Burning Man opens at 10AM Sunday this year

[Just_Joe]

http://blog.burningman.com/2014/06/news ... shock-you/

Yay for a longer Burning Man but boo for rushing around before gates open. I volunteer for a couple of different departments and completing setup before Sunday evening is always a chore. When finished tho, it's nice to greet everyone in the evening with the cooler temps and colorful lights. My first experience at Burning Man was during the 12PM opening days and creeping in with all the noise and lights was something I'll never forget. This year, I guess I'll just have to start a little earlier or work a little harder. Change can be interesting....

[trilobyte]

W00t! This should help ease traffic quite a bit. But remember, it also shifts things so a long wait in lines means it's during the heat of the day. Bring plenty of fluids (piss clear!), but remember the driver needs to stay completely sober.

There are a few strategically placed banks of porta-potties on gate road. A total of 64 if I remember correctly, and of course the way it will play out is that when you've got to go, you'll be far from a potty bank Have an alternate/backup driver (who's also completely sober) who can stay with the vehicle for when the driver has to pee.

If you're used to arriving at or after 6pm and setting up in the night, remember to take frequent breaks and HYDRATE when setting up during the middle of the day. It might not be a bad idea to find your camp site, do a little unloading, but then hold off a bit on the heavy lifting until later in the afternoon. The extra hours on Sunday are a bonus, don't squander that bonus getting heat stroke

[Ano]

I am very interested to see how this plays out. I have mostly positive thoughts, but some negative ones.

I work gate, and I know our shifts run on six hour increments. 12am-6am, 6am-noon, noon-6pm, 6pm-12am. Bringing this into consideration, that puts the opening time squarely near the end of the 6am-noon shift, which is (from my anecdotal experience) one of the harder shifts to staff. Working opening is very exciting and I expect a rush of people to sign up for those, but I can't help but feel that the initial two hours might be a tad understaffed. There would be no point to running a massive crew from 6am-noon because they wouldn't be needed for a chunk of time, and I don't know how well running a massive crew on a special 10am-4pm shift would work, because that leaves the other shifts out in the dust. Perhaps our shifts will move around a bit, who knows! I certainly don't. I'm just a grunt.

I am also hoping that nobody takes this as a chance to test their ironman abilities and drive all night to aim for the opening at 10am. I'm hoping that most people use this as a chance to just aim to arrive anytime on Sunday, and hopefully the line can stay nice and soft and quick throughout Sunday and well into Monday.

As for the closing time, I've never actually been bothered by anyone to leave when I stay through Tuesday. I've also been seeing my Facebook feed explode with people expecting camps to continue operations all the way through Monday night... I wonder if any camps will truly extend their "open" times. Who knows what will happen!

Other than that, though, I am totally in complete support of extending the opening time and hypothetically softening the exodus by extending it a bit. More Burning Man can't be a bad thing, right?

[Sundial]

More Burning Man can't be a bad thing, right?

That sounds so ominous somehow.

[Captain Goddammit]

That's right Schtev, more Burning Man, not less like some downsized monkey hut… sorry just playin'

The first thing I thought after my first BM was "I wish it was TWO weeks!". The more I think about it, the more questions come up about how that would play out. Since a lot of people only have two weeks to work with and need travel time and couldn't be on playa that long, would it start very slowly and build up during the week like it used to?
Could BRC take that much, or would everything be ragged and hagged by the second week? How many people would be too burned out?
Realistically, one week is probably the right duration for eleventy-nine reasons, but I like the idea of stretching it a bit, just because it's so much preparation, so much money, so much effort, so long a trip, that having it all over in the blink of an eye sucks.
But - there's always that "Leave 'em wanting more", don't run it into the ground, too much of a good thing… thing.

[trilobyte]

Have more faith in the gate crew's management and staffers, Ano! This announcement does not represent a surprise to gate leadership, they were involved from the very start and might have been giving it some thought and consideration. Of course there will be a shift in the peak periods, but shouldn't be that hard to figure out.

I agree, I hope people don't take an iron-man approach - just like I hope they don't do it at any other gate time (it's worth pointing out that the iron-man approach doesn't really care much about time of day). I think it's also worth noting that it's easier to spot an unsafe driver (tired/impaired/etc) in a gate line when the sun's up than in darkness.

[theCryptofishist]

... but remember the driver needs to stay completely sober.

Isn't the standard that there can be no alcohol within the reach of the driver? If so, then you're not drinking inside your sedan, no matter how you pack it.

[trilobyte]

I have no idea what Nevada's laws are regarding open containers and motor vehicles. I know lots of people like to start the party as early as they can, and in the heat of the day there can be a lot of temptation to reach for a cold beer, but when it comes to the drivers they really need to hold off on any kind of celebration until they get to camp.

[Just_Joe]

NRS 484B.150  Drinking alcoholic beverage while driving motor vehicle unlawful; open container of alcoholic beverage; additional penalty for violation committed in work zone.
1.  It is unlawful for a person to drink an alcoholic beverage while the person is driving or in actual physical control of a motor vehicle upon a highway.
2.  Except as otherwise provided in this subsection, it is unlawful for a person to have an open container of an alcoholic beverage within the passenger area of a motor vehicle while the motor vehicle is upon a highway. This subsection does not apply to:
(a) The passenger area of a motor vehicle which is designed, maintained or used primarily for the transportation of persons for compensation; or
(b) The living quarters of a house coach or house trailer

If you're in a car, no one can have an open container
If you're in a motorhome, they guys in back on the couch can have an open container.
If you're in a limo...YOU'RE DOING IT WRONG, but you can have a cocktail

If needed, you can debate the definition a highway at your trial in Lovelock.

[theCryptofishist]

All I know is that that's what they say about mv drivers. I thought that it might be applicable in this case as well.

[Just_Joe]

All I know is that that's what they say about mv drivers. I thought that it might be applicable in this case as well.

Emphasis on highway was because while it looks like a loophole, I wouldn't want to drive a day for a court appearance to find out why it's not.

[Jovankat]

Should this maybe have a thread in the official announcement forum too?

[Bless]

Forget about alcohol, GATES OPEN AT 10 AM!!!

[Token]

Forget about alcohol, GATES OPEN AT 10 AM!!!

Son, your doing it all kinds of wrong.