Is there an Agenda?

[LeonardPotato]

As eplaya starts getting more and more active, I see people discussing what hours their camp will be open and where they will be located...

Is there ever an official agenda? Where all the camps are, what they are, and when they are open?

There has also been discussion of a trash fence party and all these other un official / official meetups, but no indication of where to be when.

I am more of a wanderer than a planner, but I would like to wander towards things that sound interesting.

I have seen a map from last year of a shaded area of where theme camps are generally located, but not a lot of detail.

I am burning solo this year and it is my first year, so the more i know the better.

Thanks

[lucky420]

Some Camps will post on Eplaya or sub Reddit BM. You'll get the WWW guide when you enter the city (who, what, where,when). I prett much never use it. It's a very full busy lil book.

[VultureChow]

It's called the "Who What Where" guide or WWW for short. You receive a printed version with a map that has camp addresses and a guide of scheduled events. However, you do not receive this guide until you get to the event. In addition, the guide is but a fraction of the events.

Online there's a more comprehensive listing of events: https://playaevents.burningman.org/

You can see there the previous years' events, but again this is not comprehensive as there are unregistered camps and unregistered events. It is a playa truism that you will never get to 90% of the events you plan to, and the best ones will be the ones you wander into when you get distracted on your way to get ice.

[Kelsier]

You can also use the IBurn app. I believe it updates right when Burning Man starts and has the same information as the WWW. I didn't use it or the WWW much to until after the event where I browsed through all the events that I missed. However, the App did come in useful when I was trying to find a medical station. Having a map that shows your location can be pretty helpful at times.

I hadn't thought about it before, but that might be a good way to help friends or late-coming camp mates find your camp. Screenshot the map with your location marker when you first arrive and send it to the others that might need to find you(assuming there is cell service).

[Ratty]

Carry a tiny notebook. get it now and start filling in the people you want to look up and the events/art/MV that you want to see. In a few months eplaya will have a bunch of placement locations for camps and people you want to meet. Once you get there you'll forget almost everything you had planned. It comes in useful all during the event to write down ideas for next year. (What worked, what didn't).

[Token]

Carry a tiny notebook. get it now and start filling in the people you want to look up and the events/art/MV that you want to see. In a few months eplaya will have a bunch of placement locations for camps and people you want to meet. Once you get there you'll forget almost everything you had planned. It comes in useful all during the event to write down ideas for next year. (What worked, what didn't).

So let me see if I get this ...

Invest a bunch of time and effort to document a bunch of random stuff that you will forget and abandon once you get there.

Then once there, invest more time and effort to write things down so you can forget about it again next year.

Is that about right?

There is only one event one should pursue on Playa, ever: Daft Punk at the trash fence Thursday after midnight! Be there or be square!

[Token]

I am burning solo this year and it is my first year, so the more i know the better.

Learned Playa scholars (i.e. Jaded old-time burner farts) could argue the voracity of that statement.

Sometime it is fun to just take the ride and let the Playa surprise you.

Being prepared and self sufficient - check - must have this down.

Building expectations based on random stories and snarkatron Eplaya - Danger Will Robinson - Danger.

Don't overthink the experience. Overthink the preparation and then just let go.

[maladroit]

Don't overthink the experience. Overthink the preparation and then just let go.

Perfect

[TT120]

While it's good to have a planned destination when you head out for the day, in reality, you'll likely never make it to any of them. There are SOOOO many distractions between here and there that it's almost impossible to check off anything on your list of "must see" things.

It CAN happen but don't count on it....LOL. The place is just a giant sensory overload 24/7. I've found it's just easier to go where the wind blows you and have fun with anything you find. Lists are fun to do in the months leading up to the event but they become useless once you get on the Playa.

[Elorrum]

What, where, when. Who is on first.

[Chowski]

My Agenda:

9AM Sleep until its too damn hot

9:10 Visit the Portos

9:11 - 12 Champagne until noon

12:00 - 12:02 Think about doing stuff, but don't

12:03 - 4:00 More champagne

4:00 - 6:00 Champagne nap

6:00 - 7:30 Realize it's almost sunset, frantically engage with one camp activity within a block of my camp

7:30 - 7:45 Dinner

7:45pm - 1:30 am Get dressed for the night

1:30 am - 6:00am The Time of My Life

Sunrise - Curse the sun, curse the heat, drag myself home carrying a sweaty fur coat and collapse into my tent

[Savannah]

6:00 - 7:30 Realize it's almost sunset, frantically engage with one camp activity within a block of my camp

Your day resembles too many of mine.

I'm doing better. Last year I managed to sleep 6 hours a night almost every night.

[Savannah]

As eplaya starts getting more and more active, I see people discussing what hours their camp will be open and where they will be located...

Is there ever an official agenda? Where all the camps are, what they are, and when they are open?

There has also been discussion of a trash fence party and all these other un official / official meetups, but no indication of where to be when.

I am more of a wanderer than a planner, but I would like to wander towards things that sound interesting.

I have seen a map from last year of a shaded area of where theme camps are generally located, but not a lot of detail.

I am burning solo this year and it is my first year, so the more i know the better.

Thanks

LeonardPotato,

I actually keep a word document listing the days I'm there in order, and list the things:

* I have to do (work shifts)
* the things I really want to do (meet-ups)
* a few things that would be nice (semi-random parties & events)

At the end I list names and addresses of camps I like, and who among my friends camps there.

I leave white space in the document so I can add things once I've printed it out, and I also have a notebook on the playa in which I jot stuff down, with fine-tip sharpie (ballpoints tend to fail in the dust--bring multiple sharpies in varying thicknesses; you might like a big one to write on the Temple).

The ePlaya Meet & Greet is Wednesday of the event, 6pm, at Barbie Death Village. Keep your eye on this thread for the address. You're quite welcome there.

viewtopic.php?f=506&t=80250

I do read the What/When/Where guide, but unless you've already taken note of where a camp is in passing, it can be hard to find the smaller camps sometimes. Also, events tend to start on "Playa Time" . . . but that's actually to your benefit if you've spent 20 minutes longer than you thought you needed just finding the camp.

[Ratty]

Notes from 2016...

Bring BOTH foot lockers instead of bins. (They double as seating.)
Coleman stove for Abba. (Hers broke.)
Block ice needs a container that fits into the ice chest.
MARGARITA MIXER
Hotel size shampoo and conditioner X2
Bar of Irish Spring
1 gallon containers of water. NOT 5 gallon refillable.
Only 1 gallon for windshield on exodus.
More gatorade
Cotton PJ's instead of fleece. (Too sweaty) Two piece instead of onesie. (Too hard in the portos.)
Some shorty beers if available.
Mixers, (margarita mix and pineapple juice.)
Narrow table for junk in the shade structure.
25 foot tape measure
wooden strike anywhere matches
Pockets for Abba's pack that attach onto the straps.
5 large fabric bags for packing up at the end
Long handled lighter for stove
Better baby wipes
New top for the kettle's spout
11 gallons of water in one gallon containers. (Just for me).
30 disposable paper bowls 30 forks 5 knives.
10 cans of sardines and clams etc...
5 bags of dried fruit. Less nuts.
Two canteens. Alcohol taste in my coffee. Yuck.
And the list goes on and on. I do this every year to cut down on un-needed items and up my game.


YES. A notebook is useful. Only if you use it. I'm shocked at how much I documented for future use.

[lucky420]

[lucky420]

My Agenda:

9AM Sleep until its too damn hot

9:10 Visit the Portos

9:11 - 12 Champagne until noon

12:00 - 12:02 Think about doing stuff, but don't

12:03 - 4:00 More champagne

4:00 - 6:00 Champagne nap

6:00 - 7:30 Realize it's almost sunset, frantically engage with one camp activity within a block of my camp

7:30 - 7:45 Dinner

7:45pm - 1:30 am Get dressed for the night

1:30 am - 6:00am The Time of My Life

Sunrise - Curse the sun, curse the heat, drag myself home carrying a sweaty fur coat and collapse into my tent

I like how it takes you 5+ hours to get ready for the night

[Ratty]

One of my favorite pictures of me is spending the entire day at camp in my pjs. What a wonderful waste of time.

[DoctorIknow]

...While it's good to have a planned destination when you head out for the day, in reality, you'll likely never make it to any of them....

And then when you do make it to "any of them," there is historic precedence that it is delayed, canceled, moved to another location, or already happened.

I sometimes see camp-mates pouring over their WWW with different color highligher pens....I love their optimism, but for me, I've spent far too many hours frantically looking for events that didn't happen, and during that search, I missed 100 things on the way that I could have enjoyed and/or seen people struggling with their setup that I could have given a hand to.

I suppose many think a smartphone with a clock, alarms/notifications, GPS, a 500 megabyte downloaded schedule of everything will get them from A to B in a very efficient use of time to maximize their experience, but what they are missing could have changed their burn in ways far more memorable.

To know what you want and go for it is so default world. How about using the real and metaphysical expanse of the playa to be open to not knowing what you want and being open to discovering something new?

My first perception of change in the population of BM from my first '98 burn was a rude awakening that more people walking or biking past my street facing tent were totally focused on their destination, not seeing the forest for the trees. I sometimes felt that even saying hello to them or smiling at them produced a look from them that made me feel like what I must have made a down and out homeless panhandler in the Lower East Side of Manhattan feel like during the explosion of panhandling crackheads on the same block in the '80's.... I remember I would walk past them as if they didn't exist. My bad....

Just two years ago on the playa, I caught sight of someone biking, steering with one hand and staring at their smartphone...it was the nail in the coffin, the straw that broke the camels back, the decline and fall, etc. There is no going back but for those not falling into the trap or those who evolved in different times who recognize and pursue the spirit of adventure into the unknown vs. the known.

[Captain Goddammit]

The First Mate and I had a little ragtop sportscar (before I almost died in it when it met a pickup truck) and on free summer weekends, we wouid drop the top, pick a general direction and go. That was the extent of the planning. We always ended up having a great time.

And that's not even nearly as random as a day in Black Rock City.
Don't waste your time trying to plan events to attend. The GOOD shit isn't listed anyway. Just go that way, and see what you find.

The WWW guide is how you spot a green newbie... no one else walks around trying to find shit from that.

As for definite "agenda" items, there's Burn Night on Saturday, the Temple burn on Sunday, and Daft Punk on Thursday at the trash fence in the middle of the night, but that's not listed in the guide. That's how that stays cool and "underground", you have to just know and be there.

[The Rod]

Sure, there's lots of agendas.

Good luck trying to figure out Larry's agenda though, it has something to do with hobnobbing with rich people while simultaneously trying to relate to us plebes on an artistic level.

For the more casual burner, most are out to have a good time while some definitely want status and snubbery.

I think the prevailing agenda for eplayans is to talk about stuff (the useful stuff mind you, no time wasted on nonsense!) a whole bunch and then have a good time.

Some of us just want to ride around on a giant rock and roll caterpillar.

[gaminwench]

For the last fourteen years, I have taught three workshops each event week.

All have been listed in the WWW guide.

I do, certainly, get neighborhood interest, but this is a 'destination' workshop.

I've had seventy-five show up , I've had thirty show up , I've had none (twice, and both times it was due to an error in the WWW) , I've had one show up .

Didn't matter, each experience was what it was meant to be.

YMMV.

[Ratty]

Pleeeeease. I want to ride the boneapillar. And i want to sing but im a bad singer. Ill put both in my little notebook

[gaminwench]

Ratty:

You are not a bad singer, you are an undereducated vocalist.

We can change that.

[AntiM]

I get up early to fill the Home with art. I have early waking insomnia, so sleeping in is not an option, and I do not stay up well all night anymore. Filling the home early is a thing. I know people find it on purpose, but it is not on a schedule. Finding me during the daytime is not the easiest thing once it is noon or so.

I make the mod meet, the eplaya meet n greet, and RHPS on Friday midnight, plus the practice. That's about it, and that feels overscheduled.

Larry and I get sucked into the Golden Cafe at least two or three days. Hey, a good time is a good time!

[The Rod]

Ratty, You are in luck! I want you to ride the Bonerpillar! I'll even tell you where to find us

[FlyingMonkey]

My Agenda:

9AM Sleep until its too damn hot

9:10 Visit the Portos

9:11 - 12 Champagne until noon

12:00 - 12:02 Think about doing stuff, but don't

12:03 - 4:00 More champagne

4:00 - 6:00 Champagne nap

6:00 - 7:30 Realize it's almost sunset, frantically engage with one camp activity within a block of my camp

7:30 - 7:45 Dinner

7:45pm - 1:30 am Get dressed for the night

1:30 am - 6:00am The Time of My Life

Sunrise - Curse the sun, curse the heat, drag myself home carrying a sweaty fur coat and collapse into my tent

You can't drink all day if you don't start early

[BBadger]

I usually only break out the WWW guide to find out what I missed an hour ago while I was trying to get some sleep.

[Lonesomebri]

The Agenda: Get out and about. Walk around your block. See what your neighbors are doing. Make them drinks. See what the other side of town is up to. Find out what that distant blur out in the desert is. Follow that music. Say Yes a lot. Do what you think you should do now not another time. Climb on stuff. Check shit out. Get in any short line before it becomes long. At some point, stay up very late. At some point, get up very early.

And always march toward the sound of explosions and the glow of fire.

[lucky420]

The Agenda: Get out and about. Walk around your block. See what your neighbors are doing. Make them drinks. See what the other side of town is up to. Find out what that distant blur out in the desert is. Follow that music. Say Yes a lot. Do what you think you should do now not another time. Climb on stuff. Check shit out. Get in any short line before it becomes long. At some point, stay up very late. At some point, get up very early.

And always march toward the sound of explosions and the glow of fire.

I read that as "make them drink"

[AntiM]

I read that as "make them drink"

Ha, so did I!