Collaborative culture expert, currently reinventing social productivity for the crowd. Formerly: Wikipedia Storyteller, Laughing Squid, Industrial Light & Magic.

Affinity, a Burner since 2000, was legally married on the Playa in 2001, was wedding coordinator and then training coordinator at Burning Man, before becoming the Black Rock Arts Foundation (BRAF) Social Media Coordinator and an Advisory Board Member. An attorney, she served on the Board of Directors of the Western Pension and Benefits Conference. She interned with the Human Awareness Institute for 10 years, loves living in San Francisco and is a craft dilettante. She will write about BRAF, and how art is envisioned, produced, created, installed and its afterlife.

Amani Loutfy comes to the burning blogosphere as a 2008 transplant to the Bay area, by way of a former life in Seattle. She's been involved in many projects, both on- and off-playa, from the Temple of Light, to the Machine, to Ze Arc of Hawaii, Pillow Fight Club, several iterations of Arson Island Resort, and beyond. A current resident of Gigsville, she brings a crusty and opinionated perspective on the burn. Amani has retired her megaphone in favor of the keyboard, but that doesn't mean you're going to shut her up any time soon.

Prior to her 2012 retirement from the staff of Burning Man, Andie Grace was a member of the Burning Man Executive Committee and the manager of the Communications Department and the Regional Network - in plain English, that means she went to an inordinate number of meetings. Her staff bio is here.

Andrew Johnstone is an artist, muralist, 3D computer designer and enthusiastic geomapper. He was the creator of the first 3D fly-through simulation of Black Rock City (originally using Microsoft Flight Simulator software), and he crafts the 3D models of the Man and Man base found on the Burning Man website. He has been the Project Lead of the Burning Man Earth Project since its inception in 2005.

Bex Workman is the Regional Network Administrator for Burning Man. She is fond of rubber chickens, clowns and pirates. Ye have been warned.

Brad Berwick, a burner since 2006, enjoyed a short peak behind the Burning Man curtain during his 2008 internship. After graduating college with a journalism degree in his home town of Lafayette, Louisiana, he is pursuing a career in the culinary arts.

Brody is a native Californian and recovering shy person who enjoys hugs, snacks and increasing the amount of happiness in the world. She is slightly internet-famous for creating the Desaturated Santa costume for SantaCon, and is glad to be known for something that's not horribly embarrassing or illegal. Brody first attended Burning Man in 2004 and found out that she doesn't actually know how to relax for an entire week. A volunteer with Greeters since 2005, she now sneaks in Greeter shifts before or after her regular on-playa job, making magic happen behind the scenes at the ARTery. Year-round Brody can be found in the Art Department wrangling data, creating order from chaos, and feeding her co-workers homemade marshmallows.

Heather Gallagher aka CameraGirl is a recovering corporate IT consultant with a Master's degree in Computer Science tucked under her rhinestone-studded belt. Heather first stepped foot onto the playa in 2000 and, in many ways, has not left it since. CameraGirl was born in 2001 as the Documentrix for the Center Camp Cafe and CampArctica, where she got hooked on Burning Man imagery, joined the web team and eventually became the Photo Editor for burningman.com. Since 2003, she has produced each of the Burning Man Wall Calendars. In early 2004, she began managing the Burning Man Technology Department.

Carmen Mauk is passionate about creating platforms that encourage radical community participation. She is the co-founder and Executive Director of Burners Without Borders, a grassroots organization that creates participatory models for international disaster relief and community initiatives. She is also the founder of Burning Man Information Radio, BRC's community radio station. Carmen holds a Masters degree in Transformative Leadership from the California Institute for Integral Studies where she became an enthusiastic student of the art of creating community collaborations that bring about positive change.

Carolyn Ellis, aka Kali, rode in the Critical Tits Ride for several years before becoming one of the principle organizers of this storied Burning Man tradition.

Caveat grew up wanting to be a Russian novelist, but the closest he ever came was getting personally insulted by the first democratically elected president of Poland. Now the volunteer coordinator for Burning Man's Media Team (itself a volunteer position), Caveat has been messing with Burners for the last five years, and has a hard time believing some of the stuff they've let him get away with. He is a publisher at Omnibucket.com, served as editor of Chicken John’s philosophical autobiography “The Book of the Is,” and archives his publications and personal blogs at www.TheWachsGallery.com.

Christa Sperry has been involved in the Burning Man community since 2005. She is a mentor and Youth Minister at FreedomHill in Maryland, always trying to encourage the beautiful and absurd in the future leaders of the world. During the summer months, she throws locally grown produce at the urbanites for a fair price. When in Black Rock City, you can find her at BMIR 94.5 coordinating events, talking smack, and spilling drinks.

Christine Kristen (aka Ladybee) was Burning Man's art curator from 1999 to 2008, where she dealt with all things visual and aesthetic, including managing the art and the art grant program, photo-editing the Image Gallery, writing art content for the Burning Man website, working with the ARTery, managing the archives, and lecturing and writing about the art of Burning Man. She has a MFA in sculpture from the Art Institute of Chicago.

Tony "Coyote" Perez first set foot in Black Rock City in 1996, where he immediately went to work, ultimately becoming the Department of Public Works' Site Manager. He is renowned amongst the staff as Burning Man's Poet Laureate, as well as being an accomplished saxophonist with his band "Second Hand Smoke."

DA, formerly the Dark Angel of Black Rock, fell out of the sky with his wings on fire and landed smack dab in the middle of Burning Man 97, ticket in hand. He never left. In 2000 DA found his home with the Department of Public Works, where he is a part of the Survey Crew and has been leading the Playa Restoration Crew's leave no trace efforts since 2004, creating the Moop Map along the way. As an artist, DA has illustrated the launch of the Burning Man Theme from 2006's Hope and Fear: The Future to 2013's Cargo Cult. DA loves the Black Rock Desert and believes that if we continue to leave no trace then we can keep building and burning forever.

Dan Miller was housemates with Larry Harvey in San Francisco from 1982 to 2000. He managed the construction and raising of the Man from 1990 to 2000 and contributed several design modifications to the Man including rigging, mechanical arm raising and the infamous straw bale pyramid bases 1996 - 2000. He took a break from raising the Man to raise his own son, born in 2001. He still brings various art pieces to the playa with his family, such as the "Yot Tub", and lives in rural Northern CA.

Danger Ranger is Burning Man's Director of Genetic Programming. Some claim he possesses near borderline supernatural powers, including the ability to bi-locate and appear at two places simultaneously. In 1992 he founded the Black Rock Rangers. He also created the first Burning Man mailing list/database, produced the first issue of the Black Rock Gazette, established the Burning Man Archive, and drove the first art car to the Black Rock Desert. Michael functions as the guiding light of San Francisco's famous Cacophony Society. His Silicon Valley career began with Fairchild Semiconductor just a few years before it gave birth to Intel. After 1984, he served as a robotics consultant to Apple Computer and later engineered the rise (and fall) of Jasmine Computer Systems. Always riding the edge, he contributed to the Mondo2000 house in Berkeley and wired Wired Magazine's first office in San Francisco. His wide range of experiences includes having been a combat veteran in Vietnam and a federal fugitive in the United States. Other past activities include involvement with the machine performance group Survival Research Laboratories. Throughout the year, M2 lends his guidance and wisdom to navigate Burning Man into the future.

Dasha is the deus ex machina of Burning Man's San Francisco office staff, working tirelessly behind the scenes to propagate Burning Man culture.

As a child Dave X sought out activities considered naughty by some, including his parents. In doing so he noticed that through the organization of others he could achieve greater levels of naughtiness. As he grew older Dave X was always looking behind the curtain to see who the wizard really was and how his mysterious machines worked. It was only natural that he would bring the traits of organization and mechanical curiosity together in his future work. In 1992 he was lured to the Black Rock Desert when he discovered a strange group called The Cacophony Society. Wonders and curiosities were discovered as he crossed to a new reality and he knew he had seen the future. This future was made of wood and stood tall and proud on the desert floor before taking flight to the spirits in a blaze of fire. In 1999 after several years of creating large-scale fire installations he realized that the use of fire and fuel had grown to a tipping point. He saw that the time had come to either self regulate its use or face outside regulation. Under the guidance of Crimson Rose he began his career with the Performance Safety Team and sought trainings and licensing so that he could create guidelines for the use of fire and fuels that would ensure the spectacle and ritual of their use while preventing their misuse. Dave X is now the Manager of the Fire Art Safety Team and holds several certifications for fuel management as well as being a licensed Pyrotechnic Operator.

David Koren (or "not that dave") is the Executive Producer of FIGMENT, which began in 2007 as a free participatory arts event on Governors Island in New York City. By 2012, this annual event involved 25,000 participants and 400 arts projects, and was named the Best Art Festival in NYC by the Village Voice. In 2010, FIGMENT began to spread to other cities and in 2013 FIGMENT events will happen in approximately 10 locations in North America and Australia. FIGMENT has also created several annual summer-long installations on Governors Island, including an interactive sculpture garden, an artist-designed mini golf course, and the City of Dreams Pavilion, the result of an architectural design competition in collaboration with ENYA and SEAoNY. He is also an official Burning Man Contact for New York City and a member of the Meta-Regionals Committee. Professionally, David is the Marketing Director for one of the largest architectural firms in the United States.

Evil Pippi, aka Candace Locklear, found out about Burning Man from her cab driver upon moving to San Francisco from South Carolina in 1996. She ended up joining the then tiny media team to help form and grow Media Mecca and now owns a boutique tech PR firm. She loves Clowns and Santas, but not equally.

A founding member of the Burning Man Board, Harley K. Dubois brings to bear over 15 years of project management, art and city planning experience. As the City Manager of Black Rock City, Harley oversees both the Playa Safety Council and Community Services departments, ensuring that the citizens of BRC are happy and safe, including ingress, life on playa, and egress. She originated theme camp placement, the Greeters, Playa Info, Burning Man Information Radio, and has kindled the development of all other Community Service teams. Harley also created and maintains a comprehensive training and self-development program for the Burning Man staff, fostering the concepts of volunteerism and cross-departmental communication. Harley is a founding member of the Black Rock Arts Foundation, where she chairs the grants committee and acts as the foundation's liaison with the Burning Man Project. She is fully engaged in program development and works closely with the Executive Director and other staff members in conducting day-to-day operations. Harley has an extensive education and history in the visual and performing arts, has been a fitness director and a San Francisco fire fighter.

Jennifer Raiser is an avid long-time Burner, Burning Man Project board member, theme camp leader, and Black Rock Ranger. Her writing has appeared in the Huffington Post, San Francisco Chronicle, Nob Hill Gazette and most often for her publication, SFWire.

People have often described Jessica Hobbs as someone trying to lead a compulsively artistic life, which is more or less true. She started off her adventure in a small Sierra Foothill town and eventually meandered her way to the San Francisco Bay Area. Along the way Jess has worn many hats; running and creating community art programs, counseling teenagers, curating, exhibiting, designing, photographing and playing with some girls who love lipstick and accelerants. She is an MFA graduate from the San Francisco Art Institute and has been wandering and creating in the dust fest for well over a decade. She believes collaboration is key in community and art. This idea formally began with her collaborative performance work at UCSC and has continued to be a core element in her artistic practice. This core value can been seen in her collaborative project with Felecia Carlisle, Wedding Portraits created for SFAC's Art On Market Street Program, in her work directing the Crucible Steel Gallery at CELLspace, in her creations as a Flaming Lotus Girl and in her work wrangling the Shipyard Labs.

Halcyon is a 15-year Burning Man participant and founder of Pink Heart camp. He is author of "Love more. Fear less." and producer of the Burning Man short film, "The Pink Path." He's won Webby awards for his over-the-top personal site CockyBastard.com & his "Love On Demand" video podcast HugNation.com. He hosted the defunct NBC.com web series "Fears. Regrats. Desires." and frequently speaks about Gratitude & Gifting. In 2010, Halcyon co-founded the San Diego based "1st Saturdays" homeless outreach program based on Burning Man Principles and the idea of "Service Without Sacrafice." You can find his digital home at www.JohnStyn.com.

John Curley has been Burning since the relatively late date of 2004, and in 2008 he spent the better part of a month on the playa, documenting the building and burning of Black Rock City in words and pictures. John is a longtime newspaper person and spent many years at the San Francisco Chronicle, where he was a deputy managing editor in charge of Page One and the news sections of the paper. Since leaving the Chronicle in 2007, he was a contributing editor on Blue Planet Run, a book about the world's water crisis, and for the past two years has been a lecturer at UC Berkeley's Graduate School of Journalism. He has also started an event and editorial photography business, and is also working on a book about the "Ten Dollar Doc" from Arco, Idaho, which will make a lovely film someday.

I was born and raised in Atlanta, GA, where I learned the importance of the civic freedom to disagree. I graduated from Brown University in 2009, completing an independent concentration in Music & Mind. That taught me to read and write, and it showed me the awesome responsibility held by those who control the discourse. I live in Oakland, California. I've been a burner since 2008.

Jonesy Jones has been attending Burning Man since 1999. Jonesy's projects for Burning Man have included Spoon Return Center, Waffling Waystation, and participating in The BRC Dog and Gun Racing Team. He served as the San Diego Regional Contact from 2004-2005. Jonesy now resides in San Francisco, where he serves as the Artists' Advocate for the Burning Man Art Department and heads the Cafe Art Team. Jonesy has been with the Burning Man Special Events Team since 2005, serving as the layout coordinator and miscellaneous cat herder. He also publishes the weekly San Francisco Announcement regarding events in the Bay Area. Jonesy plans to write blogs regarding special local events and the people behind them.

Judes has been a Bay Area burner since 1999 and an advocate for playa families. She first brought her son Dexter to BRC when he was 16-months-old, who has 8 burns under his belt. For 4 years, Judes hosted Hot Monkey Sox, a popular sock monkey workshop camp in Kidsville. In 2010, she founded the Black Rock Scouts program so kids could attend playa-cational events, volunteer with BRC Departments and learn to give back to the BRC community. With Scouts, Judes works shifts with Greeters and Lamplighters, became a full-time Earth Guardians in 2011 and joined Gate crew in 2012. Off-playa, Judes is a freelance writer, artist and designs playa-wear like Bedsheet Bloomers, the Hottie Kilt and the Utila-Merkin because "It's never too late to have a happy childhood."

Julian is one of the minds behind The Shroom, Black Rock City's Least Best Newspaper, and a member of Disorient. When he isn't running around the playa dressed in pornj he lives in Saigon, Vietnam and travels around SE Asia working as a writer. In addition to pranking the Burning Man community, he more than anything wants to weld together a kick ass art installation.

Kristy Evans is a senior manager in the Gate, Perimeter and Exodus Department, where she has helped manage the task of getting people in and out of BRC since 2007. The logistics of traffic, people movement, and staffing a huge department still fascinate her, and with an ever growing Black Rock City there is always more work to do. She first made the trek to the Black Rock Desert in 2003 and began volunteering in 2005 with Gate. She is a member of the Burning Man Leadership Forum and you can read the rest of her bio here.

Born in 1948, Larry Harvey grew up on a small farm on the outskirts of Portland, Oregon. In the late 1970's he moved to San Francisco, and soon discovered the city's thriving underground art scene. In 1986 he founded Burning Man at a local beach, and has guided its progress ever since. Larry is currently executive director of the Project. He scripts and co-curates Burning Man's annual art theme and collaborates with artists in creating aspects of the art theme and the design of Black Rock City. Larry also writes articles and essays for the Project's website. As spokesperson for Burning Man, he is frequently interviewed by reporters, and has lectured on subjects as diverse as art, religion, civic planning and the rise of cyber-culture in the era of the Internet. Larry is also a political planner, supervising the organization's lobbying efforts and frequently attending meetings with state, county and federal agencies.

Lee Gilmore blogs on her mainstay obsessions: culture, ritual, and spirituality. A Bay Area expat, she teaches Religion and Anthropology at California State University, Northridge and currently resides in LA. She is the author of Theater in a Crowded Fire: Ritual and Spirituality at Burning Man (forthcoming 2010) and co-editor (with Mark Van Proyen) of AfterBurn: Reflections on Burning Man (2005). While serving on the Media Team from 1997-2001, she met and married the father of her now 2-year old future Burner. She made her first pilgrimage to the playa in 1996 and hasn't been quite the same ever since.

Leslie Pritchett was the first Executive Director of the Black Rock Arts Foundation. She now runs Leslie Pritchett Public Art Consulting, is a board member at The Crucible, and spearheads the Tiny House Project.

MachineGun Lily (aka Lily Rasel) works on Burning Man's Government Relations, Legal Affairs and External Relations Teams, and (because Burners are nothing if not versatile) lays out the Black Rock City plan in CAD. An accomplished fire performer, she publishes Kindle Magazine, and is currently attending UC Berkeley's Boalt Law School.

Madonna has been an active Burner since 2000 when Edub and Total Mess first dragged her out to the desert. Since then, she's been an intricate part of the BM community. As a photographer and one of Burning Man's original blog authors she composed stories and captured photographs that helped document the infancy and provide a visual diary of Burning Man in the early days. She created wildly popular photos and essays such as Sunny Dayz and Flambe Lounge that spread like wildfire; igniting the flame within founders, laypersons, and soon-to-be burners alike. Her photographs have been featured in the New York Times and the Burning Man website. You can check out more of here work at her site and the Building Black Rock City 2003 Blog.

Marian Goodell has been a member of the 6-person ownership structure of Burning Man since late 1996. Goodell has been Burning Man's Director of Business and Communications since 1997; and in 2003 she added oversight of the Department of Public Works. The Communications activities under Goodell’s jurisdiction include media relations, print production, and the Jackrabbit Speaks email newsletter; her Business duties include management of accounting, legal, government relations, and administrative processes. Her oversight of the organization's technology infrastructure has included the development of an internal document repository, the Burning Man web site, several blogs, and an image gallery. In 1997 she worked with Burning Man participants to create the Burning Man Regional Network. Goodell holds a BA in Creative Writing from Goucher College in Baltimore, Maryland and an MFA in photography from the Academy of Art University in San Francisco.

Marnee joined Black Rock Solar in 2009 as an environmental journalist and project manager who had recently organized a worldwide sailing expedition and global warming lecture series. While growing up in New Mexico, Marnee played tennis in the high-desert sun, ripped it up at local ski resorts, and rode bikes with her friends. She’s lived in Reno for more than ten years, after stops in Jackson Hole and southern California– where she played beach volleyball and studied math at San Diego State University. Marnee traded in her tennis racket and bikinis for carabiners and climbing shoes when she hit the Sierra Nevada, and she recently graduated from UNR with two master’s degrees in Environmental Science and Environmental Policy. She organized the Tour de Nez bike race for three years and sailed with Greenpeace International before turning her attention full-time to Black Rock Solar. In her spare time, Marnee counts her lucky stars for being able to work with the Holland Project and March Fourth Marching Band.

Matt Roth is Deputy Editor of Streetsblog San Francisco, and a rabid bicycle enthusiast working towards the realization of a world full of bike-friendly cities.

Matthew Nelson is a professional writer and journalist, and a member of Death Guild Thunderdome since 2000.

Matt Roth is Deputy Editor of Streetsblog San Francisco, and a rabid bicycle enthusiast working towards the realization of a world full of bike-friendly cities.

Meghan "Megs" Rutigliano has been burning since 2005. She is currently the full-time Regional Network and Media Relations Coordinator for the Burning Man Project. Meghan is co-anchor of an independent radio show called Shouting Fire News (www.shoutingfire.org) and works on playa at Media Mecca. Meghan is addicted to traveling and performing and is a seasoned singer, actress, and voice over personality. Meghan will be exploring the art, events and culture of various regional Burning Man communities in her blog posts.

Megan Miller joined the full time Burning Man staff as Public Relations Manager in 2012. As such, she endeavors to keep the flow of information moving to and from participants, BMHQ, cooperating government agencies and the media. Born and raised in Alaska, Megan first set foot on playa in 2009 and knew immediately her world had been wholly and permanently transformed. Before joining this crazy bunch, Megan spent a decade trying to change the world (for the better, she hopes) while working for environmental nonprofits, health care agencies, campaigns, and the U.S. Senate. On playa she's known as 'Juno' and can be found at Media Mecca.

Michael Holden is a photographer, DJ, engineer and Regional Contact in Seattle, WA. Rites of Passage is his 12th burn. He likes chihuahuas, sushi, open source content management and commerce software and destroying delicate and expensive electronics in a variety of harsh environments. Ask him anything by emailing michael@superpod.com.

The night Molly Ditmore arrived at Burning Man 1998, she told everyone that she had come home. She didn't pack a flashlight or get any sleep. She volunteered at Media Mecca for six years, where she handled press inquiries from the music community and hosted an art tour. Because of Burning Man she started sewing again and is now a couture pattern maker. Molly attended from 1998-2007 and is returning in 2009. She'll be blogging about practical matters, personal art projects and relationships. She thinks you should scale back your dance camp.

Mosbaugh aka Moze is a San Francisco heretic and writer who spends his time producing pornographic puppet shows, writing novels and dark fairy tales and building art installations to haul out to the desert. He's been on the Burning Man webteam since aught two and serves as section manager for the art and afterburn sections, deputy image wrangler and overall whatever you need kind of guy. Moze has the complete works of Shakespeare on his iPhone and he's written for Piss Clear, the YEP and has been blogging about Burning Man since blogs came into existence. The Nebulous Entity first beckoned him into the community and he's been returning to the dry lake bed ever since.

Neil Girling, aka mr. Nightshade, is a photographer and blogger well-known for covering the San Francisco Bay Area underground.

Olivier Bonin (born 1973) is a documentary filmmaker, whose first movie is Dust & Illusions, 30 years of Burning Man history. His first attendance to the Burning Man festival coincided in 2003 with his debut in filmmaking. Bonin quickly decided to pursue an in-depth look at the infamous event as his first documentary subject. In 2004, he joined the Flaming Lotus Girls as their videographer and through that, he met some of the most important earlier makers and organizers of the Burning Man event. He discovered little by little the complexity behind the history of the event, the many faces, ideals and politics that came with it. In 2009 he released his first feature documentary film under the name Dust & Illusions.

Starting in San Francisco in the early 90's Reverend Billy Talen began to explore "a new kind of American preacher" - a post-religious one, but a good whooping preacher anyway, inspiring people toward a spiritual event that did not need the mediation of organized religions or other corporations. Moving to New York City, he preached on the sidewalks of Times Square, and found people clapping and singing along with him, and the choir grew to empower the message of resistance to Consumerism. They called themselves the Church of Stop Shopping. They came to Burning Man in 2003 ("Beyond Belief"), but many of the singers and musicians were longtime Burners. They were invited to perform on a stage built in the base of the Man that year. Two years later they gathered with Joan Baez and the jazz musicians of the playa to raise money for the victims of Hurricane Katrina. Their hope is to continue to preach and sing against Consumerism, and for the Life After Shopping! Change-a-lujah!

Rod was raised in southern California in the San Fernando Valley. He arrived in the Bay Area during the early '60's in time to encounter the Beat culture of San Francisco. Here he became friends with the poet Gary Snyder and the comic Lenny Bruce. During this same period he taught himself the art of landscape design and became a licensed contractor, specializing in the creation of fountains, pools and architecture. In 1995, he attended his first Burning Man, and joined the project as our chief designer in 1997. Working in collaboration with Larry Harvey, Will Roger, Harley Dubois, and other staff members, Rod originated the annual plan of Black Rock City. The huge tensometric structure that houses our community's central café was devised by Rod, as was the conception and configuration of the giant Laser Man at our event in 2000. In 2001, he designed the Temple of Enlightenment that formed the pedestal of Burning Man. As resident architect for the project, Rod also created many other structures and site plans for our Department of Public Works. Rod passed away in 2011.

Rosalie Barnes works year round in San Francisco as the Senior Project Manager for the Government Relations & Legal Affairs Department of Black Rock City, LLC. During the Burning Man event, Rosalie is part of the External Relations Team, a program that gives tours of the art and infrastructure of Black Rock City to visiting officials and cultural ambassadors. Rosalie received a Bachelor of Arts in Theater from Brandeis University and in 2009, she received a double Masters from Harvard, focusing on Technology, Media and Learning. She first participated in Burning Man in 2000, and came to work for the Man in 2009.

Steve Mobia was amongst the original Cacophony Society members who went on the "zone trip" to immolate the Burning Man on the Black Rock Desert in 1990. In Burning Man's early years, he helped create desert fashion shows, large format photographs, and the first pirate radio station – hosting a program of experimental music called "Mobia's Trip". He was the first Lamplighter, organizing and running the Lamplighters from 1994-1999. His flaming helmet is now part of Burning Man's historical archives.

Summer Burkes has been attending Burning Man since 1998. She first met the group of dusty DPW / Cyclecide / Bike Club dirtbags she would come to call her family on the back of The Bucket. Now Gate, still DPW tho, not a "Burner," Summer loves explosions and cake.

Tales From The Playa are dreams and memories of events that took place at Burning Man, as told by its participants.

The Countess has been burning since 1999 and has been counting Burners with the Census since 2004. One Burner. Two Burners. Three Burners. Four Burners. Five Burners. Mah Ah Ah Ah Ahhhh. (thunder clap)

Oh HAY, I'm The Hun. I learned about doing stuff (and burning stuff) in 2005, when I joined the BRC DPW. Later I backpacked across the United States learning about sustainable living, and now I write and blog and work for Black Rock Solar. Read more about me at jessicareeder.com.

Tim was not born on a bayou, but he wishes he had, as that would be more romantic. Tim is a writer, editor, picky eater, lighter of some fluids, co-founder of Fireside Storytelling, wannabe statistician, avid bicyclist, host of the radio show Down The Well w/ Timmmii on RadioValencia.fm, fighter, loud, and Burning Man maven since 1999. Tim has other talents too but he prefers to leave you guessing.

Tom Price is the former Executive Director of Black Rock Solar. Prior to that he was the Environmental Manager for Burning Man during the Green Man theme, and was in the Gulf Coast for six months during the genesis of Burners Without Borders. He's been attending Burning Man since 1997, and he's proud to say that his decade plus streak of breaking down from sun stroke on the playa on day three remains intact.

Tony "Coyote" Perez first set foot in Black Rock City in 1996, where he immediately went to work, ultimately becoming the Department of Public Works' Site Manager. He is renowned amongst the staff as Burning Man's Poet Laureate, as well as being an accomplished saxophonist with his band "Second Hand Smoke."

Tyronus first set foot in Black Rock City in 2002. His Masters Degree in Urban Planning, experience in responsible real estate Development, and way with words have earned him the position of Chief Communicator for Vertical Camp, where he promotes the ideas embodied by the structure and the camp's principles. Urban infill housing has the power to create better communities, and a better quality of life as a result.

Wally Bomgaars (aka odwally), has been working with Burning Man for over thirteen years, and served as Playa Safety Manager overseeing the Rangers, Gate/Perimeter/Exodus, and DMV departments for the last four. Wally is a founder and owner of High Rock Security, a security company which provides security services for many of the events and festivals throughout California. Though highly involved in event safety and security, food and cooking are Wally's first passion.

Will Chase first attended Burning Man 2001. He was Burning Man's Web Team Project Manager and Webmaster from 2004-2009, and the Operations Manager and member of the Art Council for the ARTery (Burning Man's art department headquarters in Black Rock City) from 2003-2008. In 2009, he transitioned into the Communications Department, where his responsibilities include global communication strategy, authoring the Jackrabbit Speaks Newsletter, content management for the Burning Man website, coordination of Burning Man's social networking efforts, and acting as editor for the Burning Blog. Tales of his sordid adventures can be found on his website.

Xina is currently traveling around the world working on a documentary film called Participate! She has done many things and it always willing to try something new.