Well, another EsoZone has come and went. This year, the intention was to keep all the good parts and improve what was lacking last year- interaction. Once again, the Watershed came through with more than enough space and filth for everyone. Luckily, there was far less preparation going in. Adam, Klint, and I were able to handle it ourselves pretty easily.

The unconference format translated very well. Last year, there were a lot of interesting ideas floating around, but sitting in a folding chair for hours on end was excrutiating. This year, it was all about creating and moving more than ideas. Garrett’s workshop on Hyatt’s self-deconstruction, another on altar building, and a collaborative comic book that got most the eventgoers so energized and buzzed we had to start turning lights out to get people to go home. Last year, they were so drained our music acts played to nearly empty rooms.

The next morning, the event got off to a very, VERY slow start. Doors opened at 11, but by noon when the sessions began, there a was barely a participant to be found. I’m used to tech events that start at nine a.m, but the EsoZone crowd seems to be quite nocturnal. One of the best features about unconferences was that we easily solved this by moving the sessions to later time slots and waited for people to trickle in. Saturday was the day of the big presentations- the ones my friends and I have been preparing for months.

First was Nick Pell’s motherfucker tantra. I, unfortunately, got sent out on an errand and missed most of it. Hopefully he will post some notes! The day gained speed with a session on electronic beats as invocation; meanwhile, in the lounge, once again we did the “impossible”- cramming 25 Discordians into a single room. Perhaps our angle this year, as Johnny Brainwash suggested, we should take a break freak-izing the mandane and give mundaning the freaks a try. He also notified us that since Discordianism is still officially dead, any work we do in the name of Eris happens in the underworld.

At this point, the event turned pretty introspective as frater zir led us to the Eztral Temple accompanied by the Psychetect’s binaural soundscapes. It was exactly what I needed to calm my nerves before doing my own presentation on fringe psychotherapy. Nick Pell rounded out the afternoon with a session on self-rebuilding with tarot and sex magic. I missed this one as well, hoping to snag a few more sales before the event was through. Outside, people got their fight on with Mu Ryu:

And then… it was on to the Subgenius Devival!

Thanks to everyone who came and co-created this event. It would have been nothing without you.