Burning Man 2012! Planning Thread

[NevadaGeo]

Greetings fellow playaites. Just the very briefest recap of our craziness thread so far..There has been an established airstream camp on playa for many years, called Burnstream Court. They had great theme camp in 2007 in the 3:00atE or D area, which was my first year. In 2008 they didn't apply to be a "placed" theme camp and returned to their prefered neighbor hood around 7:00. But a lot of us hangers-on "squatted" a bunch of ground in the 3:00at E area: http://www.airforums.com/forums/f288...lly-39011.html and again in 2009:
http://www.airforums.com/forums/f288...9-a-47480.html
Mark and I got to know the placer police verrrrry well, we definitely were in their radar for hogging so much ground and it was "suggested" we put in an application.. so in 2010 we applied for an official "placed" theme camp, and got Placed!! at Bagdad at the 3:00 keyhole even!:
http://www.airforums.com/forums/f288...0-a-59951.html
would you believe we got placed in 2011 too! : http://www.airforums.com/forums/f288...1-a-72089.html

and now we need to fill out an even more exciting application for 2012. And Now you know the history of the world, tee shirts available from your favorite full time Art ist.
Questions? unannounced test in an hour

[webspinner]

Whether our family parks with the Rangers or with the Airstreamers this year, we'd like to be involved in helping make the Airstream camp as participatory as possible. An awesome theme camp application may lead to placement and even the chance to buy an otherwise unobtainable ticket for someone who needs one. But even more important, an involved theme camp is a way to connect with the people of Black Rock City.

With that in mind, I'll be making some suggestions as I think of ways that we could reach out to the community.

What do we have to offer?

Airstreams! We love them. They look cool. They ARE cool! Other people think so too. What features make them good for Burning Man? What can we share of our expertise or our experience that other burners could benefit from? Would we be willing to open our trailers for tours?

DIY - Most of us tinker with our Airstreams. Could we do any trailer or camping or tech How To sessions? Everything from the low tech "How to Seal the Dust Out" to "Reflectix Made Simple" to "What I Wish I'd Known Before Camping In A Trailer" (for instance, we still cook outside and store much of our food and beverages in coolers outside in order to keep the trailer closed up and cool as much as possible).

More later.

[huskyfan]

I'm a newbie, so forgive me if it seems like I'm barging in.

airstreams, geologists, metal, dust, rocks, retro, relaxed. (that's how I see our camp)

a theme forming around that?

aluminumologists? (that would fit in with the "how to keep dust out")

geostreamers? a rock theme? rock as in rocks and rock as in rock music?

test tube, fertility theme, mad scientists (lab coats and test tubes for drinks would be inexpensive, easy and make us distinctive as we wander through the playa)

will keep brainstorming ... perhaps I should say streamstorming?

[NevadaGeo]

I think huskyfan is psy chic. We've done a bunch of those things before, is Doctor Ed coming this year?

[coffman404]

Planning on it. Wan't to put a new floor in. Ditching the carpet. Working up some new karaoke. Renewing my license.

[50KIP]

I like Huskyfan's (as in Washington Huskys?) ideas. Even though it may have been done before we could play on the retro theme of Airstream and have a M*A*S*H-type fertility clinic of the 1950-1960s since we are in camp. White coats, stethoscopes, head reflectors and pass out "in the day" birth control: i.e.; calendars, aspirin (to put between the knees), condoms. We could have an gynecological exam table (bit edgy, but it is Burning Man). We could have Sperm Bank complete with teller, safe, and an ATM for deposits and withdrawals, and on and on and on....Hey, you wanted ideas!

[Zeppelinium]

I vote for the M*A*S*H unit.

[barts]

Originally Posted by Zeppelinium

I vote for the M*A*S*H unit.

Will we have naughty nurses?

- Bart

[Zeppelinium]

Originally Posted by barts

Will we have naughty nurses?...

Hopefully. I'll bring at least one.

Doesn't MASH stand for (M...) Airstreamers Serving Humanity (a little help, please, like maybe "Magnanimous")? I've always imagined naughty nurses to be a great service to a large segment of humanity.

Zep

[50KIP]

"M" could stand for "Mobile" as it is in M*A*S*H. If we don't have enough naughty nurses we could dress as Cpl Klinger.

[Zeppelinium]

OK, here goes...

Many
Magnificant
[Male]
Magnanimous
Mature
Magical
Merry
Mystical
Moribund
Misfit
Monster
Mad
[anti]Magnetic
Magestic
Maladroit
Malevolent
Moronic
Meddlesome
Margarita-swilling
Migratory
Misbegotten
Mischievious
Moody
Moonstruck
Motley
Mythical

Zep

[Buttercup]

Mutant......

[Zeppelinium]

Originally Posted by Buttercup

Mutant......

Damn you, Tim! Excellent.

How about...Medical? But I think you've won. Z

[ROBERT CROSS]

Will there be any "baby sitters" available?

Bob

[garys66666]

Hi All,

We were the late comers (arriving on Wednesday afternoon) in 2011. And y'all welcomed us with great warmth and hospitality. Our theme was a carnival sideshow with brightly colored carnival-themed banners and served lots of mouth-watering cotton candy.
Leah and Clarke, the young couple, are expecting their first child (our first grandchild) in June, we will not be joining you in 2012, but will in 2013. Y'all have a great burn! Gary and Ellen

[NevadaGeo]

Originally Posted by garys66666

Hi All,

We were the late comers (arriving on Wednesday afternoon) in 2011. And y'all welcomed us with great warmth and hospitality. Our theme was a carnival sideshow with brightly colored carnival-themed banners and served lots of mouth-watering cotton candy.
Leah and Clarke, the young couple, are expecting their first child (our first grandchild) in June, we will not be joining you in 2012, but will in 2013. Y'all have a great burn! Gary and Ellen

But you cant do that, you're the center core of the camp! I see another sub theme coming on, wedding chapel for Charley Jr and nursery for Princess Leah. Lets see, there's lots of Ship's captains out there to do weddings, or at least passage to the temple, and lots of maids in waiting for the Princess.
And, oh, I forgot, nurses and paramedic to your left, obgyns behind you, rangers on your right. Sounds like we had more staff for you than at a hospital.

[NevadaGeo]

Here's another placement announce, similar to the BM blog entry but with more:
Dear Theme Camps,

The Burning Man organization has been listening to your concerns and feedback and has come up with a plan to address our current ticket problem that rewards our community in the best way we can. Our blog, http://blog.burningman.com/, will get you up to speed on the latest thus far. There will be a new post going up as you receive this announcement. It says that we will not hold an open sale on the remaining tickets to our event as previously planned. We are turning those tickets over to our committed community instead. That means many of you. Our core volunteer staff have already been notified that they will be eligible to purchase a ticket, and next we are coming to you. Your contribution to the fabric of our event is imperative. The outcome of our ticket process this year was completely unexpected and placed camps have taken the hardest hits. We need to make sure Burning Man stays whole and that means most of the remaining $390 ticket are going to be made available to you.

There are not enough tickets left to distribute to all of the theme camps that would like to come. We have already gone through the painful process of selecting those camps that will be awarded the opportunity to purchase more tickets. In the past we have only had to not place a camp that did not follow our process or was not interactive. Now we have had to figure out a process and make some very hard choices. This has been done using the following criteria:


1. _History_ - Your camp has to be in our database in past years.(We have ways to catch name changes for groups.) We looked for past participation.

2. _Demonstrated Community Benefit_- Your camp has been interactive in a way that has been experienced as meaningful. Your camp provides support for our Burning Man infrastructure. Your camp provides services for our community. Basically, your camp helps make the community and the magic.

3. _LNT_- Your camp has demonstrated adherence to and good practices around Leave No Trace and are committed to our community perpetuating the message of pack it in-pack it out/ Don't Let It Hit the Ground and sustainability.

4. _10 Principles_ - Your camp fully embraces the 10 principles in their entirety at their core.


This must seem familiar. It is very close to our standard criteria used for placement since 1999, with the addition of consideration of the 10 principles.

Unfortunately we will not be able to reserve all the tickets needed for any one camp. There simply are not enough tickets. We have considered closely all of the variables associated with the production of your camps and weighed how difficult it is to set up, run, and take down leaving no trace. An allotment of ticket purchase opportunities has been made to accommodate the core members of your operations. Beyond this our hope is that tickets will loosen up with those that may have more than they need and the STEP program will provide the extra ticket that your theme camp would enjoy. You may also need to find other solutions such as taking in new people or changing the scope of your project. Changes like this are being made on every level and every area of Burning Man.

In order to discover if your camp has been selected for these tickets, you will need to register for placement using the standard process of filling out the questionnaire, although much sooner. Allocations have already been made there is no need to use the questionnaire to better your chances. Though we hate to say this, this may not be the year to grow your ideas and increase your size. It is the year to gather your resources, hone your message, and open your thoughts to how you can embrace a new era in our evolution.

If you are not planning on attending this year you may be allowing us to redistribute your ticket access to another camp. Proactive communication to us would be appreciated.

We are aware that some of you may be considering applying for low income tickets. That list will be cross-referenced with theme camps tickets so a requester can receive only one ticket. We would like to offer you ticket access through placement and take some of the pressure off of the low income process. Please fill out your questionnaire quickly – by March 8th – so we can let you know if you have been selected.

This year, more than ever, it is imperative that the person who fills out the questionnaire (our contact person) is in a leadership position for your camp.That is who we will be discussing ticket access with.

It is easy to want to find blame in the board, the lottery, the scalpers, but the truth is this issue is one of supply and demand.Our cumulative successes have created an event that has caught the attention of thousands that want to join us. This shift will be hard this first year, but if we plan well, we can turn this into our greatest success ever.

[NevadaGeo]

Hate to be the grumpy, but I need help from the less verbosity challenged wordologists out there. Here's some new questions on this year's application form, if you can wordify these questions dustily, take one on and PM me with the words. Most of them have 300 characters space, except the "what are you going to do for us Interactivity" question:

First I need our LNT chief MOOPER name and their email address, the form won't save anything more till I fill out that line. Thank you Charly for last year!

Acculturation *This question is required. Save and continue if you need to return at another time.
As the Burning Man event and culture grows, we are all challenged by demonstrating our values to the newest members of our community. How will your camp meet this challenge?

Interactivity Description *This question is required. Save and continue if you need to return at another time.
Please describe your Camp's concepts and goals, philosophy and plans for personal interaction with the community for this year’s event. (This is the most important information we are collecting from you).

Number of Campmates *This question is required. Save and continue if you need to return at another time.
How many people will be camping with you? We have limited areas available for very large camps/villages, therefore we are encouraging more, smaller camps

Number and Type of Vehicles *This question is required. Save and continue if you need to return at another time.
Burning Man would like to support environmentally conscious transportation options. Please consider this as you plan your transportation to the playa. Please specify the number of cars and large vehicles (RVs, buses) that will be in your Camp so we can determine space needs.

Physical Description *This question is required. Save and continue if you need to return at another time.
We need a description of the layout of your Camp. Please describe the physical aspects with as much detail as possible. Include a description of features like structures, buildings, vehicles, tents, platforms, and the locations of your power sources. Maximum of 5000 characters
This one Zep has done successfully for us so far, lets hope he'll do it again:
Camp Layout Plan Must be uploaded to complete questionnaire *This question is required. Save and continue if you need to return at another time.
This question is required. Save and continue if you need to return at another time.
Camp layout plan must be uploaded to complete questionnaire. Upload only a single page .jpg camp plan or a single page .pdf camp plan here. File size no greater than 1 MB. Note: filenames must have extensions .jpg or .pdf and contain no blank spaces for successful uploading.
If you are using a mobile device, this file upload functionality may not work as expected. Please save your progress on the next page and continue this section of the form on a computer. If you do not upload your final layout plan, your application may not be processed. This is a required question, but may not function as such on a mobile device.
Camp Placement Preferences

Using the descriptions below please select your three preferences for location within the BRC registered Placement Zones. Coordinate your preference lists with other Camps you wish to be near. We cannot guarantee location, but we’ll do our best. All registered theme camps must be on site before our gate opens to the public. Placement of registered camps will end and we cannot hold your space after this time
(I've been inflicting you all with 3:00 Keyhole usually for this question)
Requested Approximate square footage need by population, 1st choice *This question is required. Save and continue if you need to return at another time.
-- Please Select --3 to 5 up to 2000 sq ft6 to 10 up to 4000 sq ft11 to 15 up to 6000 sq ft16 to 20 up to 8000 sq ft21 to 30 up to 12000 sq ft31 to 40 up to 16000 sq ft41 to 50 up to 20000 sq ft51 to 60 up to 24000 sq ft61 to 70 up to 28000 sq ft71 to 80 up to 32000 sq ft81 to 90 up to 36000 sq ft91 to 100 up to 40000 sq ft101 to 125 up to 50000 sq ft126 to 150 up to 60000 sq ft151 to 200 up to 80000 sq ft201 to 300 up to 120000 sq ft301 to 400 up to 160000 sq ft401 and up up to 250000 sq ft

one of my favorite questions:
You would prefer not to camp near ...
Please list the names of any groups you do not wish to be placed near, one per line.

Reply early and often, there may be tickets in it if we get it in by March 8.
Thank you all for helping me imaginate us onto the playa.

[Buttercup]

Yea, I know - but I WAS a professional........ I was pretty good at this Burning Man stuff back in the day. Not anymore.

Originally Posted by Zeppelinium

Damn you, Tim! Excellent.

How about...Medical? But I think you've won. Z

[NevadaGeo]

Originally Posted by Buttercup

Yea, I know - but I WAS a professional........ I was pretty good at this Burning Man stuff back in the day. Not anymore.

You've been conscripted, report for duty in the MASH tent.