MAL2023

MAL weekend is January 13-15, 2023 at the Hyatt Regency on Capital Hill, Washington, DC.

  1. Bootblacks are asked to work 6-9 hours (shifts are 3 or 3 1/2 hours). There is a 2 shift minimum and maximum of 3 shifts for the weekend day pass.

  2. You are being asked to donate 50% of your tips to the weekend. 25% goes to a local charity selected by the bootblacks and 25% goes to the title holder travel fund. Do not forget to submit your charity recommendation when you sign up for a shift. You can see who past charities have been by visiting www.leatherweekend.com/bootblacks. A charity can be selected more than once, but not 2-years in a row (helps break it up).

  3. If you are experiencing financial difficulty and donating your tips would be a hardship for you, please email me directly at tom@bootpup.com and let me know. I'm pretty flexible.

  4. If you are selected for bootblacking, you'll receive an Exhibit Hall pass for bootblacking during the weekend. It DOES NOT grant you access to Leather Cocktails, the brunch, the Mr. MAL Contest or the closing dance. If you want to attend Leather Cocktails or Brunch you MUST purchase a full run package. Separate tickets are available for the contest and closing dance at the Centaur store in registration.

  5. You must provide your legal name. You will be asked to present a legal photo ID and sign a disclaimer at registration in order to receive your pass, even if you signed for a full run package (they are different). If you purchase a full run package, you will not receive the exhibit hall pass, but you will still need to sign the disclaimer to bootblack during the weekend in order to bootblack.

  6. Please be sure to check the weekend schedule at leatherweekend.com to make sure the shift you select isn't going to overlap any event you want to attend. Please check the sign-up times for the parade of colors and parade of titleholders if you need to participate in either or those events. Noteworthy times are Saturday 7-9P for Leather Cocktails with parade of colors around 8:15 PM; the Contest on Sunday, 12:30 PM - 4:30 PM with parade of titleholders around the midpoint of the contest. If you're also a pup, the Puppy Park is Saturday 11AM-1PM.

  7. If you fail to show for your shift and fail to notify either myself or pup Ryder OR refuse to donate a portion of your tips after agreeing to, you will be banned from bootblacking future MAL weekends.

Shift selections will begin in mid November.