Update series #3: Early Registration and the start of spring

Happy Spring all -

Just an update on where things are right now with SpiritFire - we have one of the highest registration counts for the early reg period since our "peak" attendance year in 2005, which is amazing to see! While we've adjusted our maximum attendance limit down since then (makes for a much more gentle and solid container), I'm hoping there will be a spot for everyone that would like to come to SFF 09.

There hasn't been a lot of direct activity during winter's long, drawn-out finale as far as events within the gathering. The major things that needed to get done included solidifying the 2009 crew roster, making scholarship decisions and notifying those folks about the results, and continually updating the presenter/workshop pages to reflect the current flow.

Crew: We have a rockin' group on for this year's heavy-lifting and toting and setting up! A few crew folks have agreed to take on some additional time working the welcome tent and arrival traffic to help ensure a smooth, friendly entry for all of us - I'm grateful. If you aren't on crew but are looking to help, one thing we could use is for folks to arrive at the start of the day, when the gates open, and then sign up for an early community shift either at registration or the welcome tent/sherpa areas.

Scholarships in particular were an amazing situation this year. Everyone knows the economy isn't all that healthy, but somehow not only did we get more registrations in the first period, we were able to offer a scholarship to every single application that came in to us as the result of some very generous donations from our community, both individual and group members. Some folks gave $10, some $100, and some more than that - it truly was awe-inspiring. I'd like to say that if any more scholarship donations come in, that funding will still be used to directly help those in need of assistance with registration this year, or if no further assistance is needed, it will be banked for next year.

Workshops: most workshops are finalized as far as descriptions and such, but as always the schedule will be tweaked and adjusted at least 1-2 more times as I try to make sure that 1) similar workshops don't conflict, 2) folks playing for or or assisting presenters don't get scheduled for conflicting workshops, and 2) a good balance and variety of workshops reflecting the pathways are available in all of the sessions. Once the schedule is finalized I'll post a note on the workshop page letting everyone know that's the case.

The circles are still being shaped; we're really trying this year to make the fire lighting times inclusive, engaging, and meaningful. Hint: have you been to SpiritFire before? Do you think you know what the agreements, promises, and requests between the pathways are for the circle we dance together? Might want to check that out! ;-)

Stay in touch! More soon.

Why have a SpiritFire blog?

If you have spent any time surfing -- over even swimming -- in the blogosphere, you already know that a blog can be a powerful tool for promoting an on-line community. If this is your first exposure to a blog, however, you might well wonder why SpiritFire should have a blog and what it can do that the Yahoo discussion list cannot.

Discussion lists provide a great medium to allow list members to post questions, thoughts, ideas, or even links for other list members to see. Conversations can emerge and community can grow. On the other hand, conversations about particular posts can get lost amidst multiple threads, causing discussion about a thought-provoking idea to lose momentum just as it is building up a head of steam. Multimedia, such as pictures and video clips, can only be made available as links rather than as embedded images. Plus, only people who are subscribed to the list can access the discussion, which limits the spread of ideas and philosophies.

A blog offers solutions to these challenges. Although individual threads can only be started by people who are identified as blog “authors,” anyone at all can comment on a thread and join the conversation about an idea, announcement, or question. Comments on a post or comments that have already been made on it are associated with just that thread, so responses as well as the author's own follow-up thoughts and replies don't get lost or disconnected. All threads are archived and are therefore easily found again. And authors can embed both pictures and video in the same post.

So welcome to the SpiritFire blog. Our intention is for this to serve as a forum for talking about the aesthetics, agreements, and philosophies associated with SpiritFire, as well as the ways in which the transformative experience of the fire circle can and should be manifested in the rest of our lives.

There are no special rules for posting comments beyond the ones we use on the Yahoo discussion list: (a) treat each other with kindness, and (b) don’t use the blog as an announcement board for non-SpiritFire related events. Visit the blog often, as it is our intention to give you all a lot to think about for the coming months.

Now … let’s go swimming and see if we can be ready for the deep end of the pool by the time late July rolls around!

Love to you all,

Steve