Welcome! Please introduce yourself

Does anyone have any date allergies? Haha, just kidding (sort of). Real question: Do we have any Soup newbies in the house?? If so, rest assured you're in good hands. As luck would have it, you're in the best possible tribe there is. We're going to have so much fun! :)

Hi Everyone - I am indeed a newbie to Soup, looking forward to my first experience with all of you.....I live in SF with my wife and 4 year old son. My wife is also coming this year, but we are leaving our son behind.....what do I need to know beyond all the wonderful info provided so far??

Hi John. Welcome to Soup and to being a Dream Date. Hopefully you love Soup as much as most of us do. Soup is a do-ocracy; we all pitch in. Soup is also an ongoing, intentional community, where we work, play, and support each other outside of the annual event. Soup is also a fundraiser, and our tag line is "Doing Good While Having Fun". You'll have opportunities to relax, to play hard, for light or deep discussions. We're huggers. The swimming holes are usually clothing optional.The food is usually amazing. The location is pretty magical - under big redwoods, next to a creek.

Hey John! Ann-Marie summed it up nicely. I would add:

• Label ALL your stuff! (Un-labeled stuff creates lots of unnecessary work for people at the end.)
• Prepare to have your heart opened all the way!
• Lending a helping hand is a great way to meet new people and get integrated into YOUR new community. (So is not wearing a watch and asking for the time.)
• Realize there are a lot of long-established friendships, but also so many friendly people open to making you feel welcome (like us in your tribe, for starters).
• I know from personal experience that it can be very hard to experience such a thing without sharing it with your children. Rest assured you are paving the way for them to be there after this first year. It might be one of the coolest things you can do for them.
• Think about taking the model we have in place and applying it to all other areas of your life.
• Throw a party after soup and invite me!
• etc...

Looking forward to meeting you in person and making you feel extra welcome because you ARE!!

Love,

Thank you for the warm welcome! Looking forward to being in the Redwoods:)

hi friends, this is my 3rd soup in 6 or 7 years. i know a small handful of people and actually feel a bit anxious about jumping back into the soup. the community is lovely AND in my experience can also feeling cliquey and exclusive - just keeping it real. i'm super happy that we have this way to connect before soup and look forward to learning more about you here and in our tribe time! my intention at soup is to connect with others, maybe even find loners, newbies, introverts like me and support them to feel welcome and included.

i love the date appetizer idea! so many fun ways to stuff dates.

Hey there, this will be my first soup too. I'm a little late to join the loomio chat, but I'm super excited. I signed up to volunteer on the google sheets, but looking for other ways I can pitch-in/help out. Also, appreciate reading through all your tips for newbies.

Hi oldies and newbies alike, I'm looking forward to getting to know you all better. Thanks for putting yourself out there and keeping it real. I'm so looking forward to learning about you when we meet in person.

Hello fellow Dream Dates! I'm also a Soup newbie and grateful for this way to connect with a smaller group. I will be attending with my boyfriend who has been to 1 Soup camp out before but that was over 7 years ago. We've attended a couple Soup gatherings together in the East Bay where we live and have made some fun connections. I'm looking forward to being in nature and soaking up the magic of this community. See you soon!

This is my third year, and I too am still finding my footing socially; a bit shy and intimidated by the cliques, but excited to push myself out of my comfort zone. I love the energy i feel from the folks at Soup, that's what keeps bringing me back! Looking forward to playing with the lovely folks I already know and making some new connections.

Hi there! This is my first soup. Just got some silver for sat. I’ll see how this all unfolds. I’m planning to head up thurs late morning early afternoon from Oakland. Sara

Hello, all. I'm also a Soup neophyte. Haven't introduced myself before because, well, all of these emails are a little overwhelming. Plus I'm on a tight deadline at work. That said, I'm happy to contribute to the team, including chipping in to help buy dates for the Saturday shindig.

I'm coming from Alameda, though I'm probably going to head up early Thursday to Cloverdale, find somewhere to hole up in and do some work, and then make it to camp in time for Thursday dinner. See you soon.