Others experiences starting a regional

[poosie_kat]

I was just wondering if anyone could give me any ideas, information, incouragement, etc about starting a new regional. I've already started out with a yahoo group (heartburn@yahoogroups.com), am working on getting myself set up with a web site, working through ideas/concepts for an event of sorts and have people who are in my region who are interested. I'm not completely starting from scratch, but every now and then I think that there must be something that I've missed or that I'm just not getting. So if you've started a regional, put on an event, or ever thought about doing either/both, please chime in.

Thanks,
Ape-Rule

[III]

it's not sommething one person can do - it takes a critical mass of people interested in doing something (as opposed to just going to something) to make it happen. in san diego, i was involved for about 5 years before it really took off, and the first year or two were pretty slim indeed. now there are dozens of people who get together several times a week.

the biggest difficulty is letting people know about it. there is a regional contacts list on the main burning man site, but the last time i talked to a.g. about it she said that updating it isn't a priority. it's also not the easiest thing to find, and new traffic from that source seems lower than through word of mouth stuff.

perhaps it's worth contacting all people with regional burning man sites (like http://www.fuegodiego.com/ to start some sort of link sharing thing, where you point at each other's pages, so that when sommeone does a google search on [your city] burning man that it's likely to be found there.

good luck, keep the faith, don't push too hard, and enjoy whatever it is that you decide to do.

[actiongrl]

"Updating it isn't a priority" is not quite apt. We had to close down adding new regionals, while we restructured the program. We are almost there and I think within the month we'll start adding new regionals again. April here is one of a few (ok, 40!) regionals awaiting interview and installation. April, once we can get to doing that, there will be many resources for you to connect with people.

We're trying to find a more evocative name for the home page to direct more people to http://regionals.burningman.com - maybe "meet locally" instead of "regional network".

[poosie_kat]

"April here is one of a few (ok, 40!) regionals awaiting interview and installation. April, once we can get to doing that, there will be many resources for you to connect with people."

I guess the interview part has me somewhat confussed as well. What are some of the things that I would be interviewed for? Why would I be interviewed? Are there dues or anything of the sort that I would have to deal with? The interview thing has had me wondering for some time now.

"We're trying to find a more evocative name for the home page to direct more people to http://regionals.burningman.com - maybe "meet locally" instead of "regional network".

I like the "meet locally" suggestion better than "regional network." I try telling people about the "regional" thing and they always look confussed.

Thank you for the information and the help. Things seem to be going well with it all so far and we're looking forward to a little el-wire party on April 10th. Cocktails and sodering...what more can you ask for?

Again, Thanks,
Ape-Rule

[poosie_kat]

it's not sommething one person can do - it takes a critical mass of people interested in doing something (as opposed to just going to something) to make it happen.

I've got more support building. There's just about no way that I would want to fully tackle this monster without the backup that I currently have and I know that there's just more around the corner. I look forward to the time when we'll be meeting even every couple of months. Right now it's all in the gathering up the troops stage.

the biggest difficulty is letting people know about it. it's also not the easiest thing to find, and new traffic from that source seems lower than through word of mouth stuff.

That's the biggest problem that I'm having. I know that there are more people at least interested in Burning Man here in Indiana than are popping up on the yahoo list, on the e-playa and in person, but I can't find them and they can't seem to find me. I'm hoping to through a bit of a party/event that will help draw them out of hiding, but that, unfortunately, has to wait for the time being. The word of mouth part seems to be they way that it's going right now. And the e-playa has helped out a lot so far.

perhaps it's worth contacting all people with regional burning man sites (like http://www.fuegodiego.com/ to start some sort of link sharing thing, where you point at each other's pages, so that when sommeone does a google search on [your city] burning man that it's likely to be found there.

Thanks for that little tip. I probably would have looked over that one for quite awhile. We don't have a website up (still), but like I said before, soon, very soon. I'll be sure to do that.

good luck, keep the faith, don't push too hard, and enjoy whatever it is that you decide to do.

Thank you very much. You've been a great help and have taken some stress off my head. Thank you,
Ape-Rule