Day Two: Registration and Regional Mixer

After my excursion around San Francisco, I headed over to the Bentley Reserve convention center for registration. Volunteers check me in and gave me my conference material and badge. I am now an official "Community Leader". What does that mean exactly? When did I become a leader? *Gulp*

As regionals started coming in, I did the proper Burner thing to do and introduce myself with an awkward hand shake then a more comfortable hug. Everyman from Ohio, Andi from Hawaii and a whole bunch of Canucks. The Regional Mixer wasn't until 7:00 so we decided to head directly to the bar and keep the seats warm for everyone.

Alright, it is finally 7:00pm and people are flowing in. ActionGirl, Danger Ranger and a veritable who's who of Burning Man staff and volunteers came in. It was great to sit down with the other Regionals and Community Leaders and hear about what they are doing in their neck of the woods. The two Burns in Ohio, the difficulty of Ka Pilina trying to find land after a 1 year hiatus. So close, but not quite there. The Canadian Burns and their even bigger Decompression.

It was interesting to see how everyone interacted and introduced themselves. Usually the first question in any conversation starts with, "So, what do you do?", here it is replaced with, "So, how many Burns have you been to?" People are genuinely interested in what you are doing in your Community and that is awesome.

The evening/morning ended with a midnight showing of Alice in Wonderland. The Burners took over the theater led by Maid Marian and $Teven Ra$pa. From what I remember the movie was good.

Next: Day 3: Art Tour