YOUR THEME CAMP ISN'T THAT IMPORTANT .. and other thoughts.

[clerkkent]

Many people are posting about how their theme camp only got less than 25% of the 'needed' tickets for their entire camp to go, and now the camp might not go at all (insert dramatic music) with the tone of 'you'll miss us'. I have been 7 times, and I have yet to visit a theme camp where I said to myself “Man, if this theme camp isn't here next year, this entire city is going to hell!!”. There were scores of camps that were awesome and I enjoyed my time with them. I coordinate a small theme camp and we didn't attend in 2009.. that was the year there was a severe population decrease. You don't see me running around claiming that everyone stayed home because my theme camp didn't go.

Our small camp generally has no more than 15 members, and I would estimate we've had no more than 400 quality interactive guests (people who stopped by, conversated, played around) per year (and even that is on the high side). As a participant, I would guesstimate that I've actually interacted with maybe 40 theme camps each year (interacted = walked into their camp, introduced myself, talked with people, had a drink or snack, did whatever interactive activity their camp is known for,etc). I would guesstimate that on yearly average, I've had a quality conversation with around 500 BRC citizens per year. There's 50,000 people out there, and chances are you'll barely meet 1% !!

My point? YOUR THEME CAMP ISN'T THAT IMPORTANT.

It is nice to have, but not a must have. Yes, you put a lot effort into it.. so did the 200 other theme camps, as well as the other 40,000 burners who dragged their arse to the Playa.

One issue with the current 'theme camps should get the remaining tickets' philosophy: If you're going to make theme camps deserving of special treatment, then theme camps are going to be under the microscope to ensure they justify the investment of tickets to those groups. There are some lame 'theme camps' out there.: The 'chill dome' camps. The annual 'I'm going to have a super kinky mega sexually charged sex camp' that talks a big game online, but delivers a few RVs and a few horny old guys on the playa. The “I'm going to have one painting on a post but request 5000 square feet for all the camp supporters” camps. The the 'Fortress of RVs' theme camp. There's been some camps where I walked by wondering “What the heck do they do, and why do they have so much prime real estate?”.. Some are just long in the tooth, and might benefit from a year off or merging with other camps.
If tickets are assigned to theme camps, you're gonna have a lot more griping than the current annual 'why did they get placed but we didn't?' mope-a-thon.


On a related topic, BM Virgins: This blamestorming about virgins is ridiculous. Some veteran 'burners' talk about them like they are preemie babies that need to be under constant surveillance and require responsible adults to take care of them. First timers are equally capable of taking care of themselves, contributing to camps, making cool art and tchotchkes – I know, I used to be one. I've had first timers in my camp every year, and all have been courteous, respectful, helpful, friendly, and for the most part, 'got it'. For every unprepared virgin I've encountered, there has been one unprepared veteran burner as well. There really isn't a direct correlation between seniority and the ability to be a 'good burner' . Perhaps we should have a Logan's Run concept for 'Burnier Than Thou' veterans- once you've been to ten burns, you're too jaded and will be hunted down and strapped to the man... that'll free up some space. However, I will predict that after the immaculate weather of 2011, many will be in for a shock when 2012 is bit hotter, drier windier and dustier. Every year has its unique challenges; instead of beating a dead horse, why not bring a living horse to the water? At least -attempt- to be part of the solution, instead of armchair quarterbacking.


My Action items for my 2012 camp (thus far):

>>> Assume that you're not getting more tickets, but keep trying for them.

>>> Network with other burners and theme camps-Start finding similar camps or camps that you at least get along with, and find out what they have in terms of people and equipment.

>>> Start reaching out to 'virgins' and see if they are interested in camping with you.. they might fill in the voids left by camp alumnae, and bring something new to the mix.

>>>Stop the 'the lottery sucks' & 'woe is me and my camp' postings.. It was healthy to vent the week after the tickets were distributed (I know, I did it too), but now its just annoying. BMORG now realizes that the lottery sucked, and they've fallen on their sword (somewhat), so message received.

>>> Ask yourself: “If Burning Man in Black Rock City Nevada stopped happening, what would I do?”


That last question is a biggie, and something I've been chewing on for a couple of years. The fact of the matter is that I (and anyone else) don't 'NEED' to go to Burning Man. All those principles are useful and beneficial anywhere, anytime, with anyone. Every year at exodus, I see scores of people who drop their burning spirit (along with some MOOP) on the roadside once they hit the highway, and it irks me. Others pack it up with their costumes and store it up in the attic, out of sight , out of mind for 48 weeks of the year. Yes, the first week of September on the Playa is an awesome experience, but what makes the experience is the people. The same people can make a plush forest in Spring, an abandoned warehouse in December, or a tumbleweed infested scrubland in May just as awesome. The one year I didn't go I set up a dome in my front yard labor day weekend, neighbor kids came over to play in it, while I fixed bikes for them. Its not a thundering pyro-spectacular music fest, but it is something. And.. I do it again around June every year.. to double check the equipment, but the neighbors get to check it out too. I'd probably set something on fire too, but I'm sure the local fire prevention authority would be displeased.



So, although I'm undertaking the aforementioned action items, I'm essentially in a 'wait and see' mode for the next 2 months to see how ticket (re)distribution shakes out. BMORG is spitballing solutions to the current clusterjam (I'm assuming they are), but hopefully they're also keeping an eye out for the future. On that note, here are some of my suggested BMORG actions for 2013 and beyond:

Decentralize: Black Rock City has reached critical mass.. you may be permitted up to 70,000 people in 5 years, but unless you're planning to repave Highway 447 into a four lane highway, or reactivate train service to Gerlach, the local infrastructure can't handle it. Decentralizing the burn via regionals is a far better way to spread the philosophy. I would take it further, and have 'continentals'. Have the North American Burn in early September, but have the Australian burn in February, the European burn in Early July, etc etc. Essentially, start franchising the Burn (in a non corporate sense, of course).

In addition, start focusing the creative 'star power' (e.g Larry Harvey) on the off-shoots BM-BRC has now taken on a life of its own, and will truck along under its own power, provided there is professional event management to take care of the daily maintenance. I assume that's what the non-profit conversion and Burning Man Project are gearing for, but can't say for sure.

Work on communication: There were many volunteers communicating goings on which was okay, but it seems to be one way trickle down communication, along the lines of information dissemination. I didn't get the vibe that questions, feedback and suggestions were being floated upstream. The Black Rocki Information ministers (recall the Iraqi information Minister) were essentially stating 'This is the way it will be'. It was quite offputting.

Solution: Start anointing Ambassadors. Yes, all BRC citizens are ambassadors for Burning Man, but have a some 'official' Ambassadors that are visiting constituents, taking notes, surveying inperson and online chatter and have direct contact with the BMORG chain of command. It gets disheartening to express ideas to people, who then respond with a sheepish 'I'm just a volunteer'.. start empowering people.


Retire the ticket price tiers:. They served a purpose once, when revenue was required earlier in the year, but now that you blow through 20,000 tickets in a day, that says that either people are willing to pay any price, or that tickets are priced too low. I suspect that a majority of the lottery ticket entries were gunning for the $240 bracket to save some money.

The 'please save the lower priced ticket for lower income people' philosophy was tossed out the door during the lottery, as people who entered for the $390 bracket were eligible for the $320 and $240 brackets.. what was going on with that? In addition, having a ticket at $210 that will be worth $240 in one day and $280 in two days is a quick way to attract scalpers. Flat rate pricing allows all goers to budget to one figure (say $300 per ticket), rather than playing the 'I'll try for a $240 ticket but if I don't get one I'll try to borrow some money to get a $320 ticket, unless that doesn't work then I'll see what I can do for a $390 ticket' game. In addition, weeding out scalpers will be easier.. since all tickets would be $300, any one selling a ticket for $420 would be immediately spotted. This year, if someone is selling a ticket for $420, they -might- have paid $420 for it, or they -might- have paid $240 for it.. making a $180 profit. EGAD! The 'please don't buy tickets from scalpers & profiteers' slogan is nice, but if someone is prepared to pay $420 for a valid ticket, I doubt they're going to reconsider when they're holding the ticket in their hand and they find out that the person bought it at a lower tier. In addition, there are 'gift' tickets floating around that were earned in exchange for some vital labor.. should those tickets not be sold for cash ever?

Reevaluate the relationship with InTicketing: In my mind they are now 0-2 in 2011 and 2012. The ticket server crash in 2011 was never really addressed as far as 'We've upgraded the hardware and we're ready for anything that hits us!”.. instead it seems the process was totally reconfigured to accommodate the existing hardware. If they were a band of hardworking volunteers, I would be more understanding, but they are a for-profit enterprise, raking in hundreds of thousands of dollars in fees from burners... thus they are a supplier of services, and should be evaluated as such.. and be swapped out if needed. BM has upgraded port-o-potty services.. where would we be if were still using the same level of toilet service from twelve years ago?


I'm expecting the usual 'why don't you volunteer then you can make suggestions and then you'll see how hard it is” vitriol. I realize it is hard.. but, drop me a line.. I'm easily accessible, you contact me here via the email interface. I live an hour away from Market street in SF. I'll take BART in on a weekend and pop by BMHQ. I'll do what I have the personal bandwidth to do. Right now, it is: plan a camp, and write some essays. But let me know how I can help.

[alt12]

Amen brother. I could net agree more with everything you said... except the part about the chill domes camps. We need more of those....

[junglesmacks]

Amen and wonderfully thought out and put. Thank you.

[some seeing eye]

Have to agree, except use of capital letters earns demerits. Go to word of mouth publicity only, no press, no webcast, remove all Internet video (the Org claims rights to them today), zip.

This all needs to be filtered through the business perspective of the current owners who have 2012-2014 to engineer a soft landing for the transition to new owners. It's also worth considering the event could be discontinued any year by a severe accident/lawsuit or unpredictable regulatory events.

[Eric]

Incredibly well thought out post. Well done.

[Bin Noddin]

Oh, YEAAHH!

[ygmir]

well said, good toughts. Thanks

[cthulhu]

As a virgin who received tickets (thank you bee morgue) I have been wondering about this. When I first was finding out about Burning Man, the theme camps weren't even on my radar; I just thought of it more as a bunch of people camping in the desert, everyone bringing something, and maybe like....I think I imagined 10-30 "hangout" places at most.



The more I read, the more I worry that I am one of the "guilty" ones, because I don't have a definitive Participation Plan yet. I want to help out, but time/space constraints mean that helping from the other side of the country means I probably wouldn't be able to contribute until I got there, and Early Entry is rather limited.


(begin tl;dr)


I feel like the event would still be amazing without the theme camps, because I really do feel any intentional (or unintentional!) gathering of people to hang around in the same space can be incredible. That has been my experience on a small scale, and what I was looking forward to on a massive scale. People willing to give of themselves, consistently, daily. People willing to let transgressions of social norms not bother them as much as outside of BRC. People willing to encourage creative, spontaneous acts in others around them- all that "community" stuff that people so crave, esp. when they are going to act in ways that are normally seen as transgressive.

Here's hoping! I have no idea what it will be like, and people talking of this year being a "flop" makes me feel like I am part of the problem. I probably can't afford it in later years, so I definitely want this to be amazing! If the theme camps are truly, truly what makes Burning Man what it is, well, then I hope they can pull it off. But it is encouraging to hear a slightly different perspective.

/tl;dr

Thank you, clerkkent.

[A Jester]

NO, but you don't understand...

My theme camp is REALLY COOL, and EVERYONE loves it!

[lucky420]

lovin your post clerkkent!

[lemur]

The more I read, the more I worry that I am one of the "guilty" ones, because I don't have a definitive Participation Plan yet. I want to help out, but time/space constraints mean that helping from the other side of the country means I probably wouldn't be able to contribute until I got there, and Early Entry is rather limited.

I feel like the event would still be amazing without the theme camps, because I really do feel any intentional (or unintentional!) gathering of people to hang around in the same space can be incredible. That has been my experience on a small scale, and what I was looking forward to on a massive scale. People willing to give of themselves, consistently, daily. People willing to let transgressions of social norms not bother them as much as outside of BRC. People willing to encourage creative, spontaneous acts in others around them- all that "community" stuff that people so crave, esp. when they are going to act in ways that are normally seen as transgressive.

Here's hoping! I have no idea what it will be like, and people talking of this year being a "flop" makes me feel like I am part of the problem. I probably can't afford it in later years, so I definitely want this to be amazing! If the theme camps are truly, truly what makes Burning Man what it is, well, then I hope they can pull it off. But it is encouraging to hear a slightly different perspective.

Thank you, clerkkent.

you arent part of any problem... dont listen to the people who are spouting stupid stuff like that

the 'problem' (if there even can be claimed there is one) has nothing to do you.. and everything to do with burning man kicking ass breaking out of the limited resources that we have available.. burning man kicking ass is the fault of the theme camps as much as it is the art and the newcomers who want to come and take part (and who have been coming and taking part for decades and making it kick ass every year with their newcomer spirit)

burning man is awesome, we all make it awesome (whether its through theme camps, art, vehicles.. or just hanging out with people) and we all want to go.. no one group guilty for whatever is happening to burning man right now... especially not the newcomers.

you neednt bring 'stuff', a theme camp or an art car to be a participant.. dont let anyone tell you otherwise (even if they are screaming it at the top of their lungs claiming they have been burning since 1989)..

just being there and interacting with people and enjoying yourself is just fine.

there are well over 700 theme camps at burning man.. some might not make it, some will change.. there are over 300 art projects on the playa at burning man each year, some might not make it, some will change.... there are over 750 mutant vehicles at burning man each year.. some might not make it.. some will change..

the thing that will stay the same is the kickass people. the 'burner spirit' and the newcomers who often turn into to veterans who keep coming back year after year will remain.. the awesomeness of burningman will be no less awesome in 2012 no matter what happens with the theme camps, or art cars.. or art itself..

there aint no amount of newcomers that can kill the event, or make it a flop.. once you get there.. youll see..

[alt12]

The more I read, the more I worry that I am one of the "guilty" ones, because I don't have a definitive Participation Plan yet. I want to help out, but time/space constraints mean that helping from the other side of the country means I probably wouldn't be able to contribute until I got there, and Early Entry is rather limited.

Don'y even sweat it. You are not guilty of anything other than breathing. I didn't do shit my first year... I ran-off with some boy I met literally on day-one and showed up back at camp on the last day to find that the entire camp had been torn down without me and my friends had even packed my tent and gear into the truck.... Needless to say, I never did that again and since then have more than paid my dues but my point is, its your first year, go out and enjoy... You paid for your ticket just like everyone else. You have no responsibility other than what you put on yourself. If you're not part of an organized camp/project/whatever, even better! You get to experience a level of total freedom that you won't have when you start or hookup with a big multi-person project.

[lemur]

I want to help out

Thank you, clerkkent.

if you want to help out there is plenty of opportunity to do so at burning man.. the easiest most approachable is volunteering for one of the burning man departments that readily accept walk up volunteers..

http://www.burningman.com/participate/lamplighter.html lamplighters has been giving people the opportunity to help out for at least 18 years now.. it happens every day at 5pm.. and newcomers are welcome.. it is a great way to help out and participate, for people of all sizes/ages/abilities

http://www.burningman.com/participate/ice.html working for Arctica is a good way to participate, many newcomers ive known have enjoyed it a TON..

both of these opportunities are in 'center camp' (dont worry so much about knowing where that is now.. itll be on the map and you wont be able to miss it once at burning man) ..

along with those two there is a "V-SPOT" place in center camp as well that is always looking for volunteers to give people a chance to take part in making burning man kick ass......... no pre-planning needed!!!

dont feel like because you dont have something planned right now that you cant, or wont be able to.. participate..

volunteering is just ONE way to participate..

but being there, being healthy.. and interacting with the stuff that is around you is another great way, with no commitment needed!

[vargaso]

Agree with everything you said pretty much. This part is something I'd like to comment on, even though I absolutely agree with it too.

The one year I didn't go I set up a dome in my front yard labor day weekend, neighbor kids came over to play in it, while I fixed bikes for them. Its not a thundering pyro-spectacular music fest, but it is something. And.. I do it again around June every year.. to double check the equipment, but the neighbors get to check it out too. I'd probably set something on fire too, but I'm sure the local fire prevention authority would be displeased.

I've done similar things too, and it's great, and it definitely was a result of my BM experiences. But the reason people are so passionate about and affected by BM is due to the intensity of the experience, the concentrated, for lack of a better word, awesomeness, of it all, the aforementioned "thundering pyro-spectacular music fest", among other things. Regionals don't do it, Decompressions don't do it, nothing does it but the Burn. We all know this, it's why we're all freaking out. We know Burning Man can't be recreated in its entirety, and it shouldn't be even if it could. It's not that another event will be "different," its that it won't be as intense. It just won't. I've brought burgins to regionals and Decompression. Their reaction was along the lines of "yeah that was fun." I've camped with burgins at Burning Man and their reaction was the same as all of ours our first time out: transformational. It just goes beyond anything they could comprehend. Nothing else, hell, on the planet does that. Truly. Maybe some of the pilgrimages in India and the Middle East do, but outside of that? Nothing but Burning Man. At least nothing positive, I'm sure war is "transformative," to say the least.

Dah, I'm sorry to hijack this thread a bit. It's silly how attached to the event I am, which means this whole ticketing thing is a good thing for me, a good exercise in reevaluating my attachments. Probably for all of us. Attachments ain't good. OK, back to work.

[Killbuck]

Attachments ain't good.

There is somebody out there with a very expensive vibrator that will take issue... I'm sure.

[moonwatcher]

Very good post, clerkkent.
Before the ticketing fiasco, I was mentally prepping for BM, and one of the participation/gifting "ideas" I came up with was, well, myself. I really wanted to volunteer for something every day. I had no set ideas of where to volunteer: I knew about the lamplighters, the volunteer center, etc. Figured that each day, I'd go look for a place, a camp, an activity that needed help...and I would help as much as I could. As a virgin, it seemed like the ideal way to experience BM. Sure, I want to see camps and fantastic art, but really, it is the people I really want to meet.
Things are uncertain for me in 2012, but maybe 2013 will work out better.

[vargaso]

Attachments ain't good.

There is somebody out there with a very expensive vibrator that will take issue... I'm sure.

HA! Excellent point, I should have clarified my definition of "attachments" as those not requiring battery power.

[KestrelSF]

Excellent post I would say I agree with pretty much everything you say here. Especially about the tiers not making any sense in any new system.

I talked with a burner friend at work about how the entire community is moving through the stages of grief with the ticketing mess. I would hope that I've moved on to the "build a bridge and get over it" stage. (Or I think it's officially called "acceptance"). So we are looking at 5 of 35 in our camp having tickets so we are having to accept that it won't be likely that we'll be able to bring our shade structure and snow cone stand out this year. I think most of our camp is resigned to knowing they will most likely need to take the year off because we're all pretty stubborn about not buying from scalpers. Who knows, maybe one really sucky year will dampen interest next year and things will be better. The last couple of years were almost "too easy" in some ways. We didn't even have a decent dust storm last year. One way of looking at this is it's a metaphorical dust storm that's shaking things loose.

[moonwatcher]

So we are looking at 5 of 35 in our camp having tickets so we are having to accept that it won't be likely that we'll be able to bring our shade structure and snow cone stand out this year. I think most of our camp is resigned to knowing they will most likely need to take the year off because we're all pretty stubborn about not buying from scalpers.

Camps like yours still have a few months to recruits new members/supporters/contributors. According to numbers we hear about, there will be lots of new folks this year. Why not look for newbie burners to help keep things rolling in camp?
Just curious...
Or, maybe, I am just being a clueless virgin... (apologies in advance if that is the case)

[KestrelSF]

So we are looking at 5 of 35 in our camp having tickets so we are having to accept that it won't be likely that we'll be able to bring our shade structure and snow cone stand out this year. I think most of our camp is resigned to knowing they will most likely need to take the year off because we're all pretty stubborn about not buying from scalpers.

Camps like yours still have a few months to recruits new members/supporters/contributors. According to numbers we hear about, there will be lots of new folks this year. Why not look for newbie burners to help keep things rolling in camp?
Just curious...
Or, maybe, I am just being a clueless virgin... (apologies in advance if that is the case)

The major hurdle we have is to make sure we have someone we'd trust to drive a rented truck out. The shade structure has 15' metal poles which require a truck bed at least that long to ship out. I wouldn't want to trust this task to some one we didn't know. Beyond that, we certainly could use newbie burners to help with setup, but I'd say we'd need a critical mass of at least 1/2 return folks to be feasible. We have grown a bit the last couple of years, which has meant taking on new folks, especially last year. But hey, then again when our group first ventured out to the playa a few years back it was mostly clueless newbies and we survived. And lets be clear here - the "vital services" will be there. There will be rangers and medical tent folks (shout out to those guys, you rock) and bigger art projects and the man and a temple. It's also my belief that somewhere between 1/3 and a 1/2 of the tickets are in the hands of "speculators" now so if folks really wanted to go they could, if they were willing to pay more. There is also the last ticket lottery so we can see how we do for that.

Our camp, Paradise Motel, has historically been a camp of queer San Francisco geeks and nerds who serve snow cones during the day. Check us out if you'd like http://desertparadise.org

[moonwatcher]

Our camp, Paradise Motel, has historically been a camp of queer San Francisco geeks and nerds who serve snow cones during the day. Check us out if you'd like http://desertparadise.org

Cool!
Hope you all make it to the playa this year. If I make it, I'll look for your camp.

[mama g]

well said! i concur, doctor. seems at this point, no matter how tickets get distributed/redistributed, it's a lose-lose situation. lots of people are going to be left out. the art on the playa is incredible, the mutant vehicles are fun and creative, and many of the theme camps are just fabulous. BUT, the best part of burning man is the amazing sense of community and camaraderie that exists there. that feeling can be maintained with or without an abundance of theme camps.

[clerkkent]

The more I read, the more I worry that I am one of the "guilty" ones, because I don't have a definitive Participation Plan yet. I want to help out, but time/space constraints mean that helping from the other side of the country means I probably wouldn't be able to contribute until I got there, and Early Entry is rather limited.

I've mentored several virgins, and I usually try to discourage 'plans' for them. Here's why:

If you roll into Black Rock City for your first time, with all these expectations and commitments, one of two things will occur:

A) You will get overwhelmed by all the stimuli out there, and forget all of your commitments and plans.
B) You will be so focused on all of your commitments and plans that you will miss out on all the stimuli out there.

It is your first time out there.. you are allowed to enjoy it.. take it in, absorb and process it. swish it around in your brain and savor it. 99% of the folks out there will understand what you're going through and welcome you with open arms.

The two major things you should focus on for your first time are:

1) Be self sufficient- have all of your gear, supplies , consumables, etc. Don't be the fool that 'forgot' food and water or other vital items.. you will not be as welcomed as other virgins. Burners a fairly tolerant bunch, but you'll find that their eenrgy is a reflection of your energy.

2) Exercise the philosophy of "I'm here to contribute however I can.. let me know how I can help and I will do my best." If you take that approach (not just on the playa), you will do just fine.

[Bay Bridge Sue]

Attachments ain't good.

There is somebody out there with a very expensive vibrator that will take issue... I'm sure.

HA! Excellent point, I should have clarified my definition of "attachments" as those not requiring battery power.

Komrade, perhaps we should to introduce you to General Toshiba and his barrage of "weaponry".

Who needs batteries when one has outlets for both 110 AND 220? Hyeh hyeh hyeh...

[robrob]

Solution: Start anointing Ambassadors. Yes, all BRC citizens are ambassadors for Burning Man, but have a some 'official' Ambassadors that are visiting constituents, taking notes, surveying inperson and online chatter and have direct contact with the BMORG chain of command. It gets disheartening to express ideas to people, who then respond with a sheepish 'I'm just a volunteer'.. start empowering people.

they do this! The regional contacts are connected to their communities and have direct communications with the org.

[trilobyte]

Some very good stuff. clerkkent, well said in a lot of places. While I can't speak for anybody else within Burning Man, I can say that I bubble stuff up from ePlaya to BMHQ pretty regularly. Sometimes that takes the form of links to specific posts, summaries of board activity, and conversations with others at meetings or other opportunities. They've been pretty receptive, and they've been remarkably good at helping to provide answers and information that I and the other mods can relay back here. In the last 6-7 months, we've had better support and communication between ePlaya and BMHQ than the site has had in a long, long time.

Price tiers may well be at their end, we'll see when details are announced for 2013 tickets.

Ticketing vendor - it was an absolute disaster in 2011, despite the fact they'd beefed up their hardware support fairly substantially. I'll point out, though, that even the biggest ticketing vendors have server issues and problems meeting demand on popular event on-sales. It's also worth noting that for all the current ticket frustrations, the ticketing vendors systems have worked pretty flawlessly in 2012. Not only did they continue to increase their hardware capacity, they improved their software and also leveraged cloud services pretty nicely.

As for volunteering, I'd say if you know somebody on a team you'd like to be involved with, talk to them and ask what you can do. If not, that's completely fine, go hit the volunteer page and find something you'd like to help with and do that signup. Some teams may have things they need help with that can be done remotely, so you don't necessarily need to be adjacent to BMHQ. Before that, though, I'd suggest putting the extra time you can into shoring things up and supporting your camp if projects are short-handed, to help design and build your camp's unique brand of awesomeness.

[mdmf007]

As far as volunteering - I am willing to bet that all departments are crushed by applications to volunteer - those comped or reduced price staff tix are like willy wonka gold now.

[ehcsztein]

reactivate train service to Gerlach

Hmmmmmmm...

This concept has my mind reeling with potential though in my my near drunken state I am in no condition to work on logistics.

Gut thought is figuring a way to utilize the rails near the playa with on playa transport to shuttle folks into the event without the need for more cars on 447.

I know other festivals offer shuttle type service (Boom for example) and there may just be potential in Black Rock Railways to help mitigate future issues before they develop.

Great post as well but this simple notion has inspired me.

[knowmad]

Yes!
I hope this thead becomes a sticky or at least a respectable piece of debate in the next days, and we all bring our best Ideas back to it! here is realy a good place to start out agian from.
Thank you Clerkent. Thank you.

[AntiM]

reactivate train service to Gerlach

Hmmmmmmm...

This concept has my mind reeling with potential though in my my near drunken state I am in no condition to work on logistics.

Gut thought is figuring a way to utilize the rails near the playa with on playa transport to shuttle folks into the event without the need for more cars on 447.

I know other festivals offer shuttle type service (Boom for example) and there may just be potential in Black Rock Railways to help mitigate future issues before they develop.

Great post as well but this simple notion has inspired me.

Buried throughout the eplaya are discussions on rail service. Two things must happen: first, a passenger terminal, with staff and baggage/cargo handling capabilities. You can't just hop on and off, you need platforms and OSHA would be involved, as well as any number of state and federal regulatory agencies. Millions of dollars in funding, and then the banks and politicians get involved. But second (which is really first) you need to wrangle control of the rails away from the Union Pacific and their freight trains. If you have any notion of how powerful the UP is, and how little they care about passenger service these days, you'll understand this isn't going to happen this decade, .... as in it is more likely to get 447 turned into an interstate.