Theme camp placement 2010!

[Anpu2001]

Here's a email i got this morning, What do you think?



NEW DATES FOR 2010, AND A NOTE ABOUT CAMP SIZE & INTERACTION

2009 was a seminal year for Burning Man Placement. We had the
challenge of more questionnaires filed than in 2008, but with less
reserved camping space for theme camps. So we needed to apply our
criteria more comprehensively, and in the end could not find space for
over 130 camps. We did our very best, but had very little time or
resources to examine appeals to our decisions.

We have debriefed on last year. We have reviewed the feedback from
participants. Specifically we have heard the complaint that has been
growing louder every year: announcing Placement on August 1st is a
huge obstacle to travel planning for the east coast and international
members of our community. To address this requires a new commitment
from both from the Placement volunteers and YOU:

o We are "churning cycles of invention and destruction" by
asking Theme Camps to meet the same, APRIL 29TH PLACEMENT
QUESTIONNAIRE DEADLINE to which our infrastructure departments are
held.

o Here's the benefit: This will allow us to commit to
announcing camp placement ONE MONTH EARLIER: BY EARLY JULY.

We would like to connect earlier still with those that are traveling
far distances and/or have significant infrastructure planning needs.
While the placement process HAS NOT become 'first come, first served',
the earlier the questionnaire is in, the better the chances of making
this happen.
Of course as always, we will remain ready and standing by to consult
with you on the inevitable succeeding tweaks to the original plans
submitted: some shifting of contents will always occur.

As project manager Sweetthang wrote back on July 15th of this year:

"...we seem to have more requests for larger camps, but the
interactivity has not grown. Larger camps that appear to be blossoming
bedroom communities that are simply adding space to accommodate more
campers, but no [additional] interactivity have become very difficult
for us to place."

On a purely practical basis, it is simpler to map more smaller camps
in our city.

The Placement team of volunteers have exponentially increased their
meeting schedule to facilitate a higher degree of collaboration with
theme camps. Our ears are open at placement@burningman.com. We have
evolved, and are ready to mid-wife the life you will bring to Black
Rock City 2010.

[theCryptofishist]

I think:

Re: Theme camps 2010 Placement!
I think you are on a particular mailing list.

Furthermore:

It doesn't sound like a bad change, although it does press people to make commitments earlier. But then we accommidate persons who live further way. Balance, balance, experiment, find the best balance...

And, always, always, always, when the llc says >>Our ears are open at placement@burningman.com. We have evolved, and are ready to mid-wife the life you will bring to Black Rock City 2010<<I am suspicious.

[zorro sings]

About time.Believe I started posting concerning the need for this sort of change in 2004.More time for everything including WWW entries.If you haven't got your camp together by the end of April..........

[Dr. Pyro]

The poll question says No More Sleeper Camps. WTF is a sleeper camp?

[ibdave]

The poll question says No More Sleeper Camps. WTF is a sleeper camp?

The Opposite of your Camp Doc...

[theCryptofishist]

It's a camp that starts of slowly, but grows via word of mouth.

[Ugly Dougly]

Moving the deadline will not increase interactivity.
That's what the cudgel is for.

[gaminwench]

maybe they'll also move up early arrival info, that is usually the biggest last-minute hassle (especially last year!!)

[thisisthatwhichis]

Yea, E.A.T. almost killed us last year...... It was sweatin' bullets all the way up to the last few days......... But, thankfully, they got it worked out for us....... (thank you, thank you)

Now, if we could just ensure all the things function out there without breakin down..... Err... nevermind, that's part of it............. 8)

[Anpu2001]

A sleeper camp is a theme camp that only has room for their own people, just for sleeping, setting up their shade and has no activities or participation with anyone at the event.

[oneeyeddick]

That is a lame definition for "sleeper camp".....but ....it is your definition I suppose.

[Elorrum]

The poll question says No More Sleeper Camps. WTF is a sleeper camp?

A camp conditioned in Manchuria to be an unwitting assassin whose actions are triggered by a Queen of Diamonds playing card.

[SFbrothermichael]

SLEEPER CAMP: "...we seem to have more requests for larger camps, but the
interactivity has not grown. Larger camps that appear to be blossoming
bedroom communities that are simply adding space to accommodate more
campers, but no [additional] interactivity have become very difficult
for us to place."

[oneeyeddick]

That is a far better definition, just more people added.

[Ugly Dougly]

Sounds like the same - for eplaya purposes.

[loside53]

OK, this is my 7th year, and I don't get out much, so will someone explain the difference between a "sleeper camp" (Which is a theme camp) and a "villiage". Personally, I don't think "sleeper camps"or "villiages" for that matter should be the targets however, the camps that come up with a camp name to get in early, but do absolutely nothing are taking up valuable space that legitimate camps could use.
How the BM org can regulate that ,,, I don't know........I DO understand that too many large camps are hader to place than the small ones. PEACE and see you soon.

[AntiM]

Hushville gets targeted a lot, perceived s a bedroom community. Interactive camps are highly encouraged, but they're always maybes. The interactive camps within the village are done on an individual basis, and there's placement within the village so those who are doing interactive projects get streetside placement. Some years we have many more interactive camps than others. My Home for Wayward Art is one of the largest ones. I'd hate to have separate placement from my village!

Hushville rarely gets more space than requested, we increase our population, we just pack in more tightly.

I seem to see fewer of the tiny little back street interactive camps, where a handful of people express their wonderful and odd visions.

[theCryptofishist]

A "Sleeper Camp," which might also be dubbed a "Potemkin Camp" is a camp that puts in an application and claims to have a bunch of interactivity, and may even have some, but is actually a lot less interesting, because its actual purpose is to get its campers in early and towards the center of the city.
A "Village" is a collection of camps, with a population of 150, or so, up. I don't have a cute name for it. Remember the hottest (in a radioactive sense) village on the playa is Terminal City, somewhere near 3:00 o' clock and A, or we'll know the reason why.*

*Note. this is in no way meant to be a threat to any one placer or to the placement team in general.

[Ugly Dougly]

Thank you Comrade.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potemkin_village

[theCryptofishist]

Ð

[caliban]

for me, a village is a group with diverse individual camps and activities. i've been a part of ones like this from the beginning. sounds like a sleeper camp can be something big an intense, like some of the massive rave camps. out front it's amazing but behind it it's 1-2 full blocks of backstage housing. entire blocks of campers, each one an enclosed back room to the big rave out front.

BRC is what people want, though, and that's what they want! it does however eat up a lot of geographic space which could accommodate other groups. or perhaps groups don't want to go there, to be so close to the big big sound. in which case the system works! :)

anyway, a big camp like that really fits under one name and one activity/art installation/etc. villages are sort of slots where subgroups can fit in. bianca's smut shack was originally part of my first village. later villages i've been in have been made up of smaller groups unifying under a common name, but retained their individual theme/activity/whatever once conglomerated. think of it like a small town out in the country, with peoples' farms around it, and a little 'downtown' block or two with the local shops. you know, a village! 'pop down to the village and go to the shops'.

[geekster]

It is my opinion (meaning, I don't necessarily believe it should be taken as what is right for everyone else) is that a "theme camp" should have as their primary focus, interacting with the community. It should not be simply a camp that gets reserved space for a bunch of people to crash close to the esplanade so they don't have to walk so far home. The last few times I delivered mail, I saw some pretty huge camps with no real public interactive space at all. I saw some with maybe a chill dome and that was it.

There are quite a few camps out there that really make visitors feel welcome. You can tell those camps from people you meet. If they say something like ... oh, I really haven't been out on the playa much, our camp is so much fun, I have just been hanging out there ... then that is where you want to go. If you have a theme camp nearby that has looked deserted for the past three days and you only seem to see people around at mealtimes then they probably aren't doing much in the public interaction department. They could just as easily camp anywhere on the playa.

I wouldn't mind the org cracking down on the non-interactive "sleeper" camps if potentially fun camps were being denied space because there isn't room.

[caliban]

I'm inclined to agree. I've been one of those massively interactive Esplanade camps, with rides, refreshing adult beverages, games, activities. And I've been in a camp that barely made Esplanade when all those dead camps were sprawling around in some great locations. I have a memory of on camp that was raging for a few nights, then dead the rest of the week. I asked about it and they said "our big party is Tuesday" or something. For the rest of the week it was a raver crash pad with a front row view.

[geekster]

I have no problem with a camp wanting to take a night or two off to get out and see the sights. That should be expected and encouraged but by and large the camp should have a significant portion of their time and energy focused on interacting with the community. If you don't want to do that, no problem, just move out of theme camp space into regular camping space and let someone else in there who will.

This is a carnival, damnit, how can we have a carnival without booths?

oh, shit, there's a theme camp idea right there.