Hi-

A shout of "thanks!" to Melanie, the Alaska Regional Rep, for getting the ball rolling via a meet and greet in Anchorage last Saturday evening. The Rumrunners venue was not perfect (especially as regards a belated realization of bar venues excluding the under-21 crowd) but this was noted and future venues will be under-21 inclusive. One nifty idea for get-togethers actively supporting art and artists in Alaska is to set an Alaska Burners cadre meet-point and time(s) for then going on to enjoy the First Friday art events together. Another idea was for an occasional pot-luck gathering (with hopes for holding one before Xmas) and eventually a Burner film fest event at the Bear Tooth cinema pub.

Alaska being so geographically huge, there was discussion about how to include everyone. Some ideas floated were to hold a pre-Burn Compression event halfway between Fairbanks and Anchorage. Another idea is to have Fairbanks, Anchorage, and perhaps even Juneau co-regional-reps coordinating local and statewide activities. It is all good!

If you are not signed onto the Alaska regional announce list and would like to be, this may be accomplished at
regionals.burningman.com/us_ak.html

The bunch which showed up at Rumrunners were about as diverse as the community at Burning Man itself. Young folks aplenty, some cool "mature" folks, experienced Burners and prospective virgin Burners alike. All really friendly and fun. Much info and perspective shared about logistics and lore of the playa, including many "priceless moments" stories, as well as discussion of American Dream and all sorts of other stuff. This community knows and enjoys excellent conversation!

Best,
Stevendalf