CouchSurfingCamp 2009

gadget. · Post by **gadget.** » Thu Nov 27, 2008 7:14 pm

Hey everyone, its that time again, time to start your plans for our week in the desert! CouchSurfingCamp is at it again for 09! In 08 we were 125 strong and the goal this year is 200.

CouchSurfingCamp is made up of members of CouchSurfing.Com, and has a great GREEN rep in the city. Come be a part of it. Register at http://www.couchsurfing.com and then at http://www.couchsurfingcamp.com to secure your place in camp!

Gadget

davelam13 · Post by **davelam13** » Fri Nov 28, 2008 9:21 am

Wow of all the couch surfers i've met Shizaam! was the couchiest. If anyone knows him thanks for stoppin by my monkey hut so you could be molested by Wild Bill and Mogely, the misc. peoples off the street! His evening gown really shines in my pic of him. -Dio

Aggrav8d · Post by **Aggrav8d** » Sun Dec 07, 2008 2:02 pm

125? Really? It never felt like more than 30.

Toolmaker · Post by **Toolmaker** » Sun Dec 07, 2008 6:40 pm

Aggrav8d wrote:125? Really? It never felt like more than 30.

Even that can be "crowded" during the week. I saw one camp that was a hundred or so strong during the opening but for most of the week the place was a ghost town. In 2007 there was a camp nearby that was totally empty except for two nights out of the week, just a parachute shade and fire bowl getting dusty the rest of the time.

Aggrav8d · Post by **Aggrav8d** » Tue Dec 30, 2008 11:19 am

True, true. It was still a great place to camp. Plus they have their own dome and (in 2008) were stationed on the 6:00 line, so it was easy to get to sleep and find in dust storms.

evernew · Post by **evernew** » Sat Jan 03, 2009 4:54 am

I'm a Couchsurfer, a virgin and from far far away so this camp would be my logical point of call.
I'll try getting holidays for BM09.

Do people bring any actual couches? Or surfboards?
For decoratory / symbolic purposes etc.

zenchild24 · Post by **zenchild24** » Sat Jan 17, 2009 11:15 pm

evernew wrote: Do people bring any actual couches? Or surfboards?
For decoratory / symbolic purposes etc.

i camped with CS camp in '07 and we had a mutant sofa :) it was made out of several couches!

SofaKing · Post by **SofaKing** » Tue May 19, 2009 2:27 pm

CouchSurfingCamp is really coming together -- and has fully joined
forces with the infamous Hagey of the 11 year running Black Rock City
International Burner Hostel!

New additions to camp this year include a mutant vehicle with a massive sound system; the BRIBH kitchen trailer; a return of the MutantSofa; return of the DarthShader and the Playa Dome;

There is an open invitation to previous Black Rock Burner Hostel
members to join up with camp, email membership questions to

[email protected]

And check out what we are about at

http://couchsurfingcamp.com

Cheers!

SofaKing

klondike_bar · Post by **klondike_bar** » Tue May 19, 2009 5:18 pm

im a member of CS, ill try to pop in and have a nap sometime during the week

Dr. Pyro · Post by **Dr. Pyro** » Tue May 19, 2009 5:20 pm

Wow, for $150 in camp dues, you sure don't get very much. I mean, $800 in PayPal fees? $500 in bike repairs? $1500 for a generator? Hell, BDV just went out and bought one, a 5500-watt all-camp utility gennie, for $200 at Pep Boys the day after Thanksgiving. $100 for rebar? You can get it for free from any number of construction sites. $3000 for a solar panel display? Don't you guys use the same stuff over and over and then just depreciate the costs over the years? Barbie Death Camp has always kept the lid on charges, and we only ask $50/person (we do not use PayPal eliminating those usurious fees) and everybody knows how much we contribute and give to the city and nobody makes a profit. If I were you I'd ask for someone to do a reasonable audit because it seems that your dues are somewhat inflated. But maybe that's just us because we have been doing this now for 10 years and the costs have already been absorbed. Though somehow I doubt it.

SofaKing · Post by **SofaKing** » Tue May 19, 2009 10:33 pm

That's exactly it, Dr. Pyro; indeed this is year 3 for CouchSurfing Camp. First year was free to all and footed entirely by me to the tune of several thousand dollars, including all structures etc. Everything I personally bought for camp that first year has been donated by me.

Camp fees were actually at $100 but they go up by $10 every month to encourage early entry and participation -- as I'm sure you know that many times last minute "Hey I wanna be in your camp" are not always the hardest workers on the playa ... so hey, extra fees for extra stuff.

But, to address your post directly, yes, everything we have to get for camp costs shit loads; I brought in the MutantSofa, the Darth Shader, and the Kitchen Structures; Last year we added a playa dome ($3200) and this year we bought a MutantVehicle ($5000) and are adding a full on sound system ($2000+) ...

I love Barbi Death camp ... and that is it exactly; if you have all your structures and your set up, and all you have to do is haul it out and set it up, that costs 1/3 less -- hence $50 compared to $150 seems to be right in line.

Thanks for bringing up, and I hope you come by for a nap on the MutantSofa -- it is always great refuge from the storm. And we may have vollyball this year too!

SFK

SofaKing · Post by **SofaKing** » Thu May 21, 2009 1:54 pm

I've posted a Mission Statement which further clarifies what CouchSurfing Camp is actually all about. You can read it here:

http://couchsurfingcamp.com/mission.html

See you on the playa!

SFK

Toolmaker · Post by **Toolmaker** » Thu May 21, 2009 11:02 pm

Dr. Pyro wrote:Wow, for $150 in camp dues, you sure don't get very much. I mean, $800 in PayPal fees? $500 in bike repairs? $1500 for a generator? Hell, BDV just went out and bought one, a 5500-watt all-camp utility gennie, for $200 at Pep Boys the day after Thanksgiving. $100 for rebar? You can get it for free from any number of construction sites. $3000 for a solar panel display? Don't you guys use the same stuff over and over and then just depreciate the costs over the years? Barbie Death Camp has always kept the lid on charges, and we only ask $50/person (we do not use PayPal eliminating those usurious fees) and everybody knows how much we contribute and give to the city and nobody makes a profit. If I were you I'd ask for someone to do a reasonable audit because it seems that your dues are somewhat inflated. But maybe that's just us because we have been doing this now for 10 years and the costs have already been absorbed. Though somehow I doubt it.

They also take paypal deposits for early entry and sell poker chip swag to campers for gifting. Someone is riding for free and making a lil change on the side. Some folks just don't get the principles Doc. They will always try to find loopholes to get around. Inflated budgets are a way to hide the profit they make. Sad but we have a few camps like this.. at least most camps are still righteous. I had one person approach me via tribe back in 07 shilling for a few thousand, this turned out to be not a camp at all but a scam to rip off people.

SofaKing · Post by **SofaKing** » Thu May 21, 2009 11:50 pm

Pathetic.

You clearly don't know anything about me, about what I've given to the
city or to this project.

Our forum is open to the public -- read up on what we are really about before slinging mud.

SFK

Toolmaker · Post by **Toolmaker** » Fri May 22, 2009 10:35 am

SofaKing wrote:Pathetic.

You clearly don't know anything about me, about what I've given to the
city or to this project.

Our forum is open to the public -- read up on what we are really about before slinging mud.

SFK

Actually many of us do know about you and your commerce. You bring it every friggin year. I KNOW you found loopholes and its acceptable commerce. Fine.. use the loophole all you want. It doesn't mean others in the community have to sit and be quiet about the commercial side to your camp. I remeber back when you SOLD tickets for a couch to be delivered on the playa. Back than with that wonderful profit making venture you claimed you were doing it as a gift to the community. Didn't really matter that you made profit.. you just don't get it. Likely you never will, folks like you that are centered on profit just won't undertsand the principles unless you try to live them one year.

Good luck making money!! Are you going to SELL 10 cent poker chips for 50 cents again this year? I got an idea.. how about you have some chinese company make some plastic couch necklaces for camp swag. I think that one is a real winner.

Again.. as always.. good luck with your commercial venture on the playa. I hope you make lots and lots of money selling swag, tickets for couches, inflated camp fees taking advantage of solo travelers etc.

SofaKing · Post by **SofaKing** » Fri May 22, 2009 1:23 pm

What are you talking about??????????????????????

You clearly have me confused with someone else ... and our camp confused with something else ...

Wow.

I'm sorry someone tried to sell you a ticket on a couch somewhere --sounds like a pretty funny story actually -- but that certainly wasn't me!!

And if if you can point me to a company that will custom print on both sides of a poker chip for 10 cents -- Wow! Please give me the link, for sure! We defiantly want to go with that company -- I'm always looking for a great deal for camp swag.

I don't know what is up with you, Toolmaker, but from your post you are talking about some other camp.

SFK

dkskyy · Post by **dkskyy** » Thu Jun 04, 2009 10:28 am

that was done by a NYC camp as a fundraiser - not CS camp. Raffle tickets were sold and those that won got a couch, from Smoochdome I believe, delivered on the playa. Remember, it's always cheaper for CA folks to get to the burn than for those farther out - travel costs, storage fees etc.

Mr.? · Post by **Mr.?** » Thu Jun 04, 2009 6:30 pm

I'm embarrassed to say what my camp costs are! Way more than couch surfing's costs. We do serve two meals a day, water misting tent and water for showers is provided; we also have overhead shade for your personal tent, domes (2), Scaffolding tower, lit up weather balloon for a beacon, amplified sound system... and lot's of stuff I've forgotten to mention...
The point is, I do it for love and all the awesome comforts my camp mates feel while they are there. Anyone walking down the street is welcome to come and join us in our structure and have some ice cream. We don't ask for anything in return from the community, but all the camp mates split the cost and it's not cheap. My camp mates, and Sofakings camp mates, understand what the costs are and are willing to pay... and they probably would pay more if he required it.
I love you Dr. Pyro, I've sipped your wine and even let you take my girlfriend to a prom party, but you are kinda being hard on what works for other people... don't you think? Maybe I'm just a little bitchy today, but nevertheless can we just hug it out?

designbunny · Post by **designbunny** » Mon Jun 08, 2009 11:25 pm

I was at CS camp in 07 and it was a fantastic space, with great people and those people worked exceptionally hard to make it happen. There was no profit making - everyone made the camp work out of their own funds, and it must have been one of the very few free camps that year.

I am very thankful (as was the CS community) for all the effort and dedication made by SofaKing and all the others who produced such a successful camp. It was strong in bringing the CS spirit to Burning Man, and has continued to evolve and improve.

The swag was great, and very well received by burners. I still get nice comments about them 2 years later! Getting the poker chips produced is a cost, as is the time and money spent organising them, postage, transport to the playa etc The camp was totally upfront from the start about costs involved, and was certainly not out to make profit.

Toolmaker, you are being pretty insulting and really don't seem to understand the CS camp at all.

kimkankwu · Post by **kimkankwu** » Tue Jun 16, 2009 8:57 am

Toolmaker wrote:I remeber back when you SOLD tickets for a couch to be delivered on the playa. Back than with that wonderful profit making venture you claimed you were doing it as a gift to the community..

Funny. I didn't know this one. I know other similar stories about James alias SofaKing, so this is not a surprise. He's the kind of guy who has to find a payback for anything he does in life, with hardly any success at all. I guess now his new business is to take advantage of virgin burners and solo travelers with the couchsurfing concept.

shiz · Post by **shiz** » Mon Jun 22, 2009 12:34 am

Hey CS buddies! i'm lookin forward to couching it up with you again this year!!
if ya want a group of people from all over the world, who have never met each oter but have one unifying thing (well other than being at burning man) come check us out.. or better yet come camp with us!!

And on the points above. CS camp is intrinsically full of nomadic and newbes. Having a core group of a few individuals (you know who you are) who strategically plan, and stay long after to ensure the camp is spotless is well worth the cost. Having the camp grow to well over 125 people in 3 years is a dam good thing and not an easy feat.
thanks guys. <especially the one with the bare feet and big metal thing in his nose>

phreakshew · Post by **phreakshew** » Mon Aug 17, 2009 11:43 pm

Hey was just reading this thread and all the confusion.

Weird. Anywho, just wanted to say Hi James! We were with CSC in '07, and met some really wonderful people, including some from Europe and New Zealand. Will miss Toast big time if she doesn't come. We'll be in Gigsville again this year and will be sure to stop by to surf the mutant sofa!

Cheers,
Fringe

Gage · Post by **Gage** » Tue Aug 25, 2009 11:05 pm

We've only been members of Couchsurfing since right around SF Decom last year, and all the people we've met and hung out with have been nothing less than AMAZING! We have our own camp (Shadyvil virgins last year), but we will definately come by and meet some of the CSers we haven't met yet...

p.s. We're not in Bako anymore. Just got our verification card for our recent move to San Diego! I see more couchsurfing hits in the near future... lol

GageNdG

CouchSurfingCamp 2009

CouchSurfingCamp 2009

CSCamp Mission Statement

Point of clarification about the "selling of the couch&

was there in 08. here in 09!

Hi SofaKing!