Increase in new burners with 'entitlement' issues

[geekster]

Actually, my advice for first timers is not to go all hog wild volunteering for shit, don't haul a bunch of costumeage out there, don't build an art car, and don't worry about being in a theme camp. That will give you much more time your first year to explore, make friends, and get really great ideas about what you are going to do next time. Theme camps are no easier than individual camping. Actually, they are harder. You have all the same shit you would normally have to do with individual camping plus you have a bunch of extra work to do with the camp common stuff.

And it might be counter-intuitive but being in a theme camp might not be the experience you think it is if everyone else knows each other and has known each other for years ... and you are the odd person out who doesn't know anyone there. They will all be cracking each other up with (sometimes obscure) references to crap from years gone by (have you seen a petite beagle?) that you aren't going to "get". If you are camped in general camping and everyone is strangers, there is actually a lot more bonding between individuals going on. I don't mean to imply that theme camps are snobby, just that once people know each other really well, things tend to flow without as much being said and it can feel like your first day at a new job with a bunch of others who have been doing it for a while. Camping on your own, you are out with a bunch of others also camping on their own and so you are on more equal terms with your neighbors. Actually, that is also one of the reasons why we require prospective newbies to actually attend pre-event work days. That way, by the time you hit the playa, you already know some of what we are talking about.

Don't get yourself so full of tasks that you don't have time to explore the event your first time out there and don't be afraid to tell people that it is your first time. Hell, half the people out there are there for the first time.