Once a year, a little town nestled in the Catskill Mountains of upstate New York comes alive with a lusty, eccentric crowd of people, dripping with love, positivity, self expression and, let's not forget, a fair amount of sweat. This past weekend, Hunter, New York, went from an out-of-season ski town of less than 3,000 people to a music festival Mecca during the 11th annual Mountain Jam. This festival checked off the usual boxes of any proper music festival, with quirky shops peddling handmade goods, barefoot dancing people, unique wardrobes with the hair to match, and great music everywhere.

Over the weekend, I met a veteran Mountain Jammer, festival frequenter and music journalist by the name of Raffaela Kenny-Cincotta, who described festival life like this: "I've been to music festivals all over the country; in Michigan, Florida and all over my home state of New York. People who don't 'get' music festivals always ask why I'd rather spend my vacation sleeping in a tent than in a hotel. The easiest answer is that festivals combine everything I love: nature, music, friends, and a sense community that can't be found anywhere else."

I couldn't have put it better myself, but this particular festival had something special in store for me. I have two words for you: Press pass.

That's right, Dillon the intern (or "editorial assistant" if I'm trying to pick up chicks) had become Dillon the Field Correspondent for The Odyssey. After checking in at the VIP tent, I didn't fully understand the power of that blue wristband with "MEDIA" printed on it. It turned out to be a master key that opened every door in the festival. It was my golden ticket, and I was in the chocolate factory all weekend. That blue wristband gave me a window into a world that most festi-heads only dream of, and I think I've finally decompressed enough to tell you about it.

I started my weekend a little damp and chilly from the drizzle, sitting on a bench in Times Square where the bus to Hunter was picking me up on Saturday morning. Armed with my iPhone 5S and this neat little hand-held camera called a Ricoh Theta (more on this later), the anticipation started to build. I've been to festivals before, but what did a press pass get me? Was I going to end up on the tour bus with The Black Keys on the way to their next show, or am I just going to get some cool pictures from the front row? I didn't have a clue.

After I got off the bus, slipped on the all-powerful, blue media band and made my way to the stage, the "clue" that escaped me earlier struck me square in the forehead like a line drive. I wound up between the retaining wall and the stage in the media aisle where Shakey Graves was playing, and I was close enough to count the beads of sweat rolling down is cheeks as he belted the refrain to his hit song, "Dearly Departed" and pounded the pedal to a kick-drum he made out of a suitcase.

And do you remember that "neat little camera" I mentioned earlier? Well, I was drastically underselling it by calling it "neat." This camera, called the Ricoh Theta, is about the size of a candy bar and looks like a baby blue version of the Neuralyzer from Men in Black. It's essentially two fisheye lenses mounted back to back and captures 360-degree pictures, pulling you into the image with me.

My buddies at Littlstar hooked me up with this camera for the weekend and turned me on to their virtual reality software that mixes these 360-degree images with a social media platform. They are the leading platform dedicated to virtual reality, 360 video, and immersive content. Littlstar is a destination to discover and share the best in immersive media, and they're looking to team up with people like me to help capture experiences like music festivals in a way that hasn't been easy or affordable for amateur photojournalists in the past.

Check out Shakey Graves from the media aisle with yours truly. (click and drag the image)

We got to ride the ski lift between sets too, what a view.

Yeah, "neat" is definitely an understatement.

So after getting a feel for the awesome power of the media wrist band and getting some incredible shots with the Theta, the night ahead began to take shape. The Black Keys were set to headline that night, and I didn't care if I looked like a chump next to all the professional photographers with their two-foot lenses and image stabilizers. I was going to hold my baby blue candy bar high and have the time of my life on what had already been the coolest work project I've ever been assigned.

Photographers were only allowed to take pictures from the media aisle during the first three songs of the set before we got bounced, but it was still plenty of time to get some unbelievable shots and have my socks thoroughly rocked by Dan and the Keys from just a few feet away.

After we were moved to the pit, my co-worker Rose and I listened to a few more songs before we noticed some people up on some scaffolding behind the stage, looking down on the band and the rest of the crowd. We exchanged looks and raised our eyebrows at one another. We've been able to get everywhere else with these media bands, why not up there? We circled around to the side of the stage, raise our bands to the security guard, got the "you're good" nod, and climbed the stairs to the scaffolding.

I'll let the picture explain the rest.

That's where we were the final four or five songs. We saw the sound technician below fiddling with knobs and slides, the guitar switcher tuning and running guitars back and forth to Dan, and the rolling sea of thousands of festival attendees that spread out up the slopes of Hunter Mountain.

Also, here's a shot of us posing with a man in a teddy bear suit.

After my unreal weekend at Mountain Jam, I feel obligated to include you all in my next assignment. I will be sending out requests for media passes to tons of other festivals this summer, and I need some direction from you guys. I didn't have a plan last weekend, and I want your help coming up with one for my next festive weekend. So what do you want to see? Who do you want me to talk to? A security guard? The token old man with ridiculous dance moves? I'm certainly not a professional music journalist and I want to share the experience with all of you.

You can Tweet your suggestions, requests and anything else at me on Twitter @dillonhavens or send them via Email at dillon.havens@olympiamediagroup.com. Until next time, intern out.