BMI (Burning Man Infrastructure)

[learnteach]

We had a full camp. Because we were in the AEZ, things were somewhat squished in, but there was enough room overall.

Equipment: CLIVE, Revar's Truck, Tug's Element, my Van, the pavilion, the shower/evap pond, A's car, A's Tent, seats, stove, lanterns, cooktable, coolers.

No prior co-ordination was done. The Pavilion was put in in between all the vehicles, and never really had any problem. Given this configuration, it would have been better to:
1. Not use the pavilion; use a car shade. We were able to secure and be shielded by vehicles on all sides.
2. Make the shower easier to use...possibly put a curtain on it?
3. Plan.

The other point of this was no social co-ordination was done. There was friction between expectations and space and results; when the host says "Set it the way you want it" to one person and "use the space" to another, and the two people don't agree, it's somewhat daunting socially. Especially when there's no host defined.

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After all that, I think what would have helped more would have been a clearer demarcation of public/private space. A and L never agreed to take care of infrastructure; that's not what they were there for. T is an infrastructure junkie, but doesn't need to have it; it's another playground for him. R was pretty much self contained. So why should J sweat cleanlyness etc? Because under the canvas, and after the initial conversations, I felt responsible for the area, but didn't want to harrass A, who was already having a bad time. Having some more personal space might have helped her, but it's hard to say.

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I'm not at all usually a hang around camp kinda guy; in the SCA, I have given away two camps because I'd rather not spend all the time hauling them around/maintaining them/set up and take down. So I should have refined the camp a little better. I think my motivation was that I was doing so little work, comparatively, on CLIVE, and I wanted to help out.

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So, next time, more clear boundraries, less attention to drama.

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On the purely physical side of infrastructure, everything worked fine. The pavilion is an excellent shade. CLIVE was wonderful. T, G and I were all comfy in our sleeping areas. Food was available, easy to cook...no, wait, taking care of dishes was a bitch, and my biggest bitch was having mine used and not cleaned.
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Comments

[noressa.livejournal.com]

*hugs* Glad to see that you were able to stay after all! We made it to a burning man event on Saturday, but got there just in time to hear the ranger say that he was going to lock the gates and whoever didn't want to be towed and fined should leave. ^^; Next year looks likely to be another visit to the playa. Thankfully, next year, it looks as though I'll be with at least 4-5 people I know for part of the camp. Not sure about structure, shade or otherwise, but they've been several times before... In all, I think it will be a much better experience for me. ^_^