudly!)

Camilla is interviewed!

Related Links:

Violet Blue’s Miss California’s Pride Guide * SF Pride’s Website * NowPublic Pride Parade

Related Products at Good Vibrations:

Shopping Guide for FtM and Transmen * Gay DVDs * LGBT / Queer Erotica