STEP has launched... but server crashed immediately

[lemur]

good!

they certainly already have some capable people.. but more people with different experiences offering help certainlywont hurt.

[Hayseed]

Friend a). started at 12:00 and had all the same problems - finally got on to the want list at 12:18. Friend b). got through at 12:29 and sign up was closed.

Trying to narrow down when it closed - anyone? And 12:18 seems to be a popular time possibly when the servers came back up. Not hearing of too many before 12:15. Anyone get in any earlier? Trying to establish a guess of the front and back of the line.

[RevDusty]

im guessing all of the people who suggest they know how to make it better have already filled out a volunteer questionnaire... because they really want to help make it better!

http://www2.burningman.com/people/ volunteer questionnaire

and! they probably have also volunteered their assistance with the 'tech team'


http://www.burningman.com/participate/techweb.html

and they might have already emailed techie-volunteers (at) burningman (dot) com and told them all about their expertise in the field and offered themselves up to make this process better..

volunteer!

Yes, Lemur.

But is Inticketing even part of this? I thought they were external and separate.

[theCryptofishist]

Somebody has to print out and send the tickets, and I don't think the LLC does that directly.

[lucky420]

Hayseed
Trying to narrow down when it closed - anyone? And 12:18 seems to be a popular time possibly when the servers came back up. Not hearing of too many before 12:15. Anyone get in any earlier? Trying to establish a guess of the front and back of the line.

I got in at 12:08 (that's the time on my confirmation email) and my daughters time on her email is 12:19.

[ZaphodBurner]

Every other person whose ever worked in an IT department or said hello to the IT folks in their company all claim to have the experience to resolve the problem of handling the crush of on-sale demand with hot ticket events. If that were the case, then why in the world aren't you making big bucks at any one of the ticketing vendors

They're not listening, and ivory-tower corporate marketing types are bobbleheads. They nod their heads at you but you quickly realize that's all they're going to do for you. My wife and were the top two students in our year-long CCNA class and I was a sysadmin for several years afterward. It took guys like Art Bell and the conspiracy hysteria to get corporations to pay attention to the fact that their security routers and miscellaneous mission-critical systems were not Y2K compliant. So, I threw the sink through the window, escaped from the asylum and became a pilot.

We all predicted this would happen. I know people who wrote scripts to jackhammer the server from their T1 and had a STEP party at lunch today. (I'm at home on DSL... it's more reliable to be the ONLY one using a connection rather than a shared network which might be jammed with a bunch of dickheads streaming YouTube or Pandora.)

What made the problem worse--which none of us knew they intended to do--is the second link you had to establish to complete the process. On FOUR occasions in the first ten minutes we got "You have requested 2 tickets. Press the link to confirm..." only to get a server timeout when we tried. That increased the server load by at least 100%. So you had to start all over, frantically. I didn't do two transactions with the server, I did about fifty at the minimum. Me x 1999 other people who got through, and thousands more who didn't.

There comes a point where you can't just can't increase bandwidth without radical expense. The Trunk Monkey superbowl ad generated so many hits to its network provider that their network usage bill was something like $80,000 for the company that hosted the website that month because the ad was so popular it crippled the network for all of the other business who shared it.

Don't give up hope, folks. People are already bailing out. If we find tickets and don't need them, we will put them in STEP as long as system is working.

[SquirrelHead]

I did get a few Network Error messages but then I made it in! I am on the list and hoping for a ticket.

[AbundantChoice]

Trying to narrow down when it closed - anyone? And 12:18 seems to be a popular time possibly when the servers came back up. Not hearing of too many before 12:15. Anyone get in any earlier? Trying to establish a guess of the front and back of the line.

My e-mail is stamped 12:09

[Galaxo Magic]

After many "refreshes," got the screen to "click here." went to a blank screen, with URL of "burningman.tickets-secure.com/lottery/waiting list/save. Stayed blank for more than 30 minutes. Hit refresh only to be told it was closed.
Friend still on same blank screen on their computer. Will leave it that way for next several hours until they give up too. Yuk.

I got to that page, decided to wait it out, 120 minutes later, finally had to refresh. Obviously, I was rejected. (((

[Kristine]

Ah, the oh so familiar crashing and blank screens and refreshing. That's the Burning Man we know and love! My husband finally got a screen that says we are in the queue at 12:24 PST. Does anyone know if queue was cut off at 2000 people or 2000 ticket requests? Best case scenario would be 10 to 1 chance (2000 ticket requests for the 200 currently available tickets), right? And it really is an unknown how many more tickets will show up in STEP between now and August 7....the cutoff date for selling back to STEP.

I didn't get my STEP email by Thursday so followed the instructions on the ticket page to get it resent. 24 hours later they send a reply saying to re-do what I already did (send request for the email with name and email), so I didn't have a link to use when the queue opened today. So it's a good thing my husband got his. I got confirmations of my "requests" to the ticketing dept. and I got the Will Chase email today at 11:30 PST so I know I'm not having a problem receiving Burning Man email. So frustrating.

Message to BMorg: Please use the talent and expertise that's already out there! The best minds of every generation and the creators of every internet technology now go to Burning Man and would be happy to volunteer to solve ticket and computer/server issues.

[theCryptofishist]

Message to BMorg: Please use the talent and expertise that's already out there! The best minds of every generation and the creators of every internet technology now go to Burning Man and would be happy to volunteer to solve ticket and computer/server issues.

So I did see Isaac Newton and Marie Curie at center camp last year! I knew it.

But crap, maybe that dirty hippie was Ghandi....

[Kristine]

I was riffing on Ginsberg so I meant the best minds of every generation.....starting with his and ending with my daughters' generation who have been going to Burning Man since they were kids. Curie and Newton can be here in spirit. BMorg and it's community need all the help they can get.

[Ruleryak]

I wrote and deleted two very nasty posts in response to some of the folks that are spouting the normal "you don't know what you're talking about" BS when I realized that as bad as this all is (and it's bad - this is absolute bullshit), they're right to ask over and over if we've volunteered. Up until today - I hadn't.

I just filled out the incredibly long volunteer questionaire with itemized details about myself, my skillsets, and how I would like to contribute to making the 2013 ticketing process functional if at all possible. Anyone else in the IT industry that isn't just making shit up on a message board and actually has the skillset and ability to help should volunteer too:

http://www2.burningman.com/people/

hopefully they'll allow some of us to help avoid this for 2013.

[Savannah]

Kickass, Ruleryak.

[RevDusty]

I wrote and deleted two very nasty posts in response to some of the folks that are spouting the normal "you don't know what you're talking about" BS when I realized that as bad as this all is (and it's bad - this is absolute bullshit), they're right to ask over and over if we've volunteered. Up until today - I hadn't.

I just filled out the incredibly long volunteer questionaire with itemized details about myself, my skillsets, and how I would like to contribute to making the 2013 ticketing process functional if at all possible. Anyone else in the IT industry that isn't just making shit up on a message board and actually has the skillset and ability to help should volunteer too:

http://www2.burningman.com/people/

hopefully they'll allow some of us to help avoid this for 2013.

Agreed. And I will sign up, but it is still my understanding that it is handled/designed/etc. by InTicketing, which is not what the tech team does. I could be wrong, and I'll find out, but if they are separate, then this volunteering won't help much.

Like Vargasso, I recalled when they were working on the Content Management System. Not my area of expertise, and they seemed to a) have it under control, and b) done a fine job. So, no involvement there.

Instead I spent my time and skills on Big Art. And it turned out nicely too.

[Rice]

Ruleryak, volunteering is the only real way to help.

Looking at anything from the outside and making suggestions it pretty much useless. Getting your hands (brain?) dirty and seeing what is really going on is the only way to understand the problem. Very often the problem is not as simple as it seems. (just look at the assorted discussions on how the gate operates).

[lemur]

volunteering is indeed one of the only real ways to help to get stuff done in our burning man culture.. suggestions surely help, and feedback is surely wanted and helpful but.. getting yer hands dirty and doing the work yourself (even in a small way) is a good way to become a part of the process.

maybe at some point youll end up as more than a volunteer.. many people i know who do stuff for burning man started as a low levelvolunteer at some point and they climbed up a ladder when they were seen as a hard worker and could get stuff done and were trustworthy.. they ended up with more responsibilities..

for me...i saw a place where my skills/interest could be used on the playa.. i filled out a volunteer questionnaire and people noticed my effort... I volunteered to help anywhere i could to make things awesome and 2 years later i was responsible for managing that particular piece of the project.. people seemed to think that it was working better than it had in the past.. ...

the people whove experienced it usually tend to learn that burning man is surely a do-ocracy. volunteering.. getting involved.. showing people youre eager and trustworthy and have real ability to implement your ideas... thats what its all about and ive seen examples of people getting it done time and time again.... it usually tends to start by filling out that volunteer questionnaire..

[homo ardentum]

The first tickets have been reported! They said they got their confirmation email at 12:02 PM (yikes).
http://eplaya.burningman.com/viewtopic.php?f=290&t=54578&start=30#p809377

[7chix&me]

I can't believe I actually got in!! Like everyone else, I had to refresh a hundred times and at least 4 or 5 times I got the confirm button page and then got booted out. Not only that but I had to take my laptop to work so I wouldn't have to rely on the office computer, but even though it was connected to the web all morning, at 12:05 I lost connection and it wouldn't reconnect. So I had to move to the office computer anyway, but one of my coworkers happened to be using it for WORK at that particular moment! Eventually, I did get in at 12:21! Probably the last one in line...

[serpentine]

I was on it the second it opened, but got repeated failures to display, finally got in and the save button failed, multiple tries later, got through to the inticketing site labeled as "not set up yet". Then, queue closed. So for all that you get nothing! I can't think of a more poorly handled system. The remaining 10,000 promised tickets have been diverted to insiders, so I guess after 10 years, that only leaves me to the scalpers, if I really want to go.

[tamarakay]

I was under the impression the ticket selling process was contracted out to InTicketing. A business that sells tickets for money, not as volunteers.

I suppose I should be shocked and surprised that anyone trying to go to burning man would write a script to bombard the servers? The sharpest most creative people i have ever met attend this deal and one thing that i've learned in my short time around this event is, never underestimate a burner's desire to attend TTITD.

[RevDusty]

I wrote and deleted two very nasty posts in response to some of the folks that are spouting the normal "you don't know what you're talking about" BS when I realized that as bad as this all is (and it's bad - this is absolute bullshit), they're right to ask over and over if we've volunteered. Up until today - I hadn't.

I just filled out the incredibly long volunteer questionaire with itemized details about myself, my skillsets, and how I would like to contribute to making the 2013 ticketing process functional if at all possible. Anyone else in the IT industry that isn't just making shit up on a message board and actually has the skillset and ability to help should volunteer too:

http://www2.burningman.com/people/

hopefully they'll allow some of us to help avoid this for 2013.

OK, I went and poked around the volunteer site. As far as I can tell from what is written, the Tech Team is not involved with ticketing. They run this site (and associated tech), and I think they are doing a pretty good job of it.

But, and this feels a bit uncomfortable to say, I am reluctant to volunteer hours (typically a lot of hours) to an event that I don't have a ticket for. I'm not asking for a freebie. But previously, when I have volunteered, I did it with ticket already in hand, and excited to get the job done. One time I was even given a gift ticket by the BMorg for my work. But that's not why I did the work...I did it because I wanted to do it and wasn't expecting a gift ticket at all.

Now, though, I'm a bit put off. I can't see putting in the hours and then not going because I can't get a ticket.

Changing circumstances for sure.

[vargaso]

I wrote and deleted two very nasty posts in response to some of the folks that are spouting the normal "you don't know what you're talking about" BS when I realized that as bad as this all is (and it's bad - this is absolute bullshit), they're right to ask over and over if we've volunteered. Up until today - I hadn't.

I just filled out the incredibly long volunteer questionaire with itemized details about myself, my skillsets, and how I would like to contribute to making the 2013 ticketing process functional if at all possible. Anyone else in the IT industry that isn't just making shit up on a message board and actually has the skillset and ability to help should volunteer too:

http://www2.burningman.com/people/

hopefully they'll allow some of us to help avoid this for 2013.

OK, I went and poked around the volunteer site. As far as I can tell from what is written, the Tech Team is not involved with ticketing. They run this site (and associated tech), and I think they are doing a pretty good job of it.

But, and this feels a bit uncomfortable to say, I am reluctant to volunteer hours (typically a lot of hours) to an event that I don't have a ticket for. I'm not asking for a freebie. But previously, when I have volunteered, I did it with ticket already in hand, and excited to get the job done. One time I was even given a gift ticket by the BMorg for my work. But that's not why I did the work...I did it because I wanted to do it and wasn't expecting a gift ticket at all.

Now, though, I'm a bit put off. I can't see putting in the hours and then not going because I can't get a ticket.

Changing circumstances for sure.

That's my understanding too. Where volunteers could make an impact in the ticketing process is in designing page flow and use case scenarios for server handoff from burningman.com pages to Amazon pages and back, which is actually exactly what I do all the live-long day. Consider me volunteered.

[socks]

STEP was a epic failure.

[theCryptofishist]

I suppose I should be shocked and surprised that anyone trying to go to burning man would write a script to bombard the servers? The sharpest most creative people i have ever met attend this deal and one thing that i've learned in my short time around this event is, never underestimate a burner's desire to attend TTITD.

The event "broke off" from the cacophony society and the cacophony society was into pranks. I think there are still some bitter ex-burners that would be sucked out of the woodwork by the ticketing woes. And there are certainly later attendees that are trouble-makers as well.
(Google "Paul Addis +eplaya" for some disillusionment.)

[BBadger]

So hilarious reading how people despair the moment one thing goes wrong. Is this how people live their lives?

In the end, this whole ticket fiasco may end up being a boon to the event, sorting the wheat from the chaff. I hope it has long-lasting effects.

[mdmf007]

Kudos to those that volunteered and can share their expertise.

Also - BMORG has been very approachable in the past. If you know a solution that would work put it together on paper and submit it as an unsolicited proposal.

MDMF

[BBadger]

It is funny that while BMOrg introduced a 2-week-long signup period for the lottery, partially to alleviate server load, they didn't think to do it with STEP for the initial ticket signup. Instead they announce that it is first-come-first-served and you know what that'll do on the initial sign-up day.

[lemur]

if they didnt do first come first served people would be bitching that it wasnt fair and "HERE WE GO AGAIN" and saying 'you didnt listen!' ..and saying it should have been first come first served open sale

...it was first come first served, everyone hammered the servers refreshing 150 times trying to get a place in line and everyone was like 'HERE WE GO AGAIN' 'you didnt listen'... and saying they could have done it better.



either way there was only 2000 spots, all of them are filled... people would feel burned both ways...


they cant win at this point.

[Chiroptera]

Went through the same rigamaro as everyone else. Was so happy at 12:18 to get the confirmation page. Got the confirmation page saying look for an email- but no email. Anyone know what to do? Should I be worried!