2022 MOOP Map

[Papa Bear]

FYI for all of you who’ve been clamoring for it, it just got published.

https://journal.burningman.org/2023/03/ ... moop-maps/

[mgb327]

Just how does a P&P out at 8:30 & K get a full block of solid red? Why does the Borg continue to let them in?

[Lonesomebri]

FYI for all of you who’ve been clamoring for it, it just got published.

https://journal.burningman.org/2023/03/ ... moop-maps/

Well, that whole moop concern used to be one of the main principles of Burning Man, one of the 10 suggestions. Look it up! So weird that it's now a fringe concern only by us oddballs. And, yeah, Jackass and I used to camp out there where those red rectangles have set up shop. AirbnBurn baby!

[Elorrum]

“The excessive heat, punishing winds, blinding dust storms burying MOOP, early departures, and fatigue were all factors.“

Here’s a factor: How about an increasing population of unaculturated entitled a_______s there to take their selfies, who don’t even know about moop, who simply don’t care, and will not pack it out? They think that resto is a trash service. The org can organize and sermonize and study this till the end of time, but some consumers don’t study, read, or pay attention. Stakes are moop. That graphic is particularly well dispersed.

[lucky420]

Yeah, I clamored loudly. And it was close and I wasn’t far off

[Token]

Interesting reading the comments …

… several posts about how the rebar and spikes were already there when camps were building out …

Well if they were there when you were first pitching your camp … pull them the fuck out and take them home with you!

Sheesh.

[lucky420]

Interesting reading the comments …

… several posts about how the rebar and spikes were already there when camps were building out …

Well if they were there when you were first pitching your camp … pull them the fuck out and take them home with you!

Sheesh.

Exactly ^

[Elorrum]

Interesting reading the comments …

… several posts about how the rebar and spikes were already there when camps were building out …

Well if they were there when you were first pitching your camp … pull them the fuck out and take them home with you!

Sheesh.

Exactly ^

I agree. No excuses. I’ve pulled some before, reused them and considered them ground scores. It is frightening how well dispersed all over the city the stake moop was in the graphic map. I also was surprised at the yellow of well established infrastructure camps locations: Dpw, rampart ? Yellow yellow bike area… maybe a lot of migration, dumping drop offs.

[Papa Bear]

Just how does a P&P out at 8:30 & K get a full block of solid red? Why does the Borg continue to let them in?

I have no idea what was out there, but it clearly wasn’t a placed camp.

That’s a problem, because the org doesn’t have a ton of visibility or leverage over people in open camping. There’s no placement to revoke, no directed ticket allotment to deny, etcetera.

If the people in that location were actively scattering moop during the event, and someone pointed it out to rangers, then maybe something could be done on threat of being kicked out. But if they just dumped a bunch of crap when they left, I’m not sure anyone would even know who they were.

[Papa Bear]

… several posts about how the rebar and spikes were already there when camps were building out …

With one exception, those posts read to me as speculation from people hoping to shift blame away from the 2022 event. Not gonna work, for exactly the reason you stated.

As widely dispersed as those were, it makes me think there was a systemic issue, though. I don’t think it is mainly a cultural thing, though, because we didn’t see it in 2019. I’ve also seen posts from people I trust - veteran burners and camp leads all - expressing shock and dismay because they were there for the moop sweeps and can’t figure out how anything was there to come up red.

I wonder if it’s just a simple matter of people losing track of them due to fatigue, dust, and unscheduled departures due to illness.

I remember my first year of using lag bolts - I nearly lost track of a couple in the dust just because the low profile meant they were easily covered up. I found them because I knew how many I’d put in and roughly where they were. Ever since, I’ve been careful to leave something attached so I can find them. And that was in a year with relatively little dust - this year we had 6-8” deep drifts in place when we arrived early in build week.

Considering how many people had to relearn basic things like how to tie certain knots or how the various pieces of a structure fit together, it wouldn’t shock me if some people forgot to keep something attached during breakdown. Nor would it surprise me that if people were taking down a structure for someone else who got sick, they might miss one or two.

Rebar sticking 6” or more out of the playa is a different matter, of course. I mean, *maybe* in a really deep dune, but it seems unlikely a rake wouldn’t catch it. But we don’t know how many fit that description compared to other years.

None of that is an excuse for leaving that moop there, of course. But it might explain why it was so widespread.

From the discussion at the theme camp symposium, it sounded like resto took pictures of many (though not all) of the problem areas, and theme camps will be getting emails describing the issues that were found in their sites in more detail soon.

[Wigwam]

Papa Bear, I think you've hit on something here. I don't know that counting lag bolts or rebar will work because, after all, you may miscount and either leave some behind or be looking forever for something that isn't there. But something attached to the lag bolt that is a bright color, won't shred or come loose. Easy to find, easy to locate.

I too wondered how it got so bad so quickly. I think with a couple of years off, punishing conditions, the ever increasing rationalization of what is and isn't a plug and play camp, plus too many people coming just to check it off their bucket list (god, I'm REALLY beginning to hate that term), people were just too lax. This is a great lesson in how quickly things can come apart if we let them. But that's part of it. We have to help prevent it. I see too many people during the week walk right past MOOP without any effort to pick it up. It's not an end of event activity, it's an all week activity.

[Sham]

On all our lag bolts, washers and chain links, I painted them fluorescent orange for easy finding on the playa. We also have a magnetic roller to pick up any metal bits that may have hit the ground. The entire camp is then walked and then raked to an even grade. The area was left better than we found it. There is no explanation what caused 10 camps (including ours) that surrounded us to have them all yellow. Resto doesn't have any details on this.

[Wigwam]

And I am going to adopt your approach for our new camp hoping to be placed. This is about evolution--from rebar and tennis balls to lag bolts and magnetic rollers. No method is 'wrong' as long as it works. Thanks for the great ideas. We've done chain links for years, but florescent anything is great.

[Papa Bear]

But something attached to the lag bolt that is a bright color, won't shred or come loose. Easy to find, easy to locate.

In my case, that's just leaving the ratchet straps attached. Yeah, they can come loose, but it generally isn't an issue. If you use the technique of just using a washer on a lag screw and putting it right through the hook to pin it to the ground, you won't even have to worry about them coming loose.

I couldn't believe how much we'd forgotten in just a couple of years that used to be second nature. Everything from trying to attach something to the carabiner I always wear on my kilt (which I'd forgotten) to debating with campmates about whether we put the lag screws through the feet of our carports, or just next to them.

Fully agree that too many people are walking right past MOOP. We definitely need to reinforce that message somehow.

(Our camp wound up clear. In a normal year that wouldn't be surprising because we take it seriously, but with all those red spots I do wonder if we got a little lucky.)

[Elorrum]

Just how does a P&P out at 8:30 & K get a full block of solid red? Why does the Borg continue to let them in?

I was talking with an eplaya friend who works for ESD, and she mentioned that there are placed camps on a map available to ESD that are not marked on the generally distributed map. (I was camped one year across the street from the pyrotechnic storage camp out on J street. They were not pleasant or engaging neighbors, very vigilant and gated, as their safety and security required. They came running and yelling when my friends responsibly lit a couple tiki torches. We had no idea, it was open camping.) I can’t say for certainty that entire red block on the moop map is a similar situation, but a random unplaced land grab in open camping on that scale edge to edge of an entire block seems to me unlikely. Secret celebrities? Or a parking lot where everyone left their trash… I’m looking forward to more information.

[Sham]

It seems way too easy to spin around and look 360 degrees and not see another person in sight--then just leave trash and drive off. After the Plan B burn, a camp left a full porta potty, with crap filled buckets inside, for someone else to clean up. The culprits were hunted down to their house and publicly humiliated.

[Papa Bear]

I was talking with an eplaya friend who works for ESD, and she mentioned that there are placed camps on a map available to ESD that are not marked on the generally distributed map.

Yup, absolutely true. No idea if that red block was one of the camps that isn't on the public map (it seems absolutely huge for that to be the case), but if they were, placement knows about them.

Just FYI, there were some statistics on camp standing shared at the Theme Camp Symposium (see the video, starting at about 41:30: https://www.facebook.com/watch/live/?re ... 3147943302)

The summary is:

• 1204 camps in good standing
• 16 more in good standing but with warnings
• 22 in "limited standing" (which generally means fewer tickets/smaller camp size)
• 16 in "not good standing"

"Not good standing" basically means that people have to start over from square one, rethinking the entirety of their camp and operations. They may also be required to take one or more years off entirely.

It takes a lot before Placement "names and shames" a camp, but he did so by calling out 5 of the "worst of the worst" camps from 2022, who all have to take at least 3 years off before they can even try to start over:

• Catharsis/Waking Futures
• Dream Makers/Artist Base
• LaGrange
• SacBe Camp
• VITA

[motskyroonmatick]

The Moop Details email that went out to the Mayors today is a really cool advancement in tech and communication for Resto. The unrecorded Office hours with DA Break Out session of the Theme Camp Symposium was super awesome and I learned a shitload about Resto. DA and Muppet do amazing work.

It sucks that we left a tent stake or lag bolt and a moop hot spot but we tried our best like we always do. We will try harder this year.