On October 1, 2024 the Trademark was issued for Volunteeratoldism from the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office to Scott Platsky. Not only did I CREATE a new WORD I have been awarded the Trademark for that word - WOW!!!

*** 2026 UPDATE ***
This will be the 4th year we experiment with a Community Based effort for ALL CAMPERS being assigned a Job/Shift across (Kitchen Management, Garbage, LNT, Ice).

In previous years I waited until ~August 1 to create the Assigned Job/Shifts-send the file to be printed on poster board; announce on the FB Group and post the board On-Playa.  This has worked with mixed results as not all campers are on the FB Group or log onto the PolyParadise FB Group or read my posts or do not know outside of the registration process to know you are being assigned a Job/Shift.

With that said I am changing how the Randomly Assigned Job/Shifts are announced.  The Job/Shift will be established at the time of Registration.  An immediate email will be sent with said assigned Job/Shift with an attachment of the instructions for all jobs. There will be reminder emails sent every 30 days between 3/1/26 & 7/16/26 | Then Every (2) Two weeks 7/16/26 to 8/16/26.

Let's see what happens...

BRC 2022 - Communities thrive by Participation; no wonder it is one of Burning Man’s Ten Principles. Your own share of the entirety of the workload as a camp member may come as a Lead, Volunteer or being Voluntold to any specific task. Having a vested interest in the success of said community creates pride & satisfaction.

Due to factors that are irrelevant to this consciousness of thought several of our long time leads (Kitchen Management, Garbage, LNT, Ice) have either stepped away from Burning Man and or their role as a lead. We are now @ a cross-roads to forge a new direction as we celebrate 25yrs in BRC.

Forward-looking thinking requires bold moves – it requires creating a unique word “Volunteeratoldism”™ and design a new paradigm. This new model will ensure that each day’s tasks are being attended to and everyone shares in the over-all effort it takes to create & maintain a community as large and as diverse as ours all week long. Adding an “ism” to a word indicates that the word represents a specific practice, system, or philosophy. That is exactly what we are creating a new way that the camp as a whole will be managed and operated.

During the registration process you were told that you would be randomly assigned a task; with several campers for each task/day the idea is that this new model will allow all the things each day get done – with many hands makes light work.

The randomly assigned tasks will center around Managing the Kitchen/Meal, Daily Ice Run, Managing and distribution of garbage, Leave No Trace. The schedule & detailed instructions will be printed on large poster board.

If you as an individual camper do your part on your assigned task/shift with other campers on your assigned task/shift, then all things will get done each day! Our success as a camp this year & moving forward is in the hands of all of you.

Download a PDF of all Instructions for Better Viewing