Now that tickets for Burning Man have sold out for the first time in our 25-year history, we’ve been getting a lot of questions from folks in the community … here are the most common ones, answered:

Q. How many tickets have been sold?
A. We don’t release ticket sales data, which is annually a different number from the population that actually comes to BRC. We’ve cut off ticket sales early in order to manage our population count over the course of the event, as stipulated by our BLM permit.

Q. So how many people will be at the event?
A. A lot of variables affect who actually shows up each year on which day. We project that if the event is any larger than last year’s peak, it won’t be by much, and it’s our responsibility to try to keep it in line with that to comply this year’s permit. Read more »

Not the Burning Man Gate

Since Burning Man tickets have sold out for the first time in our 25-year history (ticket sales were stopped in order to manage our population count over the course of the event, as stipulated by our BLM permit), it’s more important than ever that our community knows and understands Burning Man’s longstanding Gate policy. Here’s what you need to know:

- There are no tickets for sale at the Gate. You will be turned away and not allowed entry if you show up without a ticket.

- If you are giving someone a ride to Burning Man, including ride shares and hitchhikers, please be sure they have a ticket or you may end up driving back to Reno to drop them off. Leaving them at the Gate or in Gerlach is not an option. Washoe County Sheriff will be watching out for people loitering in or around Gerlach.

- Harboring stowaways or assisting people sneaking in is as bad as sneaking in yourself. Any vehicle with stowaways or assisting people sneaking in will have the whole vehicle refused entry with no refund of tickets.

- Anyone caught trying to sneak in to the event or causing a disruption at the Gate or Box Office is subject to citation, fine, and arrest by the BLM.

Finally, we expect long lines coming into the event and going out during Exodus, so arriving or leaving at non-peak times — and exercising patience — is advised.

If you have further questions about the Gate and Exodus, see our Gate FAQ.

Burning Man is still sold out.

To the extent that you learn about a community during a crisis, I wonder what our reaction so far says about us.

Many are mocking the ticket seekers, suggesting this is a kind of Darwinian victory:  if you can’t get your ticket you don’t deserve to get there.  The Onion parodied Burning Man with a similar conceit about eight years ago.  It was funny then, but it still wasn’t original.

It’s less funny now, because it’s become apparent that some very good people are being left on the outside:  people who clearly have a lot to offer.  People who would be a benefit to the entire community – and I don’t just mean “big name DJs.”  In fact, I’m not talking about them at all.  However few tickets there are, Burning Man will never run out of DJs.

But we have run out of space.  In my previous post I suggested that 21st century Burning Man was a culture of abundance, and this is our first meaningful encounter with scarcity.  I made a few suggestions about what to do about it.

Many people writing in the comments section had much better ideas than I did.  But by far the most trenchant idea proposed was this:  the future of Burning Man belongs to the regionals.

They got what I’d missed:   the ticket limit is potentially a catalyst turning the regionals from followers to co-conspirators.  “Burning Man” itself would become a kind of pilgrimage site that the faithful try to get to once in a while, but “Burning Man” culture would be led by dozens of regional events around the globe.

How you feel about that might depend on your experiences with the regionals.  It does for me.  Would you mind sticking around while I explain this? Read more »

This year, The Burning Man Media Team is working as never before to support the artists of Burning Man. We’ve providing Media Relations support so that artists can get the word out to their local communities and to the greater world about the amazing work they’re bringing to the playa this year.

We recognize that most of the time, artists are so busy working on their art and fundraising that they don’t often have time to create a strategy for getting the word out about their pieces. This is where the Media Team has stepped up to help. Planning with the Media Team in advance can ensure that artists’ teams and our city’s amazing artwork get the spotlights they deserve, and that the presence of hundreds of journalists is a realized opportunity for Black Rock City’s art makers.

A group of top notch Media Relations professionals—all Burners—recently put a webcast on for artists bringing their gifts to the burn this year. Hosted by Los Angeles Burning Man Regional Contact Athena Demos, the panel’s focus was preparation for the Playa, and how to promote your art, your team and yourself during Burning Man. Here, we present you with our panel materials.

This audio file contains excerpts from our panelists. Read on for contact information for the Media Team, tips, a checklist, and videos of Burning Man Art Department and Media Team staff members and Art PR expert Paul Klein about on-playa Media Relations.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

WEB CAST EXPERTS:
Cynthia Washburn, Poetic Kinetics (www.poetickinetics.com), Lynn Hasty, Green Galactic (www.greengalactic.com), Lucinda Michele, New Media Producer, Clear Channel Communications (www.clearchannel.com), Linda McWilliams, Reporter, LA Weekly (www.laweekly.com), Martin Burns, Reporter, Fox News Los Angeles (www.myfoxla.com)

HOW TO USE MEDIA MECCA ON THE PLAYA

• Make contact with art-pr [Email address: art-pr #AT# burningman.com - replace #AT# with @ ] to make sure our team knows about you and your work.
• Provide a folder of material for journalists (including press release, still pictures, contact information)
• Check in with Media Mecca on Playa and ask about Happy Hours and chances to meet journalists.
• Ask us about Media Mecca “Interview Training” advice so you give the best interview possible, if the opportunity arises.

CHECKLIST FOR PLAYA P.R.

__ Make a plan
__ Ask someone in your team to specialize in Public Relations for the art and team.
__ Write list of what makes your project newsworthy or special
__ Write good press release on your project.
__ Bring thumb drive with images of your build, your plans, any background info.
__ Bring camera and take some shots of your build and team.
__ Be reachable in case reporter expresses an interest.
__ Be ready with prompt follow up for reporter after event.
__ Produce press kit (including release, still photos, artist bio, team list) and provide
multiple copies to Media Mecca and your own PR specialist.
__ Attend Happy Hours (4:30-6pm) M-F at Media Mecca (Center Camp)

The folks at Media Mecca are ready to help you think through and act on this checklist. Please feel free to contact us via art-pr [Email address: art-pr #AT# burningman.com - replace #AT# with @ ] if you would like our Media Relations support.

ANDIE GRACE, Manager of Communications and the Regional Network, Burning Man

CRIMSON ROSE, Managing Art Director, Burning Man

BETTIE JUNE, Associate Director of Art Management, Burning Man

TOM LAPORTE, Manager, Media Mecca, Burning Man

MEGHAN RUTIGLIANO, Media Team Manager, Burning Man

PAUL KLEIN, Klein Artist Works (www.kleinartistworks.com)

Special thanks to our panelists, to Andie Grace, Crimson Rose, and Bettie June, Paul Klein, Paynie, The Red Loft (www.theredloft.com), John Fenoglio, Athena Demos (www.laburningman.com), Patrick Shearn, Kristoffer Taylor (www.streamguys.com), Stu Smith, Jim Graham (www.jgpr.com), Tom LaPorte and Meghan Rutigliano

Worse things have happened to people than not getting tickets.

Has someone hit you up for tickets yet?

Man … this is brutal.

I’ve been getting slammed with requests all day even though my relationship with Burning Man is so small that, if you were to look at Burning Man’s organizational chart, you’d need an electron microscope to see my name.  Which would be misspelled.  For people who are actually on the inside, I’ve been told, it’s been a flood of biblical proportions – one that might go on for 40 days and 40 nights.

Meanwhile the scalpers have sharpened their scalpels:  Burning Man tickets have been selling for north of $800 on eBay.  It’s as if Jerry Garcia had come back to play one more concert, with Justin Bieber.  Admit it:  you’d feel terrible about shelling out $800 bucks to see that, but you would.

Some of the people left out of the dust are newbies who planned for everything but the gate.  They bought their airfare, they got the time off work … but just never got around to buying a ticket.  Some are old Burning Man hands who ignored the warning signs:  months of rumors, a special note in Jack Rabbit Speaks, and constant questioning from friends about whether they’re in or out this year.  Either way, their disappointment is understandable but the reaction seems outsized:  things sell out, right?

Maybe.  But on the other hand, why wouldn’t people assume that they can get in?  Burning Man is founded on the notion that there’s a place for everybody:  it’s the kind of event where people just show up.  It grew from a rag-tag party where all 100 people knew each other to a 50,000 person happening because people just kept showing up unannounced.  Hell, a small legion of assholes showed up every year at the gate without a ticket, food, or water, under the assumption that the most hostile environment in the world will provide.  And it did.

That’s just the way it works:  you show up and if you run out of something you know the people at the next camp will let you use theirs.  Or there will be a theme camp giving it away.  Or a naked hula hooper will want you to have it.  For over a decade now Burning Man has been a culture of abundance.  The Man never runs out.

What we’re seeing now may be 21st century Burning Man’s first serious encounter with a culture of scarcity. Read more »