I'm glad to see there's so much enthusiasm here, and that so many of you will be with us! Looks like it will be a great Getaway! Not that we've ever had a bad one...

I do need to point out that we are still in the planning stages, program-wise. We've got lots of good ideas, and now we're in the process of winnowing down the list and figuring out who should lead what. It's more complicated than it seems on the surface -- we need to consider who will be there, and their preferences, as well as time constraints and "balance" (in regard to content AND people) in the program. At this point, VERY few things are definite.

Please keep in mind that the Getaway is not just a Mudcat gathering. It is -- and has been for well over 40 years now -- the Folklore Society of Greater Washington's annual weekend. There are many FSGW folks who come regularly and participate actively, who are not on Mudcat. We need to be in touch with them, too.

So, the three of us on the Program Committee (me, Carly, and Lorraine) have been contacting a lot of people by phone, PM, and email to find out if they're coming this year and what they'd like to do, and we haven't heard back yet from quite a few of them. (Not to mention the fact that we're having a little trouble with communication among ourselves...) So the potential for confusion is pretty high. Please don't assume that everything that's been suggested will actually end up on the schedule! We'll try to fit in as much as we can, taking into consideration the ideas mentioned in this thread, our own -- er -- creations, and ideas from non-Mudcatters.

That said, I can definitely promise it will be great!

Y'all come!

Nancy