Burning Man 2013 Tickets Info

[trilobyte]

moonwatcher - no, if you purchase tickets in the Individual Sale, you may not register/purchase tickets in the OMG sale. However, if you find yourself in the hypothetical situation where you bought tickets, changed your mind/plans and sold your tickets, then at a later date things opened up and suddenly you could go, you could always buy tickets in the aftermarket.

[Mr. Just Right]

After seeing the Holiday Prices I half expected to pay a little more than $380. So I'm happy about the price. Now time to focus on all the fun preparation. Now, how about we all take a deep breath. Iiiiiiinnnnn......and oooouuuuuutttt........

[BBadger]

Yeah, but those are the standard, boilerplate reasons that are always cited. That would be fine to address a typical price increase. The difference this year, however, is that while the population has been increased in roughly the same linear trend, the ticket pricing has gone up a bit more than previous trends. Usually the increased number of tickets offsets the added costs of sustaining a larger population. The tickets would only jump in price after about 3-years. 2012 would have been that year, and it jumped about $50 in average price. It happened again this year. I actually expected the average prices to go down for the regular sale because of the raised prices in the pre-sale.

Now I'm not opposed to a price hike, and I'm sure there are (good) reasons for it, but they're not explained by the standard set of reasons put forth by BMOrg. That's what I'm getting at here. Is it a permit issue? Pershing Country charging more? More art? Better bathrooms? Inflation? Hookers and blow? What? Also, is this a trend we'll be seeing every year? A $50-$60 hike every year instead of the regular $10-$20 increase while at a plateau?

[maladroit]

There is actually a major difference about the last couple years as opposed to all previous years. They are now having to turn people away; therefore they can raise prices more because people will pay it.

[MrMullen]

Good all around system, but my only complaints are:

1) Registration window seemed a bit small. 4 days is not long enough, but I don't think it will impact most people.
2) Can BMORG scrap together an IT team that can create servers to sell tickets?
3) I think the OMG ticket sells should be larger than a 1,000. However, this a very minor issue in the big picture.

Hey, other than those three little issues (Well, 1 and 3 are minor), I think they rolled out a good system this year.

[trilobyte]

BBadger - and my point is that you're welcome to expect away, but none of us are entitled to any such explanations. If it was my decision (and it's not), I wouldn't post any explanations either. The people who will bitch, moan, complain, second-guess decisions and play armchair event producer will just keep on doing that anyways no matter how much or how little is shared, in my personal opinion.

MrMullen - 1) 4 days should be plenty. Several weeks of advance warning so you can set calendars and make arrangements, plus registration doesn't take that long to fill out . 2) Burning Man's got a pretty capable IT team, and more importantly so does their ticketing vendor. But I think to the point you may have been getting at, no company has yet been able to come up with a ticket selling process that can adequately handle the server traffic of a high demand first come, first serve sale. Someday server hardware, software, and networking bandwidth will converge - but technology doesn't appear to be there yet. 3) The OMG sale will be 1,000+ tickets - the actual number will depend on a couple factors, including what the final BLM permit number is. In my opinion I don't think you want that OMG sale number to be too high - just enough to make the prospect of scalping a high risk venture. Anything beyond that effectively denies good people the peace of mind of having tickets to the event sorted out so they can work on all the rest of their playa prep.

[Milayna]

Like someone else said above $380 is actually a bit less than I was expecting, and less than many people paid last year, so yay! Can't wait to get my ticket!!!

[9ah]

BBadger - and my point is that you're welcome to expect away, but none of us are entitled to any such explanations. If it was my decision (and it's not), I wouldn't post any explanations either. The people who will bitch, moan, complain, second-guess decisions and play armchair event producer will just keep on doing that anyways no matter how much or how little is shared, in my personal opinion.

MrMullen - 1) 4 days should be plenty. Several weeks of advance warning so you can set calendars and make arrangements, plus registration doesn't take that long to fill out . 2) Burning Man's got a pretty capable IT team, and more importantly so does their ticketing vendor. But I think to the point you may have been getting at, no company has yet been able to come up with a ticket selling process that can adequately handle the server traffic of a high demand first come, first serve sale. Someday server hardware, software, and networking bandwidth will converge - but technology doesn't appear to be there yet. 3) The OMG sale will be 1,000+ tickets - the actual number will depend on a couple factors, including what the final BLM permit number is. In my opinion I don't think you want that OMG sale number to be too high - just enough to make the prospect of scalping a high risk venture. Anything beyond that effectively denies good people the peace of mind of having tickets to the event sorted out so they can work on all the rest of their playa prep.

Agreed!

[The Hustler]

As every other year, people will love it, people will hate it. Some burners will vow to never return to the little camping trip (on the moon) but will show up anyway, while others will be stoked to go for their first time and not show up.

All of the ticketing bullshit will be a problem -- except when it isn't -- until we all roll through those marvelous gates.

The bigger question for me is how to pay for it this year, if I can go at all.

[Frizzboom]

So is "Directed Group" equal to "cool kids club" meaning there will be invites sent out to the "directed group"? or is it based on number of posts on eplaya?

[VultureChow]

So is "Directed Group" equal to "cool kids club" meaning there will be invites sent out to the "directed group"? or is it based on number of posts on eplaya?

Neither. It's code for out of work actors and actresses. You have to have your SAG card to participate in that sale.

[trilobyte]

Frizzboom - you're a new burner, and may not have picked up on this yet (it's easy to do, there's just so damned much to take in). You know how in that old Rankin & Bass Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer special there's the Island Of Misfit Toys? Well, Burning Man is the CITY of Misfit Toys. None of us are the cool kids club, by virtue of spending a week in harsh desert conditions and thinking it just might be paradise. Or conversely you could think of it as everyone's in the cool kids club, by virtue of the very same thing.

More information regarding directed ticketing is forthcoming, but yes essentially invitations will be extended to selected groups of artists, mutant vehicle crews, and theme camps. They'll get allocations to help them cover their core team members and get the chance to purchase those full price tickets shortly before the Individual Sale. That will not only help them, but it will help those of us who aren't part of a selected group since it takes 10K participants out of the running for the 40K tickets in the Individual Sale.

[9ah]

Frizzboom - you're a new burner, and may not have picked up on this yet (it's easy to do, there's just so damned much to take in). You know how in that old Rankin & Bass Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer special there's the Island Of Misfit Toys? Well, Burning Man is the CITY of Misfit Toys. None of us are the cool kids club, by virtue of spending a week in harsh desert conditions and thinking it just might be paradise. Or conversely you could think of it as everyone's in the cool kids club, by virtue of the very same thing.

I believe the latter, especially since my mom has been trying to make it to the burn. She's a certified cool kid. Sadly I doubt it will happen so she lives the burns through me.

[MikeVDS]

Sounds like they did a good job with a ticketing plan. Last year split my camp up because of the fiasco, so many people just said "Fuck it; I'm doing something else".

Trilobyte - While I agree with your premise that bmorg does not have to explain their expenses, if they want to maintain a community of volunteers and non-commercialism it's a good idea that the event does not appear as a pure profit grab. Without the community, the event would be nothing. With the huge amounts of time and money people donate to the event, they should be assured that they are not just doing it so a few greedy people can pocket millions of dollars, or we might lose that spirit of giving to the community. I know the founders have given much of themselves and have made this event into their full time jobs and I have no problem with them making a nice living off of it, but there is a line that I think most people don't want to see crossed; the line where a few are profiteering off the generosity of the many. Where would that line be? I don't know, but I think if individuals made over 1 million in a year and that profit amounted to over 20% of the ticket prices, I think many of the people who give to the event would think that some of that should be rolled back into the community and might think twice about donating so much time and effort.

[trilobyte]

MikeVDS -as I'd said, expect away. As it stands Burning Man provides far more info than other festivals, events, or companies. While you may feel outraged or some sense of entitlement as if you were a major shareholder of a publicly traded company, as a participant/user/customer I don't share those feelings or opinions. Averaging out the ticket price from 2012 and comparing against 2013 it's less than a 20% increase, that doesn't cause my "how dare they" outrage reflex to kick in. If Burning Man provides some kind of detailed breakdown, great. If not, also great - personally I'm absolutely fine with where the ticket price is. It doesn't have any affect on the amount of work I'll put into my art, my camp, or the hundreds of hours I spend volunteering throughout the year. That's just me though, please don't misinterpret my personal opinions and choices as any kind of official statement.

Stay tuned for the updated breakdown on where the ticket money goes, that should be coming sometime between now and when the registration process opens up.

[winebuff]

Can I just say "They got it right" The ticket structure this year is a great plan as I am sure they spent hundreds of hours and lots of grief from people all around the world with their "2 cents". It covers the people who need to get their workers covered for the theme camps, it covers us regular burners and hopefully it covers the last minute peeps who have just learned about TTITD. The best, hopefully the scalpers can go bye bye. Very excited.... Great Job BM Admin!!!

[Rice]

Sounds like they did a good job with a ticketing plan. Last year split my camp up because of the fiasco, so many people just said "Fuck it; I'm doing something else".

Trilobyte - While I agree with your premise that bmorg does not have to explain their expenses, if they want to maintain a community of volunteers and non-commercialism it's a good idea that the event does not appear as a pure profit grab. Without the community, the event would be nothing. With the huge amounts of time and money people donate to the event, they should be assured that they are not just doing it so a few greedy people can pocket millions of dollars, or we might lose that spirit of giving to the community. I know the founders have given much of themselves and have made this event into their full time jobs and I have no problem with them making a nice living off of it, but there is a line that I think most people don't want to see crossed; the line where a few are profiteering off the generosity of the many. Where would that line be? I don't know, but I think if individuals made over 1 million in a year and that profit amounted to over 20% of the ticket prices, I think many of the people who give to the event would think that some of that should be rolled back into the community and might think twice about donating so much time and effort.

We use the canvas provided by Burning Man Organization when we are in the desert for 8 days. It takes a heck of a lot of effort to get to that point. If you took some time to figure out what was involved, you might not be so upset. Or perhaps, not. Here is a link to the after burn reports provided to us (http://afterburn.burningman.com/ ) there is a link to financials within this report... Maybe looking at the BLM Permit details would help paint part of the picture?? Volunteering on-playa with one of the ORG volunteer options (Gate, Perimeter, Exodus, DMV, DPW, etc.) gives one a better idea as to what is involved pre & post event.


In the end, we can complain about something - saying "they should fix it" or get involved and just fix it. Nothing changes on its own.

I am open to discussion, the exchange of ideas. I do not know everything, and my opinions are -well, opinions. Everyone does Burning Man differently - with different experiences, expectations, contributions... My burn is different than yours. I could be totally wrong in my observations??

Shall we talk?? ( I prefer to talk in the open, dislike PM for this type of discussion, lets start a thread and get somewhere... )

[maladroit]

We are there for a week...BMORG has people there for MONTHS.

[MikeVDS]

I think up to this point they have been open, and I'm not complaining about it, I was just responding to the point said that they don't owe the community any info, which I also agreed with; I just think that it might be a bad idea. Their openness up to this point is evidence that they have not been taking advantage of a generous community. I think it is in all of our best interests if it stays that way.

[Rice]

We are there for a week...BMORG has people there for MONTHS.

True enough!! I was on-playa for 21 days, my GF was on-playa for 29... its amazing to see BRC spring up from the dust and disappear from where she came from

[Simon of the Playa]

word.

[theCryptofishist]

Dammit, Simon, can't you just push the hookers and blow so that we don't have another sell-out?

[Frizzboom]

Just what I thought.... We are all cool kids.

[Simon of the Playa]

Because Hippies don't have Credit Cards.

[mdmf007]

So is "Directed Group" equal to "cool kids club" meaning there will be invites sent out to the "directed group"? or is it based on number of posts on eplaya?

First one - then the other. Seriously though there are core groups that bring awesome art, events and installations to the burn. I personally have no problem with these legacy groups and their ability to get tickets for their membership to facilitate the same. Many people see it as an entitlement.

[BBadger]

I try to write as many shitposts as possible to up my post count for preferential treatment in the ticket process.

[FIGJAM]

Design a cooler, get a ticket!

[Elliot]

Good to see the Directed Distribution program became permanent, after being invented as an emergency measure last year.

I have long felt that BM ought to have some sort of membership and/or mentoring program, to help keep the ethos alive. The disgusting amount of cigarette butts on the ground in 2012 seems a clear indication that something is needed to reverse the slide. In fact, I talked to some folks who cheerfully admitted they had no interest in the event other than as a random diversion that they happened to get tickets to. (There was apparently no shortage of tickets, but a distribution problem.)

So I see the Directed Distribution program as a tool to combat this problem -- in addition to the obvious vital value of the established theme camp and art project contingent.

Yes, "the Burning Man Ethos" is the key to the whole event in my book.

And no, I'm not looking for a DD ticket. I already have one as a Volunteer with a Department, and expect to keep doing that forever. But I would support enlarging the DD program, to support the quality -- the very Value of the event.

[9ah]

As I was reading Elliot's post all I could think of was 'homeostasis' and Bio-Dome.

[Ratty]

Ok, I'm back from googling 'homeostasis'. It inspired me to add a line to my signature.