Bay Area Rewild Camp Failure!

Communities of Rewilding Rewild Camps, Events & Meet-ups
#1

so I made a facebook page for a potential bay area rewild camp and slowly people started coming around. After enough people had joined, i put out the idea of a meet up. several people were interested and we even agreed on a date. no one wanted to put forward a suggestion for a meeting place (i didn’t because i live the farthest away from everyone else and am mostly unfamiliar with the surrounding cities), though someone wanted to meet in a cafe…which didn’t really make sense to me considering the purpose of the group is rewilding… but beggars can’t be choosers, right?
so the date begins to near and still no more responses from my fellow rewilders. it seemed like everyone had disappeared all of a sudden. i posted one last time for a meeting spot, but the date finally rolled around and everyone just flaked. it was pretty lame, really.

maybe it’s my lack of organizing skills, but what could be so difficult about setting a date and place to meet somewhere outdoors and then doing it? i guess i’m just not much of an organizer. i’m pretty disappointed though. maybe it’s better to have a solid group of friends who already share rewilding as a common interest, before actually trying to put together an official group and inviting other people?
maybe people are looking to be “taught” rewilding instead of approaching it as group effort?
i don’t know. ???

i think it’ll be a while before i try this again.

#2

Hey Thunder Thighs!

That’s awesome!!!

At least you gave it a shot! That’s a lot more than most people. I know how you feel, too. Even when you have a larger group of friends already, you can still have many fails. My Rewild Camp has pretty much fizzled out for the winter, partly due to my health, but mostly due to lack of interest. I will reactivate it in the spring for sure. We started doing weekly ones, and the numbers dwindled down. I think the monthly was better because everyone made sure to be there, but when spread out too far, too many, people didn’t all show up together. Live and learn!

I’m so excited that you tried. I know you’re bummed out, but we are here for support! How did you market it exactly? Who were these people? Can you put the link to the facebook page here?

#3

Hey there Urban Scout.

Here’s the link of the group:

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?ref=logo#!/group.php?gid=328378208198

Now I’m beginning to think that I just put too many decisions up to the group and made the entire thing to open. Perhaps I should have had it much more planned out, with a set date, time and location in place. I’m just worried people will come thinking that I’ll be leading the whole thing, which I’m really not up to considering how lacking my “skills” actually are, and considering that Rewilding doesn’t focus as much on the physical skills as it does on forging community skills. I’m more than down to do all the bush craft stuff, but I’d really like to have a solid community base to build on first, you know what I mean? What are skills without community? What good is a friction fire if you don’t want to sit around the fire and tell stories into the night?

I’m also wondering whether I should consider education on the basic concepts of Rewilding as part of the Camp, or whether a basic knowledge of Rewilding should be a prerequisite? Honestly, I’d rather be part of a group of like minded folks rather than lead/teach it.

In retrospect, I think I approached this way too loosely.

#4
Now I'm beginning to think that I just put too many decisions up to the group and made the entire thing to open. Perhaps I should have had it much more planned out, with a set date, time and location in place. I'm just worried people will come thinking that I'll be leading the whole thing,

Probably true, but that is the way things are generally organized in our culture. People expect one person to organize everything; if you don’t give them a job or ask them to help, they will be content just to show up. Being the leader of the group doesn’t mean you do everything yourself. The most important thing to learn is how to delegate.

I became a Girl Scout Leader last year and that has been my experience so far. It had been quite a learning experience for me since I am not naturally organized. I am not a very good leader, but no one else seems inclined to take over, so I just muddle along the best I can. I hope your next rewild camp is more successful.

#5

Thanks for your words, Starfish.

I think I’ll give it another shot come spring. My living situation is a little unpredictable right now though, so I’m not even sure where I’ll be come spring. I think I’ll get to work on a flashy flier to put up around town and put an emphasis on the “collaborative effort” of rewilding and maybe take a more light hearted, though clearer approach. we’ll see what happens.

I know of a couple people who are already on their own rewilding paths, though i think they’d hesitate to call it that perhaps. i just want to make it more of a focused communal effort, and i’m not trying to present anything new really. I’ll give it some more thought and see if i can make some more personal connections with local folks before i plan the next meet up. I do feel a huge sense of urgency with all of this though, considering the very apparent hastening of collapse around the world and all, so giving this project time seems counter intuitive even though it’s probably for the best and will add to it’s “solidity” in the end.

you’re right though Starfish. If nothing else, this experience will help my delegation skills!
I’m already somewhat of a “lone wolf” by nature, so organizing and understanding group dynamics have never been my forte’. It’s never too late to learn though.

Thanks again you guys.

TTFN!