Comments on: Turnkey Camping Guidelines

By: Twister Lee

Twister Lee — Wed, 25 Jul 2012 02:20:32 +0000

I must say I am very disappointed not to see a more restrictive stand where “turnkey camping” is concerned. Decommodification has always been a key aspect of the event for me, so seeing larger and larger amounts of “staff” present really rubs me the wrong way. Services are the new commodification and there must be some way to limit them sensibly. Staff also take up tickets, as do wealthy spectators. At this point I would like to see the bar to attending raised, not lowered. Working to create your space on the playa creates a sense of personal ownership regarding what happens there. Going on a whim and hiring a caterer doesn’t.

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By: Mermaid

Mermaid — Mon, 23 Jul 2012 18:30:06 +0000

If you are part of a camp that supports artists by feeding and housing them, awsome! If you can afford to rent an RV or a tour bus, good for you. But if your activities are exclusive, in that they only include people based on a monitary transaction made before the event, then your camp does not belong any where near the man, because it does not follow the principal of radical inclusion.

(I am referring to camps where you can buy your meals in advance, ect. Any camp that is NEVER open to the public is a good example of my definition of turnkey. I have come to the burn internationally for over 10 years now. I sleep in a tent and cook for myslef, and open my camp to guests and neibours once a day.)

Camps that provide EXCLUSIVE services for profit, should be placed on their own street- Z avenue. These are not theme camps, and take up public space that shold go to camps providing inclusive services that inspire participation. I hope that in the future, camps that exist for participation, and individuals setting up their own camps, should get better placement then exclusive camps created for profit … at least at Burning Man.

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By: Paul Willians

Paul Willians — Mon, 23 Jul 2012 07:32:15 +0000

FYI, As far as I know, no additional tickets were granted by BMORG to any turnkey camps and no turnkey camps were offering tickets as part of their package. If there is shame in spending money to attend BM, then there is loads of shame to go around. Perhaps we should all be ashamed to be spending so much time, energy and money on a hedonistic week in the desert when the world in general is in such need of our help. I suspect that the total value is well over a billion dollars when it’s all added up. It’s only the belief that BM serves to inspire greater efforts in the world that reduces those feelings of guilt. This was exactly the case when I attended and was inspired by the TEDxBlackRockCity talks at BM last year. It was there that I encountered some of the members of the big rockstar turnkey camp that hosted those talks and made them possible. Interesting that the most hedonistic of hedonistic camps would be the ones hosting one of the events with the most redeeming value to the world outside.

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By: Paul Willians

Paul Willians — Mon, 23 Jul 2012 07:03:14 +0000

The residents of turnkey camps hardly have a monopoly on failure to fully live up to every BM principle. Plenty of tent dwellers eat all the cookies and wash their hair with the last of the communal drinking water. I’m also not sure how buying an RV (or staying with someone who did) is more noble than renting a space for a few days (or staying with someone who did). Virtually every camp is centered around an RV or structure that someone else bought or built and the fact that these spaces are often shared with friends is something that also happens in turn-key camps. BM is awash with sparkle ponies for whom everything about BM has been largely “turnkey’, and I don’t hear anyone here complaining that BM should only be for dusty old gals who don’t wash or shave. ;-) The fact that some are staying in turnkey camps doesn’t mean that they aren’t actively contributing and participating with camps, art projects and gifting. In many cases, like mine, going turnkey has enabled us to increase our participation. Last year I rented an RV and drove it to BM. This year the RV company no longer rents RVs because of the damage from dust, but offered to rent me a trailer that they will drop off at BM instead. This saves gas since they bring them out stacked on a big truck a day in advance. It also helps by getting a few more big vehicles of the road for both entrance and exodus. I understand the difference between sleeping in an RV and sleeping in a tent. I don’t own an RV, so I’m generally a tent dweller. I’ve hitchhiked across the country and camped all over. So forgive me if I find it difficult to feel bad about this turnkey issue. I think the issue of what is turnkey and what isn’t is largely a matter of semantics. I think it’s also important to note that very few people come to BM without an understanding and appreciation for the principals. And those few who do tend to be transformed by the event and leave with greater appreciation for those principals. Unless your bed mate runs off and leaves you for an RV owner with AC, a shower and a 35 gallon tank of hot water, there are much better things to be concerned about in the world than this issue. Peace.

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By: J

Sun, 22 Jul 2012 12:33:09 +0000

I’ve got a question for the BMORG around:

“You are responsible for making sure that no money is exchanged for private services in Black Rock City. Only pre-arranged plans and off-site pre-purchasing of goods and services are allowed at Burning Man.”

We’re NOT a turn-key camp, and we try to follow these rules to the letter, however…. United Site Services, Burning Man’s sole and “official” grey water contractor, ONLY accepts cash on site. Are they considered a special exception, like Ice and Coffee?

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By: Famous

Famous — Wed, 18 Jul 2012 19:53:44 +0000

thanks for addressing this. As a long time Burner / Ranger some of my biggest difficulties with fellow participants has been with the “Roadie” element. Allowed in to build (add Giant too big to fail super camp here) and then left to rattle around with out a clear understanding of where and why they are on playa. often trashing their employers and other participants, stealing, fighting and other wise not getting it. Please train your “staff” it is better for them and the event. thanks – R. Famous.

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By: Foxy

Foxy — Wed, 18 Jul 2012 04:22:53 +0000

Burning Man HQ, thanks for informing the community about this, trying to manage the situation, and inviting our feedback.

I’ll be attending my fifth Burn this year, and I have to say that I find the turnkey situation very disturbing. As I see it, allowing turnkey camps supports the principal of radical inclusion but is in direct opposition to the principals of decommodification, radical self-reliance, communal effort, and, more often than not, civic responsibility and participation.

I don’t have to tell you how precious Burning Man is to our community, and I also fully appreciate and enjoy the fact that the event will continue to change from year to year. That being said, it seems to me that given the now-overwhelming demand for tickets, BM has a unique opportunity to address this situation that pits one of the ten principals against five of the others.

I sincerely hope that you will consider prohibiting turnkey camps to the best of your ability in future years; I just don’t see how allotting tickets to groups that violate half of the 10 principals is good for anyone.

I think this could be accomplished quite well via the ticketing process by following some of the suggestions that you are no doubt already considering for future years: attaching a name to each ticket and making it non-transferable other than to be returned to BM to be sold on to another participant, and sorting out the true theme camps from the turnkeys when allocating blocks of directed tickets.

I’d love to hear from BM’s thoughts about this and what they are thinking for the future.

That’s all. See you on the playa. :)

Radical Inclusion —

Gifting—

Decommodification— .

Radical Self-reliance — .

Radical Self-expression —

Communal Effort —

Civic Responsibility —

Leaving No Trace

Participation—

Immediacy

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By: Pete Lee

Pete Lee — Tue, 17 Jul 2012 22:06:05 +0000

There was an article in last year’s BRC Weekly (http://brcweekly.com/BRCWeekly2011_int.pdf) that touches on the “turnkey camping” issue; I don’t agree with the assertions or the conclusions made by “Mr. Redundant” but do believe he makes some points worth considering.

That said, I think the most useful principle to consider here comes from SCOTUS Judge Stewart, who basically noted that he couldn’t define what porn was–but knew it when he saw it (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_know_it_when_I_see_it).

While there are practical aspects of attending Burning Man that come up against certain principles (for example, the cost of attending is not trivial–and butts up against the notion of “radical inclusion”), it’s my belief that turnkey camping seems to fail a “gut feeling taste test” when it comes to Burning Man.

For one thing, it seems to be at odds with “radical self-reliance”. Paying money to someone (not even a vague barter) to make meals or set up camp structures wouldn’t pass the “Participation” taste test. Theme camps, on the other hand, generally have systems where everyday participation happens with simple things: some folks joyfully make meals; others focus on more conventional “gifts” of art, music, performance. And where would we be without the hard work (frequently unseen and underappreciated, IMHO) of organizations like DPW and Playa Restoration?

Turnkey camps seem like the wrong way to start off a Burning Man experience. Pre-Playa preparation for my first Burn was, for me, a spiritual and community-building experience. It wasn’t just about buying camping gear: it was reaching out to veterans and finding out what would work on the Playa–and hearing all sorts of wonderful and enriching stories (some even related to the gear in question) about life in BRC. Heck, I was even gifted various things along the way: the ethos and experience of Burning Man doesn’t have to begin or end on the Playa. When we turn these things over to others, we chip away at our own experience.

Additionally, a focus of being involved with elemental living activities is very grounding (ostensibly, another frequently valued experience of being at Burning Man). I, for one, find cooking for myself and others a joy (due to work schedule and travel, I cook around 10 meals a year for myself). There’s something to be said for de-commodifying something I typically do in the Default World (i.e., eating a restaurants)–and in the process, reconnect with myself and others.

I’m hopeful that many more Burners will think thoughtfully about what’s been said in this blog entry–and post their views and opinions in an articulate and honest manner. I don’t necessarily know how this policy can be best crafted; yet, I believe most reasonable and prudent Burners can assess circumstances around a Turnkey Camp and say “yeah, that’s pretty much nuking the Ten Principles out of orbit.”

N.B. I think this blog post makes a very salient point mentioning that it’s hard to enforce aspects of “vending” related to turnkey camping. None of us want BRC to become a police state (a la Gate saying “Hippie, background checks show that you have a foodservice permit–and have probable cause to believe that you’re a famed lentil chef cooking at that turnkey camp”). Perhaps the answer is community involvement on Playa–and some honest and respectful dialogue amongst those who utilize these services and those who don’t.

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By: G

Mon, 16 Jul 2012 11:42:52 +0000

Since the demand for tickets is exceeding supply inherently requires “culling the herd” so to speak, then this is a opportunity to manage, encourage, discourage the makeup of the participants, it that is the road that is to be taken. The lottery may well be BMORG’s way of washing its hands of being judgmental and discriminating.

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By: Mr Mullen

Mr Mullen — Mon, 16 Jul 2012 05:24:11 +0000

If you can not get your shit together to camp/RV and participle out in the desert for 5 – 8 days, Burning Man is not for you. It does not matter what you have read in Rolling Stone/Sunset/AAA Guide magazine, this event is simply not for you. Sorry, but someone had to say it. We can say we are as Radically Inclusive as we want, but if the Burning Man culture starts to tolerate the bending of some of its most important rules (Radical Self-Reliance), then the event is doomed, not because no one goes, but because too many people want to go. This year’s ticket fiasco is a clear reflection that Burning Man should be a little tougher on some of the participants who are just going because “it is a big party in the desert.”

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