2012 Theme Camps - will you make it this year?

[theshaman]

Black Rock Yearbook is pretty questionable given that we have at best 15-20% of members ticketed, including most of the key members that transport equipment. We are in discussion with other theme camps about possibly joining forces, given that I have yet to find a theme camp that has enough people to pull off their camp.

Ashram Galactic is probably just taking a pass this year. I spoke with one of their main McGuyvers the other day.

It is a bit of a bummer as one couple in camp was planning a full on playa wedding, legal one, and have both sets of parents on board. However, bride, groom, and parents (6 total) have one ticket among them. They may have to skip the burn altogether.

I have a ticket for myself and my girl (her first year) but we may have to find a new camp. Should be an interesting year.

[ZaphodBurner]

"Black Rock Yearbook is pretty questionable"

Fuckity! I hope you all make it.

"Ashram Galatica"

!!! I was afraid of that.

A Slutgarden couple who got engaged on the playa last year had a wedding planned this year but the bride/groom and most of the wedding crew didn't get tickets. In our camp, two of our people were having a 10-year-anniversary ceremony and they all struck out so far too.

You can't assess the damage until the storm is over and the dust has settled. We'll see what happens. The cardinal rule with the entire PDX community that I've seen so far is that we won't pay over face value. I hope the Yearbook makes it, even if we don't.

Good luck!

[lemur]

as someone who sat through DMV processing sessions well into august last year (and appeal sessions..) I am kinda interested to see what the applications are like this year in comparison to last year....i surely wouldnt want LESS.. cuz ya know its kinda fun to do them (really!! it is!!).. and i dont want to see the number drop because lotsa MV's is awesome!!

i dont think any of us are on the placement team so we wont know about that till the burn.. or until people mention not coming....... or the 2012 afterburn..

and well... i dont think many/any of the DMV people would be blabbing about how applications came out anyways but.. it will be interesting to see for myself if theres any difference.. (if youre interested in helping out.. and some nights there we have needed a few extras.. fill out that volunteer questionnaire and get involved!!)

of course it will be a few months before the dmv starts processing!

[Dustdevil]

The real DMV information will only be visible after the Event. It costs nothing to register a Mutant Vehicle so even if you don't have a ticket, YET, I am guessing most people will submit their DMV applications as they are time sensitive. There is always a small percentage of MV's that do not show up for various reasons and that percentage has remained close to the same for several years now. If the number of no-shows increases dramatically, I think the answer why will be obvious.

[lemur]

If the number of no-shows increases dramatically, I think the answer why will be obvious.

yeah.. they dont want to miss two or three weeks of DR WHO episodes!!!!

[JCarter]

What if just 10 people are seriously injured or killed at the event because they simply didn't read the survival guide or because a crowd turns ugly a la Woodstock '99? What if then hits the mainstream media and politicians get involved? Burning Man is, factually, at stake if there isn't a collaborative effort to get tens of thousands of NON-EPLAYA virgins up to speed before they hurt themselves.

How about regionals conduct a series of workshops and web videos? Give those virgins a chance to learn in real time what they need in order to have a safe and happy Burn. Have people that have attended B'Man or, even better, viewed as "elders" showing burgins how it is done.

It could be made fun for everyone by doing it in a relaxed format, having the vets tell stories(I don't think a vet exists that doesn't like to tell "no shit there I was" stories) and teaching lessons about what is a good and a bad idea along the way.

And for those who are going to be "Home"-less for the year, the experience might help the sting a bit.

[Canoe]

... How about regionals conduct a series of workshops and web videos? Give those virgins a chance to learn in real time what they need in order to have a safe and happy Burn. Have people that have attended B'Man or, even better, viewed as "elders" showing burgins how it is done. It could be made fun for everyone by doing it in a relaxed format, having the vets tell stories(I don't think a vet exists that doesn't like to tell "no shit there I was" stories) and teaching lessons about what is a good and a bad idea along the way...

Or have the crew who did the "oh the places you'll go" video do a how-to video on BM survival, participating, gifting, ... posted on the same channels.

[RedHeaven]

Or have the crew who did the "oh the places you'll go" video do a how-to video on BM survival, participating, gifting, ... posted on the same channels.

Fucking great idea...maybe the Dr Seuss crew could add some shirt cockin' to their vid this time...oh wait we're trying to inspire correctly here Maybe a Gnomestradomas or a Gnome Chomsky football sized playa turd, too.
Tough year for burgins, there is already a sense of expectations, and they especially get turned off when theme camps or vets feel entitlement....but if they had been before they would have a better understanding of why. I have been going back and forth as to what I should do....Sweet talk them to make them feel good about going, or give em some rusty nails? Trying to do a little of both. I find if I get negative, I have a boat load of non burners ready to give me the BURNER DOUCHE award. Hmmm maybe i deserve it Carry On eplaya, I just need to vent a bit with you guys.

[theshaman]

The Yearbook peep will make it, and we are still committed that Don Norris (one of the main photographers) and his bride Kelly will be able to get legally married on the playa with their parents there. It may just be that BRYB is a smaller feature of a collaborative theme camp, possibly MalMart.

We haven't given up hope, but our main Camp Daddy, the hardest working man in camp, is sans ticket currently. He normally pulls the big shade structure out of storage and tows it up on his art car trailer. I will be towing up my beloved Gritty Titty Gang Bang but not sure what I will be towing it with or if I could add that much weight to the load.

I actually kinda like the "not knowing" reminds me of my first burn...

[theCryptofishist]

PICKLE JOINT has 4 tickets out of 14 members. This will be our 10th year as a camp, and the 15th year for several of our campers. We consider Burning Man to be a vocation, a lifestyle, the love of our lives. At this point, nothing will stop us from attending and building the camp. As anyone who has ever tried to do anything on the playa knows, often the greater the challenge, the greater the reward. Let's be real, building a theme camp is always hell on a plate. The tears, the blood, the dust, the lols... Fuck, that's what we're paying for. We want to be pushed to the limit and triumph, or at least fail handsomely. Okay, so one of this year's many hurdles will be getting ten tickets by any means necessary. Challenge accepted! Game on motherfucker! What else you got?

The incredible passion on these boards and everywhere the good folk of BRC are hashing it out right now will result in one of the most intense, innovative, unique, and fun years ever. Just you wait. We'll see you in August.

Nicely stated. You too, mV birdfrog...

[Canoe]

update, and 1st attempt to show the data in additional categories
Warning: although some camps are a definite "cancel" or doing an alternate camp, much is still in flux as camps:
> do or don't expect to cancel,
> are looking at feasibility of alternates (scaling, different camp, combining, sharing, etc.).
A lot of camps examining those two points appear in the chart as Green or Yellow (I expect a lot of Green to end up as "Alternate" camps, as well as a fair portion of the Yellow, along with some of the cancelled camps members as they explore options).
Cancel means that they're not doing their camp this year. It doesn't mean members are not attending BM.
And alot of the camps status will already be out of date as decisions change but status doesn't get to me.

And everything is subject to change as the ticket distribution unfolds.

So, I don't know how much value this additional presentation has. But here it is.

58 Camps, 2291 People, 431 Tickets (18.8%), Ticket Shortfall of 1860 Tickets Needed.

0% (5 camps, 110 people - no tickets)
<10% (4 camps, 369 people, 1 tickets 2.7%), (1h, 23n, 2ah, 28an, 315c)
<20% (20 camps, 1063 people, 128 tickets 12.7%), (128h, 882n, 0ah, 0an, 53c)
<30% (10 camps, 252 people, 39 tickets 23.8%), (39h, 120n, 11ah, 24an, 58c)
<40% (9 camps, 248 people, 71 tickets 31.9%), (71h, 156n, 8ah, 2an, 11c)
<50% (3 camps, 133 people, 55 tickets 41.4%), (55h, 78n, 0ah, 0an, 0c)
<75% (3 camps, 48 people, 32 tickets 66.7%), (32h, 16n, 0ah, 0an, 0c)
<100% (3 camps, 38 people, 30 tickets 78.9%), (30h, 8n, 0ah, 0an, 0c)
100% (1 camps, 30 people, 30 tickets 100%), (30h, 0n, 0ah, 0an, 0c)

[Pop_Tart]

The bigger question is, what if it all turns out okay? What if camps adapt or mutate or sit the year out, and new camps form up to fill the void and people have an amazing time and no one dies?

Agreed!

My camp (Mal-Mart) and I fiercely believe that not only is it going to turn out OK, but that this will be one of the best Burns ever! We very well may have the largest ratio of virgins to convert to the BM ideologies, we will have some of the most organic camps ever produced, and the weird little lines that we have drawn over the years between groups, concepts, themes, and events will blow away in the dust to reform as something uniquely beautiful! Fertility 2.0 - A truely great theme!

Deep in our hearts, we at Mal-Mart *know* we will get back home, and so we are blazing full steam ahead to make it a reality! Join us!!!

[Canoe]

Already looking slightly better after but one day.

BRC 2012, camps, tickets, alternates, cancelled, Feb 14, 2012 - sm.jpg

[Canoe]

And another view of the data.

BRC 2012, camp membership status & tickets, Feb 14, 2012 sm.jpg

[Galaxo Magic]

as someone who sat through DMV processing sessions well into august last year (and appeal sessions..) I am kinda interested to see what the applications are like this year in comparison to last year....i surely wouldnt want LESS.. cuz ya know its kinda fun to do them (really!! it is!!).. and i dont want to see the number drop because lotsa MV's is awesome!!

I hope there is not a reduction in the number of MVs this year. They are my favorite part out BM. Of course, there are lots of favorite parts but from 2001 I have been a MV lover.
2011 I made my first, Beau le'Phant, the pink elephant. I couldn't believe how popular it was. So many pictures taken with it, people running up to it. What an awesome feeling! I had given joy to so many more people than any other project (including bands) that I had brought to the playa.
2012, we plan to bring Beau back for an encore, then retire Beau (2013 something different). The two main guys that built Beau (Shipwreck and myself) have our tickets. Our theme camp, Camp Upsie Dasium, is going forward with plans. We are a few tickets short and if we can't get them then we will be looking to add a few folks from other 'broken camps' or just folks that want to help our camp. We were fortunate to get 3 of our 4 ticket applications accepted, so 6 or the 8 NEEDED tickets.

We'll probably be posting in the Theme Camps looking for new members thread in the next few weeks to fill the holes left by non-ticketed camp mates. If the non-ticketed mates get tickets then we'll be even bigger than last year!

Burn long and perspire!

PS - Canoe, you have probably already counted us from before. And thanks for the charts, I like reviewing them.

[mshaman]

as someone who sat through DMV processing sessions well into august last year (and appeal sessions..) I am kinda interested to see what the applications are like this year in comparison to last year....i surely wouldnt want LESS.. cuz ya know its kinda fun to do them (really!! it is!!).. and i dont want to see the number drop because lotsa MV's is awesome!!

I hope there is not a reduction in the number of MVs this year. They are my favorite part out BM. Of course, there are lots of favorite parts but from 2001 I have been a MV lover.
2011 I made my first, Beau le'Phant, the pink elephant. I couldn't believe how popular it was. So many pictures taken with it, people running up to it. What an awesome feeling! I had given joy to so many more people than any other project (including bands) that I had brought to the playa.
2012, we plan to bring Beau back for an encore, then retire Beau (2013 something different). The two main guys that built Beau (Shipwreck and myself) have our tickets. Our theme camp, Camp Upsie Dasium, is going forward with plans. We are a few tickets short and if we can't get them then we will be looking to add a few folks from other 'broken camps' or just folks that want to help our camp. We were fortunate to get 3 of our 4 ticket applications accepted, so 6 or the 8 NEEDED tickets.

We'll probably be posting in the Theme Camps looking for new members thread in the next few weeks to fill the holes left by non-ticketed camp mates. If the non-ticketed mates get tickets then we'll be even bigger than last year!

Burn long and perspire!

PS - Canoe, you have probably already counted us from before. And thanks for the charts, I like reviewing them.

@Galaxo Magic, while I hope for the best, there will certainly be less MV's this year... Christina, Queen of the BRC got zero tickets. That was one of my favorite cars because it appeared to be a real yacht on a military truck frame, not yet another school-bus with some crappy boat facade. My camp's ticket rate is 30%. We're bringing 2 art cars, and abandoning 2 art car concepts for this year. So with 30% staff we're getting 50% yield, doing more with less, go team. But less is still less.

[Galaxo Magic]

@Galaxo Magic, while I hope for the best, there will certainly be less MV's this year... Christina, Queen of the BRC got zero tickets. That was one of my favorite cars because it appeared to be a real yacht on a military truck frame, not yet another school-bus with some crappy boat facade. My camp's ticket rate is 30%. We're bringing 2 art cars, and abandoning 2 art car concepts for this year. So with 30% staff we're getting 50% yield, doing more with less, go team. But less is still less.

Yes, I know there will be less. I am sadden by this. The Christina is awesome. I have others friends with MVs in flux as well. I have gone through several stages in the last couple of weeks. Right now I am in the 'It can happen' phase. Two weeks ago I was in the 'Fuckit' stage, I've done anger, depression, and despite having a ticket, I have not done a happy dance yet.

Good luck to you guys, btw, what MVs?

[Lady V]

I've been silent here since the idea about the lottery was first posted on eplaya. My husband and my theme camp were eager for 2012 after a five-year saving-money-and-gathering-a-larger-group hiatus. We are/were a small camp, but we offered everything we had in 2006, even though we ended up being only four people. We had flower garlands, billowing curtains, a white dome, an interactive art piece (golden eggs, love fortune, quotes), high tea, and a bunch of workshops which ended up full and smiling every day (art, dreams, kung fu).

After we heard about the lottery, we just sort of... sank. Reading what people were posting on eplaya, it became clear what was likely to happen. So, even though I spent most of BMan 2011 on the laptop, watching the playa and dreaming of the camp we'd create in 2012, of gathering manzanita branches for our forest dome, creating creatures for the trees, making a fountain for the center of the glade, planning our workshops and our Viennese waltz dancing floor... we did not register for the main sale, and decided to go to Iceland instead.

Good luck to everyone who is able to go this year. Our hearts go out to you. Is it possible to acculturate 40% of any group? Sad, sad, sad at what has happened here.

After the JRS tonight, one of our campmates said, "I know this is not anyone's fault, but if we went this year, I think I would feel like a roadie."

[sensei_88]

well it looks like today's announcement could give this thread a whole new spin.......

I'm guessing the likes of Distrikt etc will now recieve the support they need and (imo) deserve. God I hope they get Christina there too! She was my anchor last year

[Canoe]

well it looks like today's announcement could give this thread a whole new spin.......

I'm guessing the likes of Distrikt etc will now recieve the support they need and (imo) deserve. God I hope they get Christina there too! She was my anchor last year

Still not enough to go around.
Most if not all will have to go scaled down.

[mshaman]

@Galaxo Magic, while I hope for the best, there will certainly be less MV's this year... Christina, Queen of the BRC got zero tickets. That was one of my favorite cars because it appeared to be a real yacht on a military truck frame, not yet another school-bus with some crappy boat facade. My camp's ticket rate is 30%. We're bringing 2 art cars, and abandoning 2 art car concepts for this year. So with 30% staff we're getting 50% yield, doing more with less, go team. But less is still less.

Yes, I know there will be less. I am sadden by this. The Christina is awesome. I have others friends with MVs in flux as well. I have gone through several stages in the last couple of weeks. Right now I am in the 'It can happen' phase. Two weeks ago I was in the 'Fuckit' stage, I've done anger, depression, and despite having a ticket, I have not done a happy dance yet.

Good luck to you guys, btw, what MVs?

Two camps merged into one; NautiBus and Gypsy Luvbus. The NautiBus (2 story diesel pusher bus with 10-foot extension on the back) and a little pirate ship (based on a 4-wheeler) will be there. The gypsy wagon we had recruited professional belly-dancers and psychics/tarot-readers to staff is on hold, no tickets for the belly-dancers or psychics, and the "Love Rocket Ajax" based on the "War Rocket Ajax" from the 1980 version of Flash Gordon (Flash! Ah-Ahhh!) and built from airstream trailer shells is also on hold; with the wings on, it's too big to fit at a regional, at at this point I don't invest in anything that I can't use at places other than Burning Man. Frankly I'm afraid to spend more money on such an unstable event with such apparently capricious leadership, and so are my camp-mates.

[sattelite5812]

I really want to remain positive about all of this, but knowing as many Portland area camps & MV projects as I do who didn't get anywhere near the number of tickets needed, I'm still a bit skeptical.

Personally, my theme camp is small and fledgeling (we've been around a few years at our Regional, but '11 was our first year as a registered Camp on playa), but we'd already started planning for '12 before even leaving the playa last year, and it's sad to watch all that energy fade as only 3 of our camp of 20+ got tickets (and 2 of those 3 were staff tickets, guaranteed by Ranger involvement. The other was the high-cost pre-sale. We got exactly 0 lottery tix). And none of those tickets are in the hands of those few we rely upon to transport our Camp. We've already held planning meetings and everything... and not for nothing; general consensus seems to be shifting to making this our biggest year yet at our Regional Burn, if we can't make the playa. We'll still miss going home, but that's our positive spin on the situation