Plug & Play/Turnkey Camping

[FIGJAM]

2nded!!!

[Bob]

Was this a registered theme camp? What was their act?

[ZaphodBurner]

Was this a registered theme camp? What was their act?

I don't know but I overheard somebody saying he runs the camp and doesn't make money off of it. Which is like parking your giant art car in front of burners, blocking their view of the man, or running an unmuffled generator and justifying it by saying you don't make money off of it.

"I'm going to invite a bunch of strangers to come watch you have sex, but, it's okay. I do it every year, and I don't make any money off of it."

The down-the-road is, I also heard camp hosts talking about how next year they were going buy tickets for and hire day laborers to come out and set up/tear down camp for them. They'll show up, pound stakes, and then run amok--in someone else's camp--soaking up free booze and food, chase girls for a week, and then return on Sunday to tear down while everybody parties. We met a few of these. They were in street clothes, barely spoke English, had no idea what was going on and tried desperately to hook up with the playa hotties to the point of my wife having to politely remind a group of them to leave her and her married friends alone. They basically just followed her around and gawked until they were told to fuck off. Nice enough guys, but, they simply had no grasp of what this is all about because they were probably brought there to wash dishes.

[shykat]

What were all those construction site trailers set up on k (ish) and 8i (sh). Must have been atleast 30 of them set up in a square. They were there on friday , pre opening.

Not sure is it was camp or not, at the time i saw them on Saturday afternoon they were still empty,

[Candybox]

The down-the-road is, I also heard camp hosts talking about how next year they were going buy tickets for and hire day laborers to come out and set up/tear down camp for them. They'll show up, pound stakes, and then run amok--in someone else's camp--soaking up free booze and food, chase girls for a week, and then return on Sunday to tear down while everybody parties. We met a few of these. They were in street clothes, barely spoke English, had no idea what was going on and tried desperately to hook up with the playa hotties to the point of my wife having to politely remind a group of them to leave her and her married friends alone. They basically just followed her around and gawked until they were told to fuck off. Nice enough guys, but, they simply had no grasp of what this is all about because they were probably brought there to wash dishes.

Two years ago, I walked into one of these super deluxe plug-n-play camps, and was given a "tour" by a guy who was camping with them through a friend, not pay. The camp had luxury RVs that ran generators and ACs 24/7, catered food, and what can only be described as servants even though he vehemently denied they were such. Each luxury RV had a separate attendent who stayed in a janky trailer next door, who not only set up camp but took care of their needs. Even basic stuff like setting up campfires and cleaning up after themselves. The guy was insistant that theses rich folks were awesome, and the servants weren't servants, and was utterly starstruck by the access they had to big-name DJs and good drugs.

[sambojones]

What were all those construction site trailers set up on k (ish) and 8i (sh). Must have been atleast 30 of them set up in a square. They were there on friday , pre opening.

Not sure is it was camp or not, at the time i saw them on Saturday afternoon they were still empty,

i saw that shit too when i rolled up sunday night they had posts driven into the ground by each trailer with the plug in connections on em it was weird... there was also a big toy hauler type trailer parked by em full of bikes... i was tempted to cut the power connections to all the trailers with my cordless saw but i figured karma would bite me in the ass for doing it

[BBadger]

The more I read these rants about PnP camping, the more I think the accusers are misdirecting their vitriol. Many of these stories and such could be applied to any group of entitled assholes that visit BRC, "plug-and-play" or not. The vitriol should be aimed at entitled burners/spectators, not how some people choose to roll into BRC.

Really, what is separating the PnP camper from someone else? Pulling up in their rented RV? You don't have to be in a PnP camp to camp in your house-on-wheels. The dues to the camp? Virtually everyones' camp has dues. So someone paid $350 or $1000 for "dues" to have shit taken care of instead of $100, or $50 to have possibly fewer things taken care of. Catered meals? So someone cooked meals for you, so what? It's not like your instant ramen is any less "plug and play." Sure, now you're only paying the noodle company, not some hired help, but it's still paying for convenience. Or is anything less than creating your own noodles is plug-and-play?

Or what, a PnP burner is really any worse than other spectator-burners? Some people pull up in their van, unattached to any camp, and are there just for the raving partying. They didn't "PnP," but they are still just spectating. Are they better than the PnPer because of how they chose to camp? Maybe they even leave MOOP behind. In that case I'd take the "organized" PnPers over them any day. At least they're paying "the help" to pick up the MOOP. I'd agree with placement for any PnP camp that is great at LNT than some Temple of MOOP--no matter how many people the latter served.

Oh, the PnP camps have their own camp-exclusive shit. Mutant vehicle for the camp members only? Well shit, that ain't new either, or a PnP-exclusive phenomena. The camps don't allow outsiders in to enjoy what they brought? Not new or PnP-exclusive either.

So what are the arbitrary bars here? Yeah, arbitrary. Can't fix them? Then I'm thinking this has all descended to a "burnier than thou" argument, and that is pretty weak.

PnP camps are the scapegoat. A nice easy target to pin entitled burners to. That entitled bitch who demands an margarita? Of course, a PnP camper. Those girls yakking that they ought to move on from a camp that isn't organized. Yeah, they walked out of their PnP RV with a manservant fanning them at every moment.

But you don't know. You're just assuming, and even if it were true, the fact of the matter is that those kinds of people come from all different camps--even your own.

So I'm find the whole PnP ranting a bit weak. It's not qualified hate. It's like blaming the symptom rather than the cause. It's misdirected burnier-than-thou bullshit. Sure, call out the spectators, the entitled burners, the MOOPers, the exclusionary camps--but let's stop this ridiculous misdirected witchhunt against "PnP" camps, whatever the arbitrary definition of that really is.

[MacGlenver]

The more I read these rants about PnP camping, the more I think the accusers are misdirecting their vitriol. Many of these stories and such could be applied to any group of entitled assholes that visit BRC, "plug-and-play" or not. The vitriol should be aimed at entitled burners/spectators, not how some people choose to roll into BRC.

I'm late to the party, but this sounds like the right POV to me.

[FIGJAM]

I,ve read through the entire thread and what I don,t see is a consice, specific definition of what a plug and play camp is.

Some examples I came up with were.....

Form 1. Larry invited me to TTITD for the price of a ticket.

I read a lot, prepared as I saw fit, and when I got there, there were streets so I would'nt get lost or need a gps to find my camp.

There were jots so I did'nt have to deal with my shit.

There were water trucks to keep the dust down, and, and, and!!!

That sounds like plug and play on a scale most of us accept.

Form 2. Maybe I work 80hrs. a week to run my firm, so I don't have the time or energy to do prep for the burn, but I do have an idea for an MV no dust hoover craft that launches 1 mile clouds of rainbow confetti that evaporates before it hits the ground.

So I pay someone to build it and pay for them to bring it and the RV and, and, and, so I can fly in cause I don't have any other way to burn.

Different, but still plug and play.

Form 3. Steven Hawking whats to experience Burning Man!

Has to be plug and play in some form.

Form 4. All theme camps and villages!

They all bring stuff to the playa that I can't, and make the burn what it is. (thanks doc pyro and all the rest)

I guess this would be part of form 1.

Form 5. On a whim, I fly into BM with just the clothes on my back and $3K in my pocket, then expect to buy my Burn!!! Plug and play baby!!!

ALL are going to be "A Burning Man experience".

We all have our own, and they are unique to each of us.

It becomes a matter of degrees, and without a precise definition, I don't know where to draw the line.

Have vouchers for Ice and services, and if you flash cash anywhere, you are ejected?

I don't know!!!!!!!!!!

So can we define exactly what "Plug and Play" is before we get too bogged down in this discussion?

I see a lot of good points being brought up, but let's find out exactly what we're talking about!

[BBadger]

I,ve read through the entire thread and what I don,t see is a consice, specific definition of what a plug and play camp is.

The definition is: a scapegoat.

But really, I'm happy that other people are questioning this flimsy concept and what it really means--if anything.

[Bob]

Seems to be a failure here to differentiate "camp" and "theme camp", starting from the initial post.

[trilobyte]

I think the definition is still being worked out. This entire thread and the blog post/video that accompanied its creation were an effort to try and define what that might be, as well as determine what the potential positive and negative impact could be. After quite a bit of discussion, some minimal guidelines were established (see this blog post for details).

[pink]

My main issue with these camps (besides people commodifying the burn ON PLAYA), is that getting to Burning Man is not supposed to be easy. The fact that it isn't easy has for a long time weeded out those that just couldn't hack the planning and cobble together the resources to get there and stay there.

PnP makes it too easy for wealthy sparkleponies to just pay a bunch of cash and go in comfort. No need to read the survival guide, no need to plan for cooking, shade, and the sense of community that comes from building a camp and taking care of a camp. I loved a few threads that popped up close to the burn where solo burners were hooking up to share resources and create a camp. Or stories where burners met neighbors and shared. The first year I camped with friends that had a contingent of Japanese burners attached to it. They had happened to be neighbors one year, and the tradition continued- the Japanese burners didn't need to figure out shade, and the rest of us got to learn a bit about Japan & get some killer food cooked for us. But they brought their own costumes, and bikes, food & water. And figured out how to do this from Japan. The comment in the blog post about how PnP allowed some people to get to BM who 'otherwise would not be able to get there'...well that's the point of it being difficult! Either you have some modicum of self-reliance (we aren't even talking about radical self-reliance here), or you don't. I have a feeling that most PnP-ers could figure out how to get here, they just don't want to make the effort. Making an effort is what the burn is all about, and when someone doesn't have to make an effort, why does it surprise us that they end up as spectators or with a sense of entitlement?

When I first learned of camps with large camp dues, it pissed me off. But camping in between two camps with dues, I found out a bit more about it; both had containers, one large, one small. Having storage near the burn enabled the camps that were not located nearby to create more. I didn't see any social stratification though-participation was by all.

We have always had a problem with weekend warriors and the way they don't seem to get the principles. We've seen the sense of entitlement espoused by the 'chicken lady' and others-a sense of privledge that comes from...what? Money? Being a 'famous artist'? I see Burning Man as the great leveler. I love being able to interact with people only in the way they are presenting themselves at the moment, without the wedges and lables that defaultia puts on us by where we live, what we do, how we dress. Burning Man strips all of that away and I can relate to you human to human without any preconcieved ideas about you. Turning the burn into a destination vacation spoils the community we've been building.

[Zhust]

Just thought I'd throw in a bit of levity:

Around 3 and G, I think, I passed a guy unloading his truck. There was a yellow tent that had "budget plug-n-play camping" spray-painted haphazardly across the side, and a plush horse/bicycle sprawled in front. He said it was indeed what it said: his friends arrived a few days prior and set it up for him. I thought it was hilarious.

[Savannah]

That's delightful.

[kfun]

I'm glad at the attempt to change the name from plug and play to turnkey camping. But really I want to have a contest to negatively brand such style of camping. I'm all ears. I really am annoyed by tourist on the playa. Please lets do everything to make them understand radical self reliance and not feed into this crap. 60 rv's PLEEEESE. go to vegas.

[theCryptofishist]

But so, so, so Cargo Cult!