All About Participating in the Pottie Project

[Nipple]

From the Oregon Regional...

Here's the interaction between the Porto guys, and a participant (Not me, my hands could never produce such nice writing). Robbi, your porto education is making its way out of the big event into the culture of burners all over.

I talked to the Porto guys a couple times. They love coming to Burner events vs. other music festivals and events around here. Your educational mission is winning minds, and changing hearts all over.

[robbidobbs]

thank you Nipple for the pic. that was very kind of the participant to write that. That made my morning.

Todays task is to write an article for BRC Weekly. I could use some inspiring stories.

[theCryptofishist]

It's the Weekly. Do something about pooh pyramids sharpening razors.

[robbidobbs]

Article written & sent to Adrian.
There's just no hope for me recording my Pottie jingle, I'm not a musician...at...all. I flunked tambourine. If there's a musician (computer based) I have a little jobbie. I just need this little ditty recorded into MP3 then repeat about a dozen times.
That's it.
It shouldn't be this difficult.
I suck

[theCryptofishist]

I suck

No you don't! No one can do everything! And what you've taken on, taken on with gusto, every single year is one huge project. Yeah, you crowd source for the pooetry. It's not like anyone would have thought to ask if you hadn't.

So, don't get down on yourself for lacking a skill that wasn't part of the american school curriculum.

Besides, it's best for any artist to have a grasp that's beyond her reach.

[robbidobbs]

Thank you Fishy, that made me tear up.
I did push myself this year: i re-learned soldering after 20 yrs, and wired my PA in the Poop Mobile. I had to learn a butt load of sound amplification stuff to even talk about it! It's wired and ready, and if it has a problem, I am confident I can fix or re-design it. Bob save me it was a painful learning process though.

I tried to play the jingle to a metronome last night, and it was just painful. But you're right, we can't be everything.

[FIGJAM]

[media]

[robbidobbs]

Cute, and quite adhesive. Thanks for getting that jingle in my head. I now have to soak it out with Danny Boy.

[BoyScoutGirl]

Robbidobbs, I can't carry a tune in a bucket (nearly tone-deaf, no sense of rhythm), but I have some sound-editing software that I use to record speaking. If you can get me a recording of the jingle played a single time, I can clean up background noise and loop the jingle however many times you'd like.

[robbidobbs]

I have the jingle in wmp format. Can you convert it to mp3?

[BoyScoutGirl]

Yes, I should be able to do that. Maybe send me a link to the file in Dropbox? I'll PM you my email address as well.

[robbidobbs]

PSA script just sent to BMIR.
Script
Do you use the Porta potties? Of course you do. United Site Services (or it can read the Pottie People, or Fellow Burners) urges you to treat the Porta potties with respect.
Do not, I repeat, do not throw wet wipes, flush able wipes or other trash into the potties, because that trash has to be manually raked out of the separator by the beautiful men at United Site Services. Please pack it out.
Also, please spread the word about hovering. This is when someone has squatted over the toilet seat and left their art project on the seat for the next participant to enjoy. So if you hover, or know someone who hovers, please lift the seat and the lid to do you biz. And we can all have a positive excretory experience each and every time.
End script

Thank you!
RobbiDobbs
Chief Poopervisor of the Pottie Project

[MyDearFriend]

okay I am so excited that I am going to show you the signs I have laminated for posting inside & outside the portos in my neighborhood, just a few copies of each.


For inside, eye level while sitting:

loosen-your-anus.gif

For outside:

piss-check.jpg

[theCryptofishist]

As a stout drinker--I love this!

[robbidobbs]

Howdy Poopers
This is my open letter to all camps that will have line of site to a Porta potty bank. No it's not slumming, it's a GOLDEN OPPORTUNITY to join in the largest participatory art installation on the playa. What I need your help on is to volunteer to be a Pottie Friend.
Nobody wants to do a 2 in a paperless loo!
Please pass this around, there's got to be participants the will jump at this chance.

The gig is really easy. Me or someone in the Pottie Project will come to your camp and ask for help distributing toilet paper at night. We'll provide you with plenty of tp , and you simply "host" it. We'll give you a sign that says "MORE TP" that needs to be clearly visible to the potty doors.The reason this is so important is that half the population comes out at night, and the units aren't serviced for safely reasons. I have signs advertising this service, so there may be visitors who'll do it for you. Isn't that nice?
You can end your responsibilities right there. You're already doing everyone a HUGE service. Kick back and enjoy the warm feeling of helping the community.

Now if you're really enthusiastic about this project, At dusk, just go to each unit and check if more tp is needed, enough to last the night. Getting excited? then I welcome you to moop around the bank, because it quickly becomes a moop catastrophe, and we don't want that debris blowing into your camp.

But wait, there's more! if you see or hear of a potty that some ass-munch has shat upon the seat, then zip that shit! We can supply you w zip ties for this purpose (not your shade structure, but we don't inventory) Seriously, I do mean actual feces on the seat! Don't worry about piddle, it could just be water. Don't taste it to find out, just move on. And finally, if the toilet looks too full to last the night, like its a few inches from the lip (maybe some jackass dumped their gray water in there) zip the door. This is a health concern, not to be done frivolously, or all the zip ties will be removed, and we're back to sitting in shit. The USS guys will remove them. I call this "fair warning". See, it can be fun for everyone!

So thank you for any help you can provide for this most essential resource. We all want a safe and pleasant excremental experience each and every time.
And thank you for participating!

RobbiDobbs
Chief Poopervisor of the Pottie Project
DPW Volunteer Coordinator, Special Projects (Porta-Potties)

[Bless]

You're the best, RobbiDobbs.

[robbidobbs]

Thanks Bless. I appreciate you.

Ok Campers I have an important announcement to make. In my post playa haze I just created a FB group called Burning Man Porta-Potties. Please sent invitations out throughout the known universe and get this global conversation going. I have a dream that any person at any festival or other venue can confidently go into a Porta Pottie and have a comfortable experience. We, the Burningman Community has proven that source control (Google it) can be done successfully. Let's change the world one asshole at a time!

[robbidobbs]

Community Liaison Coordinator. Has a nice sound. This is the title that is the closest to what I want to become. The position was listed in the Municipality of North Cowichan Waste Water web site. James Robinson has offered to guide me to this end. There will be more postings about this new chapter in my life, but for now, suffice that I cannot remember being this happy in decades.
This year was extraordinary. He pointed out that the multi-billion dollar catastrophe that is looming is only now getting attention by governments. Those that are familiar with the breadth and scope of the baby wipe problem tent to be technicians, better trained in the mechanics of shit processing. The governments want a switch to flip to make the problem go away, as shit is the very last thing they want to think about. Baby wipe behavior is a social engineering, behavior modification problem. It is very personal, and asking someone to act responsibly when what they are doing gives them pleasure is a tough sell. What we, the Burningman community, has proven to the industry is that this dire problem can be solved. We aren't out of the woods in BRC certainly, but we are making progress. This fact shocks the shit out of industry observers.

14 years ago two word repeated themselves in my mind, Advertising Campaign. I took on this quest to save what I continue to to believe is the most revolutionary experiment in modern culture. BRC has the most concentration of brilliance on the planet, is extremely boisterous, and dauntingly fragile. These census verified facts serve as a microcosm, and social change has been successful in more ways than can be counted. We have evolved and grown stronger as a result of the miriad problems that we have risen to the occasion to conquer, all in the name of continuing to party our asses off in the desert.

I do my art. It's what this community expects of anyone. I have faced adversity, from being relived of my position in 2002, then rehired to restock hand sanitizer stations in 2003.& 2004, having no access nor desire for a radio, to the random heckling and criticism of how I go about doing my art. I cannot stop myself, and the community has over time has gifted me increasing gratitude and assistance. This year I have been dropped to my knees with gratitude.

Thank you so much ePlayans, for your unconditional love through these 10 years that I have enjoyed your company. This padded toilet seat of social networking has been a comfortable nest for me to grow. This year I learned to fly on FB. I only made the profile to reach a larger audience. Now I realize the powerhouse is available to change the world. This is and will continue to be my home. And I know in my soul that loving arms will be there should I need them.

Be well,
RobbiDobbs
Shit Queen of Burningman

[robbidobbs]

I must clarify something I wrote: in 2003 pre-event I received a phone call from BM Purchasing Manager HazMatt. We had known each other from 2001 when I lived at the Work Ranch, feeding 25-45 people 3x/day regardless of weather conditions. That was the first year of the Pottie Project, and it was a huge success. The following year I pulled our burning asses out of the fire when Easter Island mayor (don't give a fuck about his name) dropped the ball re the shitters. After that experience, I and everyone in earshot knew that I would never stop doing my art.
The health dept had required the org to set up wash stations at all Pottie banks, and HazMatt called me for input. I said OH HELL NO. People will be bathing and filling water bottles. He said plan B was hand sanitizer stations. I told him that per the label this only works on clean hands, and Burner hands are anything but clean. He acknowledged this but stated the health dept was good with this solution, and would I be so kind as to volunteer to restock them as a full time DPW Business Services volunteer. He said he had already presented my name to the LLC as who he wanted to do this, and we both said it at the same time: because I would be at the banks anyway. We both laughed. He said his only feedback on hiring what the BORG considered to be a loose cannon was when Harley said: oK, if you think you can control her. We both broke out in guffaws!

So, here I will state clearly and publicly: thank you HazMatt for having faith in me. You are the best manager I could ever hope for or imagine. Thank you for gifting me the freedom and resources to do my art. Thank you for you openness and warmth, your level headed ness and clarity when the shit came down. Faith, it's all I can ask for, and I am grateful to you for believing in me for these many years.

[unjonharley]

Thank you Robb-a-dobb for all the shity hours put in for the burners..

[robbidobbs]

I haven't cleared this with James yet, but for those who've met him, what do you think of this playa name: Rainwater James, Shit God of Burningman.

[FIGJAM]

Scheisse Fuehrer???

[theCryptofishist]

That had better be a joke, it's so overblown.

[robbidobbs]

Cute FJ. I'm holding my breath to see how he likes it. The more I think about it (and it kept me up a good chunk of last night) the more I like it. I hope my gift makes him happy.

[Ratty]

Robbi, I love 'Rainwater James' as a playa name. Anything else would just be too much. He is a shit God in real life though.

[robbidobbs]

My FB group for those interested:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/515859948548147/

[Savannah]

Were we just going to pretend that this awesome article didn't happen??

Meet the "Shit Queen of Burning Man," Commander of 1,400 Porta-Potties
http://valleywag.gawker.com/meet-the-sh ... 1629571967

The comments are even awesome (although please note, I did not--and will not--click on the unfiltered ones, because I'm not THAT trusting).

[robbidobbs]

It happened. I was there. It was a turning point in my life

[theCryptofishist]

Were we just going to pretend that this awesome article didn't happen??

Meet the "Shit Queen of Burning Man," Commander of 1,400 Porta-Potties
http://valleywag.gawker.com/meet-the-sh ... 1629571967

The comments are even awesome (although please note, I did not--and will not--click on the unfiltered ones, because I'm not THAT trusting).

VultureChow started an entire thread dedicated to Robbidobbs' press...

[robbidobbs]

I just got off the phone with Rainwater James, he's going to hook me up w someone in the mechanized sewage treatment world. This is getting so fucking exciting! I also am seriously considering dropping $99 for the first volume of CSUS course on waste water management. James is saying that if I can get some credentials behind me, I could make a major impact on the clusterfuck that is baby wipes. This is such a huge change from where I was only 2 weeks ago! With my background in Social Science, teaching, and dirt level success at BM, I am swimming in aces!

I am now absolutely deluged with hope for my future!