Pre-ROOOO!

Bonnaroo Pre-fest-(June 8 - 11).

Man! This is a massive festival. In past years they have had upwards of 95,000 people at Bonnaroo (yes, that is the correct number of zeros!) Compare this with the last two festivals I worked, at 8,000 to 9,000 people, it's a bit of a shock. This being such a large organization, I feel that my ability to make strong connections has been much more difficult, but I feel like the folks I did work with were happy to have me there, and there have been a few little connections and reconnections that could lead somewhere.

I only had two work shifts in the three days of pre-fest preparations - so the first full day in Tennessee was spent relaxing and enjoying the local flavor. I met Brandon, "little" brother and camp-mate, upon check-in. Proximity and timing brought us together and he has turned out to be a great new friend. We were both free on Monday, so we connected up with Mollie (Delfest Hula-hooper/Rex Jam supporter at Mountain Jam) and went to check out Rutledge Falls on the suggesting of Nancy and Wes from FESS Security. What a treat it was. I don't think I've mentioned that it's F*!#'in HOT in Tennessee. The water in the swimming hole under the falls was so crisp and cold - and the falls themselves were so incredible.... what a beautiful day. We left for some Mexican food and margaritas - and then back to the falls for an afternoon dip. Eventually we went back to camp and spread the word about this amazing place so our fellow volunteers could take advantage of it if they had the time. (I'm working on figuring out the whole "flicker" thing - so I'll post photos when that gets done!).

Work started for me on Tuesday, with Vendor Coordination and Check-In. I was a Vendor Escort (...now get your brains out of the gutter!), so my job was to lead vendors from the check-in point to their vending site or camping site in a golf cart. I have to say that I really enjoyed the job - riding down the road on the cart gave me a nice breeze to help me stay cool... and it beat the hell out of unloading trailers full of merchandise in that heat! The best part about that job was when I looked up from my cart at the new vendors who had just arrived and there he was.... Thom Mond! I went to college with Thom at UNH and haven't seen him since 1991 or so. It's been so great catching up with him and getting to know his wife, Sally, and their staff, Zack and Jen. It is because of Thom and Sally that I am able to do this blog update mid-festival, as his booth, Apsara, is right behind the Microsoft tent where the wifi is plentiful! (as well as beautiful clothes and jewelry!).

Wednesday's shift, Employee Check-In, seemed a bit ridiculous. There were about 16-20 volunteers waiting to do work that could have been done by 7 or 8, or less. The folks doing the actual checking in were completely overwhelmed by the sheer numbers of people they had to process, and all we had to do was to bring the parking sticker to the cars and put them on the windows. I know that they need to be careful about how credentials are distributed, but it seems like there HAS to be a better way. It was frustrating for me to feel so underutilized and to know that there was probably a ton of stuff some of us could have been doing elsewhere that would have been more productive. I tried to find things to do to be helpful. I wound up expiditing stickers for a while, which spread the work out a little, and I did help some young volunteers deal with a medical situation by connecting them with the right people, so I suppose I made the most of the situation.

... ok - the music is going to start in about 45 minutes and I'm pretty hot, so I'm out. Stay cool and drink lots of water! (ok... I guess that is really advice for me)