Strengthening Our Ties 2025

Strengthening Our Ties is the Central New York region's premiere leather and kink conference and community gathering event, produced by the Social Alliance of Leather Tribes (SALT). Come stay the weekend and spend a day meeting your fellow leather and kink enthusiasts, making connections and learning valuable skills and practices from community experts.

Purchasing a ticket gives you access to a full day of educational workshops held at the Syracuse Hilton Garden Inn ballroom. Choose from a varied itinerary of skillbuilding demonstrations and classes, ranging from play styles to gear care and bodily self-love. There is no official sign-up process for individual classes - simply attend whichever workshops are most appealing to you.

See below for event itinerary, hotel information, educator bios, and details for offsite dance parties and bar nights...

The event will be held in the ballroom of the Hilton Garden Inn Syracuse, located at 6004 Fair Lakes Rd, East Syracuse, NY 13057, United States.

Attendees coming in from out of town are invited to use our special event discount link for booking a room at the Hilton Garden Inn. Discount reservations are available for a limited time.

Sir Bob (he/him) has been part of Leather, Kink communities for over 44 years. Sir is rooted in the Old Guard. He was trained under an Old Guard Master as a sub/slave and later covered by him, as a Master. Where in a few years he found himself reaching out to learn more. During this Journey he decided Sir was a better fit. Sir has held 3 leather titles and completed in state, regional, and international contests. He owned the North East Leather Sir and boy contest. He currently owns Mr Syracuse Leather, Mr Western New York Leather, and Miss Western New York. Sir likes to find the connection with peoples mind and body to establish protocols of conduct with a person. Sir has many skills and fetishes. Some of his favorites are hot wax, bondage, impact, CBT, TT and mind games. Sir says "There is a boy in all of us, bring it out to play". Fetishes include firemen's gear, rubber boots and just gear. Cigars and gloves. Sir is polygamous. He has had collared boys and has boys he mentors and has relationships where his role tittle shifts to Daddy or Uncle.

Skyfiiire (he/him) is a member of the Buffalo Bulldogs M.C. and Shenanigans Coordinator for an unruly pack of Pup Scouts in Western NY. He bootblacks regularly across NY State as well as PA, OH, and Ontario, CA, most recently on the teams for MAL and CLAW. Serving as a Sister of Perpetual Indulgence sparked his desire to serve quirky, kinky queer people. Specifically, he has a passion for resurrecting old leather and creating gear for diverse body types. He's an aspiring rigger, loves leather boots of all flavors, chubby bears of all ages, cigar-play, beards, and epic mustaches. If he had a signature fragrance, it would be cigars and Obenauf's boot oil.

Rhyse (he/him) is a queer shibari and fire enthusiast and silly sadist who has been playing with rope since 2011 and suspending himself and his partners since 2012. Rhyse has taught classes on rope safety basics, hojojitsu and shibari history, single and double column ties, suspension harnesses and sequences, rope take-down scenes, fireplay and rope as ritual. As an educator, he is dedicated to modeling Risk Aware Consensual Kink and creating harm reduction within the community through clear lessons on consent, negotiation, and safety as part of all his classes.

Sir Brian (he/him) has been part of the BDSM, Sir-boy, and Master-slave communities for over 20 years despite his young appearance. Most summers, you can find him at Hillside Campgrounds hosting the Sir, boy, and pup Contest, Latin Weekend, and Piggy Week. Also, he is Hillside's Fire Daddy. Check out his weekends !

Freddy and Jay Freeman are the co-founders of Bear Your Soul, a retreat series dedicated to fostering deep connection, self-acceptance, and community among men who love men. With backgrounds in music, performance, and spiritual exploration, they created Bear Your Soul as a space where Bear culture embraces both celebration and personal growth.

Freddy, an award-winning singer-songwriter and longtime advocate for Bear artists, and Jay, a musician, dancer, and artist, bring their combined passion for creativity and healing to the retreats. Together, they co-facilitate Loving Our Bear Bodies, a powerful workshop guiding men toward self-love and body acceptance. Through workshops, cuddle parties, rituals, and community-building experiences, they make Bear Your Soul a place of transformation, connection, and authentic self-expression. Freddy and Jay Freeman are bringing the Bear Your Soul magic to Syracuse, NY as part of Strengthening Our Ties, a weekend uniting the Queer, Bear, and Kink communities of Central NY. On Friday, March 14, they’ll kick off the weekend at Bear-A-Cuse Bar Night at Wolf’s Den with a live performance alongside DJ Synes. On Saturday, March 15, they’ll lead Loving Our Bear Bodies, a two-hour workshop on affirmation, connection, and self-love for men of all shapes, colors, and sizes. Learn more at the !

Official sponsored offsite events will be held throughout the weekend at The Wolf's Den, located at 617 Wolf St, Syracuse, NY 13208, United States.

Kick off the weekend with a night of dancing and socializing at The Wolf's Den! Co-sponsored by Bear-a-Cuse and the Social Alliance of Leather Tribes (SALT), the party kicks off with a special live performance by Freddy and Jay and includes a DJ performance by Synes. The evening begins at 9pm, with DJ set starting at 10pm.

Freddy and Jay Freeman have been making music together for 20 years, performing at Bear runs, Pride festivals, and Bearapalooza, Freddy's groundbreaking Bear music showcase. Freddy, an award-winning singer-songwriter and producer, creates heartfelt, uplifting songs. His latest album, Goldenheart, blends personal and spiritual growth with electro-pop and retro vibes. Jay’s percussion and harmonies add rich, rhythmic depth to their sound. Together, they craft music that celebrates community, self-discovery, and the joy of authentic expression.

SYNES aka Andrew Deitch is an American singer, songwriter and producer. Born August of 1988 in suburban Philadelphia, he started his love affair with electronic music at a very early age. He found his older brother's Prodigy CD "Fat of the Land" in fourth grade and instantly became obsessed. Following in the footsteps of his older brother David, a drummer and guitarist in many ska bands in the 90's, he turned his attention to learning to play the piano. After becoming bored with the conventional techniques his teacher taught, he began to play by ear. White trying to discover another form of expression, he trained in ballet and musical theater and danced throughout high school. Finally returning to music after he discovered the goth industrial clubs of the early 2000's, he danced every Wednesday night at the popular Philly club NOCTURNE where he would then make his electronic music debut as Arsenal of Decay with "Ultima" utizliing clips from his favorite movie "The Fifth Element". His affinity for ardent, uptempo grooves, combined with his teen angst, would lead him to produce "Power Top" - a hard and fast-driving narcotic club track gaining notoriety amongst the club kids in Philly. Now he resides in Jersey City where he produces, writes and performs. Listen to his newest single, !

After Saturday's full day of education, stop by the Wolf's Den starting at 9pm for a bar night featuring community vendors and live demonstrations!

Rounding out the weekend, stop by the Wolf's Den for their award winning Sunday Brunch! Come see why their all-you-can-eat buffet of gourmet food was voted the second best brunch in all of Syracuse. $30/person, includes two free mimosas or signature cocktails. Be sure to call the Den at (315) 560-5637 ahead of time to reserve a spot - seats fill up fast!

Info: Organizers will be present at the hotel lobby to help guide attendees to the ballroom where all educational workshops will be held.

Info: Workshop Room 1

Info: Workshop Room 1

Info: Workshop Room 2

Info: On-site at the Hilton Garden Inn

Info: Workshop Room 1; Caring for a person's kink gear (such as boots or garments) while the person is wearing them generally leads to a pleasurable experience for both the care-giver and receiver. Topics covered are: a brief history of bootblacking and its place in the queer leather subculture, basic techniques, tools and products used to care for a person's leather or rubber, negotiation and ideas for making the experience more intimate for both parties.

Info: Workshop Room 2

Info: Workshop Room 1; Quality Kink and Fetish gear is a significant investment. This class is an introduction to Protecting, Cleaning, Disinfecting, Conditioning, Polishing and Storing leather, rubber/latex, silicone and neoprene garments and toys, including tools and products to use, and basic repairs.

Info: Workshop Room 2

Info: Workshop Room 1

Info: Workshop Room 2

Host or Publisher Bear-A-Cuse