Introduction

Once upon a time (2001, IIRC) I had a great chat with someone who was staff for a Ren Faire. She said that her faire, like most, had a staff camping area, which was where the real party was each night, after the faire shut down and threw out the paying customers. At her faire, the way you became staff, the way you became an insider and not just a patron, was by showing up at those parties and ingratiating yourself, and joining the community informally.

Only, at her faire, the staff camping area was on an island. An actual, physical island in the middle of a little river.

This was their filter: you had to figure out how to get to the community. If you could do that, you were welcome to join.