PLACEMENT-ANNOUNCEMENT #4, '08

 

~ COMMUNICATION

~ JOIN THE FEW, THE PROUD, THE KHAKI

~ NO! LIVE! PLANTS! . . . STILL!!!

~ DELIVERIES TO BLACK ROCK CITY

~ SENDING MAIL TO BLACK ROCK CITY, NV vs. GERLACH, NV

~ PLAYA 911 - MULTI USERS RADIO SERVICE (MURS)

~ 2008 BRC PLAN

 

 

Hello from the Placement Team!

Welcome to Placement-Announcement #4.

We're deep into the mapping process, and Black Rock City is starting

to take shape. We're seeing lots of fun-looking ambitious interactive

camps -- it's going to be a great year!

To answer this week's most Frequently Asked Question -- final

placement of all camps announcement target date is August 1st. So hang tight!

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COMMUNICATION

It's a busy time for the placement team -- it's doubly-important that

we are able to reach you, should the need arise. There have been a few

instances in the past where we haven't been able to reach a camp, due

to inaccurate or outdated contact information.

Do we have the most current information for the main contact-person

of your camp? If their phone number or email address is not current, they can update it by logging into

Also, these Placement-Announcements contain important information for

your camp's successful placement, so please read them carefully, and

pass them along to members of your camp.

PLEASE NOTE: If your theme camp has decide it can not make it out to the playa this year please let us know so we can map the space for another camp. (We will miss you!)

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RIDE THE EDGE OF CHAOS

Citizens of Black Rock City: Your city needs you! We're recruiting Black Rock Rangers to join us on the playa in 2008.

Easily identified by the logos on their khaki shirts and the laminates around their necks, Rangers are a close-knit group of volunteers who serve as Black Rock City's "first responders". They act as non- confrontational community mediators, providing safety perimeters for major burns, and promoting awareness of potential hazards.

Perhaps you've seen them traversing Black Rock City on foot or bicycle. They're participants just like you, and work throughout the city and its perimeters - 24 hours a day - to ensure the collective well-being and survival of our playa community.

Curious about who the Black Rock Rangers are and how we practice our art of Rangering on the playa? Interested in participating at Burning Man in a unique and interesting way? Want to *REALLY* get to know Black Rock City? Want to find out more about becoming a Ranger? Then you are cordially invited to attend a Black Rock Ranger Training and check out one of the most double-super-throw-down cool, fun, and interesting groups on the playa.

Remaining sessions in 2008 will be offered in New York (6/22), Oregon (at SOAK 6/28), the Black Rock Desert (7/5), San Francisco (7/13), Los Angeles (7/19), Chicago (7/20), Boston (7/27), Seattle (8/2), Toronto

(8/10) and Black Rock City (8/24).

Trainings generally start at 10am and finish up by 5pm. Please bring a chair, beverages, and snacks/lunch. We'll take a break for eating and socializing midday. Our training is a mixture of lecture, partipatory discussions, and even some role-playing exercises, so please come prepared to be interactive!

Have we perked up your ears and put a sparkle of interest in your eye? Here's what to do:

1) Please indicate your interest by filling out a volunteer questionnaire at

2) Attend a training session. The schedule is at

3) Subscribe to our email list for new volunteers at

https://lists.burningman.com/mailman/listinfo/ranger-new-volunteers-announcehttp://www.dakotaalert.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=21&products_id=56

(notices about each training, and instructions on how to sign up will be sent to this list.)

4) Sign up for, show up for, and successfully complete a Mentor Shift on the playa during the 2008 event.

See you at training, and see you out there in the dust!

Questions? Send 'em to rangers@burningman.com

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LIVE PLANTS

Remember: Burning Man is probably the largest "Leave No Trace" event

in the world. As a recently trained Earth Guardian Leave No Trace trainer, I learned a little about the damage non-native plants can do in the Black Rock Desert.

Live plants die on the playa. Ask anyone that has brought them. They

make a mess. In our history, participants who have brought in plants,

sod, trees, or cut palm fronds have created a MOOP (Matter Out of

Place) disaster. Sites that have used them in any quantity has cost

themselves (or WORSE, the Playa Restoration crew) days and days of

work post-event.

For this reason we have long banned live plants on the playa. No change to our policy here -- we just want to restate things clearly.

The Gate, Placement Team, Earth Guardians, and DPW Playa Restoration

Crew are highly sensitized to the issue, and keep a close eye on

everything that enters our city. If you bring plants, they will stop

you at the gate, or come and find you. They have been known to incinerate projects before they were even begun.

Please support us in this effort. Help us keep the clean-up crew

sane! Artificial plants work just as well, and look better with a

quick watering and a little buffing. Better yet, construct your own

plants and trees from recycled materials.

Leave your live plants behind. Leave behind ANYTHING that will break

up and/or blow away in the wind -- living or dead. (trees, twigs,

loose paper, palm fronds, etc.).

Got some live sprouts, herbs or lettuce to eat on the playa? Go ahead and bring them, just not stuff that will dry up and blow away.

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DELIVERIES TO BLACK ROCK CITY

If your camp must receive a delivery from the outside world, you must

clear it with the Gate-Crew and Placement-Team and manage the process

yourself.

You will need to meet the delivery at the gate and escort them to

your camp and back out of our city again. The placement-team will

lend guidance as to the safest route to and from your camp.

A credit card will be required of the driver before they are allowed

to enter the city. One ticket per passenger will be charged to it. If

the delivery vehicle leaves the city within four hours, the charges will be reversed. Cash will be accepted instead of a credit card. If someone from your camp is not at the gate when your delivery arrives, the delivery will be turned away.

We recommend you:

1. Prepare your delivery driver to ask for you (your real name, your

camp's name and approx. location) at the gate when he arrives. Give

him as much information as possible about what to expect upon arrival.

2. When your camp is placed, make sure you remind your placer that you are expecting a delivery. They will be contacted by the gate when the delivery arrives -- someone from your camp MUST be available at that time, or the delivery will be turned away.

3. Travel to the gate when your delivery is due and introduce yourself to the Gate staff. Wait for your driver.

4. Escort your delivery in and out.

The Gate staff will LOVE you for this and so will your driver!

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MAIL TO BLACK ROCK CITY

Over the years an autonomous and independent theme camp, the "Black Rock City Post Office", has developed a working relationship with the United States Post Office in the neighboring town of Gerlach, Nevada.

The BRCPO is trusted to deliver mail ADDRESSED TO BLACK ROCK CITY to the playa and by special permit, cancel-stamp mail sent from our city.

We applaud the enthusiasm, dedication and good record of the BRCPO theme camp. We recommend you use them for postcards, letters, and "mail art".

You can imagine the difficultly of trying to locate an addressee in Black Rock City. If you require your more important, time-critical mail to remain in the safe keeping hands of the United States Postal Service for pick up, you must address it in such a way for it to be held at the post office in Gerlach:

MAIL TO BE HELD AT THE GERLACH POST OFFICE FOR PICK-UP SHOULD BE ADDRESSED TO:

[Addressee]

General Delivery

Gerlach, NV 89412

 

MAIL TO BE DELIVERED TO BLACK ROCK CITY SHOULD BE ADDRESSED TO:

[Addressee]

[Camp name]

[Approx. location]*

Black Rock City, NV 89412

* from our announced placement August 1st.

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"911" SERVICE IN BLACK ROCK CITY

In recent years Burning Man as an event and as a community has grown, and the Emergency Services Department (ESD) has developed in tandem with Black Rock City in providing 911 services such as EMS, fire, mental health, and emergency communications. In 2007 ESD started offering a remote way for theme camps, art projects, and participants to get help and in 2008 we plan on building on what we learned from the first trial year of service.

While all the conventional ways to get help are still available (for example know your local Ranger or where the nearest Emergency Services Station is), we wanted to enhance safety by providing an option for those who might have a specific concern or for those who just want be helpful to others in their neighborhood. This is accomplished by ESD and Rangers monitoring the license-free MURS (Multi User Radio

Service) radio band.

MURS is a service similar to FRS (the frequencies that Motorola Talkabouts and similar radios use). As on-playa radio users can tell you, FRS is extremely overcrowded and in use by thousands of participants during the event. FRS radios are also not powerful enough to effectively communicate throughout Black Rock City. MURS, in contrast, is currently not in common usage and operates at a higher power so it can communicate across the entire playa.

We hope that with the intention of reserving this "911" channel before MURS use becomes widespread at Burning Man will set the expectation that this channel will be for emergency use only. You will need to purchase your own MURS radio to contact ESD 911, but the other four MURS channels can also be just like the FRS channels for other purposes. Large camps or villages might also choose to make one part of their group planning efforts and store it in a public place for emergency use.

 

Why do I want one of these when my FRS radio works just fine?

* If you're part of a large theme camp it could be a good investment to have a MURS radio around to call 911 for your group, especially if you have members who have known health issues or the risk of injury is of special concern.

* Large art projects working out on the open playa will be able to get help faster.

* Camps that are on the outer-rings of the city and are far from a Ranger outpost or Emergency Services station don't have to send runners for help when an emergency arises.

* The other 4 channels on MURS can be a great alternative to crowded FRS channels, especially if your camp has an art-car or event-wide project they want to coordinate.

* Emergency Services Dispatch cannot be reached on an FRS radio.

 

Calling 911

FOR ALL MURS USERS: we ask that all Burning Man participants respect that channel 5 will be used as a 911 channel only. While the other channels are fine for use as an alternative to FRS, we want to stress that channel 5 on MURS please be kept open for emergencies and not used for any other purpose.

Set your MURS radio to channel 5, code 11 (154.600 / CTCSS 97.4) to reach Black Rock City Emergency Services Dispatch. Using any other "privacy codes" on channel 5 will interfere with 911. Instead limit your personal use to channels 1-4.

If you have further questions or need help in finding a source for radios, please email 911@burningman.com for more information.

An example of a compatible radio:

Dakota Alert MURS portable (operational controls just like common FRS radios, with selectable channel and code on the display) $89

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2008 CITY PLAN

Includes link to side by side scale comparison of 2007 and 2008

 

http://www.burningman.com/preparation/maps/08_maps/

(pppst!: the unlabeled dashed line on the inner Esplanade indicates the smaller size of the 2007 Esplanade Road).

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More soon - so stay tuned!

The 2008 Placement Team:

Abdullah, Baulknaub, Douglas, Fake-Jake, HepKitten, Manflesh, Retro, Sacred Flame, Scar, Shadow, and Sweetthang.