by Sovamind
(Photo by Debra Reid)
Recently I saw someone share a video entitled “The Heart of Burning Man”, and while the video was slick and impressive, I came away disappointed because it almost entirely focused on Robot Heart and the dance camp experience.
To be fair to the creator of the video, they did say, “To me, the Heart of Burning Man is the people who make it happen year after year…” and you know, I absolutely agree. But I take issue with equating the people partying at a sound camp with “the people that make Burning Man what it is”. That’s a part of some people’s Burn, but I think it’s the minority, and it’s certainly not what makes Burning Man happen year after year.
What makes Burning Man happen year after year is the volunteers, and if you are not volunteering, you are missing out on the Burning Man experience.
To really understand what makes Burning Man special, you need to participate, and the best way to do that is by volunteering.
This year will be my fifth year on playa, and I’m as excited about attending this year as my very first year. That’s because I am looking forward to spending time working as a Ranger, Greeter, and Theme Camp member. During different times of the week, you’ll find me wearing khaki and helping people help themselves, dressing people in fabulous outfits at the Black Rock Boutique, or welcoming people home at the Greeter station.
Will I go see the art and dance to EDM at a dance camp this year? Sure, I enjoy those things. Will these events define my Burn? No way! As much fun as I’m sure I’ll have dancing, I can guarantee you that if someone asks me to tell them a story about my Burn, I will be telling them about one of my volunteer shifts.
In fact, probably one of my favorite experiences to share was working on an early morning Greeter shift. I had just gotten back to camp around 3 am when people in camp were loading up the art car to head out. I was still dressed in my giant bunny outfit from marching in the Billion Bunny March the evening before and frankly ready to get out of it and get some rest. However, my campmates would have none of my excuses and refused to give me time to change, so I jumped on the art car and rode out to the Greeter station with them.
There was nothing so magical as watching and listening to the city quiet down and then come back to life as the sun came up over the mountains from the Greeter station. Blinky lights and sound were replaced with the gentle rumble of the city in the early morning and the stream of excited people arriving to start their Burn steadily increased. My concerns about being a giant bunny proved silly, as there could have been no better way to welcome people to Burning Man than getting a big dust hug from a 7’ 6” tall rabbit. I thoroughly enjoyed helping people to become one with the dust with playa angels, ring their virginity away on the bell, and welcome them into a new experience they will always remember.
Burning Man is not a “festival”. It’s so much more. It is a way of life, a culture, and it could even be the start of a new society. To focus on only one aspect of Burning Man is a disservice to our community. It gives people the wrong impression, and it doesn’t set a good example.
So get out there, volunteer, participate, and make sure to share ALL your experiences with others this year when you get back to the world beyond the trash fence.
I couldn’t agree more. You generally meet more people. You get to interact with more camps, but it does depend on what you do. I remember the activities helping or building things much more than just randomly walking around. I need pictures to help bring back them memories of all the art, but the volunteering experiences stick with me much deeper. I can honestly say I helped build this city, not just participated within it.
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Ah, the free labor model of doing business… Genius.
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Volunteer at Burning Man. Work for free, because we would make as much money if you didn’t.
-BMorg
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Yeah, because you know what’s always SO MUCH MORE FUN, is when there’s a hard line between “event staff” and “patrons”, where the paid employees either act like entitled shitheads or bored, pissed automatons. Let me tell you about all of the great times I have had interacting with people who were only showing up to collect a paycheck, and not because they actually gave a shit.
I can’t even tell you how many times, in real life, I’ve seen someone doing a job and thought to myself “gee, would I ever love to do that for a day.” The system we live in most of the time means I can’t really do that. The system imposes extreme switching costs.
I *really like* that there aren’t many jobs at Burning Man I can’t just walk up and ask someone to let me do. I like that those borders are porous. I wish the real world worked that way. I would learn a lot more. Everybody would learn a lot more about each other. We wouldn’t have so much hierarchy and class segregation.
It’s unclear exactly what you want Burning Man to do here. But there are plenty of festivals you can go to where there’s a bright line between paid staff and attendees, and most of them are more expensive, and drastically more boring, than Burning Man. Nothing is stopping you from going to them.
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@beatpanda
Sounds like you’re describing the devision that exists between BM volunteers and mere citizens (ticket holders). Even Cafe Village thinks they’re better than non-volnteers. I know because I camped next to them. And groups like DPW feel so superior to everyone that they go around insulting, assaulting, and thieving against regular participants.
There is such a huge ‘us vs them’ vibe amongst the volunteers that It creates a caste system. This caste system fuels the desire for people to want to be on the ‘inside’, even if it’s just serving coffee. It makes people feel like they can look down their nose at everyone else who doesn’t volunteer and actively belittle them for not being part of the army of cool kids who bring in millions of dollars to the company in unpaid labor profits.
Personally, I’d rather interact with paid professionals than with all the little kings and queens out there who think they’re god’s gift to the playa.
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Wow, perhaps because I’ve only been on playa once thus far, I have not had these negative experiences you have had.
The volunteers I’ve met in DPW and otherwise have been humble and real; some rough around the edges or snarky, but nothing but goodness rolling around inside. Sorry that you’ve had such a negative experience with Burning Man’s volunteers.
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The thing is that there’s literally nothing separating you from those volunteers other than, you know, volunteering. Like literally just ask if you can do something, and there you’ll be, in that same ivory tower, able to look down on all the people who used to be, like you, too good to volunteer!
And I *love* DPW. I don’t know what your problem is.
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How original, some conspiracy theorist who thinks we volunteers are somehow duped into volunteering, or perhaps we are all Shanghaied from places non-dusty and forced into labor.
Perhaps if you actually contributed (no, being high in a drum circle doesn’t count) you may have a different opinion. Or, better, stay home.
It’s a little insulting that some useless hippie thinks the people who give so much to build the city and keepeverything working are somehow unaware of what they’re doing. The city doesn’t just happen magically, it takes a lot of work to put it together and take it all apart.
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@Shauna First of all, volunteers are ticket holders too. Second, it seems equally divisive to characterize all volunteers as “Kings and Queens” as it is for the volunteers to “look down their noses” at the non-volunteers.
It sounds like you had a bad experience with a small group of volunteers and now you group all the thousands of volunteers into one small pigeon-hole. Any of those volunteer groups would be happy to include you if you just ask. I wonder if you realize that without those volunteers there wouldn’t be a man to burn, a gate to drive through, etc.
There are definitely other ways to participate besides volunteering, but I can’t for the life of me understand why anyone would hold a grudge against those who do.
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A heartfelt and touching post Curly. Sad that the comment section is often where kindness goes to die.
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That’s right … We’re NOT THERE this year! After volunteering for eight (8) years we were unable to get tickets on any of the sales. The online bidding / compuiter systrem seems very controlled / biased / corrupt! What a shame it has come to this. We will have to seriously reconsider this event in the future. Y’all have a blast … (eating dust)
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My negative but proper & true comments were rejected by the system! Go fugure.
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