Last month I had the pleasure of attending the Sixth Mindstates conference, in San Francisco California. It was everything I had hoped for, and more. This year's conference was held at the Palace of Fine Arts auditorium.

Upon entering, I stepped into a lobby which was a flurry of activity. Booths had been set up with vendors selling their various wares-- there were booksellers and nurserymen and women, and entheogenically inspired artists selling prints and cd's. There were also booths set up representing the spectrum of non-profits-- Dancesafe, Erowid, MAPS, and others.

Proceeding to the auditorium, I was pleased to find that the event had not been oversold; there was space enough to find a couple of seats in any row. The seating was comfortable (no marble bleachers), the acoustics were clear, and a good view of the stage could be had from any row.

Throughout the conference, the presenters were all well spoken and I found them to be informative as well as inspirational. Each one was a specialist of sorts in his or her own field and I carried away a deeper understanding of many subjects as well as some unique perspectives which I had never considered. Perhaps the greatest revelation for me was that these were all ordinary people doing this extraordinary work-- it doesn't take a superhero to make real contributions to the entheogen community. The presenters were all very generous with their time and generally made themselves available for conversation after their presentations. I was able to get several books signed, and was able to personally meet some of the people who's work has directly influenced my life's journey.

The types of presentations included lectures (of course), as well as slide shows, panel discussions, multimedia performances, and question and answer sessions. Although the theme of the conference was “technology and transcendence”, the topics covered a broad spectrum of interests ranging from Huichol-inspired yarn painting to EEG ayahuasca research, and everything in between. The quality and variety of presentations at the conference convinced me that a lot of time, thought, and care had been put into making this event truly great; the love and dedication on the part of both the organizers and the presenters was quite evident. I look forward very much to attending future Mindstates conventions; I hope to see you there!

For more information on Mindstates conferences, visit http://www.mindstates.org/