PorcFest...
PorcFest was utterly and completely awesome. Not just in the "hey, man, that was awesome" sense, but in the "inducing feelings of awe" sense, as well.
The "official" number is big enough for substantial counting error, so that's somewhere between 800 and 1000 (okay, so it shouldn't be that much error, but remember the saying about herding cats...). Unofficial numbers put total attendance at 1000-1200, once you include the day-trippers from within NH who didn't rent campsites (or RV sites, or motel rooms) and didn't bother to check in at the registration table because they knew where they were headed and didn't need a map or program.
Normally, the local cops patrol the campground a couple times a day, with the owners' permission. This year, once things officially opened, they were asked to stay away until the even was over. Despite the lack of police presence, the packing of strangers into close quarters (while we had all the regular sites reserved for PorcFest, there were also folks who have seasonal sites, who we obviously couldn't evict, so not all those present were libertarians or other liberty-lovers), there were no incidents that I'm aware of. Many vendors left tables unattended with large quantities of portable valuables - like silver and gold coins and such - sitting out, without fear of loss. No one was going to turn a blind eye to theft. And I expect we could have repelled an invasion...
Speaking of silver and gold, Shire Silver was a huge success, from what I could tell. I only ran into two vendors who wouldn't take it, and that was because they were going back to very statist areas, and didn't think they could make use of it when they got home with it. I bought food from them (once each), and that was $12FRN outlay. Other than that, all of my on-PorcFest currency usage was silver coins, or Shire Silver that I had purchased with silver coins. Also did some direct barter (spare ammunition for a pistol barrel, for example).
Assuming we can sell (for a fair price) the pop-up camper we bought for the purpose of going to PorcFest, this may actually work out to have been a revenue-neutral trip. Next year, we plan to put some careful forethought into products, based upon this year's market research, and hopefully we will actually make a decent amount (or, ladypantherrr will, anyway - there's not much I can sell there).
"Agora Alley" was a major success, with the first two rows of sites (about 30 sites, total) being specifically set aside for market activism. So many sites outside those rows were also set up for sales, that I heard a rumor that "The Alley" will be four rows, next year.
My favorite quote, from this morning, was, "it's like we created our own world here, separate from the Statist world out there." And that's really what happened. It's been building for years, and we finally hit some sort of tipping point. Porcupines aren't a subculture, anymore... we have our own culture. There were folks there I love like family, folks who are my friends, faces I recognized and nodded at, total strangers, folks I dislike, and folks I really wish would choke and die. Just like there are, outside PorcFest.
A bit under five years ago was the first PorcFest I was able to attend. The group was still small, then. We all pretty much knew each other. Things were almost totally positive. Now, there are strangers and even folks who actively dislike each other. We still made it work. Like I said, it's now a real culture, not a subculture with carefully-selected membership. I don't (and didn't) doubt that liberty can work, because it's worked elsewhere. But now it's worked for the Porcupines. Now just because we carefully made it work, but because it took on a life of its own, and made itself work.
The "official" number is big enough for substantial counting error, so that's somewhere between 800 and 1000 (okay, so it shouldn't be that much error, but remember the saying about herding cats...). Unofficial numbers put total attendance at 1000-1200, once you include the day-trippers from within NH who didn't rent campsites (or RV sites, or motel rooms) and didn't bother to check in at the registration table because they knew where they were headed and didn't need a map or program.
Normally, the local cops patrol the campground a couple times a day, with the owners' permission. This year, once things officially opened, they were asked to stay away until the even was over. Despite the lack of police presence, the packing of strangers into close quarters (while we had all the regular sites reserved for PorcFest, there were also folks who have seasonal sites, who we obviously couldn't evict, so not all those present were libertarians or other liberty-lovers), there were no incidents that I'm aware of. Many vendors left tables unattended with large quantities of portable valuables - like silver and gold coins and such - sitting out, without fear of loss. No one was going to turn a blind eye to theft. And I expect we could have repelled an invasion...
Speaking of silver and gold, Shire Silver was a huge success, from what I could tell. I only ran into two vendors who wouldn't take it, and that was because they were going back to very statist areas, and didn't think they could make use of it when they got home with it. I bought food from them (once each), and that was $12FRN outlay. Other than that, all of my on-PorcFest currency usage was silver coins, or Shire Silver that I had purchased with silver coins. Also did some direct barter (spare ammunition for a pistol barrel, for example).
Assuming we can sell (for a fair price) the pop-up camper we bought for the purpose of going to PorcFest, this may actually work out to have been a revenue-neutral trip. Next year, we plan to put some careful forethought into products, based upon this year's market research, and hopefully we will actually make a decent amount (or, ladypantherrr will, anyway - there's not much I can sell there).
"Agora Alley" was a major success, with the first two rows of sites (about 30 sites, total) being specifically set aside for market activism. So many sites outside those rows were also set up for sales, that I heard a rumor that "The Alley" will be four rows, next year.
My favorite quote, from this morning, was, "it's like we created our own world here, separate from the Statist world out there." And that's really what happened. It's been building for years, and we finally hit some sort of tipping point. Porcupines aren't a subculture, anymore... we have our own culture. There were folks there I love like family, folks who are my friends, faces I recognized and nodded at, total strangers, folks I dislike, and folks I really wish would choke and die. Just like there are, outside PorcFest.
A bit under five years ago was the first PorcFest I was able to attend. The group was still small, then. We all pretty much knew each other. Things were almost totally positive. Now, there are strangers and even folks who actively dislike each other. We still made it work. Like I said, it's now a real culture, not a subculture with carefully-selected membership. I don't (and didn't) doubt that liberty can work, because it's worked elsewhere. But now it's worked for the Porcupines. Now just because we carefully made it work, but because it took on a life of its own, and made itself work.