n00b question -- how do I pick a camp?

[scubacuda]

Where do exactly do I go to pick a camp for Burning Man 2016?

I see a million different camps and was wondering if they all are grouped according to some other measure so I can easily sort them and then ask to join? (e.g. adult theme camps in one area, generator friendly ones in another, etc)

I'm looking for a local group in SF Bay Area that has their shit together. (Not looking to join a bunch of yahoos who get the camp raided by police or who come unprepared. Heard some horror stories there.)

[Ratty]

Welcome to eplaya Scuba. You might pop into the introduction board and tell us a little bit about yourself. Click on the board index and you'll see it. You'll get a feel for the community if you read the BM home page. Subscribe to the Jack Rabbit Speaks newsletter too. Search for local Burner events. The main event is still more than 6 months down the road so it's a bit early to look for camps. Later there will be posts on here and lists with a brief description. If you look around here by using Google you'll find lots of Bay Area burners. It's nice to meet people now and help with their projects before you plan a week long vacation with them. Facebook has an endless number of burning Man groups. Nimbys in Oakland has perpetual projects happening. Also U.S. Steel in Oakland is a building site. Don't be hasty!! Look around and it will happen.

Now go to the introduction thread and tell us who you are.

[BBadger]

It's real easy! While there's no Yelp directory of camps, all you have to do is contact camp individuals or leaders of the camps (websites, FB, etc.) and ask them if: 1) they've got their shit together; 2) aren't a bunch of yahoos; 3) don't get raided by police; and 4) aren't the kind of idiots who don't come prepared. I also usually ask whether their camp looks like shit or not.

Most of the camp responders are courteous enough to quickly give you the finger or block your email/phone number right away if they don't qualify. It really saves a lot of time that way. Others seems somewhat confused by the questions, and appreciate a more condescending tone before they respond.

You'll get used to how it works soon enough. Radical self-reliance and all that you know.

[Captain Goddammit]

First misconception of Burning Man... the idea you have to join someone else's camp.
If YOU have your shit together, you can just show up and camp, and if you find some friends you'd like to camp with next time, do it! Otherwise, why do you need to camp in someone else's camp?

It's the other way around. A really well run, shit together camp won't take some random stranger they don't even know, because they don't know YOU, if you have your shit together, are a yahoo and will cause them to get raided.
It's not about what a camp can do for you, it's about what you can do for a camp.
Good camps are generally groups of friends. When you go camping at a KOA, or national park, or the woods, you don't just join some stranger's camp there do you?

Best advice, get involved in local burning man activities and see if you meet people you fit in with. Or just go to Burning Man and find where you fit in.

The thing is, any camp that will add in any random stranger they don't know probably isn't the kind you said you want to avoid!

[Dr. Pyro]

It's real easy! While there's no Yelp directory of camps, all you have to do is contact camp individuals or leaders of the camps (websites, FB, etc.) and ask them if: 1) they've got their shit together; 2) aren't a bunch of yahoos; 3) don't get raided by police; and 4) aren't the kind of idiots who don't come prepared.

That leaves us out.

[Meat Hunter]

I have never felt a need to join a camp. I camp alone -- except when I start arguing with myself. The remainder of the time, it is very pleasant to be a member of my solo camp and we have one fine ol' time.

[Captain Goddammit]

any camp that will add in any random stranger they don't know probably isn't the kind you said you want to avoid!

I think I said that wrong but you get the idea

[Token]

The camp you want is the 4th or maybe 5th exit when driving South down I 405 through Anaheim.

Follow the signs to Disneyland.

In the meantime, invest a few weeks to research what you are getting yourself into WRT Burning Man.

[mudpuppy000]

It's real easy! While there's no Yelp directory of camps, all you have to do is contact camp individuals or leaders of the camps (websites, FB, etc.) and ask them if: 1) they've got their shit together; 2) aren't a bunch of yahoos; 3) don't get raided by police; and 4) aren't the kind of idiots who don't come prepared.

That leaves us out.

Yeah us too...

[Skuzzy61]

It's real easy! While there's no Yelp directory of camps, all you have to do is contact camp individuals or leaders of the camps (websites, FB, etc.) and ask them if: 1) they've got their shit together; 2) aren't a bunch of yahoos; 3) don't get raided by police; and 4) aren't the kind of idiots who don't come prepared.

That leaves us out.

ROFLMAO! Good one Doc. You owe me a cup of coffee,...and none of nansy-pansy crap either.

[Eric]

It's not about what a camp can do for you, it's about what you can do for a camp.

This. This is everything.
Don't start by listing off what a camp needs to supply you, start by saying what you can bring to a camp - what skills do you have, how can you help pre-playa, what brings you to Burning Man and why you think that the camp you're talking to would be a good fit. Think of it as a job interview - unless they're a camp that only wants you for your money (they exist), they don't need you. You need (want, really) them.

However, as has been said already, if you have your shit together you don't need a camp at all.