More thoughts about Foo Camp (for those who don’t know, it’s this weird but nice gathering of mostly geeky folks in Sebastopol, CA, for a weekend of camping and chatting).

Many of the things I most liked about Foo Camp were the campiest (pun intended). For example, while there wasn’t that much of a bonfire (too many californians means that campfires are apparently illegal throughout the state due to pollution), there was at least a symbolic one, and then some non-traditional versions, including a big flame throwing contraption, and a flaming zen garden version (search flickr for details).

More interestingly were the odd effects of seeing people in camping contexts, such as as they get out of their tents bleary eyed, desperately seeking the (excellent) coffee, or, even more revealing, their behavior at Werewolf, a game of deceit and dissimulation which reveals that some VCs aren’t necessarily that sneaky and some web developers are truly scary (stay away from Cal at poker). (Aside: having people like Danah Boyd and Jane McGonigal around to keep the games alive is a good idea). It’s quite odd to see the morning-after consequences of being ruthless at night show up in different contexts.

I’m hoping to have at least a few Werewolf games in Vancouver soon. I can’t wait to see how people I think I know act when given a chance to act differently…