2012 Theme Camps - will you make it this year?

[nncoco]

People at the org need to find a way to allocate a portion of the remaining 10,000+ tickets to the people who make the event happen in the first place. If you are in a major camp, let your needs be known to the organizers and maybe something will happen. It should happen or else 2012 is going to suck.

[nncoco]

I am part of a multi national theme camp with about 5 core members. Last year we were called "Freaks of Black Rock City."

I helped to make sure that the main contributors each got a ticket by using the pre-sale to help beat the odds. I was left out in the cold last year after the sellout so I knew how time consuming and frustrating it was to find a ticket at face value. A burner should never pay over face value for a ticket in my opinion.

Our little camp may have fewer late joiners than in years past. As long as the five core people are there, some kind of interactivity is going to happen for the benefit of the Burner community at large.

If there are fewer large-scale camps in 2012, small groups like ours are going to play a bigger part than before.

The key to a great burn is interactivity wether it be on a large scale or small scale.

I have noticed that a lot of camps sit empty and unnoticed because the large camps draw so many people, especially at night. Good or bad, the change is going to be interesting.

[Patamon]

After 3 years on the 9:00 Plaza providing Burners with an 80's/90's Music Alternative, Planet Earth has decided to take a break in 2012. We were leaning this way after 2011 anyways, but as fall became winter, and the late/recycled them "un-inspired" many of our camp-mates, the Great Ticket Fiasco of 2012 was the final nail in the coffin.

Its an energy thing, everything just feels out of place this year, and a lot of Planet Earth (myself included) is thinking this is the perfect year to travel abroad or catch up on some long delayed alternative vacation destinations, and just take a break, (The last time I didn't attend Burning Man was 1999, many of our camp-mates have similar longevity).

So... No Planet Earth this year.

See you in 2013!

[mshaman]

Patamon, sorry you won't make it this year, I liked hearing something other than the same tired whomp.

Here is one for Kernul Killbuck, courtesy of trash trashisfree, a Colorado burner:

[RedHeaven]

I'm kind of unsure what to do as I hold a ticket....Should I take the year off too? Im thinking no. I took off 2010 and regretted it. I think I'll watch shit implode as well as explode. Someone's gotta be around to stoke the fires and sing while the ship sinks hahahaa. It will be interesting to see what theme camp I can be a part of this year. Our camp did about as well as all of the others. I am willing to band aid some stuff up and see what we can rock....

If I get a year with no large fartstep rave camps attracting thousands to their light, it will be worth all the effort hehehe

[mshaman]

I'm kind of unsure what to do as I hold a ticket....Should I take the year off too? Im thinking no. I took off 2010 and regretted it. I think I'll watch shit implode as well as explode. Someone's gotta be around to stoke the fires and sing while the ship sinks hahahaa. It will be interesting to see what theme camp I can be a part of this year. Our camp did about as well as all of the others. I am willing to band aid some stuff up and see what we can rock....

If I get a year with no large fartstep rave camps attracting thousands to their light, it will be worth all the effort hehehe

I'm looking for the "Like" button again...

[alt12]

People at the org need to find a way to allocate a portion of the remaining 10,000+ tickets to the people who make the event happen in the first place. If you are in a major camp, let your needs be known to the organizers and maybe something will happen. It should happen or else 2012 is going to suck.

The problem is how exactly to distribute them and who gets them.... What defines a major camp? I'm sure a lot of people consider themselves major camps. Size of population of camp, years in attendance as a registered theme camp, something much more qualitative and subjective?

[lemur]

Patamon, sorry you won't make it this year, I liked hearing something other than the same tired whomp.

Here is one for Kernul Killbuck, courtesy of trash trashisfree, a Colorado burner:

maybe the kernul can help him on this one!

[OldSoulYoungBody]

Hi There all!

I'm a "Burgin" as we are commonly called. I DO NOT have a ticket at this point, but am keeping the hope of getting 2 regular price tickets for my love and myself. Although I have never been home or posted on these boards before, I feel for every other person who didn't get a ticket in the main sale and now has to wait for alternative methods of obtaining them. I have been following most of the threads on eplaya since Jan 30th, and this is the first one I decided it was time to post in. There are several things I would like to say.

A little background info on myself would be relevent before I start I suppose. I'm a 21 year old college student at UNR, and I first found out about the amazing festival of art and life when one of my best friends, josh, in my fraternity got out of a playa dust covered car in 2011. I should clarify, we aren't just "frat guys"! Sigma Nu is a very different place than any other fraternity, and it is the only fraternity I could ever see myself as part of. We are a group of very forward thinking and progressive guys. Yes we like beer, but we spend just as much time sitting in San Rancho park contemplating our cosmic significance, and the meanings behind the various struggles of life. I digress. Anyways, my friend Josh didn't say a word to a single person upon returning for two days, and then eventually he walked into my room and we talked. He told me of experiences and stories of people and relationships and bonding that blew my mind. He told me stories of fun, loss, love, adventure, joy, and everything between. He knows me better than most, and he looked at me at the end of the conversation and appeared actually sad when he said "you would finally be home man, my soul is still there and next year I hope yours will be too"

First off, it really bugs and saddens me to see artists pushed to the point of desperation where some people are actually saying and believing that music ISN't art. Anyone who thinks that is the definition of an idiot. That being said, it doesn't mean you have to appreciate all kinds of art, I know I sure don't and if there was a giant country music show in the middle of the dessert it wouldn't really be my thing.

Secondly, the amount of negetive vibs and struggle throughout the community realllllllly sucks, and that is putting it mildly. I'm sad I didn't know about BM sooner, I would have liked to have seen it last year before all of this confusion and talk of not going. That being said, I'm an optimist! I would like to believe that by the time April rolls around 75% or more of burners will have tickets through the legitimate aftermarket. this my sound too good to be true but I'd like to hope its true. I hope that the experienced burners who want to go will all get to go, and that dedicated Burgins who really seriously want to go and get involved will as well. I WILL BE AT BUURNING MAN THIS YEAR!!!!! YEAH!!!

Lastly, although I'm a college student and not financially able to contribute "much", I would be very willing to dedicate my time, effort, and creativity to a camp in need of help with a lack of contributers. I have free time fairly often during summer and I live in Reno so I hope to contribute more than the average Burgin to the overall experience! Originally I got 16 people including myself and my love to enter the lotto and we were planning to make a theme camp, but we only received 2 tickets out of 16. 4 of us are veteran burners of 3+ years and 4 more have gone at least once. If I get a ticket, I'm very up for helping out! Good luck everyone, stay optimistic and hopeful!

[changoloco]

Hi There all!

I'm a "Burgin" as we are commonly called. I DO NOT have a ticket at this point, but am keeping the hope of getting 2 regular price tickets for my love and myself. Although I have never been home or posted on these boards before, I feel for every other person who didn't get a ticket in the main sale and now has to wait for alternative methods of obtaining them. I have been following most of the threads on eplaya since Jan 30th, and this is the first one I decided it was time to post in. There are several things I would like to say.

A little background info on myself would be relevent before I start I suppose. I'm a 21 year old college student at UNR, and I first found out about the amazing festival of art and life when one of my best friends, josh, in my fraternity got out of a playa dust covered car in 2011. I should clarify, we aren't just "frat guys"! Sigma Nu is a very different place than any other fraternity, and it is the only fraternity I could ever see myself as part of. We are a group of very forward thinking and progressive guys. Yes we like beer, but we spend just as much time sitting in San Rancho park contemplating our cosmic significance, and the meanings behind the various struggles of life. I digress. Anyways, my friend Josh didn't say a word to a single person upon returning for two days, and then eventually he walked into my room and we talked. He told me of experiences and stories of people and relationships and bonding that blew my mind. He told me stories of fun, loss, love, adventure, joy, and everything between. He knows me better than most, and he looked at me at the end of the conversation and appeared actually sad when he said "you would finally be home man, my soul is still there and next year I hope yours will be too"

First off, it really bugs and saddens me to see artists pushed to the point of desperation where some people are actually saying and believing that music ISN't art. Anyone who thinks that is the definition of an idiot. That being said, it doesn't mean you have to appreciate all kinds of art, I know I sure don't and if there was a giant country music show in the middle of the dessert it wouldn't really be my thing.

Secondly, the amount of negetive vibs and struggle throughout the community realllllllly sucks, and that is putting it mildly. I'm sad I didn't know about BM sooner, I would have liked to have seen it last year before all of this confusion and talk of not going. That being said, I'm an optimist! I would like to believe that by the time April rolls around 75% or more of burners will have tickets through the legitimate aftermarket. this my sound too good to be true but I'd like to hope its true. I hope that the experienced burners who want to go will all get to go, and that dedicated Burgins who really seriously want to go and get involved will as well. I WILL BE AT BUURNING MAN THIS YEAR!!!!! YEAH!!!

Lastly, although I'm a college student and not financially able to contribute "much", I would be very willing to dedicate my time, effort, and creativity to a camp in need of help with a lack of contributers. I have free time fairly often during summer and I live in Reno so I hope to contribute more than the average Burgin to the overall experience! Originally I got 16 people including myself and my love to enter the lotto and we were planning to make a theme camp, but we only received 2 tickets out of 16. 4 of us are veteran burners of 3+ years and 4 more have gone at least once. If I get a ticket, I'm very up for helping out! Good luck everyone, stay optimistic and hopeful!

Lay off the Ritalin while you are out there, that stuff can make you really dehydrated....

[Harinama]

RockStar Orphans, which for the last decade has supported 20-30 campers each year, so far has ZERO tickets afaik. As with most other theme camps, obviously this is untenable. Theme camps tend to fall apart if not reinvigorated each year by BM. I predict that many great large camps will never return. This sad, but reinforces that BM is an evolving creature just like all of us. This ticketing issue will have huge effects on the makeup of BRC, that is a given. How the BRC community deals with this is up to us.

We put a lot of effort & $$$ into camp infrastructure last year, and had an awesome theme planned out for 2012.

My emotions are all over the board. After 6 consecutive years, i realize that maybe BM takes up too much of my mind, my time and energy. Maybe i'm a little too focused on going "home" every year, and not enough of keeping the heart of BM with me year-round. Maybe my journey should be inward this year, instead of the usual 2000 mile odyssey.

A break is a good thing, but I'll miss my BRC family. Those fun, frolicking irrepressible freaks make life memorable.
So much to miss, can't list it here. (and stay dry eyed anyway).
Burning Man is a reunion of free spirits. It can happen anywhere, anytime.

TBH, right now i feel like the young bird that has been pushed out of the nest, and must fly or perish. It's time to quit talking about it, and start spreading the culture of BRC to the regionals and beyond.

[mshaman]

@OldSoulYoungBody,
Thanks for posting, you have some very good points about burgin willingness to participate and the point that music is an art form.

What I've been resistant to with regard to sound camps is what I call the "Tyranny of Dub-Step". Whatever is hot this year in the rave scene shows up on the playa. It is pervasive at nearly all the big sound camps, and if you don't like it, you don't have a lot of options, unless you're wanting find a crappy little sound system on a side-street. Variety is the spice of life, and I'd like to see more of it in the sound camps. I was a DJ in college, I was in the Greek system, and I have to say that the music at the big camps at BM sometimes seems to be a very inbred thing from a small but vocal group of ravers. If you happen to be a disciple of that scene, then you're in heaven. But for the rest of us, it is alienating, oppressive not to be able to get away from it.

Hope you get a ticket, hope to see you on the playa, and I hope the ticket process recovers in time to return to some normalcy in 2013.

[GoldMetatronGirl]

Out of my camp of 60 people only 8 got tickets. That's not even enough people to erect the domes for our bar, and that is barely enough people to run the bar and id people at all and none of our camp leaders got tickets. I think this year burning man is gonna be the man, the temple, center camp, and a bunch of tents.

[oscillator]

A new interactive offering this year @ Center Camp...

Voigt-Kampff_machineCC.jpg

[The CO]

People at the org need to find a way to allocate a portion of the remaining 10,000+ tickets to the people who make the event happen in the first place. If you are in a major camp, let your needs be known to the organizers and maybe something will happen. It should happen or else 2012 is going to suck.

Burning Man will happen even if no theme camps are there. It existed without them. The people that "make it happen" are the management team so many are bitching about, DPW, gate andperimeter, rangers, EMS. If you think it will suck, don't go. Let the new blood in to make the event their own; old theme camps with a sense of entitlement are obviously past their prime.

I've run the same camp continuously since '99, and I am firmly against the idea of theme camps getting special treatment. Radical inclusion does not say "especially theme camps". We know how to adapt: as such we'll be there even if "we" is only 4 of us. And camp will be just as awesome.

[OldSoulYoungBody]

People at the org need to find a way to allocate a portion of the remaining 10,000+ tickets to the people who make the event happen in the first place. If you are in a major camp, let your needs be known to the organizers and maybe something will happen. It should happen or else 2012 is going to suck.

Burning Man will happen even if no theme camps are there. It existed without them. The people that "make it happen" are the management team so many are bitching about, DPW, gate andperimeter, rangers, EMS. If you think it will suck, don't go. Let the new blood in to make the event their own; old theme camps with a sense of entitlement are obviously past their prime.

I've run the same camp continuously since '99, and I am firmly against the idea of theme camps getting special treatment. Radical inclusion does not say "especially theme camps". We know how to adapt: as such we'll be there even if "we" is only 4 of us. And camp will be just as awesome.

I respect that quite a bit and agree. As I understand the values of BM, you are spot on!

[The CO]

Thanks! Don't forget to introduce yourself in the proper thread!

[OldSoulYoungBody]

Thanks haha, I didn't know it existed!

[knowmad]

People at the org need to find a way to allocate a portion of the remaining 10,000+ tickets to the people who make the event happen in the first place. If you are in a major camp, let your needs be known to the organizers and maybe something will happen. It should happen or else 2012 is going to suck.

Burning Man will happen even if no theme camps are there. It existed without them. The people that "make it happen" are the management team so many are bitching about, DPW, gate andperimeter, rangers, EMS. If you think it will suck, don't go. Let the new blood in to make the event their own; old theme camps with a sense of entitlement are obviously past their prime.

I've run the same camp continuously since '99, and I am firmly against the idea of theme camps getting special treatment. Radical inclusion does not say "especially theme camps". We know how to adapt: as such we'll be there even if "we" is only 4 of us. And camp will be just as awesome.

I for the Most part agree.
Would be bad (poor form) to use the "To Big to Fail" argument. So I will use the inverse of that argument.
The natural evolution of BRC has witnessed the Emergence of allot of New Ideas. Theme camps began being built around a Few Experienced Burners and their New-to-the-playa friends. Or from the monkey-see-monkey do approach. Camps grew large and complex, spawned villages and cities. They evolved naturally to fill the Space provided them. And hit the population cap. And that is where we were at last year. Now we depart from that somewhat predictable trajectory and make a significant change in the overall distribution of substance these camps operated on (the lotto) and are left with our current plight. where we were formerly dealing with the day-to-day problems of fielding a large Camp; Who Cooks; dues Vs. assets; placed Vs. not placed; theme participation, members, Art. Camps dealt with the very questions that propelled those [camps] into existence. The Ability to gift back to the community was a natural by product of their very creation presses.
Looking at the current state of affairs Large camp infrastructures may be damaged enough that they may not be able to care for their creations at the same time dealing with not being able to rely on a base of knowledge and be unsure how if any they can rely on Bringins.

Because of my little Nerdy Bio Brain I See this )'( as a living breathing thing. a Forest if you will; intergraded parts made up of an interdependence of contributing/consuming/breeding/distracting entities.
The Lotto/theme camp question could be seen as a Forest that has just gone through Selective harvest. Random and not so random trees are now gone. Scars and damage, more sunlight on the forest floor. Habitats displaced.
The amount of stress placed on such a system is not enough to kill it. But is enough to decrease its biodiversity. To degrade its grandeur.

I'll leave us with a quote from Malthus a 19th century Scholar

"Yet in all societies, even those that are most vicious, the tendency to a virtuous attachment is so strong that there is a constant effort towards an increase of population. This constant effort as constantly tends to subject the lower classes of the society to distress and to prevent any great permanent amelioration of their condition".
—Malthus T.R. 1798. An essay on the principle of population.

We have loved ourselves to death.

[RevDusty]

I don't necessarily believe that theme camps should get some sort of ticket allotment and I say that as a member of a theme camp since 2003 (and attending since '99) who did not get a ticket this year.

What will happen though, is that the entire idea of theme camps will have to change as there will be little consistency from year to year in campers. Whose gonna contribute money and effort to reusable infrastructure that they may rarely, if ever, see again? Theme camps are great for the effort they put out and what they give to the city but the magnitude will now change with ticket scarcity.

Now, I happen to believe that the scarcity we are seeing is *not* due to newbies, but likely scalpers (amateur and pro). If it's all newbies, then great, it'll work out, but I don't think the numbers are telling that story and you can tell that the BMORG doesn't either.

So, assuming there is just a metric shit ton of newbies implies that Theme Camps will morph into something new and perhaps more temporary (focused on a one year duration). This is not a bad thing, it's a change and will be interesting to see how it works.

But I really don't think there has been such a *massive* influx of newbies...it just doesn't make sense.

[RedHeaven]

I am so ready for Burnaggedon....It will be like preinacting a holocaust, but on an artistic scale.

I only live 4 hours away, why not? I will exercise my Fall Out sensibilities. And possibly get to know people I would of never gotten to know at Normal Man.

I dont NEED all the Kandy to have epiphanies and exercise community in the deSSert.

I like what you ^^ said about the large sound camps being alienating and inbred....VERY well said. Some of those artists I love, but all in all I totally agree with you.

The whole 2012 thing and the changes in society, whether its a superstition or not, really plays into all of this. Getting by on less.....

Burning man is an experiment, a petri dish of little freaks, assholes, glitters and turdlings. We'll see how it pans out! Goodness it already seems like a strange dream. Ahh strange dreams. The constant!

[Pipey]

Just a note to say WOW. 6 pages of great debate, suggestions/ideas, challenges, feedback...and most meaningfully...community and empathy which is like super-fuel to the fire in our bellies to hold tight and ride this roller coaster as best we can with the resources & drive we have to make 2012 happen in some way shape or form. THANK YOU to everyone who continues to come into this conversation and make their thoughts known. Regardless of what happens, this community will always propagate a feeling of awe.

[Canoe]

BRC 2012, camps reported members with tickets.jpg

Although only 40 camps of data, and early data, but we can see how this can affect camps getting ready, to and running at BRC for 2012.
If you ended up with extra tickets, you know where they can go to good use...

[KatWoman]

Our theme camp is small (last year 15, this year 20) and we are about 80% ticketed. It's almost all friend-of-friend virgins that are missing tickets. I have been reluctant to voice this in my own community b/c of the astounding negativity about the whole ticket situation and the burn. Which makes me wonder how many other camps that are lucky enough to be ticketed are also keeping quiet and skewing the numbers.

[BBadger]

Although only 40 camps of data, and early data, but we can see how this can affect camps getting ready, to and running at BRC for 2012.
If you ended up with extra tickets, you know where they can go to good use...

Nice, some real polling data.

I have no idea about my own camp, because not everyone has responded and we don't know how many people are actually planning on attending. Of the have tickets/want tickets the ratio is actually > 50% having tickets. That only represents about 1/4th of the people on the list however, and even then, the list has duplicates and other bullshit. I wonder how accurate the data is from the camps, and how much is redundant as well (say two people from the same camp report the same statistics)?

[The CO]

knowmad, those are some great perspectives. I would love to see more new blood, it keeps the event alive.

The Lotto/theme camp question could be seen as a Forest that has just gone through Selective harvest. Random and not so random trees are now gone.

I'd point out that selective harvest or thinning is not done at random, that's why it's called selective. Often in involves removing old or infected trees so that they don't corrupt the rest of the forest. I've said in a couple of other threads, if a theme camp can't adapt to the new enviorns, perhaps it's time for them to go. Survival of the most adaptable?

[theCryptofishist]

Survival of the Entitled. It's the only fair thing.

[trilobyte]

@Knowmad - very well said. Camp churn is inevitable in any year, and the history of Burning Man is filled with big camps that people couldn't ever imagine not being at Burning Man. Theme camps are self-organizing, living breathing things. Some camps may take the year off or end altogether, others will get resourceful and make things go. Still others will mutate or merge with others to create something new.

@RevDusty - I agree, I don't think there should be special allotments for theme camps. We won't yet know what kind of short-term (this year's burn) it has on theme camps until August, and we won't know what the long-term impact will be for years to come (for all we know, this year's dramatic increase in demand was a fluke, brought on by the coincidental timing of a youtube video).

[knowmad]

knowmad, those are some great perspectives. I would love to see more new blood, it keeps the event alive.

The Lotto/theme camp question could be seen as a Forest that has just gone through Selective harvest. Random and not so random trees are now gone.

I'd point out that selective harvest or thinning is not done at random, that's why it's called selective. Often in involves removing old or infected trees so that they don't corrupt the rest of the forest. I've said in a couple of other threads, if a theme camp can't adapt to the new enviorns, perhaps it's time for them to go. Survival of the most adaptable?

I am pretty knowledgeable on how "Selective harvesting” works. In my day to day collect forestry data and write EPA impact reports. I really did mean random, and not so random. The Grooming process includes more than just removing old or infected trees; it includes thinning and collateral damage. Also not every Harvestable tree is removed, some logs are purposely left others are abandoned as their removal would be too injurious to the forest. And all falls under “managed care” and that is the responsibility of the Agency in charge of the Forest. If every harvestable tree were taken, and every log removed the cycle becomes broken and has predictable outcomes. While the Forest may live the Bio diversity always goes down, and gradual trends toward larger biological Monocultures occur as desired by logging firms and pest. But gone are the things in between. The theory of Survival of the most adaptable, as you will, includes a few other things than the Sink or Swim edge, it also has to do with the biomomentum, the niche availability and the overall Mass of the populations in Question.
I agree that the analogy is not so good when comparing to BM but the Life Sciences teach us about similarities of the uniqueness of life and the systems they rely on. Both BM and my forest have artificial bounds and controls in effect. It is no wonder that Economics studies and Ecologic studies use the same types of calculus. And I am now again looking at the too big to fail argument. Providing tix to the larger theme camps would be akin to a Bail out/stimulus plan. And that just like Selective harvest entails degradation and a long slow slope back to the former state.

[theCryptofishist]

In my day to day collect forestry data and write EPA impact reports. I really did mean random, and not so random.

Ah, good old Region 10.

CO, if he knows the technical jargon... Well, sometimes it's very confusing to outsiders. (All technical jargon, not just forestry...)
This post just to mention R10...