Official "Not Awarded Tix" Thread

[llightning]

Thanks BMORG, you broke Burning Man. By creating this lottery, you have encouraged people to grab as many tickets/chances as possible while leaving a huge amount of people to hang in the wind. Yes, there is the STEP program, and the general sale, and yes many people can wait until the last minute to get tickets, but those are going to be the last minute people anyway. Those won't be the people who contribute and build and do art and performance. How could they. I've been involved with BIG art projects in the past and if you don't start in January chances are you might not be done by August. But I'm not going to work on my art this year until I know I can get in. And that might not happen until June? I don't think so. This lottery was the worst idea. Admit it. You were wrong, and you have pissed off your core supporters.
Thanks again for breaking Burning Man.

[Fawn]

Trying to stay positive about this whole thing but right now I just want to cry.....Burning Man means so much to me and my fiance. It was where we got engaged last year and we are planning our wedding there this year...........We both registered for 2 tickets but didn't get them....Just praying that the STEP program or open sale work for us. If it doesn't I don't know what we are going to do.......

[Bounce530]

Thanks BMORG, you broke Burning Man. By creating this lottery, you have encouraged people to grab as many tickets/chances as possible while leaving a huge amount of people to hang in the wind. Yes, there is the STEP program, and the general sale, and yes many people can wait until the last minute to get tickets, but those are going to be the last minute people anyway. Those won't be the people who contribute and build and do art and performance. How could they. I've been involved with BIG art projects in the past and if you don't start in January chances are you might not be done by August. But I'm not going to work on my art this year until I know I can get in. And that might not happen until June? I don't think so. This lottery was the worst idea. Admit it. You were wrong, and you have pissed off your core supporters.
Thanks again for breaking Burning Man.

Totally agree

[Pikaboo]

I've never been to Burning Man, this year was going to be the year. After watching all my friends go last year (after have planned to, but falling short financially) I established a goal to make it out onto the playa. To make this happens, since September I have been working 43+ hours a week, on top of being a full time student at the UW. My motivation getting me through the long, exhausting weeks has been that in August, I can let it all go and live a little, experience a the dream that is Burning Man. I had my money set aside for the ticket a month in advance, my registration was in at 12:40 the day the gate opened. And now I don't have a ticket... I'm pretty crushed.

I know there will be a sale later, but I needed that confirmation that this was going to happen. Now, it isn't a done deal, there's nothing set in stone. Not because I wasn't prepared and didn't have my shit together, but because of some lottery system to weed out scalpers. Well guess what, there's a couple hundred tickets on other websites going for $600+... so obviously it was completely ineffective. The only difference the lottery made, was it took tickets that should have gone to Burners who were prepared to buy their ticket and instead placed them in the hand of the scalpers. It's simple, if you want a ticket BE READY to buy one right when sales open. That's fair, this system is just suspenseful and unnecessary.

If you want to get rid of scalpers, it's simple: make tickets only valid to the name they're registered in. That way, people with excess tickets have to return them to the event, otherwise the ticket is useless.

Well... here's to hoping this all still works out. See you on the playa... maybe

[pandora422]

[quote="llightning"]Thanks BMORG, you broke Burning Man. By creating this lottery, you have encouraged people to grab as many tickets/chances as possible while leaving a huge amount of people to hang in the wind. Yes, there is the STEP program, and the general sale, and yes many people can wait until the last minute to get tickets, but those are going to be the last minute people anyway. Those won't be the people who contribute and build and do art and performance. How could they. I've been involved with BIG art projects in the past and if you don't start in January chances are you might not be done by August. But I'm not going to work on my art this year until I know I can get in. And that might not happen until June? I don't think so. This lottery was the worst idea. Admit it. You were wrong, and you have pissed off your core supporters.
Thanks again for breaking Burning Man.[/quote]

Well Said!

[YardleyLuv]

Snif Snif 2012 was supposed to be my first time... But, I'm still not giving up, where there is a will there is a way!!!! Congrats to all who got tickets, I'm very happy for you all...

[dougtinva]

Fuck

[Marscrumbs]

Thanks BMORG, you broke Burning Man. By creating this lottery, you have encouraged people to grab as many tickets/chances as possible while leaving a huge amount of people to hang in the wind. Yes, there is the STEP program, and the general sale, and yes many people can wait until the last minute to get tickets, but those are going to be the last minute people anyway. Those won't be the people who contribute and build and do art and performance. How could they. I've been involved with BIG art projects in the past and if you don't start in January chances are you might not be done by August. But I'm not going to work on my art this year until I know I can get in. And that might not happen until June? I don't think so. This lottery was the worst idea. Admit it. You were wrong, and you have pissed off your core supporters.
Thanks again for breaking Burning Man.

Totally agree

So lesson learned from this year's lottery sale:

Do not sign up for only the tickets you need. Sign up for the absolute maximum you can afford on your card and ask your friends and relatives to sign up for the maximum they can afford in so that you increase your odds of getting tickets and as an added bonus have extra tickets you can then sell at a higher price.

Yeah! What those guy say!

The Lotto sucked, and I'd say that even if I got a ticket for the reasons above and some.
I'm pissed, and will likely go to Europe instead.

[SpacemanSpliff]

I didn't get a ticket.

But that's not why I'm angry. I'm angry for a number of reasons, but not that.

I'm angry because the Burner community came up with dozens of perfectly workable solutions to the problem of distributing tickets (Glastonbury-style is my favorite), and BMORG studiously ignored every suggestion. I'm angry because as soon as the lottery system came out, the Burner community screamed that everyone was just going to register multiple times, and BMORG ignored them, too. I'm angry because BMORG had the audacity to claim that they were surprised when people signed up for 150,000 tickets via the lottery. I'm angry because BMORG clearly cares more about whether their servers crash than keeping tickets out of scalpers' hands. I'm angry because as one of the organizers of a 150 person, five-digit budget camp, I don't think we're going to be able to go as all out as previous years—fewer people means less money means a less impressive camp. And I'm angry because, after reading this thread, it's obvious we're not the only big camp in this predicament. I'm angry because there are already 80+ tickets on stubhub going for a minimum of $600. I'm angry because BMORG continues to trumpet STEP as the solution to everyone's ills, when it's painfully obvious that any extra tickets out there are in the hands of scalpers, not the community (have you seen any mention of non-scalpers with extra tickets? Me nether). I'm angry because BMORG royally screwed the pooch on this one, possibly doing permanent and irreversible damage to BM, and has yet to even apologize for their mistake.

I'm not angry because I don't have a ticket. I'll probably get a ticket. I'm angry because I think I might have just witnessed the beginning of the end of Burning Man.

[Sugahoneyicetea]

Thanks BMORG, you broke Burning Man. By creating this lottery, you have encouraged people to grab as many tickets/chances as possible while leaving a huge amount of people to hang in the wind. Yes, there is the STEP program, and the general sale, and yes many people can wait until the last minute to get tickets, but those are going to be the last minute people anyway. Those won't be the people who contribute and build and do art and performance. How could they. I've been involved with BIG art projects in the past and if you don't start in January chances are you might not be done by August. But I'm not going to work on my art this year until I know I can get in. And that might not happen until June? I don't think so. This lottery was the worst idea. Admit it. You were wrong, and you have pissed off your core supporters.
Thanks again for breaking Burning Man.

Totally agree

So lesson learned from this year's lottery sale:

Do not sign up for only the tickets you need. Sign up for the absolute maximum you can afford on your card and ask your friends and relatives to sign up for the maximum they can afford in so that you increase your odds of getting tickets and as an added bonus have extra tickets you can then sell at a higher price.

Yeah! What those guy say!

The Lotto sucked, and I'd say that even if I got a ticket for the reasons above and some.
I'm pissed, and will likely go to Europe instead.

ditto.

[caturdaze]

Aww whatever, this is such a costly event anyway. Tickets are $390, plus supplies which can easily be $1000 for a first timer with zero gear. It cost me and my partner approx. $1000 each last year contributing to camp resources such as art car and etc. Think about what you could do with that kind of cash. How about a round-trip ticket to Japan? A cruise in Hawaii? A balls out trip to Amsterdam?

Let's not dwell on the tickets we didn't get and start planning on something else that will give us a similar amount of happy.

[eastcoastpat]

Europe is not a bad idea.

I heard Tomorrowland is cool: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M7CdTAiaLes

[RedHeaven]

I blame Dr Seuss

I wanna go if I can afford it this year (I have a 390 back up from a nice friend) but next year I don't want to be a part of it anymore until things disperse a bit.

[pandora422]

[quote="Fawn"]Trying to stay positive about this whole thing but right now I just want to cry.....Burning Man means so much to me and my fiance. It was where we got engaged last year and we are planning our wedding there this year...........We both registered for 2 tickets but didn't get them....Just praying that the STEP program or open sale work for us. If it doesn't I don't know what we are going to do....... [/quote]

Never Fear Faun - there are 81 (and climbing) tickets available on Stub Hub starting at $650. And no, I do not work for Stub hub, just posting a fact.

[Marscrumbs]

It's going to be a crappy year filled of virgins standing around staring at each other trying to figure out what the big deal is, and where the naked chicks and drugs are.

Hope the wind blows dally too just to give them a taste of playa.
Sterility 2.0

[shawsome]

Damn, apparently im a shitty blackjack player AND lotto player lol. Interested to see how STEP works. Hopefully everyones ticket situation work and I get to see all you lovely people on the big dusty lake bed

[photobyautumn]

Last year my boyfriend and I had to leave burning man on Wednesday because his father died - on the playa in the tent next to us. We really need to go this year, to visit his spirit at the temple. But we were NOT awarded tickets. This is devastating to us. If someone knows of where we can get one (at face value) please help us. We are years long burners, and so was his father.

[LadyLynx]

FRACK ME IN THE butt. I missed out going last year due to forclosure and bankruptcy, can't I get some GODDAMN happy this year???????? apparently not. no happy for me......I don't deserve it.

[tootalltof]

Well, congrats Burning Man. You managed to make it so true burners can't go HOME. Starting the lottery in itself has caused people to try to acquire more tickets than needed in fear that their friends won't be able to come HOME with them. Then after we all follow your procedures, rules, answer your questions. At the last min the Burning Man Organization changed the rules on how you will distribute the tickets. Now some people have tickets and their loved ones don't. I was willing to pay the highest tier, even though I couldn't afford it. Hoping that wold give me a better chance. To my dismay, I was wrong. There are 70-80 people in our camp, we work all year long on our BM projects and very few people got tickets. So now we have to wait and might not be done in time for BM. All this did was limit availability to true burners and force up the ticket prices.
WELL DONE SIR! you managed to kill the spirit of burning man.

[FlynnHandley]

.... However, I WILL be going to burning man.

I've already made plans to travel half way around the world (from Australia) I'm not going to let a little thing like this hold me back.

[sirrealle]

Well, I'm sorta bummed that I didn't get a ticket. I applied at the 390 level, so was told "No" by the computer system in 3 different tiers.
However, this would have been my first Burning Man. I'd probably feel even more bummed if I knew that I got a ticket and it was stopping a non-virgin from going.

So, since 40,000 people got tickets and there's an average (based on this thread) of 30 - 50% of people (camps) not getting tickets, I suppose this means when those last 10,000 tickets go on sale, it's going to be around 30 - 40,000 people scrambling for them? This is a little discouraging; maybe I've been putting too much hype into wanting to go to Burning Man?

[Sadhaka Serrelinda]

I didn't get a ticket.

But that's not why I'm angry. I'm angry for a number of reasons, but not that.

I'm angry because the Burner community came up with dozens of perfectly workable solutions to the problem of distributing tickets (Glastonbury-style is my favorite), and BMORG studiously ignored every suggestion. I'm angry because as soon as the lottery system came out, the Burner community screamed that everyone was just going to register multiple times, and BMORG ignored them, too. I'm angry because BMORG had the audacity to claim that they were surprised when people signed up for 150,000 tickets via the lottery. I'm angry because BMORG clearly cares more about whether their servers crash than keeping tickets out of scalpers' hands. I'm angry because as one of the organizers of a 150 person, five-digit budget camp, I don't think we're going to be able to go as all out as previous years—fewer people means less money means a less impressive camp. And I'm angry because, after reading this thread, it's obvious we're not the only big camp in this predicament. I'm angry because there are already 80+ tickets on stubhub going for a minimum of $600. I'm angry because BMORG continues to trumpet STEP as the solution to everyone's ills, when it's painfully obvious that any extra tickets out there are in the hands of scalpers, not the community (have you seen any mention of non-scalpers with extra tickets? Me nether). I'm angry because BMORG royally screwed the pooch on this one, possibly doing permanent and irreversible damage to BM, and has yet to even apologize for their mistake.

I'm not angry because I don't have a ticket. I'll probably get a ticket. I'm angry because I think I might have just witnessed the beginning of the end of Burning Man.

SpacemanSpliff has an excellent point. SO many ideas were brought to the table by Burners from all communities. What, exactly, is the BMORG intending to do about the tickets that are already being scalped? I hope that the purchase of those tickets are canceled by BMORG and put up again for a re-sale, but how plausible is that, and will BMORG listen? As a virgin I'd love to go, but I hear and understand the heartbreak of veteran Burners and empathize with them so much. I do, however, wonder if some of the artists would be willing to put their stuff together just for the love of what they do? Yes, your car/art/theme camp may not make it out this year, but isn't the whole point of BM to expand outwards into our own communities? I hope that the ideas some of you are thinking about putting back on the shelf come to fruition after all and are shared with your neighbors and family. As for me, I'll register and wait for a ticket to come my way, but in the meantime I'll be attending other events that allow me to experience Burner culture and meet even more amazing people.

I wish you all the best of luck <3

BMORG, *please* consider canceling the ticket purchases that are already showing up on scalper websites! Refund the money and put them back on sale for people who are truly living in Burner spirit. BM will only continue to thrive if the attendees are included in the evolution process...

[selectricity]

Isn't Burning Man about radical self reliance?

What have we learned?

If we can't get to the party... LET'S CREATE OUR OWN. Let's rely on ourselves.

Nothing lasts.

[thestone]

What's worse is that this situation is starting to create feelings of jealousy and resentment within the community. It's hard not to feel that when you know that other people got tickets because they entered multiple times but you followed the rules and got fucked. We're 213 days from the Burn and, as a community, we've already got this rift between those with tickets and those without. Over the next two months, this frustration is only going to build.

My roommate is already bumming because I got mine and he didn't

[muze]

well, fuck...the worst part was getting an AUTH charge, only to be rejected over 12 hrs later. I think BMORG greatly underestimated the psychological ramifications of a lottery system; it could be successful if we were all perfect computers unfortunately humans are motivated by emotions, thoughts, and self preservation.

[Nipple]

So, since 40,000 people got tickets and there's an average (based on this thread) of 30 - 50% of people (camps) not getting tickets, I suppose this means when those last 10,000 tickets go on sale, it's going to be around 30 - 40,000 people scrambling for them? This is a little discouraging; maybe I've been putting too much hype into wanting to go to Burning Man?

More like 23,500 thousand people were allotted 40,000 tickets yesterday. There will be a LOT of tickets floating around here in the coming weeks. Nothing is over, nothing is final.

Out of the 45,000 tickets released so far, 82 are currently on stub hub. Less than 0.20% of tickets. That means they're in the hands of your friends and neighbors who all want you to go to BurningMan.

If you plan, you will burn.

You're all strong, smart, self-reliant people. I have a lot of faith in you.

[findmarc]

I rarely post, but... this ticketless situation is such a disappointment... I've been going for 8 years. I've always known for sure in January. But not this time. No golden ticket. Sometimes I traveled from as far away as West Africa to get to the playa, but I did (and I paid a-plenty for my flight ticket (in January)). Other years, I drove many miles to get to there. I know that somehow I will be home again, but having to wait, and wait -just to see if/when I will get a ticket, is frustrating. Perhaps I will cross paths with someone with an extra ticket!

Ok. I just wanted to vent.

Congrats to all that were successful.
And good luck to everyone who is still in need.

Cheers,
Marco Pollo

[JeniferN]

After years of wanting to go but never being able to afford to, I was finally going to be able to buy a ticket and go. So when the tickets went on sale I was ready I put in my registration by 12:09 on the first day of the sale. I had never heard of a draw for tickets before but thought if it helps with keeping scalpers away then way to go. Then the draw day finally happens and then all I start to hear is how many people over bought and how scalpers bought and all this other crap. I am happy for those who got there tickets that truly wanted one. For those of you who did get tickets for personal gain. SHAME ON YOU!!!!!I will try this step program people are talking about and the sale in March but I really doubt I will be able to afford 420 a ticket. Just so bummed and this lottery thing sucked making people wait weeks to find out and then the day of the draw 24hours watching and waiting. Not the best experience I can say that. Hope everyone that wants a ticket and tries for a ticket this next time gets one. Good Luck For all of us who didn't get.

[remi]

More like 23,500 thousand people were allotted 40,000 tickets yesterday. There will be a LOT of tickets floating around here in the coming weeks. Nothing is over, nothing is final.

Out of the 45,000 tickets released so far, 82 are currently on stub hub. Less than 0.20% of tickets. That means they're in the hands of your friends and neighbors who all want you to go to BurningMan.

If you plan, you will burn.

You're all strong, smart, self-reliant people. I have a lot of faith in you.

At such a negative time, it's nice to see such a positive post! I want to play with your nipples!

[Faevan]

Trying to stay positive about this, but I am a bit heartsick watching everyone around me get their confirmation tickets.