With the ever-increasing scale of SXSW Interactive has come ever-increasing scope.  As technology evolves to touch all parts of our lives, so to has the conference grown to include a broad range of topics and fields in which technology has an impact.

This year, Interactive teams up with Bedpost Confessions to make it clear: Technology is impacting ALL parts of our lives…

Bedpost Confessions is an Austin-based, monthly storytelling performance in which participants share true stories dealing with gender, relationships, sex and sexuality.  The stories range in tone from comical to thoughtful and everything in between.  During the performances, audience members are asked to anonymously contribute their own meaningful or funny experiences to be shared on stage.

Keeping in the spirt of Interactive, during the panel the co-producers, Julie Gillis, Sadie Smythe and Mia Martina will be sharing, and asking the audience to anonymously share, their experiences with sex and technology; whether wacky or thought-provoking.

SXTX State reached out to the team to find out a little more about how the group got its start and what the producers hope their audience takes away from the performance.

Q: How did Bedpost Confessions get its start?

A: Julie Gillis: We all met through the internet and mutual friends, each of us writing about sexuality, gender and relationships. Since there wasn’t an erotic storytelling format in town, we all thought “Maybe we should pull a reading series together.” We developed a night at Spiderhouse, each of us reading our own work, and reading anonymous confessions from the audience. That combination took off and we’ve been performing to full houses ever since.

Q: How does a normal performance work? Are you always involving the audience (getting their stories)?

A: Sadie Smythe: A typical show features four storytellers and four slots of anonymous confessions. The confessions are the mainstay of the show – beforehand, we put “Confession” cards in the seats of the audience and ask them to write down their own anonymous sexual thoughts, fantasies and experiences. We then collect these confessions and read some of them on stage. This interaction is often the highlight of the show.

Q: When sharing audience “confessions,” you’re reading from both men’s and women’s points of view. Do you approach one any differently than the other?

Mia Martina: In terms of reading the confessions, and sexuality in general, our approach is a humanistic one. We want everyone, of all genders and orientations, to have a happy and healthy sexuality.

Q: Do you think the representation of sex and the direction the group takes are different than what the public is used to hearing/thinking about sex/sexuality? If so, do you think the fact that you’re a group of women has anything to do with the difference?

A: Julie Gillis: I do. I think sexuality in our culture is commodified to a very negative extent. Sex is sold in a fast food way in our culture; talked about like it’s something you have to have, yet something that’s dirty and wrong…We very rarely have first person genuine, vulnerable, and authentic accounts of the sweetness, confusion, hope, fears, and risk that goes into people trying to make sense of sex. We offer that authenticity and vulnerability in our show.

I’m not sure the difference is because we are women, but I think it’s also that we’ve each been explorers in our sexuality and have learned some things that we believe are vital to share. Our goal is to produce an entertaining show with humor and grace, which contains both ethics and education connected to gender, sexuality, orientation, and consensual relationships.

Q: Is it important that you ARE a group of women? Was that part of what you wanted for the group – to be women talking about sex?

A: Sadie Smythe: I don’t think that we needed or wanted for it to be a women-run show, that’s just how it turned out. We were all writers first and foremost, and it was because of this that we came together. We knew we wanted to create a space for ourselves to read our own work. After we had our first show and realized our concept was solid, we knew we would want to extend the invitation to others. I don’t know if us being women is important in terms of how we produce, but it might be important from the view of the audience member. And interestingly, most of our storytellers are women!

Q: Why are public performances like this important?  What do you hope your audience takes away?

A: Mia Martina: We strive for the show to take the shame out of sexuality and sexual desires. We hope the audience will feel less isolated in sexual desires and struggles, inspired to try new things, and confident to start a conversation about sex with partners, friends, and most importantly themselves.

Q: What are some of the positive responses you’ve gotten?

A: Julie Gillis: We’ve been compared to a church where people go to share and connect. We’ve gotten personal emails from folks who have met a partner, or revitalized a relationship, explored a fantasy, or stopped dysfunctional behavior. We’ve seen performers bloom into new expressions of work, and audience members become politically active.

Q: Have there been any negative responses?

Sadie Smythe: We have occasionally received emails from folks who saw our show and were triggered in some way by what they heard. We always take this feedback very seriously and use it as an opportunity to educate ourselves. We strive to be as conscientious as possible and one of the ways we do this is through this feedback, positive or negative.

Q: Has any of the feedback you’ve gotten, positive or negative, changed the way you approach the show?

A: Mia Martina: Yes, absolutely. Everything from when the first guest arrives to when the last one leaves has been crafted based on 4 and half years of producing the show and taking into account feedback we get from the audience and from each other…We want every show to have a balance of entertainment and education about sexuality with a variety of voices speaking about sex.

Q: What made you want to want to speak at SXSW?

A: Julie Gillis: I think it’s a chance to show our work to a new audience and one from around the world. It’s an opportunity to humanize sex (while talking about how sex and technology have gone hand in hand) and to connect why sex is important to everyone.

Q: Does the scale of SX affect your planning or format for the performance?

A: Sadie Smythe: Our format is definitely affected, because for this show we only have an hour to represent what we typically do in two and a half. But we will feature three performers and at least two rounds of confessions.

Q: The audience at SXSW is invited to share stories of the intersection of sexuality and technology – can you give me an example of something that mixes the two?

A: Mia Martina: With just about every technological advancement, humans have found a way to make it naughty. It didn’t take long before video cameras were used for amatuer porn, before texting became sexting, and before the entire sex industry was turned on its head with the internet…The possibilities are endless and we are looking to hear confessions from the audience on all of it.