PolyParadise What Worked - 2006
Wednesday October 4, 2006
It has been
39 days since we were together on the Playa, and as I look back and
reflect on what we accomplished together I can do nothing but Smile, Grin and
feel the love we all shared. We not only shared that love between us as PolyCampers, we extended that love to all those who visited our camp events, or
who shared a meal with us. That feeling will certainly be with me till we
can all be together again...326 Days!!!
It has been an amazing adventure this past year. Each time we head to the
Playa it provides us all with the opportunity to share & grow while we make
plans, pack & re-pack, but the real exploration is when we come together from
all parts of the Globe. Each of us bringing that something special to the
group and taking away a much clearer perspective of this thing called life.
Over the past few years I have used this space to reflect on
"What Went
Write & What Went Wrong" in PolyParadise, to gain some
perspective, and see what can be done to make things better for next year.
Anything said here is NOT meant to accuse or berate anyone, it is just an open
dialogue, an airing of issues so that we may move forward.
I offer my own observations and as always welcome Comments, Praises, Bitches &
Roses....
****PolyParadise****
PolyParadise's population stayed about the same between
'05 & '06 with 74
Campers. Though when looking deeper into those numbers we only had a
small percentage of veteran folks return from year-to-year. I am not sure
that in future years this trend would be able to be repeated, so I hope that
many of you that camped with us this year will consider PolyParadise your
permanent home on the Playa. Giving us stability and consistent direction
in the coming Playa year.
The space allocation from BMORG was not what I
had expected from the submitted Questionnaire request. But then it is
Burning Man, hence the need to go with the flow. The space we did have
gave us plenty of room to spread out and also gave us the ability to have
pathways & roads within camp to make access easier. It also gave me the ability
to give people multiple options for camping locations and gave those that needed
early exit the ability to do so.
We had little if any Camp Drama...and for that I THANK YOU ALL!!!! We all looked
out for each other, helped each other...I am echoing the same sentiments from
last year. Maybe Poly's KNOW DRAMA SO WELL that they do not need to take
it to the playa with them...
PolyParadise will set a limit of
100 campers for '07. We will
increase our space allocation request accordingly.
****Playa Location****
The submitted Theme Camp Questionnaire requested us to be located on the
7:30 arm,
the corner. We did not get that exact location. We could not have
asked for better Playa neighbors though being placed next to
Comfort & Joy.
They are a great bunch of folks and surely put on a great interactive Playa
address. In fact we have been asked to again camp next to them in '07 and
possibly share our Poly High Tea or even run an event within their camp.
My presumption is that future BRC Layouts will again float on the
4:30 & 7:30
centric major roadways. I think we should continue ask to be located in
the same general Playa area as it allows us to get repeat event patronage and in
the Center of all the action.
It was again nice to have a Porta Potty bank close to us, the bonus this year
was that we were not downwind and did not get any funky aromatic whiffs
throughout the week.
What were your impressions on being 7:38/Eager?
****Kitchen & Stuff****
The Community Kitchen continues to be a MASSIVE SUCCESS!!!
Thanks so much to
HypnoBurn and his helpers and to everyone else who helped setup and maintain the kitchen all week
long.
I did not think that we would be able to top the meals we had in '05...But let
me tell you...We shared
some great meals, please take the time to
THANK EVERYONE who contributed
to Community Meal Time!!!
Keeping the Pots/Pans/Dishes washed as necessary is always
an issue, there were MANY times I would see piles & piles of dishes, pots & pans
waiting to be washed. I know this is not the most glamorous job in camp,
but it always NEEDS to be done. I think having
2- Dish Drying Racks available
made it easier but harder of course to find a spot to put a cleaned dish/pot as
there are lots of dishes.
For 2007 the Drying Racks will be placed against the side
of the truck to give it back stability so things do not fall on the Playa and
get dirty again. Having multiple Full Size garbage cans served us well, we
do generate quite a bit of garbage, but I thank EVERYONE who took garbage home
with them.
We had plenty of snacks for everyone, and everyone all seemed satisfied with the
selections available. Look for the same fair next year...
Having a Full stocked First Aid Kit was invaluable
as several of us including myself & WildChild had minor cuts and scrapes that required
medical attention. Having a First Aid Kit in camp will continue to
be a priority.
As the number of campers increases we need to adjust how
we setup our kitchen. We will be getting rid of the large Purple Box and
replacing it with Metal Shelving that will allow easier access to all kitchen
items. We will also be purchasing another 20'x20' shade
structure for the kitchen area. This will be setup as a perpendicular
addition to the Community area. This will allow easier access to Community
& Personal Coolers. We will also purchase a few more
6' tables for more
cooking & preparing area.
One of our continuing issues is Dish Washing or the lack thereof, or just
the total amount of dish washing necessary throughout the week. This in
turn also creates more Gray Water to deal with. In the
past the kitchen has had an ample supply of Dishes & Silverware in
addition to all the Pots & Pans. This table service was provided as a
courtesy and it was expected that those that used these items would then clean
them for the next person to use. This does not seem to be the case.
These items appear to be left in the Dish Water Uncleaned, leaving
someone else to do this dirty work..
Going forward, the Kitchen will provide Paper Plates and
Plastic silverware. Each PolyCamper will be responsible for bringing & cleaning their own Plates & Silverware if the Paper/Plastic options provided are
not adequate for your use.
We will be purchasing 3 additional coolers. These
will be specifically for leftovers. What happens is... The leftovers go
into the community food coolers, of course on top and they hide all the goodies
lying underneath.
****Community Meals****
I did not think that we could top last year's meal plan, but we did.
This was by far the BEST year for PolyParadise's Community Meals!!!
Thank you so much to everyone who contributed to the planning, cooking, serving
& cleanup of each and every meal. Thanks to all who contributed to the
AZBurner Pot Luck.
Special recognition to the Main Meal Hosts Each Day
Mondays - PlayaDustVegetarianChili...ala Foxygoddess was an
awesome dish. great
Tuesday's Surf & Turf by Stagger & HypnoBurn was to die for, you
clearly won over all of our palates.
WildChild
& I enjoyed eating with you both after the rush had died down. PainterDave's
Soup was so good I went back for 3rd's.
Wednesday's AZBurner Pot Luck was an amazing array of food and
drink...Thanks to all who hung out and partied.
Thursday's - Parrot's -
Stone Soup -Diana & Noel -
Red Potato Dish
- Dick - Chicken & Sausages
Friday's, Trash Can Turkey by
WildChild
& myself (The Brain Child of Justin in San Diego) was very awesome if I do say so myself. I hope you all enjoyed it
too...This will be a staple of PolyParadise Friday night dinner.
Sarah & Mike's Fettuccini Alfredo (Home-Made sauce) was
AMAZING!!!
Saturday's smorgasbord of food before we all departed for the Burn was
grandiose. Thanks for bringing your leftovers out!!!
Sunday's Breakfast was a smashing success.
Thanks as well to EVERYONE who brought out, cooked & served a side dish
or 2. The meals were very well balanced with all kinds of choices for all
kinds of palates. For when we share a meal and break bread together we
grow from just being friends to being FAMILY!
***Community Space****
The total size of the Community Space/Kitchen was increased by
10'x20'
over
the previous year with the total size being 60'x20'. With the
increased population of PolyParadise and the large crowds we are attracting for
our Playa events, the size of this space must also increase.
As indicated above we will be purchasing an additional
20'x20' for the Kitchen.
This will be setup as a perpendicular addition to the Community area. This
will allow easier access to Community & Personal Coolers. We will also
purchase a few more 6' tables for more cooking & preparing area.
We will also purchase an additional 20'x20' shade structure that will be
primarily used for our Playa events. Group Hypnosis & Poly High Tea.
This will also be setup as a perpendicular addition to the Community area at the
opposite end to the kitchen. This will allow our Campmates to have a place
to hang out while events are being facilitated and give more room for the events
in general. Additional carpet & cammo netting will need to be purchased to
enclose these two additional structures.
I thought the use of the makeshift curtain worked well to shield the Playa
Events from the Community space, though we ALL need to be aware of our level of
voice when these events are going on as not to inadvertently disturb them while
in progress. Having an additional 20'x20' for these events should help
with this, but voice level vigilance will always be necessary.
In creating this new larger Community space, and our increasing population, we
will of course need additional chairs & pillows. We will be purchasing
some additional plastic chairs. I appreciated everyone who brought a chair
or two for use in the community space. I would ask though that
chairs with
attached foot rests NOT be used in the Community space. I was constantly
tripping over them and they take up additional room as they stick out beyond the
chair itself.
The location & arrangement of the Community Space with our camp area
deviated from pervious years as we used to place it right on the road way.
As our given Playa location was not what we had asked for we felt a change in
orientation of this structure would be good for low wind/dust and a change for
change sake. Having the structure 25' from the road and oriented the other way I
thought was awesome.
The use of the Glow Stick Arches
and the walkway leading into the space was amazing! I hope you all
liked it as well. We have decided that a 3rd Glow Stick Arch would be
helpful, so say it be true. Heck, what is another
1000 Glow Sticks
between friends...LOL
For 2007 we may need to tweak this a little as we will
have the additional 2 - 20'x20' structures, but I think overall the
Community space structure will again be oriented the same way.
****Human Carcass Wash****
The HCW continues to be an amazing event for us and the Playa citizenry.
Thanks to EVERYONE who helped out in erecting the HCW structure, ran the event
each day, helped with cleanup and the eventual takedown of the structure.
You should all be proud of what you accomplished. Thanks also to our Guest
Hair-Washing folks (Spatch & others).
I would estimate that there were ~200+ people per day that enjoyed the
HCW.
This year we increased the total size of the HCW structure
to 20'x40' and set the structure back ~20' from the road. This enabled us
to accommodate more people per day at the event and keep bicycles and other
vehicles off the road and out of the way of other moving traffic. The use
of the Orange HCW Vests appeared to help participants know who was running the
event and had us looking quite dapper & professional while we had fun helping
others wash other bodies.
Thank you to Stagger for providing the HCW with a
LARGE
YELLOW Sign - No Camera Zone Notice. Having this
LARGE sign
certainly helped keep people aware of the camera restrictions and it looked good
too. Of course there will always be yahoos that will NEED to take a
picture of the event, not much we can or should do other than politely informing
them to READ the Signage.
We did VERY well on water this year...With all the donations from our campers
and Playa Citizenry, We left
the Playa with (10) 5-Gallon containers of water. I brought
120 Gallons of
water and left with ~60 gallons.
****Poly High Tea****
Poly High Tea continues to be an AMAZING Playa event. Each day we seemed
to gain more and more of a crowd. I think there were at least 40 people
per day from ALL walks of life, of
ALL AGES. I give multiple thanks to all who facilitated and
attended Tea each day. Any and all people involved with this event should be
very proud. It was awesome to see some new people taking the lead facilitator
role. I hope that some of our own campers got involved in the discussions.
Other than the sound of a passerby Art Cars, we had AWESOME neighbors for
keeping the sound at tolerable levels. .
I thought the new time for PHT
1p-3p made it a much better
event. One of the main reasons we changed the event time from '05 was to
allow Community Dinner to run a lot smoother and allow our own campers to eat
instead of feeding the Playa. The new time worked out well, I think it
should be set at 1p-3p for '07 as well.
****Perfect Place for Poly Play****
The Playa tent worked well, though I do admit I fell way short in providing some
kind of signage that directed you to where it was within the camp. It
looked like ever other tent. I thank StrokeGreg for camping next to the
structure and for running some lights to illuminate the Playa Space.
I hope you had the opportunity to use this space, that is if you knew where it
was.
I ran out of time Pre-Playa in getting the
Perfect Place for Poly Play sign working again after it took some damage
from the strong winds of '05. I will set aside some time this year to
make any repairs necessary. It would make it
easier to find during the night hours by using some glow sticks to make a
pathway.
***Greater Intimacy Thru Hypnosis***
One of the things I enjoy most about the Playa and especially as Camp Daddy is
to watch other people, my friends, my Good Friends take their own lead role in
something Playa or even better for me in something PolyParadise. I get
chills up my spine when I see someone blossom into a leader or get the accolades
they so deserve.
Congratulations HypnoBurn for coming up with a Playa Event WINNER!!!
You had the joint packed with folks, all clamoring on your every word.
You were worried NO ONE would show up - Hah!!! I Say!! Plan It,
Build It and they will come!! I am so happy that the event worked out
better than you ever could have imagined.
There were so many folks that came by to seek you out and have a private
session!! Congratulations!!! I hope you intend to run this event again in
'07. Again...Job Well Done!!!
***Mind Melt****
BrotherLuv...You introduced me to the
Mind-Gear
device on the Playa in '05. Right after we got home I bought one for
myself and have been using it ever since. I am so glad that you not only
decided to camp with us this year, but that we were able to provide a space for
this event to blossom. I would say we had about 10 people per night try
out the Lights & Sound. Very awesome!!!
I do hope that in '07 you will again camp with us and help make this
event even better.
With the additional 20'x20' shade structure specifically
for our Playa Events we can have a more open and conducive atmosphere for this
event. A pair of my Light Glasses took a beating and do need to be
replaced. BrotherLuv and I were talking about purchasing additional
Headphones & Glasses to increase the number of folks that can participate at
once, as the shared experience appears to add to the total illusory images.
****Poly Shower****
The Community shower worked well again this year.
The structure
has held up quite nicely over the past 2 years. The 2-yr old Propane
Shower did not have the push ignition the newer model did and may not have been
used all that much
I had not rigged a true curtain again this year, but
as more and more people requested one, I fashioned one. For '07, we will
have a regular shower curtain installed.
I guess I should ask...Is anyone using the Propane portion of the shower?
If so I will purchase another one, but if the consensus is it is not being used,
there are cheaper battery powered alternatives. What say you?
Thanks to Cactusman for securing a new bottom lining
for the shower. This extra heavy lining had no leaks and worked awesome.
The pump I purchased did not work as intended to move the water from the Shower
to the Evapotron. TailFeather used a pump he had to assist in moving the
water from one place to another.
In the
Water Reclamation Year Review
submitted by Tailfeather
he
points to a few areas that should be addressed.
Have the shower only with 1 shower unit. I guess I should ask...If
in fact there were 2 working showers would they be used together, like
shower with a friend? Or is showering more of an individual endeavor?
What say you?
I do not see a problem in building a raised bottom for the entire 8'x8' bottom
of the shower structure so that the water could be transferred by gravity.
Will have to work on that one.
****Gray Water Reclamation - The Evapotron 2.0****
More thanks than I could express goes to Tailfeather!!! For stepping up
and running with the Grey Water issue. It is a tireless job, one of those
Dirty Jobs on the Playa. You were always there with an encouraging
word, a helping hand and a smile. I was sad that you had to spend a few
days off-playa, but I was sure glad to see you when you came back. Please
peruse the Water Reclamation Year Review
submitted by Tailfeather. HATS OFF
TO TAILFEATHER!!!...
Thanks as well to everyone who helped throughout the week hauling water from the
kitchen to the Evapotron. Your efforts were did not go unnoticed.
There were some additional points you raised in your
Evapotron Report, most of them are fundamental design issues that you would need
to work out. I do hope that both you & Sundancer will be camping with
PolyParadise in '07 and together we can take this awesome idea...The EVAPOTRON
to the next level of greatness. Please let me know anything I can do to
help you in this process.
****Generator Power****
There is no doubt that you get what you pay for when it comes to a generator.
In previous years the generators we brought to the Playa were not only
LOUD but
also prone to breakdowns and just plain not working. Part of the funds
from '05 went to purchase a new Honda EU3000. The cost was
$2000,
and well worth every penny. The generator was not only as quiet as
advertised, there were no problems whatsoever. It was very awesome to have
continuous reliable power throughout the week.
For '07, we will be purchasing additional electrical cords
and Power Strips and have a dedicated place within the community space for
people to charge their electronic equipment.
****AZBurner Pot Luck****
The AZBurner Pot Luck Party on Wednesday was a
SMASHING SUCCESS!!!
We had 200+ people hanging out, eating, drinking and having a
GREAT
TIME for well over 2 hours. I thank all of you that contributed some
Food-Stuff to the Pot Luck and helped clean up afterwards. I hope you all
had an AMAZING time hanging out with all of our
Arizona Friends.
Of course there was additional surprises at the party as we not only had the
Burning Man Band come through our space, but of course the surprise Hand Fasting
that I had planned for WildChild. I thank everyone who was 'In the Know'
who kept it secret. I could not have asked for a better family to share it
all with...THANK YOU!!!!
****Early Arrival & Exodus****
Early Arrival
- WildChild & I arrive On-Playa on Thursday as we have other Playa
responsibilities to attend to. Friday we took the better part of a day and
emptied the truck. Saturday we spent time laying out & assembling all of
the pipe for the shade structures. Sunday was an awesome ERECTING day with
the arrivals of TailFeather, BrotherLuv, Staggger, HypnoBurn, Foxygoddess,
Scott, Capt'n Al, Robin & Tamarra. We had nine early arrivals,
which was our limit per BMORG. We got the shade structures up, lighting &
cammo net sides & carpeted. You guys were AWESOME!!!! Thank
YOU so very much for all your hard work. TailFeather took to setting up
the Evapotron & the shower and we were getting it together. By Monday we
had the kitchen together and all was great as the masses of the rest of camp
started to arrive.
I presume that for '07 we will have the same allotment of folks that can be on
the early arrival list. We will work the details out in the coming months
as to whom will be on the early arrival list.
The Sunday arrival schedule worked great and will be what we plan for in '07.
WildChild & I will have the major structures in place ready for erecting on
Sunday.
As Camp Daddy and the Bringer of the STUFF, I already know that
MONDAY
will be a
12-hour BLITZKRIEG of work. It is not my desire to start to
dismantle part of the camp on Sunday, to make the work on
Monday
any lighter. What I would like is for folks who Camp with us be prepared to
postpone their departure until later Monday Afternoon and be available to help
in the MASSIVE effort it takes to
PACK IT ALL OUT!!!
Thanks to Trouble, FoxyGoddess, Stagger, HypnoBurn, Scott, Tree, Parrot,
StrokeGreg & Gaia for staying on
Monday and helping with teardown. It
is a blitzkrieg of a day no matter what, but with your help we got it all packed
away in record time. THANK YOU ALL!!! Both
WildChild &
I appreciate your efforts.
General LNT efforts for PolyParadise as a whole were amazing.
I noticed a much better attention to LNT DETAIL this year.
As in previous years we need to do
better at encouraging everyone to be better planned for that last minute Gray
Water and plan on taking it home with you, or scraping the top layer of Playa
and taking that home in the same 5-Gallon bucket.
***Scotto Speak****
Parrot recently posted on PolyBurn...."And You dear man - every time I
read one of your posts, I seem to "hear" it in your voice. Me-thinks your
personality has become as much a part of the Burning Man experience (for me) as
the playa itself."
Thank you so very much my friend...You are seeing the truth. As I said in
my soliloquy on Wednesday
But it is my Beautiful Life and you are all my family. But how did I get here,
what a long strange trip it’s been… I stand before you a Burner, I stand before
you a complete person. I said I AM A BURNER!!! How powerful is that? For me
being a Burner is the greatest ascension I have made in my life.
"Being a Burner has given me all of YOU!! AZBurners, PolyParadise, San Diego,
Orange County, Vegas and the Playa. It has allowed me to showcase my web design
talents (AZBurners, PolyParadise, Radio-Electra, Toast-Rangers, SPOTS &
BRCellular), be part of the Burning Man Web Team, After Burn QA Team, Extranet
Liaison, Camp Daddy, Sugar Daddy, Shangri-La Village Mayor, Bi Regional,
Tri-Regional, Greeter, Lead Greeter, Station Manager and if the powers that be
see fit I will serve as Co-Regional for Arizona with Gary! I do all these things
from my HEART, the love you all share with me makes these things gifts of Love,
not work.
Over the past 7 years we have all grown up together, we have seen each other at
our worst and at our best and I am here to proclaim…I have ARRIVED!!!"
I LOVE THIS STUFF!!!
I hope
that each one of you had the MOST AWESOME TIME EVER!!! I hope that your
experience with PolyParadise was so AMAZING that you will consider camping with
us again....
'06 marked my
5th year as Camp Daddy, the second year I got to
share it all with WildChild. As you know we are already planning for '07,
and soon it will be time to take out the Kitchen gear and attempt to de-playa
them, but we all know that Everything you take to Burning Man including
yourself...Will never be the same!!!
Thank you
WildChild ,
thank you for believing in me and thank you for believing in PolyParadise.
This is as much a success of mine as it is yours...Be proud of what we
accomplished!
Again, it has been my pleasure and honor to be your Camp Daddy. Each year brings
a different set of challenges, a different set of lessons to be had & learned or
stumbled upon, you just never know what the Playa will bring....
I was very impressed as everyone that camped with us took an active role in the
events and was very willing to take on tasks that I needed done. YOU ALL made
the Camp run smoothly and for that you should give yourselves a scattering of
applause...
Any other subjects or issues need to be discussed?
I hope through the next few months this this group will ride the wave of energy
that has been given unto us from the Playa and be a bit more vocal and keep more
in touch throughout the coming year...
326 days left till Burning Man!! - August 27 - September 3, 2007
look forward to hearing from you...
FILL MY INBOX!!!...PLEASE...
Scotto
Camp Daddy