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

[Galaxo Magic]

My point? YOUR THEME CAMP ISN'T THAT IMPORTANT

In that case, NEITHER ARE YOU.

I'm sorry to have to be increasingly blunt, but, pick an art car, large installation, or any of the ~700 theme camps. Guess what:

They're more important than you. Or me. Or my individual camp.

Black Rock City isn't built for you or I to decide what's important. It's built BY burners in "camps"--or whatever they want to call their community--70% of whom don't appear to have tickets this year. They build it because they think it's important. And they have as much investment in the city as you or I. If theme camps weren't important, Marian wouldn't be on the fucking radio, and Andie Grace wouldn't be on the blog, talking about how radically important theme camps are to Burning Man.

The airport is in real trouble right now. They're so well-organized they actually got the FAA to put 88NV (in HAM, "Hugs and kisses from Nevada") on the map. It's the ONLY part-time private airport on public land in America. Each year, the airport crew donates HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS in combined flights gifted to hundreds, if not thousands, or Burners. It costs $100/hr for a pilot to take three passengers on a sightseeing trip around the city. The FAA has declared it one of the best-run private airfields in Nevada, serving the third largest city, but when you get there they will have been out there for weeks grading the runway surface and preparing the greeting booth, UNICOM tower and passenger lounges. They require a certain amount of participation to make sure that some jackass doesn't taxi his airplane into somebody's camp or flip the plane turning final and auger, AGAIN. It's not a "Let's start in January" kind of deal...it's taken them YEARS of sweat equity to pull this off.

To say that they're "not that important" is irrelevant, if not asinine. Thousands of people have gotten to fly around the city because of them. They're gifting to the community a whole, whole hell of a lot more to the community than an equal amount of unaffiliated burners. I've "hauled my ass to the playa" before, but, it's not the same as going down two weeks early and scraping a mile of playa serpents off the deck to make a runway such that somebody doesn't collapse a nose wheel and fireball. They don't have ice, or Center Camp, or coffee-slingers. They Rely on themSelves. Buying an airplane ticket, winning a lottery, renting a car, throwing a bunch of camping shit in it and driving to Burning Man just isn't the same. That's just camping. I encourage you to do that as often as possible.

ZaphodBurner, don't hold back now. Tell us how you really feel.

BTW, I 100% AGREE with this post!

Sure, there are some camps that throw up a dome and say, hey we are a theme camp. But there are those that are more vital. I am sure that BMorg will be looking through the Theme Camp apps and will consult with the Placers. Many of the Placers have been doing it for years. They know what theme camps bring something and what ones don't. If BMorg decides to give some tickets to Theme Camps and Mutant Vehicles, I do not have an issue with it as long as there is some thought process involved, not just 'this camp needs 58 tickets'. I know it would put more pressure on the Placers but I also know they know camps better than just about any one else.

[mars]

All I know is that there will be at least 53,000 people there...I do believe that group will come up with something fun to do, regardless of which 53,000 people they are. I know a lot of people care very deeply about the activities they, or other, people provide to BRC, but if for one year it's not able to happen, that's okay...for a temporary city we sure are stuck on things being the same...so what if there's a year without ________? It's not forever, they'll get this ticketing situation fixed either this year or by next year...and in the future it will make for interesting stories about the year there was no ______.

[theCryptofishist]

All I know is that there will be at least 53,000 people there...I do believe that group will come up with something fun to do, regardless of which 53,000 people they are.

Agreed!

[Galaxo Magic]

All I know is that there will be at least 53,000 people there...I do believe that group will come up with something fun to do, regardless of which 53,000 people they are.

Agreed!

Agreed, and it will be a Full Moon on Thursday, so the darktards won't be as dark.....

[lemur]

they might not be so dark but we can still run them over, right ?

[vargaso]

Here's an interesting perspective from the Burners.Me blog on theme camps and why some might "deserve" special access to tickets and other such help:

http://burners.me/2012/02/13/bring-back-root-society/

Anyone who was at Burning Man in 2010 will surely remember what to me is the most amazing stage I have ever seen, anywhere. Root Society had a 5-story high rectangle, with a massive DJ booth in the middle. There were dancing girls inside the rectangle, and unbelievable visual projections on the outside. The sound was phenomenal.

Jeff, the Captain of Root Society, shared some comments over on Alyssa’s PR blog.

We were challenged even before the tix disaster:
After 8 years in a row running Root Society, we took the year off in 2011 to quietly protest some ridiculous decisions bmorg made in 2010:

This in itself indicates a problem – Root Society was the best thing there in 2010.

We asked for simple consideration given to music theme camps:
-please don’t charge us a ticket for every truck we bring into the festival with gear to build and put on 6 days of entertainment free for your attendees

I can’t believe they even have to ask. This seems like a no-brainer.

-help us with well over 100 bags of trash that get left at our camp every year.
I call this “the ass end of the gift economy”
-help us MOOP where 15,000 people have made nightly residence instead of embarrassing us with the “red map”

A very valid point. It’s the people visiting from other camps making the MOOPs, not Root Society. They can be expected to clean up their own trash, but 15,000 people per night? At most other events, the promoters pay to clean up all the trash people dump on the dance floor.

-acknowledge that music has become a wonderful addition to the BM experience. This is one of our biggest themes each year. We push (subtle but firm) to integrate both art and music (a wonderful form of art!) into the grant program so we can create a awesome interactive experience AND offset some of our costs.

The music was amazing at Root Society, but their installation was about so much more than the music. The cost of it must be staggering.

This last challenge has always been met with the same answer,
“We never intended BM to be a music festival”.

I’ve been going since 98, and I remember one of my first impressions being how much great music there was, everywhere. Music of every kind of genre (this was before dub-step!).

Some of the best music I’ve ever heard has been at Burning Man. For a $400 ticket, you get to see some of the world’s best musical talent, having the time of their lives. I remember Christopher Lawrence playing when nobody knew who that was. I remember Paul Oakenfold playing an 8-hour set in an artificial stonehenge. Only about 20 people there, don’t reckon many of them realized the DJ would later be the first electronic musician to win a Grammy. I’ve seen Oakey play to the crowd all over the world, from massive raves to small clubs to the pool at Rehab, and that was the best Oakenfold set of my life. I remember Carl Cox at Opulent Temple in 2010, clearly having a blast pulling the chain to trigger the flamethrowers. His next album release was “Global Underground 38 – Black Rock Desert” – free publicity for Burning Man, presumably because he loved it so much.
Burning Man is one of the best music festivals in the world, and the promoters don’t even have to fund the talent. It’s churlish of them to take the position “we don’t want music, that’s not what it’s about” when they also take the position that “Burners create the party” – clearly this is what Burners want, 15,000 people at Root Society and that’s just one stage.

Back to Jeff’s comments.

And with this simple response, comes the assumption that we will just keep on “bringing it” each year–no matter what– SO WE DIDN’T in 2011!

Did the BMorg even notice? Your fans definitely did.

We were finally told point blank “that we don’t understand the basic burning man principles” and that it is our choice to do what we do. Why not just bring a small tent and a few gallons of water”. True.
2 important principles listed below:
*Gifting
Burning Man is devoted to acts of gift giving. The value of a gift is unconditional. Gifting does not contemplate a return or an exchange for something of equal value.
*Radical Self-reliance

It is laughable that representatives of Burning Man said this to Root Society. Like, really, what assholes – “you don’t understand Burner principles”. They comped 60 world-class fucking DJs to play for us for free, on one of the sickest stages of all time. They brought their own trucks in, set up and tore down that stage, did it all themselves, gifted it to all of us, and Burning Man can’t just smile and say thank you? They should be throwing tickets at these guys.

We desperately missed being there in 2011, but found solstice in sitting out and we have every intention of coming back strong in 2012. We really just don’t know where to start…

note:we have been invited to a theme camp resource meeting on Feb 15…I’m hopeful.

This is the first piece of promising news I’ve heard since the announcement of this whole sorry ticketing fiasco.

[lemur]

Here's an interesting perspective from the Burners.Me blog on theme camps and why some might "deserve" special access to tickets and other such help:

http://burners.me/2012/02/13/bring-back-root-society/

Root Society was the best thing there in 2010.

.

OH, REALLY.. TELL US MORE~!!!!

[theCryptofishist]

...but found solstice in sitting out...

Dang, if they found solstice it was a couple of weeks early...

[Galaxo Magic]

they might not be so dark but we can still run them over, right ?

absolutely! A point is a point

[Galaxo Magic]

Here's an interesting perspective from the Burners.Me blog on theme camps and why some might "deserve" special access to tickets and other such help:

http://burners.me/2012/02/13/bring-back-root-society/

Wow, now that is some Burner-than-thou balls.

Root Society was the best thing there in 2010.

Your opinion is noted.

[robrob]

2010 Root Society's Mega Soundcamp to end all Soundcamps actually kinda soured me on large format sound.
Yeah, it was a big party, but there was also big bullshit- tons of cops, tons of yahoos, and dont even bring up the portapotties.
i even think in my recap i was all "fuck big sound camps" as a direct result of activity in and around that one particular camp.


then in 2011 i spent pretty much every night at disorient, lol.



as far as that article, i dont think it counts as "gifting" if you want your ring kissed in return...
and whether or not RS returns should be up to RS, not the llc.

[Theres Always One]

Roots society should invest less in infrastructure and more in people who know what good music sounds like.

[RedHeaven]

Some amazing posts in this thread....I appreciate you all...Gratitude a plenty

I personally like the sounds of the suburbs best.

[pink]

2010 Root Society's Mega Soundcamp to end all Soundcamps actually kinda soured me on large format sound.
Yeah, it was a big party, but there was also big bullshit- tons of cops, tons of yahoos, and dont even bring up the portapotties.
i even think in my recap i was all "fuck big sound camps" as a direct result of activity in and around that one particular camp.


then in 2011 i spent pretty much every night at disorient, lol.



as far as that article, i dont think it counts as "gifting" if you want your ring kissed in return...
and whether or not RS returns should be up to RS, not the llc.

Exactly. And the MOOP problem? Maybe break the wall of sound occasionally and remind the 15k people of LNT? Their stage was amazing, but so were a shitload of other camps, artprojects, vehicles.

BM isn't a music festival. It is BM. And we really don't need publicity (isn't awareness of TTITD the root of our ticketing problem as it is?). And people that are going just for a big rave are a problem, hence the MOOP, trash issues (hey I went home with bags of trash shoved in every part of my van to the point I couldn't even get into anything but the driver's seat. I was tossing trash bags in my neighbor's cans for weeks)

[moonrise]

+1 pink

Maybe some songs or 'sets' with lyrics about LNT and MOOP would be helpful.

[vargaso]

Hearing rumblings that sale for remaining 10K tickets will be cancelled, all are going to theme camps. Well, fuck. I wouldn't even be happy about that if I did have a ticket. Yeah, I'm posting speculation again. Oh well.

[theCryptofishist]

Hearing rumblings that sale for remaining 10K tickets will be cancelled, all are going to theme camps. Well, fuck. I wouldn't even be happy about that if I did have a ticket. Yeah, I'm posting speculation again. Oh well.

Even though I stand to get a ticket under those circumstances, I don't like. (Not that I'd automatically refuse it...I'm only picean.)
I really think that in the long term, it sets up a theme camp stagnation system.

[robrob]

not rumblings

http://blog.burningman.com/2012/02/news ... city-2012/

[theCryptofishist]

So, if you didn't register for the main sale because, for instance, you were waiting for your tax refund, you now aren't going to get into STEP. I understand why they did that, but it means that you lost your chance when you didn't even know that it was in play...

[Max Callahan]

Well, what I had typed was just overtaken by events, they are down to just having bad choices and worse choices aren't they.

The only bit I've got that is still applicable, is that if they continue to reserve tickets for theme camps in the future (and i suspect they will), then the system for choosing camps that get placed should have some sort of built in churn to it (ie: X number of virgin camps always get in each year/ every year in a row that you are placed is a big negative to your score for getting placed next year)

[wraith]

So, if you didn't register for the main sale because, for instance, you were waiting for your tax refund, you now aren't going to get into STEP. I understand why they did that, but it means that you lost your chance when you didn't even know that it was in play...

It also means scalper's paradise. It creates a class of people with no means to obtain a ticket but secondary sales, which is a wet dream for the StubHub crowd.

Edit : Nothing up there less than $795 now. 65+ tickets averaging over a grand.

[socks]

And this is fair for who.This is pure bullshit for BM.org to pick the winners and losers.So are they saying unless you belong to a theme camp you just don't matter.You add nothing to Black Rock City and we just don't fucking care.This is so sad

[clerkkent]

Now we're going to get into the "My theme camp is so much awesomer than yours, so we should get more tickets than you" squabbles

[theCryptofishist]

You say that like it's a bad thing...

[alt12]

And this is fair for who.This is pure bullshit for BM.org to pick the winners and losers.So are they saying unless you belong to a theme camp you just don't matter.You add nothing to Black Rock City and we just don't fucking care.This is so sad

Don't kid yourself.... There aren't enough tickets to go around so they aren't going to equally distribute tickets to all theme camps, artists, etc. The tickets are going to hand-picked friends of the org, popular/well-known artists, very large theme camps that have their noses far up the bmorg behind, etc.

[The CO]

The tickets are going to hand-picked friends of the org, popular/well-known artists, very large theme camps that have their noses far up the bmorg behind, etc.

What they stated as far as criteria:

1. _History_ - Your camp has to be in our database in past years.(We have ways to catch name changes for groups.) We looked for past participation.

2. _Demonstrated Community Benefit_- Your camp has been interactive in a way that has been experienced as meaningful. Your camp provides support for our Burning Man infrastructure. Your camp provides services for our community. Basically, your camp helps make the community and the magic.

3. _LNT_- Your camp has demonstrated adherence to and good practices around Leave No Trace and are committed to our community perpetuating the message of pack it in-pack it out/ Don't Let It Hit the Ground and sustainability.

4. _10 Principles_ - Your camp fully embraces the 10 principles in their entirety at their core.

Seems to me they are saying they want to help those that show preparedness: if previous registration and a good moop map report constitute "noses far up the bmorg behind", I'm ok with that.

[ygmir]

right CO!!

There are not enough tickets.........someone, can't go.
so, if/when making choices, why would you not, off the top, eliminate any who were less than desirable/compliant/10 principled? (theme camps)

That narrows the field some. Then, I bet it's total random draw.........they're doing their best.........what a tough spot.

[alt12]

The tickets are going to hand-picked friends of the org, popular/well-known artists, very large theme camps that have their noses far up the bmorg behind, etc.

What they stated as far as criteria:

1. _History_ - Your camp has to be in our database in past years.(We have ways to catch name changes for groups.) We looked for past participation.

2. _Demonstrated Community Benefit_- Your camp has been interactive in a way that has been experienced as meaningful. Your camp provides support for our Burning Man infrastructure. Your camp provides services for our community. Basically, your camp helps make the community and the magic.

3. _LNT_- Your camp has demonstrated adherence to and good practices around Leave No Trace and are committed to our community perpetuating the message of pack it in-pack it out/ Don't Let It Hit the Ground and sustainability.

4. _10 Principles_ - Your camp fully embraces the 10 principles in their entirety at their core.

Seems to me they are saying they want to help those that show preparedness: if previous registration and a good moop map report constitute "noses far up the bmorg behind", I'm ok with that.

Do you really think that all whatever 30 or so people working at headquarters aren't going to be funneling these tickets to their many friends who didn't get any? You don't think Will Chase is going to push for good reasons to get tickets in the hands of his buddies in the local party-throwing community? Or that Crimson Rose isn't going to try to steer tickets available to her favorite artists or the big BRAF contributors who spend $2,500 a plate at ARTaumnal? I think you are exceedingly naive if you think its just going to be an Excel spreadsheet of logical ticket distribution based exclusively on the aforementioned criteria....

I guess we'll find out. My camp meets all criteria listed above, has been registered for 5 years BUT has no special Enron-type connections. I am pretty damn sure we won't get jack.... But I'll tell you what, I will post on this board if we do......

[hotmess]

YOUR THEME CAMP ISN'T THAT IMPORTANT . . . . . . .WELL I GUESS WE SEE NOW THAT IT IS.

[Killbuck]

Somebody up there isn't getting enough bacon... or ketchup. Can't let the conspiracies go away, huh?

Ya know... with the decision to move yet unsold tickets to theme camps with a track record, based on the criteria- I think it may be the best possible wormy can. There are a lot of theme camps that are theme in name only... how many REALLY do up their theme? Damn few. I mean is it a theme camp by just putting a sign out front, yet the camp behind it is totally indistinguishable from non theme camps?

Perhaps if established camps can get a few tickets, they will go to the members who bring important elements to that theme... bring or create interactivity. Maybe it's what the city's been needing?