ePlaya

Over the last month I've been in full network-ninja mode, but now with this sprawling list of connections I've been making, across a ridunkulous amount of mediums (posts, emails, texts) and platforms (ePlaya, Spark, Reddit, FB, etc.), keeping good track of them is starting to kick my ass.

And while cell services have increased in recent years, solid reliability isn't there, and hey...parchment is a wonderful thing

That being said, I created an excel sheet I'm going to use to record and keep track of my contacts, and print before the burn. If you've got any good ideas on edits or changes, let me know.

Flint

This looks like something you expect people to fill out. first thing. I'm not putting my cell phone and email on a document that other people will see.

Second thing. I'm not giving you my info either.

No offense but I don't know you. Every year eplaya is populated in July and August with 'fly-by-night' burners. Mainly they want to buddy up and get tickets. Then they are gone forever. Although sometimes they resurrect themselves the following year with a new identity.

Lastly, I have NO idea when or where I'll be on playa.

I have a little book I carry. It's already started and full of peoples camp addresses. I use a retractable, extra fine sharpie. Ballpoint pens are useless out there. I use the book mainly for making notes about wehat I will do differently next year. (And finding BDC for the Meet & Greet.)

Whoa Ratty, bad day?

I thought the post was fairly straight-forward. I created the sheet to better keep track of "my" contacts. The ones I already have, along with all the all the phone numbers, email addresses, etc.

The request for input on "changes or edits" was to the form itself (maybe a field I'm missing, a change in format, something else I didn't think of, etc.)

I don't know what would have given the impression I was just blanket-requesting personal information from anyone and everyone on ePlaya, but that certainly wasn't the case. Yeah, it "looks like" a sheet that gets filled out. But that's kinda where the text description of the post is fairly important for context lol.

Flint, I know you're not requesting my info. YOU are the one that requested good ideas for edits or changes. I'm not having a BAD day. I'm speaking as a stranger looking at your sheet. It says, "Fill out as much or as little as you like". Therefore leading me to the conclusion that each person would be filling out the sheet and seeing other people's info. Hummmm. I'm sorry my edits and changes offended you. Carry on. Whatever works for you.

Hey, I get what you're saying now. Ahh, the lost-in-translation that happens over text and how it shapes perceptions. I thought I was pretty clear it was for my contacts, but I guess I could see how that line on the sheet could make that confusing.

I put that line in, with the thought that I'd attach the sheet (a blank template) to a blind-CC mass email. I could email all my peeps all at once the same as individually, and more productively compile and make good use of time.

But with that very notion of personal info and my respect thereof, if one of my people wanted to add something or not, naturally that's their prerogative.

The fact finding input I was more looking for was more on the functionality side, not the ethical side lol.

You mentioned using a book for instance. Maybe that's better than loose-leaf. And those fields on the sheet, that was just me spit-ballin' of what info seemed most pertinent and useful to have.

In the spirit of "you don't know what you don't know," maybe there's other elements I'm missing. The sheet's meant to help me find people once on the playa. But maybe in addition to a meeting spot, there's other ways to do it, and noting that info would be helpful as well.

Being new naturally makes me want to be extra thorough. After all, once I'm out there, I'm out there, and what I'll have to work with is only as good as the prep I'm busy doing now, ya know.

***
Just to pull this thread full-circle back up to my top original post and the reason for it- anyone else that that might have some input, I thought this was clear in my post, but I must have been mistaken. Let me me bang the shit out of the concept of "my contacts", just so it's crystal clear, and we don't waste anymore thread space- this is NOT about meeting people, about strangers, etc. Thanks for the Meet-n-Greet plug on two posts now, but it's not about that lol.

This is me sitting down with my laptop, going through months of conversations with many people I now know, with info "I already have," just spread across many forms, and trying to make a nice data-consolidation of what I think with my newbie perspective, is the most pertinent to compile and print out to have on the playa.

These are anywhere from "hey, we're both heading out I80, let's exchange #'s in case of breakdowns," "hey, way awesome to hear from you, let's meet up once we get there," etc. Hopefully that's clear enough.

I hope I'm on your list.

You'll understand this more once you've been on playa a while, but "best time to meet/find you" is almost pointless. A few people will be able to give you a credible answer, but for most people it's more or less a crap shoot. Even if they intend to be there, they often aren't.

I seem to recall you are on Facebook, so you may be interested in this FB-driven app which does much the same thing - you tell it where you are camping, and it tells you the locations of all of your FB friends who have told it where they are camping: http://www.burnermap.com

Holy shit, you rock. I owe you and thensome.

Berthoud CO. By that, are we talking Berthoud pass? Cuz I used to live in Winter Park, Granby to be exact. But it's all the Fraser Valley once you get past the pass, IMHO.

Afraid not, though that's a common misunderstanding. I'd say "just south of Loveland", but people make the same mistake there too.

Berthoud's a small town about an hour north of Denver - just north of Longmont, and just south of the city of Loveland.

I totally feel you on being prepared and wanting to nerd out on connections you’ve made. BUT! As a few have mentioned or hinted... don’t worry about it. Allow your week at BM to be a magic week of spontaneouty. If you don’t give yourself room to let things happen and people come and go, then you’ll be stressed and disappointed. Many of us say “see you on the playa” but that usually carries with it the expectation of “if we randomly bump into each other”.

With that said, I do keep a little notebook with my real life friends camps and their camp events so that if it works out I can hit some of them up. But if something more immediate is happening, I would never end that moment and jump to the events I’ve noted.

Anyway, long way to say... relax.

Fear of Missing Out

No matter what you try there is no way to be where the action is all the time
Enjoy the moment that is where the satisfaction is

I have a shit list. It’s a short list but nonetheless a list

BitterSweet just doesn’t speak old-fart-jaded-burner yet.

It’s a skill.

Class will be in session all year on ePlaya.

If you're familiar with a site called Facebook, you may also care to look up an app there called Burnermap. It is a totally free thing that mines no data, made by burners for burners. You enter your info there, and then it shows you the camp info for the friends you are connected with on Facebook. It's got a couple features worth pointing out.

First is the anonymized all camps mode (click the tab above the map). That shows a listing of all the camps who have a member that's down with sharing their location. It's anonymized, meaning it won't tell you who's at each of those camps... but it can serve as a handy directory.

Second is the printed lists. You can then hit the print button and it'll print out a list of your FB friends, along with their playa names and where they're camped. It will print it organized by name, and then organized by clock position... that can be super handy for when you find yourself at 8 & C and want to find somebody who might be nearby.