Close the Gates on Thursday !

Tafkah · Post by **Tafkah** » Wed Sep 17, 2003 11:14 pm

It seems to me that many of the ills facing Burning Man could be cured simply by closing the gates on Thursday morning. No one gets in after then (except in & outs and BM staff). Of course you could leave anytime you want.

Just think how many yahoos that would dissuade from coming. Imagine the beautiful monday/tuesday/wednesday vibe continuing all week and through the weekend. Imagine no one coming just for a two day rave?

What's stopping it from happening, other than that ugly old money thing?

Piper · Post by **Piper** » Wed Sep 17, 2003 11:20 pm

Heres is one, I am a teacher in Reno so it is easy for me, usually, to get out there. I was able to go out on Monday night, meet my camp and pay for an in and out and then went out thursday.
Now I might not be able to get Thursday off, but get Friday(first week of school). So I am to be kept out because I work? Now I do agree with no ticket sale after wednesday night, just will calls, but do not keep out burners due to work, please

Stormy · Post by **Stormy** » Thu Sep 18, 2003 12:48 am

Piper wrote:Heres is one, I am a teacher in Reno so it is easy for me, usually, to get out there. I was able to go out on Monday night, meet my camp and pay for an in and out and then went out thursday.
Now I might not be able to get Thursday off, but get Friday(first week of school). So I am to be kept out because I work? Now I do agree with no ticket sale after wednesday night, just will calls, but do not keep out burners due to work, please

With you on this one. Though damn, why don't they just move the date already?

supersurly · Post by **supersurly** » Thu Sep 18, 2003 1:30 am

Stop ticket sales in january.

Stormy · Post by **Stormy** » Thu Sep 18, 2003 1:32 am

supersurly wrote:Stop ticket sales in january.

Hee hee.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Thu Sep 18, 2003 6:50 am

Piper wrote:So I am to be kept out because I work? Now I do agree with no ticket sale after wednesday night, just will calls, but do not keep out burners due to work, please

Right... my wife's a teacher in LA so we have the same problem, only it takes us a full day to get to Reno! We pushed it this year and were able to arrive at BRC about Noon on Thursday... we both want to come earlier but sometimes outside forces prevent us from getting what we want!

Chimp · Post by **Chimp** » Thu Sep 18, 2003 9:23 am

If BM shut the gates early, and yeah it might be nice certainly, dontcha think it might be a bit well, I mean what would there be to bitch about?

Answer me that and stay fashionable.

glam_daddy · Post by **glam_daddy** » Thu Sep 18, 2003 9:30 am

i have had this same thought about closing down on thursday. I think it would help keep some unwanted elements away but the problem is there would be some few true burners who would get cut out. Would suck to be one of them!

Borris · Post by **Borris** » Thu Sep 18, 2003 9:36 am

I say no more ticket sales after Wed. night or Thu. morning. this will deter some more yahoos (allthough some of them will simply buy their ticket in advance, like they do now and come on friday)

closing completly on thu. would be unfair to burners who work till thu. night for instance. but i think that closing gates for new arivals on fri. afternoon can have some sense.

Tiara · Post by **Tiara** » Thu Sep 18, 2003 9:58 am

Just to play devil's advocate. . . Who do you propose to staff the gates, once they are closed? Who will be there to hear the stories of car break-downs and family emergencies that delayed arrivals? Who will be there to see the sadness or bear the brunt of the anger of people who have been looking forward to "coming home" again since they left the gates the previous year, but arrived too late? Who will have the wisdom (clairvoyance?) to make the call on whether a sob story is true or just a sham? Who will have the power to make exceptions? Will there be exceptions?

MusicVixen · Post by **MusicVixen** » Thu Sep 18, 2003 10:17 am

Tiara wrote:Just to play devil's advocate. . . Who do you propose to staff the gates, once they are closed? Who will be there to hear the stories of car break-downs and family emergencies that delayed arrivals? Who will be there to see the sadness or bear the brunt of the anger of people who have been looking forward to "coming home" again since they left the gates the previous year, but arrived too late? Who will have the wisdom (clairvoyance?) to make the call on whether a sob story is true or just a sham? Who will have the power to make exceptions? Will there be exceptions?

Note to mention the additional gate staff that will be needed to deter the additional "crashers".

stuart · Post by **stuart** » Thu Sep 18, 2003 1:17 pm

I think, even if you stopped selling in January or whenever, and did not let anyone in past even tuesday, the vibe would still change over the week. Not as drastically, but it would drift. Certainly not everyone, but many just get tired and cranky to a small degree. It is hard to live out there for a week in a tent with funky facilites and massive sleep deprivation.

flame on

BurningGirl · Post by **BurningGirl** » Thu Sep 18, 2003 1:47 pm

How would you get fresh fruit!? I always go early to help set up camp (Flight 2 Mars...takes a lot to put together) but we have East coas folks that come on Thu/Fri...since they were't the for set up, their job is to bring fresh fruit, milk, eggs, soft bread & such. They get a BIG welcome when they roll in....

But seriosly...are the jackasses that we blame for a lot of the problems (rightly so much of the time) REALLY showing up last minute & paying $250+? Closing the gates doesn't seem like a great option but stopping ticket sales does...however I don't think that would have much of an impact.

sugarlarry · Post by **sugarlarry** » Thu Sep 18, 2003 3:00 pm

Maybe the jackasses aren't such a bad thing after all? I mean we don't really have any stats to say that all of the assholes, date-rapers, and bike-thieves show up on the weekend. Just a suspicion. In fact, those pulling this shit could be simply amoral, selfish Burners who are pretty much just like us.

The thing about the "yahoos" is that for whatever reason... they're here cuz they feel they need to be. I don't think they're here just for the boobs. If they are, they're not going to come back, and they aren't going to tell their friends, cuz BM is not as good a place to chase "pelt" as -let's say - Cancun, or Marti Gras.

The Yahoos could be here cuz they want a little bit more out of life, and they're here to maybe make some changes. Who knows? The thing is, if you try to cut off new blood to Burning Man, you may actually kill the event in the long term, or stunt the positive values transmited back to society at large. Maybe today's yahoo is tomorrow's David Best?

Okay... I'm probably full of shit here, but ya never know.

jbelson · Post by **jbelson** » Thu Sep 18, 2003 3:31 pm

I say they close ticket sales to all those that think they're better than others because they don't have to work on monday and tuesday to survive. Maybe without the elitist pigs there would be a better vibe? maybe they should hand out a pamphlet that says you are no better than onyone else because you are here already

Chai Guy · Post by **Chai Guy** » Thu Sep 18, 2003 3:37 pm

I find most of the Yahoos leave on Sunday or Early Monday, leaving the "real" burners to clean up, my suggestion is to close the EXIT gates on Sunday and Monday until the mess is picked up!

precipitate · Post by **precipitate** » Thu Sep 18, 2003 3:43 pm

> I say they close ticket sales to all those that think they're better than
> others because they don't have to work on monday and tuesday to
> survive.

Maybe people who feel insecure about their financial position should spend
time working on their personal issues rather than asking others to do so.

Then again, I've never made fun of someone who came later in the week
unless it was because they said they only came to see The Burn, which
I'm pretty damn sure you didn't do.

Personally, I'd like to see new ticket sales close the Friday before the
event begins. I saw a big difference the first year they closed the gates
early from previous years, but I don't know if closing gates earlier will
reap as big a benefit. It basically just stops the day trippers.

jbelson · Post by **jbelson** » Thu Sep 18, 2003 4:15 pm

precipitate wrote:>

Maybe people who feel insecure about their financial position should spend
time working on their personal issues rather than asking others to do so.

I think they should just spend time on the internet all day

madmatt · Post by **madmatt** » Thu Sep 18, 2003 5:10 pm

I totally agree, they should close the gates on thursday. I actually thought it was a rule already. And as for all those people whining about "I can't get that much time off bla bla blubber blubber" - that's it in a nutshell. All people who come should have to have a certain level of committment, which strengthens and makes possible the intentional community idea. Who in the U.S. who has a job can't get 4 days off, with a year advanced notice? Fuckem if they can't get there till friday. I want to be able to get to know my neighbors, maybe run into the same people a few times.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Thu Sep 18, 2003 6:04 pm

madmatt wrote:Who in the U.S. who has a job can't get 4 days off, with a year advanced notice? Fuckem if they can't get there till friday.

Well how about a teacher when that's the first week of school?

Would you quit your job for BM?

stuart · Post by **stuart** » Thu Sep 18, 2003 6:09 pm

I gotta tell ya, the vibe on Friday, before the event opened, and the following Saturday was just fuckin sublime. MMMmmmmm Yummy! So, if you have not had the oppourtunity to be there that early please don't make comments about what those kinda folk are like. Still, I would not bar the gates for any number of reasons. Also, as I stated before, MY vibe changed by Saturday of the burn because I was beat. If i had one more yo ask me where the carcass wash was I was going to, I don't know.... At the beginning of the week I was all smiles and detailed directions.

Post by **actiongrl** » Thu Sep 18, 2003 7:00 pm

>I say no more ticket sales after Wed. night or Thu. morning.

That's already the case, pretty much. Ticket sales stop sometime on Thursday.

I have enough friends who can't get there before the weekend -- but who do contribute greatly to my experience, and don't just sit around on they asses -- that I would be vehemently against this "close the gates" policy. I realize you're talking about "commitment", but man, people have real lives, jobs, families, children...

Random question: how many of you approached a "yahoo" this year and tried to become friends and find out what they're about or welcome them into the fray?

Yes, perhaps I can get a week off with a year's notice. But what if, gosh forbid, I want to take more than just Burning Man as a vacation each year, but I want to keep coming back?

Do I have to do a week or nothing?

Feh.

stuart · Post by **stuart** » Thu Sep 18, 2003 7:03 pm

---raises hand---

it helped that we had a big flag that said 'hi!' on it.

Karma · Post by **Karma** » Thu Sep 18, 2003 7:05 pm

Ya,
What Actiongrl said.

^_^

ramen · Post by **ramen** » Thu Sep 18, 2003 7:14 pm

I think we should have anyone wanting a ticket write an essay called 'why I want to be a burner' and have it vetted by a team of burner experts.

Ivy · Post by **Ivy** » Thu Sep 18, 2003 9:00 pm

think we should have anyone wanting a ticket write an essay called 'why I want to be a burner' and have it vetted by a team of burner experts.

LOL! I love it!

supersurly · Post by **supersurly** » Thu Sep 18, 2003 9:09 pm

We should move reno about 9 hours further away from the playa.

TestesInSac · Post by **TestesInSac** » Thu Sep 18, 2003 9:45 pm

Well, moving the event to the 2nd week of August satisfies the 'school year' component of the difficulties getting to the event, and extends the likely clean-up time post-event. For the loss of a single day of holiday/vacation, you appear to gain a great deal of convenience for educators and students, as well as for DPW.

Would closing ticket sales at the start of the event (2 weeks earlier) be a wash, in terms of tickets sold, with the status quo?

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Thu Sep 18, 2003 10:09 pm

TestesInSac wrote:Well, moving the event to the 2nd week of August satisfies the 'school year' component of the difficulties getting to the event, and extends the likely clean-up time post-event. For the loss of a single day of holiday/vacation, you appear to gain a great deal of convenience for educators and students, as well as for DPW.

I really like this idea. Not so much for the teacher component but students!

dj big E · Post by **dj big E** » Thu Sep 18, 2003 10:11 pm

says dont fuck with the system you want the freaks to come early because they can't get in on the weekend lmao. cya soon dj big "E"

Close the Gates on Thursday !

Close the Gates on Thursday !

dj big E