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.

Update series #2: Inertia...

Well, the staff met on January 17th in Western Mass, from 10am to about 10pm. Long day, but we got a lot covered (and ate a lot of junk food) in the process.

My thanks to Brighid, who hosted the event at her home - it was wonderful!

So what did we cover? Basically, we decided on the nuts-and-bolts issues of operations and gathering structure. This includes:

1. Staff duties, both before and at the event
2. How to spread the word to new folks
3. What crew positions did we need this year (what specific on-site jobs were needed)?
4. What did we want to accomplish with the workshops, and which of the current proposals fit those intentions?
5. Schedule - any changes, clarifications, or other modifications to the event schedule
6. What things do we need to order/purchase before the gathering?
7. Scholarships - we generally discussed scholarships, but no decisions were made - applications aren't due until April 1st and 8hen only by a specific subset of the staff (which, thankfully, does not include me!)
9. The pathways and related pathways workshops
10. Fire lighting rituals - developed some thematic ideas and considered some proposals by community members
11. Site issues
12. 2009 icon and T Shirt art
13. Community workshift issues and schedule
14. Some changes and pre-planning for non-fire circle rituals

.... and about 10 or so other smaller details. I'm very grateful to have a group of folks on this staff who are so talented at focusing, communicating, and helping to constructively create and criticize in such a way that we can cover such a large agenda in one day! There is more to do, much more, but we did well.

So coming out of that - a reminder that if you would like to help us get some postcards out there, let me know by dropping a private email with your name, addy, and how many you need. We're looking to hand out postcards in person as much as possible at drum circles, dance classes, gatherings, etc.

If you can donate to the scholarship fund, please do! If you need a scholarship applications are due by April 1st - please make sure to read the scholarship FAQ on our website.

More soon!

Update series #1: Where are we now?

Hey folks,

Well, it's January already, and it feels like the days are streaking by at full speed. I thought I'd use the blog to keep readers updated on the process of building the structure of SpiritFire - what's planned, what's getting done, and how things are going. If you have questions or comments, they are welcome.

So where are we now?

After SpiritFire ends - Sunday evening, in fact - the staff meets for a quick dinner and basically downloads everything we can think of - every pro, con, success, failure, question, complaint, and hope that might affect the next year's gathering. Once that's done, we pack up the rest of the camp, go home, and go into our respective comas for a few days. In general, we take about 2 months out of any SFF-related modes and then in October start planning again. Martin usually has postcard art and T shirt designs ready by about late Oct. to mid November - he's awesome! In fact, here's the front of the postcard for this year:



(drop me an email OFF BLOG with your mailing addy and how many cards you want if you'd like some.)

The first thing we do is to plan our first staff meeting; this is coming up in mid-January. We look over the feedback left to us by festival attendees (another post coming about that soon!); we talk about what we need for on-site assistance, rituals, funding issues, general festival process, and what the individual staffers need in order to do their jobs. So that's coming up, and in preparation I'm compiling a lot of lists - this is where the staff starts wincing - what we need to address during our discussion and so forth.

So that's what's coming up. What's already done?

REGISTRATION IS OPEN!!!! Yes, you may have heard that rates had to go up this year - we've succeeded at keeping our registration at the same level despite our contract going up in cost each year. But even though we have finally had to change our rates to keep things manageable, they've only gone up $10. Yes, you heard that right - $10. So register early to get the best rate!

We know the economy isn't in the greatest shape; each year, we are able to award a good number of partial scholarships thanks to the kindness of folks like you who register and make a donation to the scholarship fund. Even a small donation makes a difference, so if you can give, know that the funds to to pay for folks who otherwise couldn't attend - and they are our friends, our family, our colleagues. the Ritual Arts Collective of Western Massachusetts has generously donated $600 towards scholarships this year - a huge help in our efforts to make the event accessible as possible to all. Thank you!!!!

Our presenter line up usually starts with a small group of invited teachers that help us set the basic structure of SpiritFire. So far, we have a great start, and I invite you to read the SFF Presenter FAQ if you are either interested in submitting a proposal or know of someone whose skills would be a great fit for what we do. The presenter page and other workshop areas will be updated on the main SpiritFire website as we get a more solid schedule set, so keep checking back there.

There's a lot more, but I'll save that for a later post - see you all soon!

Josselyne