SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. – In its never-ending quest to provide women, men and couples with sex-positive information and education, Bay Area-based Good Vibrations has rebranded and re-launched its community outreach program.
For more than 36 years, the program now known as Good Vibrations Sexual Health Outreach Workshops, or GVSHOW, has hosted workshops for local universities and corporations. The updated program maintains the same focus — accurate, current and reliable information about sexuality, sex and sex toys — but has incorporated a new vibe and new components designed to make the presentations even more trendy and fun.
GVSHOW offers three types of events that cater to different needs.
Good Vibrations SHOW Off-Site is “Good Vibrations on tour.” Trained educators take workshops to the masses, answering tough questions, presenting up-to-date and accurate sex information, promoting pleasure exploration and building community dialogue about topics sometimes fraught with shame or socio-political stigma.
The high-energy workshops, liberally sprinkled with humor, “are in high demand at universities such as Harvard, [the University of California at] Berkeley, Oxford, Stanford and MIT,” according to Staff Sexologist Dr. Carol Queen. “We do workshops for college classes, conferences and numerous service organizations as well as presenting to counselors, therapists and educators from different fields. All presenters are highly trained sexuality educators, coming from a wide range of backgrounds, so we can provide workshops on many different topics.”
GVSHOW Panels & Tabling offer corporate events and fundraisers spicy, alternative entertainment. The Good Vibes gang can provide everything from a single speaker to an entire panel or a trade-show-type manned table.
“Our sexual health educators are flexible and accommodating,” Queen said. “We pride ourselves on the fact that our events are inclusive, geared towards many levels of understanding, and cover a wide range of sexual interests and activities. Diverse groups whose members come from a variety of backgrounds and needs are within our audience spectrum. All presentations are custom-tailored to the needs of the audience, and the event always fits the crowd.”
Good Vibrations SHOW & Tell provides store tours and workshops on the premises in the company’s East Coast and West Coast locations. Staff members spend time with guests individually and in groups, putting minds and ease and answering any questions that arise. In addition, the stores host titillating bachelorette parties by request.
“Guests receive a detailed and fun overview of our company history, our mission and, of course, our product line,” Queen said. “They are encouraged to ask questions in a fun, informative setting.”
Regardless the type of event, Queen said the staff members involved are excruciatingly educated, and they’re not shy about sharing their knowledge. Each of the certified trainers has gone through an extensive Sex Educator-Sales Associate training program led by Queen and her education team. In-person training is supplemented by recommended readings and ongoing continuing education to ensure staff members possess and can relay the most accurate and current information around sexuality, products and body-safe materials.
“In 1993, Good Vibrations coined the phrase ‘Sex Educator-Sales Associate’ as the job title for its front-line staff, understanding that education is just as important as selling because that’s the best way to make sure that customers can find and choose the products that will best meet their needs,” Queen said. “Good Vibrations SESAs have more experience speaking to people about their sexual concerns, interests and informational needs than almost anyone else — including most medical doctors.
“SESAs, and our off-site SHOW educators, are chosen for their comfort level discussing sex and their sex-ed and community backgrounds,” she continued. “Good Vibrations was founded specifically to integrate sexuality knowledge with the shopping experience, and we’ve been an informational resource ever since.”
