My Future Resort (p6) - Resource Sharing

There are three important words to understand in this section: state, action, and resource.

A state is something like the state of being dressed, being undressed, laying on the floor, or sitting in a chair. It's how you are at that moment. The unifying theme of nudists and naturists is the state of being nude in a family-friendly way. Except for that one theme, we are all very different.

An action is something that you do. Actions are things like talking on the phone, playing volleyball, and sex. Both nudists and textiles do a variety of actions every day.

For those that missed my subtle disconnection above, I'll say it in bold: Nude is a state, sex is an action. They are about as related as laying on the floor (state) and talking on the phone (action). The state and the action really have nothing in common, although some people could be in that state and perform that action.

Lastly, a resource is something that people use for an action. This can include a volleyball, a tennis court, a lawn, a TV, a room, or anything else that gets used for an action.

As the title of this part implies, resources need to be shared. If there are four groups who wish to play volleyball, but only one net, they need to devise a way to share that net. Another example is a single tennis court, where some people want to play tennis and some want to play badminton. In a more serious example, the resource could be the front lawn and the opposing actions could be frisbee and sex. The problem with swingers is actually just the sex -- if they play frisbee they wouldn't offend anybody and the front lawn would remain family friendly.

Although resource sharing methods can be applied to any set of opposing actions, the biggest threat to the family-friendly atmosphere is sex. Most resorts completely ban it. Sound carries, especially from a tent or RV, and even some romantic time between a loving couple could be trouble. Sometimes even hugging or kissing could be trouble. Discouraging sex this much also discourages the often sexually active 18-30 (or so) year old's from longer stays, and certainly discourages swingers. Both of these groups have money, and might be willing to give you some. Swinger resorts allow it, and share the resources in a poor way that allows the sex to dominate. These resorts are NOT nudist or family friendly.

My solution is to treat sex a lot like prostitution and abortion. No, I don't mean completely trying to ban it like the US. It should be legalized and regulated for everyones benefit. Prostitutes in Germany, for example, are all registered and tested regularly to ensure they don't have STI's. This is good for the health of the industry, and the health of the general public. Brothels in Sydney are also very clean, as the research shows. In a brothel, they can be picky about their customers, require showers, require condoms, and monitor the customer's actions for the safety of the worker. Banning prostitution moves the workers to the dirty streets and into the hands of very questionable people. Similarly, banning abortions causes women to do some very destructive things to their bodies to achieve the same goal.

Sex is an action that conflicts with just about every other action and dominates any resource in a family friendly environment. Of course it should never be performed or even talked about in a family friendly environment, and that should be clear to everyone who enters the venue. The solution is to create a resource that people can use for private activities, and share it in such a way that their activities are guaranteed to be private. This way, anyone wishing to engage in a private activity has the method and safety to do so. If they engage in a private activity elsewhere, they should be banned.

The idea of having a private space goes beyond just wanting to have sex. Nudist resorts can be somewhat dense in population, and have the perception that people have nothing to hide. Being in a tent really doesn't give much privacy, and an RV isn't much better. Sometimes, couples or singles just want to "get away", relax, and have some time alone in a bigger place than their tent or RV.

Sharing can take many different forms. Here's my list of resource sharing methods...

Multiplexing (sharing with others):
This is for resources that are able to be shared among different groups. For example, the front lawn can be shared by a group playing horseshoes, a few people reading, and a few people doing yoga all at the same time. The space is shared among different people at the same time, where each has exclusive use of their small section of the resource. TV's can also be shared, assuming everyone wants to watch the same channel.

Preemptive Multitasking (interrupting):
Alice and Bob are dancing. Another man walks up, and says "May I?" The dance is interrupted, and the second man takes over dancing with Alice. Normally this method is a little pushy, but it's common when someone is using a resource for too long. At a much more rapid pace, this method could end up as fighting over the resource.

Cooperative Multitasking (form a line):
This one is unique among humans. When a bunch of us want to use a resource, we often form a line. It's commonly seen as being the most fair for everybody. People jumping into the middle of the line (interrupting) are often scorned. And nobody wants a fight.

Lamport's Bakery Algorithm:
This is a lot like cooperative multitasking, but with one difference. Instead of holding your spot in a line, you get a ticket on arrival. Tickets are called up in order. This ticket method is often used at the DMV, and sometimes used at busy restaurants via light-up coasters. The main advantage of this method is that you aren't required to physically hold a spot in line.

Lottery Scheduling:
Same as above, except that numbers aren't called in order. They are called at random, which makes the wait very short for some and very long for others. The best use for this is a resource that only one or a few people will be able to obtain, such as prizes for a raffle.

Prioritized Scheduling:
In a line, or in Lamport's algorithm, some people are deemed as a higher priority and can jump to the front of the queue. This is often seen at airports and nightclubs. Usually the priority is based on how much the person is willing to pay. Using this method can earn the resource-holder more money than having a fixed price on all tickets and calling them in order, and can encourage people to pay more for a shorter wait. If you already have a resource that people sign up and pay for, consider making it prioritized for additional profit.

Token Ring:
To best illustrate this method, imagine that the resource is locked. There is a list of users who may be interested in using the resource, and one of them has the key that unlocks it. They either use the resource, or they don’t. Afterwards, they pass the key to the next person on the list. At the end of the list, the last person passes the key to the first person and the whole cycle repeats again. There are two reasons why this method doesn’t work so well: First is that any person can keep the key for as long as they like, which could be abused. Second is that people will get tired of constantly passing the key around. There are ways to work management into this method, but then it ends up being a standard queue. This method works good at meetings, where each person has the chance (or encouragement) to speak when they are holding the token, and pass it to the next person when they are done.

Time-Slicing:
This is a widely used method that works well. The resource is divided up based on time, and is used for one purpose for each specified timeframe. An example can be a restaurant – the kitchen (resource) only cooks breakfast items from 6am to 10am, lunch items from 10am to 3pm, and supper items from 3pm to closing time. Some resorts use this method too. The White Cockatoo, for example, time-slices based on the month. They have six months of clothed use, five months of nude use, and one month of adult-only use. I think this is a great way to market to all three types of people, assuming that you'd like each type at your resort. Cap d'Agde does a bit of time-slicing as well -- the place transitions to an adults-only atmosphere at night. But, because of the mixed crowds and loosely enforced time-slicing, it has some issues in this case.

My resort will identify the resources that have sharing problems and apply different methods until the best one is found. One scarce resource that I've seen is VVRC's pool and chairs during the car show. The chairs are all taken (often by just a towel) before it's even warm out, and the pool turns into human soup. I'd turn the chairs into a time-sliced prioritized queue, where people can bid for chair-hours. The pool is already self-regulating -- those who can stand the closest proximity are the ones that get a slice of the resource. There isn't much I could do about that one.

A key feature at my resort would be privacy. Since I already decided on a sizable chunk of land on a hill in part 2 (Land), I could set up a trail that goes to a small clearing in the wilderness. A locked gate at the start of the trail could grant the keyholder access to the resource, and ensure they will not be disturbed. Photographers would like this for a safe place to take pictures. Newbies might like this as a safe place to get naked outside for the first time, without worrying about others watching. (This is how I started -- alone in a safe place outside.) Couples and groups would like this as a safe place to enjoy the outdoors in their own unique way. All they need to do is put in a bid for a block of time, and wait for their turn. Mosquito repelling tiki torches, a good backpack, and other items are available for rent just in case they are needed.

My resort would be open to anyone as long as they adhere to the family-friendly naturism rules everywhere except the private area. I would not advertise this feature in any sexual way, because people need to know that they are attending a family friendly resort. There is a time and a place for everything, and people should have the freedom to do what they want as long as the time and place is acceptable. With this framework in place, I'd likely see more younger-generation couples attending and would be able to get a small slice of the swinger market. All without giving up the precious family-friendly atmosphere.

NEXT PART