It's impossible to express my excitement for this year's burn. It'll be my third time on the playa, and I'm feeling a unique special energy about this one.
Will I see any Hubskinites in the dust?
I don't go to the Gerlach Regional anymore. I may again in the future (5 years out?), but don't have much interest in it right now. I kinda did all the Burningman there is to do... I went to the original burns on the beach in SF and in the desert, then came back to the event after a decade away and camped alone on my motorcycle, camped with a theme camp, ran my own theme camp, worked in a service camp, and then was a Burningman employee with commissary, showers, paycheck, free ticket, and early arrival a full week before the event. So, after something like 15+ years, I feel like I have participated with the event in all the ways I can, and it was getting "normal" for me. There weren't a lot of new experiences, so I felt like I wasn't being fully present in the event, and being a Participant. I had kinda become a Spectator. My wife and I now go to Otherworld (the Victoria, BC regional), and then participate with local arts events that we and other Burners have created or curated. Now, with Larry's passing, I think the event will grow/change/morph. I don't want to see the transition happen. I want to go back in 5 years, when the event has been reimagined in the spirit of the last 30 years, and see what it has become. Be a Newbie again. I'm excited for that opportunity! But for now, I will stick with the local regionals. And revel in the joy of discovery that new burners experience! Their excitement gives me hope for the world.
Damn, those Burner created projects look so awesome! Since our magical night winning the room at Ashram last year, and finding out about projects like secret cinema in London I've been thinking about those awesome immersive theatre projects people have created. Maybe I'll do something like this someday too...
Remember, this is about participation... a do-ocracy... All you need to do is make the space, and invite the do-ers to do their thing. It's kinda amazing what happens when you invite 6 people to come over, have some wine and snacks, and then you present your Big Idea to them. That's how Maker Faire started. That's how Figment started. That's how every theme camp you've ever heard of, started. One person got some friends together, and infected them with an idea. "Maybe I'll do this someday..." is the wrong headspace. "I'm gonna invite X, Y, and Z over, and tell them about my half-baked idea, and show them some web sites and photo galleries, and we're gonna..." It may not materialize for 10 years. But it won't ever happen if you don't share the ideas with others. So why not do it now? Maybe I'll do something like this someday too...
Maybe i'll do this someday = I'm thinking about creating something of the sort. I need at least a half-baked idea to start asking for cooking help. And then plan the bake sale. I'm all about making shit happen and I've been tackling smaller projects, helping out friends with their big idea. Helped my friend Jerome feed 200 people at our regional this summer: And the speakeasy experience we created with my friend has been a huge success too, it's given me confidence in my entertainment abilities :) We're #1 in our city right now! I hear AirBNB is launching this new thing called "concerts" in our city in October. I'm not huge on music myself, but if my boyfriend wants to tackle the musical side of it I'll totally transform our basement into the coolest space ever. But setting up something like Please don't tell in NYC, or that spooky cemetery event I mistakenly snuck into last year: 
I wonder how similar the AirBnB concerts are to what HomeDitty is doing. I'm not a fan, because a host doesn't receive any payment from hosting. But it's certainly interesting.
I think they are looking for 2 things: 1. unique spaces (concerts on a boat, private rooftop, mongolian yurt have a great appeal) 2. cheap-ish to produce music so it's profitable even with a small audience. Minimal band members, accoustic, minimal props. So a cool dude with an artsy loft, an acoustic guitar and a unique musical style can probably do pretty well from what I can gather. A quick calculus of 10 people at 20$ (or 20 at 10$, whatever), 20% Airbnb fee: as an artist you just made 160$ for an hour of music. You can actually earn a LOT more, the question is wether the demand is there. The struggle is to actually set up that cool space, and get popular enough to get reliable bookings. Basically, I feel it's worth trying out at the launch since we do have a lot of musician friends. Worst case, we just pimp out our basement as a cool party venue and come out even ?
haha I hear that, no mongolian yurt in my pocession in the near future My basement is already fairly pimped out, friends have painted murals on the walls. We've hosted loads of concerts there already. Are the concerts only beta in one city?
I only know about Montreal - I know they launch a couple cities at a time so you should look into where it's at with your city. It might have launched already! Go for it. It has a a high earning potential IMO, and it's really minimal effort to get started. It's just a matter of whether it's going to pick up or not.
I'll be there, camping at Hoverlandia (Burner express's free camping area @ 6:15 and I). We'll have a shade structure with a Canadian flag, come say hi! Picked up a couple shifts at Arctica because I really enjoyed my time there last year. But I also signed up for Gate and Perimeter, maybe I'll catch some illegals trying to sneak the border or hoping the fence. It's my 2nd year so hoping to apply for rangering next year. Or maybe I'll just go to Africaburn. My good friend went this year and said it was awesome.
I'd like to go to midburn one year. How did you already sign up for Artica shifts? Do you have any interest in camping with us at 315 and Center Camp? If so I could see about getting you in. We have unadvertised bathrooms, electricity, and quiet hours. Our camp gives preference to musicians, if you have anything you could contribute. Otherwise I could put in a good word. My tent is so large I've been seeking a companion.
You can also just email [email protected]. She's a friend of mine, and is the Volunteer Coordinator. Tell her Bucky sent you.
You can sign up before the burn. You just need to pick “arctica “ in the volunteer questionnaire and you get an email with the scheduling website. There are a lot of volunteer stuff available already. I’m camping with my boyfriend and 3 good friends - and hoverlandia is not a bad place to be :) Besides, none of us are musicians. I think I used those secret bathrooms a couple times last year. The cleanest ones I’ve seen at the burn! I probably wasn’t supposed to, but the combo of good music and craft beer... made it an emergency. It was definitely one of my favourite spots to hang out too, so possibly we'll run into each other this year too. Or we could try to schedule a Hubski meetup. At 3, that is a 50% increase from last year!
I'll look into the volunteer opportunities, thanks for the heads up :) Ah, gotcha, wasn't sure if it'd just be you. The bathrooms are for everyone, there are just some that aren't advertised with the blue lights. That does result in them being the cleanest. Folks put locks on them, which I don't agree with. I'll give you the combination when I know it ;) Yeah I think I'll be hanging at the POC camp a bit this year with JackTheBandit. If they get their structure built I forsee a fiesta happening. I think thenewgreen and mk would be happy to know there will be a Hubski Burning Man meetup
Yes definitely! I meet tons of people from Israel at the burns. Where is Borderland?
Oh wow I wasn't aware of regional burns outside of MidBurn and Afrikaburn. But now that I think of it, obviously there are burns around the world. Found it! I wonder what the Brazil burn is like...
we'll be on Rod's Road @8:00 this year. This too is my 3rd playa trip and POC camp's biggest year at 35 ppl. I'll be on playa the 23rd. We're actually having events in camp and an art installation in camp thus year. You can find us on the unofficial map and the playa events calendar atm. Im glad they changed the city layout so getting on Rod's Road is actually intuitive now and people can find us! Also, obligatory art project crowd funding link(im not in it): https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/mighty-burning-man-2018-camping-design#/
We wanted be 6:00 sector, but not on Rod's Road. Placement decided we stayed on Rods Road, lol
man I was just talking about the POC camp yester could I dual camp? I'm staying at The Dump (3:15 and Center Camp, already paid my dues) but I really feel a pull to spend a lot of time at the POC camp (I'm Latino, ¡brown n proud!)
you can come kick it anytime, lol! it turns out there are a lot of people who feel that way. We've been turning people down the past few weeks and a couple other camps run by persons of color have reached out to hang.
very very cool! the idea of hanging at the POC camp is inducing a large smile also, just snagged the You Are Mighty! perk :)
elizabeth and JackTheBandit, I just learned I've got a few gigs: Wednesday, evening, Lady Sass Ship art car Thursday, 11pm, Center Camp Friday, 8pm, Marching Band March Off I'd love to see you at any of these :)
One day I would like to go out to one. Probably not this year. How much would it cost?
My first two years it cost me about 1100. That includes the ticket, gear, and cost of gas to get there and back from Kansas City. I have a tab going for this year, I'll post again after it's all said and done.
There is. I learned that's been around for about 5 years. However, I put my phone on airplane mode the whole week. I do preload music charts on my phone for the jams at the jazz cafe, but aside from that I don't use my phone. I bring a watch for time and disposable cameras for photos.
On the BM website, before you're able to do anything else, a few questions/prompts pop up. One is to remind people to be present in the moment and not connect with the default world via phone is possible.
it was spotty upto 2015. the pershing police and BLM demanded better service.