Gifting poll

Rage · Post by **Rage** » Thu Jul 22, 2004 1:59 pm

insight please

Burp! · Post by **Burp!** » Thu Jul 22, 2004 5:20 pm

Not really a gifter, not that I think it's bad to be one. Mostly I worry that gifting will become something people expect.

In 2000, some random person up on the maze handed me a rally cool necklace. It's been hanging on my rearview mirror ever since. Since then it seems like gifting is the "in" thing to do, less random, less special to me.

Though last year somone did give me a little glass jar with playa dust in it. I liked that idea.

Again not really dissing it, just don't want it to become a requirement, like mardi gra beads.

Lately I hear more people going "What'd they give you??" "I'm going to get me one", stuff like that, so I tend to shy away from gifting thoughts.

I do theme camps and installations mostly, so feel that's my gift. We do have art projects that the people get to take home. Other than that, nuthing from me!

NoFlash

LostMachine · Post by **LostMachine** » Thu Jul 22, 2004 11:00 pm

Burp!
Thanks i feel better. I'm working on a huge project that may or may not get done. I have no time to make gifts. My project is my gift.

Much better.

Angel Ben · Post by **Angel Ben** » Fri Jul 23, 2004 9:40 am

Yeah, people take the gifting concept too literally, and often think of it with a bit too much of a barter approach. What I really hate is when I make somebody a drink or something, and they feel compelled to dig through their bags for a gift to offer in return. If you weren't going to give it to me before I offered you a drink, it's not a gift. The worst part about it is that I don't want to be rude by refusing it, so I'm essentially forced into an unwilling barter transaction.

That said, I tend to bring a bottle to the bars because I'd hate for them to run out.

Rage · Post by **Rage** » Fri Jul 23, 2004 9:44 am

I was considering basic sunglasses...buy them wholesale...everyone needs a pair when they can't find theirs.

Icepack · Post by **Icepack** » Fri Jul 23, 2004 11:51 am

I don't think you should gift bars/clubs any differently than you gift anyone else. If you are going to be at the same bar all week, sure, bring a bottle of something to add to the bar. Sort of a potluck thing.

When I bought coffee at Center Camp last year, I gave a gift instead of a tip. Original handmade keychain thing I think. Those people might have preferred cash but I had very little cash to get me through the week for coffee and ice.

Rage · Post by **Rage** » Fri Jul 23, 2004 12:21 pm

Ok, if you have no idea where you will hang out all week, and want to avoid turning things into a barter, maybe it's best to avoid gifting until you return to that bar with the intent of staying awhile.

The sunglasses are just for people who appear to need a pair.

Now beer, that's just good to have a lot of, period. We intend to get a variety of brands.

Livka · Post by **Livka** » Fri Jul 23, 2004 8:20 pm

I tend to agree with Burp... "I'm not really a gifter" In the sense that I don't go prepared to the playa with gifts in a tow. However I support the concept. But I suppose we all have different reasons/ways how and why we gift.

As for me, I pack a bit of extra clothes/food/water, if I see someone in need of what I have, I offer to help or just offer a good meal. Like a previous post, I feel awkward receiving a gift for giving... but I know the other person is only wanting to give a token of their appreciation, and thus I respect their wishes. Later I'm more appreciative... because when I see the gift again it reminds of that person(s), the situation and the feel of the playa.

Post by **AntiM** » Sat Jul 24, 2004 4:21 am

I've brought the boxes of paper dust masks from Harbor Freight and handed them out during dust blows. Some years I use a sharpie to make silly grins, snouts and lips on the masks. I know, folks should be prepared, but occasionally someone caught away from camp without a mask appreciates the paper standby to get them "home." Certainly these have MOOP potential, but so do all the stickers and temp tattoos I seem to acquire every year.

Some of the gifts I've received that I enjoy the most are handmade necklaces and pendants; I'm a regular magpie when it comes to jewelry. If I don't wear it, I have it hanging somewhere. I've made hundreds of pendants this year, each one different, from wire, glass and semi-precious stones. Been down sick alot, so I have time on my hands for it. I generally wander around offereing trinkets to folks at random, often worlessly; I try to avoid letting my gifts be tokens of exchange or rewards for coolness. Yes, in previous years my pendants have not been quite as nice, or as successfully executed in design; although this year not every one has a man and/or the year on it. And if someone refuses fine, but don't be mean about it, I really have put some sincere effort into making nice pieces of memories with these trinkets.

Juju · Post by **Juju** » Tue Jul 27, 2004 6:53 am

We built a "give a gift/take a gift" structure for our camp last year, and are currently working on one for this year.

It was actually two construction cubbies with spaces for people to slide in random trinkets, toys, treats, and all sorts of other cool stuff. I loved that it was interactive and fun and you didn't have to feel pressured to reciprocate, but if you wanted to leave something special you could.

My favorite anonymous gift was a cd of images from 2002, the year I wiped my media card on the drive home and lost over 200 digital pics. One of my campmates saw it and knew it'd be perfect for me.

I love gifting food. My first year I brought a few hundred mints - breath mints, dinner mints, etc to gift, but ended up bringing most of them home. The past few years I've made cookies & brownies to randomly gift people, as well as gazpacho and other foodstuffs that can be dished out from camp. This year I'm bringing a few hundred tamales to hand out to hungry playa dwellers.

Personally I think kisses make good bar gifts

JezebelinHell · Post by **JezebelinHell** » Tue Jul 27, 2004 7:08 am

Hey, I ran into that gifting cubby whilst horribly inebriated and out of cigarettes. Someone (I love you whoever you are) had left a pack of smokes, which I gladly accepted. I left an almost unused funsaver camera. Had like 25 pics left on it. Not something I ever would have thought to gift someone with in a normal situation, but the gifting cubby made everything seem possible. That thing ruled! Thanks guys.

Dardanian · Post by **Dardanian** » Tue Jul 27, 2004 7:52 am

I agree with Burp that gifting would become a blight if it became expected. Fortunately it hasn't, at least as far as I could tell last year (it being my first year may have skewed my view though.) There is just something warm and fuzzy about being given something by a stranger with no expectations attached-- and something doubly warm and fuzzy about seeing someone get that feeling when you give them an unexpected gift.

My thoughts:

If you are a Ranger, Greeter, Cleanup Crew, Medical Staff, ect you have already gifted and should be showered with so many gifts you need an empty backpack every time you go out (and a VD shot when you get home!) PROPS!

Art exhibits, cars, bars, classes and the like are likewise HUGE gifts to the whole community.

For the rest of us... it is optional, but why wouldn't you?

Last year we were schmucks with an RV and had a freezer, so Otter Pops made a fun choice. Lots of smiles from people roughing it out of tents. As a DJ myself I knew what I would want if I were spinning... ROCKSTAR! I made sure I had a few of those wherever I went.

There were personal gifts too... but in BRC where sex, showers, and Barbie mutilation are public affairs, its nice to keep some things between the involved people only... even if it is the exchange of keepsakes. It took me a good four days to realise that gifting mass produced things was barely gifting at all.

<Shrug> Just my two cents.

theCryptofishist · Post by **theCryptofishist** » Tue Jul 27, 2004 9:00 am

Dardanian wrote:It took me a good four days to realise that gifting mass produced things was barely gifting at all.

Okay okay okay--here's where I'm sort of a heretic. Much of what Dardanian says is true, but I think there are spots where mass produced gifts work. AFter the death of my sister, I went through an intense period of buying small plastic animals and the like (sometimes from gumball machines) and I realized that the best of these are charming and delightful and that the manufacturers/designers know what they are doing in appealing to kids and the children within the rest of us. Of course, Margaret and I played with them as kids and we had very rich times and private mythologies (who could ever forget "the cow with no guts" or "Hong Kong Ding Dongs"?) I've given away many of these purchases to my surrogate niece and nephews and I trust that they have created much joy.
To go to that most common of mass purchaces--Mardi Gras beads, well, I have a bunch hanging around my bedroom lamp. Go deeper than that. I spent 2, 3 years at the perifery of the beading world and that taught me a lot about beads and beads & humanity. Think of it, no culture has been without beads/jewelry. The story of Manhatten being traded for beads isnt' only a story about cultural mis-communication of hunting rights and land ownership--it's also about the lasting human appeal of beads. Always been a great trade item. Shell beads traded in from the american coasts to the plains indians. Chevrons into Africa. Diamonds with curses. Venice actually collecting its (her?) beadmakers and putting them on a separate island (Murano) as a state secret. Mysterious Dzi beads with fantastic consonant combinations. I haven't strung a necklace for years, but I still haven't given up at least half of the beads I own. So, the Mardi Gras beads are only another strand in the long history of beads. Personally, I'd go a step beyond and look at Fire Mountain Gems and some other of the mail order catalogues for more interesting strands on sale and gift them. But then, I am at least in part a bead person.
And this weekend I bought 24 teeny tiny moraccas for gifting. You can't beat noise makers.
I actually do gift handmade works of art--the glass crocodiles beads that I made in my own kiln. And, oddly, because I have conflicts about these items, they've never been really pure gifts on the playa. I made them for 2 or 3 years before I burned out my kiln. (Ouch.) I gifted them before I ever even got to the playa and I did that in a much better way--I was still making them and it was great to get the enthusiasm back. Then I tried to market them, and proved that I'm not a gifted marketer. Now I have 1000? 2000? of the things and in the back of my mind is always "Oh good, I got rid of another one." It's not the best place to be gifting from, although the reception is as enthusiastic as always.
I read and understand the stories about tabacco and I don't think I could gift it. I just have too strong feelings about the marketing of it in the larger culture. And yet, I live with an addict and regularly supply his fix, because that's what it is , a fix. Yet Stuart and Jezibelinhell are right--smokes are a great gift.
I think the problem is gifting something that you bought or made by rote instead of something that sets you on fire and makes you come alive. I think some of the jaded ones who haven't accepted a string of Mardi Gras beads in years might accept one if you were on fire with the giving. The best gift is one from the heart. And as Stuart points out, in the perfection of the very moment of giving.

theCryptofishist · Post by **theCryptofishist** » Tue Jul 27, 2004 9:04 am

[quote="Dardanian"]
If you are a Ranger, Greeter, Cleanup Crew, Medical Staff, ect you have already gifted and should be showered with so many gifts you need an empty backpack every time you go out (and a VD shot when you get home!) PROPS!/quote]Especially when I am a ESD member marrying a Medical Staffer on playa!

(Okay, okay--there's a part of me that's still a wall flower geek who wants the praise and props. That's not the major reason I'm going to the burn, but I still want the presents! Do not pity me, just think of it as one of the contradictions that I live. Tao on the playa.)

Besides--I want to try some assemblage from the stuff I collect.

Tancorix · Post by **Tancorix** » Tue Jul 27, 2004 9:45 am

JuJu, are you part of Camp Kathanika? They had gift exchange boxes setup last year, and I was hoping they would return this year. I planned to bring special stuff just for those boxes. If your not part of Kathanika, I'd like to know where the gift boxes might end up so I could contribute to 'em.

Juju · Post by **Juju** » Tue Jul 27, 2004 8:20 pm

Yes, I am part of Kathanika, though I won't be living there. We've got a "garage" theme going this year so I believe we're doing them mailbox style. We're registered, hopefully will be in a plaza again this year, so we should be easy to find. I'm so glad to hear that you remembered us and will be gifting with us this year!

Das Bus · Post by **Das Bus** » Wed Jul 28, 2004 4:13 am

I loved the give a gift/take a gift stations! It was so cool to just look at all the things people left. My friends and I were so impressed with this idea, that we started doing it at the different regional events we've attended.

Thank you to all who started this! : )

Dardanian · Post by **Dardanian** » Wed Jul 28, 2004 6:37 am

Crypto,

Point well taken about mass produced gifts-- I didn't mean to sound so dismissive of them. I guess a better way to express my feeling is to say that it took four days to start thinking about what gift a person would best recieve, rather than whom I could unload my backpack of otter pops on. (Quick, they are melting!!!)

As for beads-- store bought beads you strung wouldn't be "mass produced" per se (but then, as a closet candyraver I'm biased about that particular item) and a surviving bead from those you made in a now dead kiln that you have been unable to replace would be a real treasure-- particularly to someone who knew the story and would remember you whenever they ran across it.

Rage · Post by **Rage** » Wed Jul 28, 2004 7:50 am

Interesting to see how the topic has mutated...from bars to general gifting.

I doubt I'm going to have time to make personal items to give. I too like the idea of general hospitality giving of food, drink, hugs, kisses.

I still think that items of immediate use are best and found a great source for earplugs, goggles and dust masks in bulk.

http://www.probuy.net/

Hope this helps someone.

curlyhairedpig · Post by **curlyhairedpig** » Wed Jul 28, 2004 4:23 pm

[quote="JezebelinHell"] Hey, I ran into that gifting cubby ... That thing ruled!

yeah! i loved that! someone had stuck a dollar in and my friend was like, trade your clown nose for the money, and i immediately thought, what good would that do, i don't want that!? and that made me feel good. the chapstick was much more useful.

theCryptofishist · Post by **theCryptofishist** » Thu Jul 29, 2004 9:01 am

Dardanian wrote:Crypto,
Point well taken about mass produced gifts-- I didn't mean to sound so dismissive of them. I guess a better way to express my feeling is to say that it took four days to start thinking about what gift a person would best recieve, rather than whom I could unload my backpack of otter pops on. (Quick, they are melting!!!)

Back to my comment about the space you give from being important.

Dardanian wrote:As for beads-- store bought beads you strung wouldn't be "mass produced" per se

I was actually talking about pre-strung bought cheap, but actual necklaces bought cheap, but not the plastic beads that are glued on a string that you can't unstring. I'm not expressing myself well.

Dardanian wrote:a surviving bead from those you made in a now dead kiln that you have been unable to replace would be a real treasure-- particularly to someone who knew the story and would remember you whenever they ran across it.

Thank you! That is the sweetest thing you've ever said to me!
No, it was really sweet and I'm touched. (A good result of any gifting!)

theCryptofishist · Post by **theCryptofishist** » Thu Jul 29, 2004 9:08 am

I just love the give a gift/get a gift stations and I'm packing plenty to leave there.

And practical gifts are great. It's a steep learning curve and sometime we all need a friendly little push up it.

If I had to say anything about gifting--it's a wide open practice. There are so many ways, large and small, that you can help, delight, ease or otherwise connect to others on the playa (and the rest of the world.) Be aware of he moment and listen to your heart. And remember, recieving well is a gift in itself.

Post by **AntiM** » Thu Jul 29, 2004 2:46 pm

I've had a gift rack outside our camp for a couple years, and it was fun and interesting to see what came and went. It had baskets, a string of plastic clothes clips and a hanging rod. I did get a few nice things for myself, and put out some things I'd made, plus costumes, water bottles, hats. I did have to sit on one of my nieces last year; she'd rush out anytime anyone got near the rack to see what she could scoop up. We had to have a chat about gifting versus trolling for schwag.

My campmates would put out cheddar cheese cup o noodles on the gift rack every day. The packages were getting torn and dusty, so I'd bring them into camp and put them in our food box, which was seperate from theirs. I kept moaning about what was I going to do with these nasty noodles, and more would show up every day. They had an entire case of the things with them. They really had a good laugh at my expense; now I think it is really funny too. My brother took all the noodles, turns out that was one of his favorite flavors, so it all worked out.

I've decide to not do it this year; the rack itself has taken a beating in transit, someone tried to give the gift of fire on burn night so one basket is melted, it became a trash bin by Sunday morning and I ended up hauling home some very dusty crap. Food and condoms seemed like good ideas, but fared poorly in the hot sun. Unwrapped food and dust masks collected dust and became trash almost immediately. If you're going to share food, please be sure it is wrapped up and sealed, otherwise walk into the nearest camp and share. Just a thought ....

Overall it was a positive experience, I'm just giving it a rest this year. I do have nifty gifties so I'll look for a gifting exchange cubby as one way to share out my goodies.

turnstyle · Post by **turnstyle** » Thu Jul 29, 2004 4:44 pm

Hey, I'm all in favor of gifting your local volunteer (I'm on the medical side)...

...I had a huge tub of Now N Laters...they were always a big hit around center camp...for more personal gifts - we're making pendants this year.

somekind · Post by **somekind** » Tue Sep 05, 2006 8:49 am

Thanks to everyone!

patnmarilyn · Post by **patnmarilyn** » Thu Sep 07, 2006 8:03 pm

Hi...We have a lot of Burning Man documentaries....We show them to friends and acquaintances and their friends and acquaintances all year long....It's part of our "addiction" to relive those moments and to expose others to BM....We may be responsible for at least 150 virgins and a few theme camps....We come to the playa all given out.....just kidding.....we love to give cd's of our special put you in the mood burning man music....
and we always bring extra threaded rod (as good as rebar) to give to our neighbors......We give lots of weather advice cause we track the 10 day reports before coming to the Burn......giving is definitely better than getting......

RINGMASTER · Post by **RINGMASTER** » Thu Sep 07, 2006 9:28 pm

we came with a bunch of goggles, eye drops, contact solution, etc.

people were very appreciative.. most people found it useful.. and we didnt give a damn about getting anything in return :)

dont ever feel obligated to return something when youve been gifted, thats not the point.

if any of you received the gifts from us - hope you enjoyed them!

the optometrists (not!)

Bubbles · Post by **Bubbles** » Sun Oct 01, 2006 7:07 am

I'm a smoker and am always distressed when I see cigarette butts thrown on the ground. I made ashtrays out of blank mint tins that I painted and decorated. I would gift these mint tins/ash trays/stash boxes/moop recepticles to anyone I saw smoking without an ashtray

Not only a gift given with a smile and a hug, but a hope for a cleaner playa.

I especially enjoyed giving these to people that I didn't know or had not even met and walking away without the expectation of a returned gift.

Lorgasm · Post by **Lorgasm** » Sun Oct 01, 2006 9:04 am

Aside from my arts and crafts as gifts, I also brought scarves. Lots of them. I collected many during the year and wanted to bring them with me to the burn. It was great to give them and to lose them in hopes they made someone's night more pleasurable and warm.

Zoom · Post by **Zoom** » Tue Oct 03, 2006 1:31 pm

the following i gifted, it was very helpful in finding Lorgasm's relocated bike.

Gifting poll

I gift the bars/clubs I go to with...

Gifting poll

I was thinking of sunglasses...

The bottle concept

Gifting expectations

Re: Gifting expectations

Beads never melt

The topic has mutated...

Re: Beads never melt