The Bay Area Blacksmiths Association (BAB-a that's BABA with an accent so as to be differentiated from the Brit's group - but BayBA as a group name on Yahoo so that typing is easier) is a sort of Chowder and Marching Society (see http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview/id/260765.html) for those interested in blacksmithing, forging, and related metal working pursuits which explicitly includes hanging out in each other's shops, swapping lies, drinking beer and eating barbeque and or pizza. Significant others, girlfriends, boyfriends, sundry hangers-on and bewildered bystanders are welcome as long as they demonstrate a modicum of common sense around fire, hot metal, power tools and things that go bump in the night.
Most, but by no means all of the members of BayBA are roughly geographically situated in the San Francisco Bay Area, or think they are, or should be or whatever. We really don't care.
We are not trying to compete with or substitute for such great organizations as the CBA, ABANA, or our namesake BABA. But we note that these groups are either too far away or don't have nearly enough fun. There is our fundamental founding principle -- to have fun. Of course we note that some people's idea of fun might look like work to someone else. That's OK as it seems like fun at the time to the individuals involved. If being involved in BayBA starts to seem like work, it's time to move on.