BMIR-FM Feedback wanted - How did we do

[Bobzilla]

BMIR, Burning Man Information Radio wants your feedback.

Did you listen to the radio at Burning Man? If not why not? If you listened to BMIR what did you like, what did you not like, how can we do better? What time of day did you listen? What other stations did you listen to. All feedback is welcome, positive and negative.

[junglesmacks]

The only times that I listened was during entry and exodus. Great job. I liked the up to the minute status updates on the lines and any issues. I would suggest to be extra special sensitive to making sure to broadcast those types of things during peak entry/exit hours. It's a huge help to those of us stuck in line!

During the time there.. radios? Electronic devices? What are those?

[sputnik]

I also only listened on entry and exit and agree with Junglesmacks. I also listen off-playa, but you don't ask about that.

[Dr. Pyro]

My two cents. I only listened coming in and at exodus. The job BMIR did of informing people about the new method of controlling traffic as we left Black Rock City was awful. Not one mention of it in the three hours we waited. We had no idea that they expected us to stop our engines "for a rest" while controlling the cars exiting the playa. If BMIR expects to be taken seriously at all, and somehow I doubt they do, less with the swearing and drug references and more with news and information that actually might help. Yeah sure, like that's ever going to happen.

[Eric]

Got to agree with the Doc on Exodus. One reference every hour or so that "the next pulse is beginning" without ever bothering to explain what the pulse was or how it worked. No mention of why this system was better (a simple reminder that "no, it's not faster, but you can turn off your car until we let you know the pulse is starting" would have been really nice)

For well over an hour of the time we were in line there wasn't even music in between, just some guy blathering on and on and on and on about his project in monotone. We turned off BMIR and put on music.

We always turn BMIR on as soon as we're near the playa coming in, but once on playa I don't really listen to anything other than the music from bars and the ambient sounds of the event, but your Exodus coverage was an epic fail from what I experienced.

[Bobzilla]

Thanks. What I'm hearing so far confirms the feedback I got in email. Some people said regarding exodus "you told us what was going to happen and that's exactly what happened" others said "you didn't say anything". So it appears that it pretty mush depended who was on the air. There was no consistency of reporting exodus information between DJ's. Issue noted. We'll take steps to make sure that it improves for 2011.

[Eric]

Thanks. What I'm hearing so far confirms the feedback I got in email. Some people said regarding exodus "you told us what was going to happen and that's exactly what happened"

I will shoot you props for this part- we were out within 15 minutes of the prediction we had heard 3 hours earlier.

A little fine tuning should bring it into line. I would also recommend heavier on the music during Exodus, much less on the boring people talking about next years (or even this years) projects. Keep us dancing!

[sputnik]

We left on Sunday afternoon. While waiting in line for pulse we were told to get comfortable and visit with neighbors, etc. But that turned into a mess when it was time to move because people were all over the place and not in their vehicles to move. Not the fault of BMIR though.

[motskyroonmatick]

I've always appreciated BMIR and usually only tune in for entry and exodus. I do occasionally hear the broadcasts during the week but don't have my own radio tuned in constantly. My gut reaction to the question however is to up the "Information." It is after all "Information Radio." The times I've been listening when exceptionally good DJ's/hosts/whatever are on have been some of the best/funniest radio I've ever heard. I do know that BMIR has in the past been very helpful in getting the word out like with the Shit Storm with the Portapotties in 2004.

[moonrise]

I didn't do exodus...stayed into Weds morning...zero vehicles on my way out.

BMIR sounds and music are very cool!

I brought a Radio, as suggested in two emails sent out, one was in JRS I think, the other was an email sent to our camp because we were on the power grid...that email said bring all the lighting you can find and small appliances eg a fan, and NO A/C! hahaha. Can you say Times Square, I can, I brought a BUNCH of led strands. We were lit up. Thanks power to the people crew! Our camp made Vegas look like a candle, Blinkie dude brought over 10,000 more all kinna lights too...insane, a whole trailer full...whoa! Wow, thanks Blinkie dude!
I think the 2nd JRS email mentioned a radio again or maybe my camp leader added it, not sure.

As suggested in at least one email, I played the radio, 24/7, turned it down for a fellow camp mate couple when they were sleeping, then back up and retuned everyday! ('cept for the few days I went a wanderin' MIA! yea!)

Like Eric said, there was a lot of ambient sound from everywhere, but in my area of camp it was BMIR!

Funny thing but in Harlem in the 60's and 70's I KNOW ('cause I was there) they would ALL play the same radio station with speakers pointing out of every window and doorway...they rocked the block street parties (and had bonfires in the streets) I'm not saying BM is Harlem! But I got a kick out of the whole concept of everyone tuning into the same station (I didn't know any other stations were available, never bothered trying to tune to them at all, sorry whoever you are )

The best is that Shouting Fire gifted online access....some friends who could NOT make it to BM told me they had BMIR playing with the gift of Shouting Fire making this possible....they said they hit the roof when BMIR announced that the second the clock hit midnight, Sunday night BMIR said "Even if you are not here with us on the playa, the burn has started for you also!" this and the live streaming video made thier day! Thier week! They had a mini burning man at thier home of course ~)'(~

Thanks go out to the live stream (name?), Shouting Fire and BMIR, who were also kind enough to thank Motz, on the air, for gifting me a disabled mini midget art cart mobile! Look up and you'll see him above! Hi Motz! Thanks from 100's++ of us! We pulled non stop gifting of rides to injured & tired burners! to and fro, no dumping in them middle of nowhere! (no pun intended, didn't drive THAT far!)

Not sure but if BMIR can warn of big ass dust storms, like Tuesday the day I packed up in a nasty one! That would be great! I think I read you have that ability, sometimes at least. Playa weather is not easy to predict I imagine, duh.

Shouting Fire is still playing BMIR, is that a loop? Tune in folks, it's still cool...

You asked, I told.

Btw, you you guys n gals sure know how to feast! Roasted rabbit and on and on...ridiculous! Niiiiiiiice crowd! YOU could teach Stern a thing or two!

[junglesmacks]

A little fine tuning should bring it into line. I would also recommend heavier on the music during Exodus, much less on the boring people talking about next years (or even this years) projects. Keep us dancing!

+10000

Seriously, this is a party! BMIR is the first and last things that we hear from the playa, and it would be really nice if that was kept in mind. WAY too many repetitive commercials and DJs that like to hear themselves drone on. Come on, this is BRC.. not defaultia!

More music, more party atmosphere, more helpful directions and updates... especially on entry.

On exit, maybe slightly mellower upbeat stuff. We're all bummed that we're leaving, a little melancholy, burnt out, etc. Keep that in mind. Keep us upbeat and awake and in a good mood. Less crap, more goodness.

[curiousgnate]

I have loved and still love BMIR. i always bring a small portable radio and listen whenever I am in group shade or resting in the hexa. I love it i find it quite entertaining and the music while eclectic also for the most part enoyable, and fun. As far as enterance and exit. I loved it but found the pulse times about 15 min off, prob. due to where i was in each pulse. keep it up great work. love it!

[Dr Helix]

I mostly listen in the morning and have a hard time staying interested. I for one am not "party ready" and wouldn't mind something a little more melodic and less discordent as I'm shaking out the cobwebs.

[Bobzilla]

Dr Helix - what time do you listen? I do the morning show, 8A to 10A - very mellow stuff

[Dr Helix]

Ahhhh, there's the rub. Probably about 10 is when I turn it on. So I'm missing the good stuff. Maybe an extension of those vibes till noon? Just one man's opinion.

[peacefulhuman]

I brought a radio as suggested, and I tuned in to BMIR on Tuesday, my first day of my first burn. I really enjoyed the music - there were some terrific mash-ups I'd never heard (or even suspected could go together) and the commercials were hilarious! I thought the variety of music I could hear at any given time of day kept it interesting. And as for Exodus, I got in line at 3am on Monday morning and heard a mixture of music and blathering from some dude who didn't seem to have a vibe suitable to the hour and event (in my judgment). But he did play a rather memorable song that was new to me. No idea who the artist was or what the song was called (I could Google it, but I'm quite lazy), but I had "fuck the pain away / fuck the pain away / fuck the pain away" stuck in my head for the entire time I was waiting in line to get out.

[Dr Helix]

Dr Helix - what time do you listen? I do the morning show, 8A to 10A - very mellow stuff

So here's a question. How does one get to be on air at BMIR? I'm assuming that whoever has a slot brings their own music and/or audio clips, but is there some sort of selection process or is it just populated by folks you are already familiar with?

[Kinetik V]

I don't like BMIR. Each time I've turned it on I get untimely Exodus info, music that makes everyone in the truck cringe more often than not, and a bunch of talking heads offering little of substance or value to make me want to listen in. It's supposed to be helpful in emergencies...you get a strong dust storm rolling through and you hear nothing on the air about it. Play a creatively made PSA offering tips on how to hunker down and ride it out.

Right now if BMIR was to not broadcast again I wouldn't miss it. It's just not relevant to my BM experience.

[Bobzilla]

Dr Helix - We find ourselves in the ituation where we have far more people who want to be on the air than there are hours in the day.

It didn't used to be that way. I remember when we could not find people willing to be on the air after 11P or b before 8A. This past year we were live 24/7 for the first time ever. Being live live 24/7 also had it's drawbacks as we were so tightly scheduled there was no wiggle room for something that just comes up that we should do. We've come up with a happy medium for next year, however the bottom line is that we simply can not accommodate everyone who wants to be on the air.



Now to how you get on the air. I am 100% committed to getting new voices on the air and making the airwaves accessible to the citizens of BRC. There are a fair amount of people who have been on BMIR for years but we have made it clear that the days of just showing up for your show and leaving are over. If you want to be on the air you need to show commitment to the station by being willing to pitch in when it comes to general station operation.


This also applies to new folks. Spots open up due to all sorts of reasons and it's the new people who have also been helping all week who get first crack at those shifts.

There is one exception, and that is pre-event. Wed thru Sat before the event is a time when we need more people on the air than we have. It's actually a good time to be on as *thousands* of people are listening at home via the internet as they get ready to depart for BRC. We also heard many reports of people streaming BMIR on their iPhones during their drive to BRC. We had over 21K tune in on the internet this year.

While we can't provide folks with early entry, if they are going to be on the playa pre-event and want to be on the air, contact me and chances are extremely good you'll get lots of air time.

As to what people can play we just ask people to not play what you'll hear easily out in the default world. Sure, play some Led Zeppelin, but not Stairway to Heaven (unless it's a Lady Gaga, P-Funk, Gogol Bordello, Led Zeppelin mashup).

We do ask that new folks send us a CD ahead of time so, we can have some idea of what they will sound like.

[Bobzilla]

Kinetic V - Thank you for your feedback. I really do appreciate it.

>I don't like BMIR. Each time I've turned it on I get untimely Exodus info,

I hear that and we are taking steps to correct that. As you can see above, some people got accurate, timely Exodus info while others did not. We'll be making sure there is more consistency next year.

>music that makes everyone in the truck cringe more often than not,

Can you be more specific? What kind of music are you looking for?

>and a bunch of talking heads offering little of substance or value to >make me want to listen in. It's supposed to be helpful in >emergencies...you get a strong dust storm rolling through and you hear >nothing on the air about it.

A few thoughts. To be perfectly honest, a strong dust storm in BRC is not an emergency. We have a meterologist on staff and give weather reports every day. When dust storms do hit we do tell people what to do, secure your camp, hunker down, check on your neighbor, don't drive, etc.

>Play a creatively made PSA offering tips on how to hunker down and >ride it out.

Great idea. We'll make one for next year as it will help insure consistency of information.

As for other programming, we do interviews with artists and participants, In fact we do extensive reporting on the major art pieces. We tell people who is playing at which sound camps, what is going on in the city, we play promos for theme camps so participants can hear about events they can attend. Do you not find this of use? What would you rather hear?

[Bounce530]

I had a problem trying to listen from default pre-opening. Everytime I tryed to listen, I would get the "funky monkeys" thing for a few seconds and then it would die. I wasn't able to listen to BMIR till I got on playa. I tryed on three different machines with the same result.

[Miles]

I allways love tuning in for arrival / exodus ... some programming is better than others. I agree that peak arrival / exodus times need constant info updates, say every 15min. I dont bring a radio but if i did, i'd listen during the week.

loved the PSAs this year, planning on recording a cople for net year.
also, more swearing and drug references!

[Dr Helix]

Dr Helix - We find ourselves in the ituation where we have far more people who want to be on the air than there are hours in the day.

It didn't used to be that way. I remember when we could not find people willing to be on the air after 11P or b before 8A. This past year we were live 24/7 for the first time ever. Being live live 24/7 also had it's drawbacks as we were so tightly scheduled there was no wiggle room for something that just comes up that we should do. We've come up with a happy medium for next year, however the bottom line is that we simply can not accommodate everyone who wants to be on the air.



Now to how you get on the air. I am 100% committed to getting new voices on the air and making the airwaves accessible to the citizens of BRC. There are a fair amount of people who have been on BMIR for years but we have made it clear that the days of just showing up for your show and leaving are over. If you want to be on the air you need to show commitment to the station by being willing to pitch in when it comes to general station operation.


This also applies to new folks. Spots open up due to all sorts of reasons and it's the new people who have also been helping all week who get first crack at those shifts.

There is one exception, and that is pre-event. Wed thru Sat before the event is a time when we need more people on the air than we have. It's actually a good time to be on as *thousands* of people are listening at home via the internet as they get ready to depart for BRC. We also heard many reports of people streaming BMIR on their iPhones during their drive to BRC. We had over 21K tune in on the internet this year.

While we can't provide folks with early entry, if they are going to be on the playa pre-event and want to be on the air, contact me and chances are extremely good you'll get lots of air time.

As to what people can play we just ask people to not play what you'll hear easily out in the default world. Sure, play some Led Zeppelin, but not Stairway to Heaven (unless it's a Lady Gaga, P-Funk, Gogol Bordello, Led Zeppelin mashup).

We do ask that new folks send us a CD ahead of time so, we can have some idea of what they will sound like.

Thanks for all the info Bobzilla. I have an excellent understanding now of how things work. Maybe I'll send you a CD of what I would play. But thank you so much for your effort in keeping the station going. I think it's a vital piece of the whole experience for both practical and asthetic reasons.

[internot]

[quote="Bobzilla"]BMIR, Burning Man Information Radio wants your feedback.

Did you listen to the radio at Burning Man? If not why not? If you listened to BMIR what did you like, what did you not like, how can we do better? What time of day did you listen? What other stations did you listen to. All feedback is welcome, positive and negative.[/quote]

Some years I listen more than others. I always listen on the way in and on the way out. Last year my wife listened quite a bit.

I don't recall how many songs you play between breaks, but in general non-commercial stations tend to play way too many songs between breaks and then back announce a zillion songs when they finally do break. If I hear something cool that I've never heard before I would like to be able to identify it for future reference without trying to figure out where the song fits in a long list.

I suspect that many of us only tune-in when we are craving information. It would be great if you did time/temp/traffic every ten minutes, just like the corporate news stations in the big cities.

[Bobzilla]

>I had a problem trying to listen from default pre-opening. Everytime I tryed to listen, I would get the "funky monkeys" thing for a few seconds and then it would die.

Thanks for that feedback. We did have a few reports of this but it wasn't widespread. We'll look into it.

[actiongrl]

Kudos to Bobzilla and BMIR for soliciting feedback and putting it into action!
All of the feedback we got to the office has already been covered here - more info at Exodus being the predominant theme.

I <3 BMIR!

[Artemis]

I love it when I realize that I am close enough to the playa that I can get BMIR on the rental car radio.

I listen to it on the ride in as well as during Exodus. The announcement on Monday morning for estimated Exodus time was accurate within about 10 minutes. That's pretty darn amazing.

One of my neighbors would play it on his car radio with the doors open in the mornings. I enjoyed the routine and the fact that for the most part the music played on BMIR was so different from what we heard on the playa.

I particularly appreciated that many of the songs played during Exodus reflected the mood of leaving home and missing friends.

The only suggestion/wish-list-item I would have is to publish playlists online. It'd be really cool if there were a place where I could look up what songs were playing during Exodus and then play that same set at home sometime and remember leaving HOME.

Keep up the great work!

[KellY]

Hey folks, DJ Apollo here. Interesting reading the feedback. It would probably be helpful if folks said what time they were listening during Exodus - lots of different DJ's that day, and kn owing who was giving good info and who wasn't might be useful..

Oh, and if you don't like the music on BMIR, try tuning in a couple hours later. No format, individual DJ style is what it's all about.

[caliban]

RTFM, people. The plan for pulsing traffic was discussed in JRS email messages before the event, as well as on the piece of paper news thing that was handed to EVERY PERSON who entered BRC.

It was also discussed a little during the week on the radio, as a courtesy.

If you didn't know what pulsing was, didn't know that plan, it's because your failed part of the radical self-reliance test. If you need someone to come whisper into your ear what things are about - exactly when you need to know and when/if you're actually fucking listening - then your fuckin' doin' it wrong.

That said, sure, I guess BMIR could have given annoying re-descriptions of pulsing every 20 minutes.

[caliban]

I'm only speaking as a local loudmouth, not for BMIR or something. I knew all about pulsing (even though I got to drive out the back way, 25 minutes to Gerlach!) long before I left home to go to BRC 2010.