Flowertropolis...go or no?!?!

ShandaK · Post by **ShandaK** » Tue Dec 14, 2010 12:24 pm

A place for people with bright and cheery dispositions!

I love to hand out flower clips along with smiles and hugs galore! Although I am a virgin still to the playa I am no virgin to themes and gatherings of sorts. I love organizing events! Here is my question...
Is it crazy for a large group of BM virgins to orchestrate a theme camp on our first venture?! I am so excited about it I am recruiting my members and don't want to put it all together til 2012. Being that an essential of life and to flowers is H20 I want to bring cases upon cases of water as part of my theme camp. We would like to pass out agua on the playa not with the jesus folk outside the gate. So many things to think about.....

Dr. Pyro · Post by **Dr. Pyro** » Tue Dec 14, 2010 12:30 pm

Two pieces of advice:

1) I would wait until your "sophomore year" to do a theme camp, especially a large one. Learn the environment, get a handle on how you would work your camp, and then with that experience have a go at it.

2) One of our campmates had all of her flora (some was just decorated drift wood in tree form) confiscated at the gate. Some nonsense about MOOP. No leaves and no living flora with the exception of grass. I think it's a really stupid rule and frankly should have been ingored. But that's why I stopped doing gate.

Post by **AntiM** » Tue Dec 14, 2010 12:59 pm

From the Survival Guide on the Main Site:

LIVE PLANTS ON PLAYA
NO PLANTS AT BURNING MAN

Given the 2007 GREEN MAN theme, you might be tempted to bring plants to our event in the Black Rock Desert. Donâ€™t.

Remember: Burning Man is probably the largest â€œLeave No Traceâ€

ShandaK · Post by **ShandaK** » Tue Dec 14, 2010 1:08 pm

I see I see...no living or real plant forms would be part of my structure but thank you for that bit of advice because I definitely would not have thought about it. So is it ok to hand out silk floral clips for people to wear?!?!

So I guess I need to attend 2011 and see if 2012 is a go or no! I was thinking this anyhow I like to be well prepared.
Oh...are there food vendors on the playa?! Or should you have enough food to survive the whole time. I wouldn't ever rely on someone else to provide what I need just curious if the option is out there?

Post by **AntiM** » Tue Dec 14, 2010 1:15 pm

Oh dear. You really need to stop and read more of the survival guide or folks are going to get snarky with you. The answers are in there, really. Asking what you can read will get you mocked, but in a fun way. We love you to pieces, but that's where self-reliance begins, with information. We loved informed newbs the best. LOL, you'll get used to eplaya. We're ultimately helpful, but get exhausted from answering the same old same old. Yes?

No food vendors. A few food gifters, but nothing to rely on. There are good guidelines in the first timer's guide, and lots of food discussions in the Q&A forum. everything from full kitchens to backpack living.

Silk clips would be lovely, just beat the crap outta them to make sure they won't fall apart. Many silk plants do. When I did a bridal bouquet for my skeleton, I literally beat it against the wall. Anything which fell off stayed off, or was glued like hell back on. Then I repeated the process. Oh, and avoid glitter.

ShandaK · Post by **ShandaK** » Tue Dec 14, 2010 1:44 pm

No glitter=checked...I knew it was a strictly gift so I guess I should have thought of that first. I always glue each individual silk piece together because i rage it out and hate when my pieces fall apart. Note to self though beat the crap out of it =0) I did read through the survival guide but I will keep checking back to the site so I can answer the basic questions for myself. I'm sure you guys get overwhelmed with the same question after question. Thanks for the help!!!

Post by **AntiM** » Tue Dec 14, 2010 1:54 pm

The clips sound lovely.

If you can't find an answer, or need clarification or a personal opinion, just holler. We're big on personal opinions here. Hehehe.

Drop by the bar in General Discussion and say howdy, have a virtual drink. decorate the place with virtual flowers for us!

bgirl · Post by **bgirl** » Fri Dec 31, 2010 10:40 pm

Go!!!
It's a go as far as I'm concerned! Anyone who hands out flowers gifts is gold in my books:)) Good advice on the durability factor, as long as they can go through a wash and dry cycle they're probably good to go, also, glue is out, hand stitching is in:))

Thecatman · Post by **Thecatman** » Fri Dec 31, 2010 11:33 pm

At the very least, give your hugs, those of us that wander around the city solo appreciate interaction.

What part of Missouri are you from. I have a good friend from school (late 1970s) that lives in Moberly.

Trishntek · Post by **Trishntek** » Sat Jan 01, 2011 12:42 pm

We put together a theme camp our virgin year with great success. Would I ever suggest someone else do it? No!!!

It requires an enormous amount of planning. While you are reading the survival guide the fourth or fifth time, wander over to the theme camp area and read everything you can about requirements, do's and don'ts for a successful theme camp.

Giving the gifts you describe does not really require an official theme camp. The organization encourages interactivity in theme camps. Basically, playing games, offering some refreshment (which can open an entire other bunch of regulations) or a service. Even the water you give should be certifiably potable.

The only real advantages to being a registered camp is early entry, listing on the official scheduled event brochure called the "What, Where, When" (WWW), and a reserved camping space.

Absolute autonomy is what you should seek. Power supply, food, drink and shelter are entirely your responsibility. All the garbage and waste you produce, except that which comes out of your body, is your responsibility to properly dispose of it AFTER YOU LEAVE the event. So there are many logistics and responsibilities you must consider and you are doing well to consider them now instead of in July!

xaramonkey · Post by **xaramonkey** » Sun Jan 02, 2011 8:37 pm

Go for it! But expect nothing to go as planned.

AntiM- Sorry, have to disagree with the "no live plants" theory/rule based on personal experience. Ever heard of a little tent called Xara? Hundreds of square feet of LIVE grass was enjoyed by all...and the patch near the waterfall leak actually GREW a few inches!

Snowah Zark · Post by **Snowah Zark** » Sun Jan 02, 2011 8:40 pm

and they angered the playa gods and were destroyed by a tremendous dust storm.

they were near the 2 oclock corner.

xaramonkey · Post by **xaramonkey** » Sun Jan 02, 2011 8:41 pm

oh... it was MOOP-y tho...the first year.

xaramonkey · Post by **xaramonkey** » Sun Jan 02, 2011 8:51 pm

and the Hand Of God thing was a little messy... hand out hand made flowers while wearing a hand made monkey suit. Works every time.

Simon of the Playa · Post by **Simon of the Playa** » Mon Jan 03, 2011 1:12 am

In all seriousness, it was amazing, grass sod, misters, and palm trees.

But, because of the hand of god the obvious reasons as to why no non indigineous plants and or critters that may adversely affect the black rock high desert are allowed.

Hippies get in thru some damn loophole in the rules.

Post by **AntiM** » Mon Jan 03, 2011 6:23 am

xaramonkey wrote:Go for it! But expect nothing to go as planned.

AntiM- Sorry, have to disagree with the "no live plants" theory/rule based on personal experience. Ever heard of a little tent called Xara? Hundreds of square feet of LIVE grass was enjoyed by all...and the patch near the waterfall leak actually GREW a few inches!

Which year? Because yes, I have experienced the sod, and know it is no longer allowed. Hey, I didn't write the Survival Guide, I just quoted it.

Simon of the Playa · Post by **Simon of the Playa** » Mon Jan 03, 2011 11:20 am

oneeyeddick · Post by **oneeyeddick** » Mon Jan 03, 2011 11:22 am

They left one of the biggest messes ever left.

I pushed a broom around for a long time after the event.

Post by **AntiM** » Mon Jan 03, 2011 11:33 am

Simon of the Playa wrote:2000

2002 and 2003 for me. I think.

xaramonkey · Post by **xaramonkey** » Mon Jan 03, 2011 8:27 pm

2000 was the year it got smashed by the wind storm. Not much anybody could do about that part of the mess. That part in the rules about synthetic plants being better makes me giggle and cringe at the same time because if your camp is smashed to pieces theres gonna be...well... pieces. Blown all over the place. If we had used real tree branches and palm fronds, those would just have been labeled anonymous MOOP, but the flourescent hand cut material we used was so obviously FROM XARA AND NOWHERE ELSE. I picked up every embarrassing bit I found for a week. We had over 120 in the camp that year, some didn't do what they agreed to and plans fell apart after the camp did. Lesson learned. RADICAL self-reliance. Don't rely on anybody to do anything. Again, expect nothing to go as planned. Even if your whole entire theme camp consists of four sticks of PVC, four rebar stakes and a tarp...it will fail somehow. Beware Of God.

Every other year Xara was on the Playa I thought we did good by Leave No Trace except in 99' when some dipshit who shall remain nameless (Dave) decided to throw all the sod in a bonfire. Dipshit. From '01-'03 BMorg helped us make it happen. In '01 we left nothing but a big puddle of water. '02 I can't really say cuz i had to leave before the tear down was complete. '03 we left nothing but 3 neatly stacked pallets of sod that BM wanted to take to the Ranch. And in '04 Xara was only a small-time shade structure out at 12:00-we brought no sod and left No Trace.

Word to the Noobs- If you build it, they will come. And when "they" leave trash in YOUR camp ? "Their" trash becomes YOURS. Every forgotten blanket, bike, water bottle, cigarette butt, rotten fuckin watermelon (oh they're the worst)and crappy plastic broken rave toy becomes YOUR MOOP TO SCOOP. It's not like there's some Mad Mooper solely responsible. Things get lost, stolen,dropped, and blown away. So pack light on the way in, plan well and remember... your plans WILL fail.

Simon of the Playa · Post by **Simon of the Playa** » Mon Jan 03, 2011 8:32 pm

like i said, it was quite impressive and a helluva oasis during the heat of the day...

paradise lost...

xaramonkey · Post by **xaramonkey** » Mon Jan 03, 2011 8:52 pm

[quote="Simon of the Playa"]In all seriousness, it was amazing, grass sod, misters, and palm trees.

Thanks for sayin' so.

The whole rain forest thing was supposed to be" A Big Middle Finger To The Desert" Guess we should have expected the dust devil bitch-slap. Ouch!

theCryptofishist · Post by **theCryptofishist** » Mon Jan 03, 2011 9:03 pm

Words of wisdom bear repeating:

xaramonkey wrote: Word to the Noobs- If you build it, they will come. And when "they" leave trash in YOUR camp ? "Their" trash becomes YOURS. Every forgotten blanket, bike, water bottle, cigarette butt, rotten fuckin watermelon (oh they're the worst)and crappy plastic broken rave toy becomes YOUR MOOP TO SCOOP. It's not like there's some Mad Mooper solely responsible. Things get lost, stolen,dropped, and blown away. So pack light on the way in, plan well and remember... your plans WILL fail.

Simon of the Playa · Post by **Simon of the Playa** » Mon Jan 03, 2011 10:27 pm

"ewige blumenkraft"...

xaramonkey · Post by **xaramonkey** » Mon Jan 03, 2011 10:46 pm

"blumen fur alle"

ShandaK · Post by **ShandaK** » Thu Jan 13, 2011 1:58 pm

glad to hear all the vets words of wisdom. Flower clips are always where I go so that is a check. Thanks for everyones input it has helped me decide how I will participate....for now. Going. with Fake flowers, real smile, and lots of hugs! Mahalo everyone!

adam link · Post by **adam link** » Fri Jan 14, 2011 8:18 am

[youtube][/youtube]

Ugly Dougly · Post by **Ugly Dougly** » Fri Jan 14, 2011 10:30 am

ShandaK wrote:glad to hear all the vets words of wisdom. Flower clips are always where I go so that is a check. Thanks for everyones input it has helped me decide how I will participate....for now. Going. with Fake flowers, real smile, and lots of hugs! Mahalo everyone!

Keep hold of your aloha power through the dust storm.

Flowertropolis...go or no?!?!

Flowertropolis...go or no?!?!

Super!

Re: Super!