Yeah, a bunch of Gigsvillians came out to Flipside last year, and I heard lots of great stuff. Had a couple of cats from San Diego in my camp, too. They really loved it, it seemed.

I haven't yet made it to the big burn, but one day if I have the money, transport, time off, etc....

From what I understand, Burning Man is so damn big that you can get lost. Or meet someone, have a great conversation or whatever, and never see them again, (even if you intend to) as people kind of get lost in the crowd. Flipside is going to have 1400 tickets available this year, and will sell out, and will be REALLY crowded (it's a limited space). I've been going since there were less than 500 people at the event, and though there is are notable differences, they're mostly not bad ones. It just seems to be a much more intimate event. I also get that there's more of the party thing going on at the big one; don't get me wrong, there's PLENTY of partying at Flipside, it's just not necessary, and not as predominant as I understand it to be at Burning Man. But I'm sure that other people's experiences would vary as to that one....