New meetings, sharing experiences, and opportunities

[irrelevant]

So ... I'm kind of an introvert, need my space, and enjoy my own company.

BUT, what I generally have been quite disappointed in, and missed, nearly every Fusion, is the apparent almost exclusive focus people have towards whoever they came w/. My -- seemingly off -- expectation initially was that Fusion (also) was about being open to new meetings, and sharing experiences, and opportunities.

Having brought this up earlier, I've come to understand it can be hit or miss though, and also can depend on what stages/areas being frequented and/or state we are in (which makes sense). Nonethless, my opinion remains.

I'm not the type to really initiate a live convo, or acquaintance, whatever, but would say I usually am quite appreciative of people striking up one.

Gratefully will be attending by myself (again -- it looks like) this year, and thought I'd have a slightly different approach, "advertising" this here, and my own openness for the above.

Tend to spend most time around Bachstelzen/Panne Eichel, Sonnendeck & Extravaganza w/ the odd visit to Turmbühne & Seebühne (for music taste indication), and plan to camp in the B/C area. **Staying the FULL week.** If anyone else relates (no gender restrictions etc), feel free to contact me (here/DM). Thanks for reading, and wish you all an amazing Fusion.

PS. NO SMARTPHONE

[33602]

hi!
for me it felt like that changed a little when the lottery came in, or like before 2012 when it was not so crowded.
Almost always when i sat somewhere aside, there was some kind of contact with people around. Spend a lot of time in the treehouses on trancefloor and at Querfeld back then, which was a great place and mindset for instant interactions. Did 2 oldfashioned Subotnik Shifts usually and met a lot of people there too. Nowadays its more hectic, crowded and rushing for next with the crew. Shall not sound negative, but it changed a little. Far more people where out there on their own back then, lost their crew and didnt care about it at all. No phones, less Totems, see them in the morning or the other day;-)

So, what i preserved from "back then" is a little connecting to neighbors on the campsite on arrival, a good tradition of camping and caring, so right from the start i dont wanna feel like strangers around me and all on their own castle.
Out of the camp i keep decently interacting on people without a warning when i feel like;-)but im not in my 20s anymore and try not to get spookyweirdo. Its a tighrope ride;-)
Will be camping on C somewhere. Can send u more exact info during runtime and we meet up for an Apfelkrapfen Breakfast by the fireplace or some like that

[Philtert]

Hej

Empfinde ich genauso . Ich fand das immer so toll wenn man mit jmd. Interagiert / geredet hat und im Idealfall mit demjenigen das Gelände / Floors erkundet hat und sich dabei immer mehr kennenlernt . Es ist doch total spannend / kribbelig wenn man sich dabei evtl. so gut versteht das man sich aufm Hangar / Firespace in den Armen liegt und das ganze Spektakel mit jmd. beobachtet den man gar nicht kannte und vllt. nicht mehr wieder sieht .


Auf mich wirkt es so das in den letzten Jahren durch die Überfüllung und die Smartphone‘s bzw. Apps und Totem Reisegruppen dieser Flow doch ein wenig kaputt gegagen ist . Ich möchte nicht meckern , die Fusion ist nach wie vor toll aber für mich überfüllt / Mainstream und auch unpersönlicher geworden .

Vor Jahren hab ich zumindest mehr Leute kennengelernt die Bock hatten zu interagieren oder einfach loszuziehen und zu schauen was der Tag oder Abend so bringt .

Vllt. Liegt‘s auch einfach nur an mir oder ich hab den Space für solch Leute übersehen . Es gab auch mal so ne Art Speed Dating am Planhof Bahnlos . Bitte nicht falsch verstehen , es geht mir nicht um Sexistischen Shice sondern um Kontaktfreudige grinsende Personen die sich zu gerne aufgeschlossen connecten und sich dabei kennerlernen .

Wie sind eure Erfahrungen zum Thema ?

[irrelevant]

@33602

Hi!:)

Aah, well that was before my time -- 1st Fusion of mine was --16. But good to know, it does sound logical. And pretty agreeable too. I've seen some posts here & there through the years complaining about how everything was so much better before. They were met w/ varying answers, and personally I never saw the current state so negatively. What you write sheds a bit new light on it all though, and maybe (also after a few personal attendences), I am starting to see a development I'm not completely in favor in myself, now that Fusion is THIS big, and THIS publicly known.

At the same time, I also firmly believe that we all have a responsibility, and a certain power, in making Fusion what we want Fusion to be. Ofc we can't (and shouldn't) direct the lottery, but we 1) can be mindful of who we mention Fusion to and invite, 2) share, honor & uphold its cornerstones, as well as 3) set the example we would like to see, in place. At least, that's what I have tried to do. Hopefully that will be enough to keep the core Fusion spirit alive, even if things always naturally change w/ time. For good and bad.

What's a Subotnik shift?

YES, that's a definite plus if there's a connection w/ the "neighbors". IDK if you wrote in DE and Chrome is translating, but I read "... try not to get spookyweirdo." Great term haha. That's the thing though -- people seeming to be so tight knit in their crews, I somewhat feel "spookyweirdo" interacting. It's like, you can exchange a few sentences maybe, but then that's it. And I for sure don't want to intrude, ya know?

Sounds like a plan! Discovered Apfelkrapfen only last year, actually. Very nice, that whole area.

I missed spelling out I don't have a smartphone however, so I'll DM you my #, and a link to what my tent looks like. One thing that probably didn't change is how shitty phones work during Fusion, eh?

[irrelevant]

@Philtert

So glad to learn I am not alone. Exactly -- or at least, I appreciate the myriad possibilities for all of that! Not quite sure why, maybe simply because of the name itself, but that always was ... almost how I understood the primary objective with Fusion to be, personally. And I was so surprised when it (mostly) wasn't.

One year, when voicing this, I learned that an acquaintance who also was there (the only one I never managed to meet up with, or run into, ironically) had a diametrically different experience than me in that department though. So I guess it really it up to oneself and the vibe one emits, and then a combo of timing & place -- and what Fusion thinks we should be served, and perhaps learn from it.

Don't know if anyone else feels the same, but every Fusion has brought a lesson with it. And that's where the personal development & growth comes in, that is the icing on the cake, to me.

Interesting you also seem to agree with what 33602 above wrote. Pls read my response to them as well, as I adress that topic more in depth there.

Haha, that sounds kinda fun! I assume that's gone now, then?

To elaborate a bit, I've had a few solo Fusions, and a few with friends. Some of the solo ones were quite lonely stories, alas, but as stated above, there were lessons to be learned also from those. I've also had my fair share of magical meetings there, thankfully. Still, too few in my opinion.

[Zwitschge]

I haven't been to fusion since 2018, but been the 12 years before. And reading the above I now understand what I kind of missed the last times I've been there- the deep connection and easy interaction of my "early fusion years". Times change and thats okay, but I would appreciate if we could be open to other people and not that focused on our own group. You can get lost between the totems if you don't belong to one and get no access to a group. So please share your smiles and glitters with the people you don't know yet, it's absolutely worth it and I learned a lot about interacting with others at fusion

[irrelevant]

I haven't been to fusion since 2018, but been the 12 years before. And reading the above I now understand what I kind of missed the last times I've been there- the deep connection and easy interaction of my "early fusion years". Times change and thats okay, but I would appreciate if we could be open to other people and not that focused on our own group. You can get lost between the totems if you don't belong to one and get no access to a group. So please share your smiles and glitters with the people you don't know yet, it's absolutely worth it and I learned a lot about interacting with others at fusion

Thanks for your kind words -- looks like maybe I found the festival slightly "too late". But I do my best, and this post is some of it.

[33602]

Hi together!
this thread gets pretty interesting, thanks for sharing your thoughts!
I didnt want to paint a bad picture. I met a lot of nice people every time, no bad experience ever and Fusion remains a fixpoint in the calendar.
Doing Subotnik was working shifts the old way. Could go to Arbeitsamt just when you want to and get a Job for 8hrs/30€ Cash. I arrived with some glorious 40€ in my pocket and that was no threat, could have made a living there by instant. Nowadays that 40-50€ is what i need per day, at least.

My first visits, around 2010 so not that early, i was just mindblown and confused about whats happening. Plenty space for all, low ticketprices and the garden of eden kind of a festival, not even overrun yet.
2011 had some special feature, so i dont count that year in the evolution
Then, after it went beyond limits in 2012, prices rising, lotterycrowd, i expected that to work out worse and mess up the vibe far more. It was still a league of its own, but there was change.
With that hype and everything getting that much bigger, i realized that its become a centerpiece, some internationally known icon of our culture and a breeding ground from where things start again somewhere else. Wilde Möhre, 3000°, MenschMeier to only name wellknown or recently gone For me its the big gathering in the middle of the year and with so many people acting together, it feels even normal to have varying difficulties and conflicts each year in Lärz.
btw, this made me smile ... https://shop.menschmeier.berlin/shop/10 ... le-fusion/

happy to meet you fusionpeople somewhere in a few weeks, its going to be huge and loud and random epic unexpectedness, just like back then

[irrelevant]

@33602

Hello again,
my pleasure.

No problem -- even "bad" experiences can be "good" if something is learned from them, in my opinion.

Aah, WOW. Pretty cool! But that much now?? I would only spend that if actually buying clothes or you know ... goods of some kind. Not if only food & drinks. Guess it all adds up one way or another though. The looong hot exhausting walk to the ATM is always a drag, and has always been needed. No matter how much I try to avoid it. And no one ever wants to come along ofc haha!

In a way, I envy the perspective more long-time visitors have of Fusion logically get. In another, maybe I would mourn some lost aspects more than I do now (and maybe will in the future).

What happened in --11?

I see. So I guess --12 was kind of pivotal there. I heard about the need for building that fence, overcrowding, so many people crashing the festival (quite uncool), etc.

Very good point, the same thought has hit me recently, but maybe not so precisely worded. Love 3000C, only heard of the others. MM is on its last leg, or ...?

I'd love to attend either something else 3000C arranges, or Mystic Creatures. But with no car, no driving skills (basically only the license), and real company, it's hard to make it happen. I know there often are buses operating, but they tend to always leave IMMEDIATELY after the main event ends, and I refuse to hurry off before it actually is OVER, all lopsided and stressed. It's just contraproductive and takes away too much of the pro's, for me.

I know of some issues that have arisen at Fusion, but only by hearsay or reading about them (luckily). Still, considering how many people are gathered under more "primitive" circumstances, usually not exactly sober either, I think it's quite amazing how well everything goes in general. The energy just is something really special.

Aww, charming indeed! Thanks for sharing.

Me too, and I sure hope so.)

[Szn]

I'll join solo as well! Only on Sunday though

I was expecting a very different experience than yours so I am a bit sad to hear

Happy to meet, and we'll see if we can enjoy the party better together