PolyParadise What Worked - 2005
Thursday September 22, 2005
Well Burning Man, BRC, The Playa, Shangri-La Village & PolyParadise 2005 were
A
MAJOR SUCCESS!!!!
It is not just the journey On-Playa that defines our success but also the year
long journey that leads up to the Playa. All of the pitfalls, triumphs and
misadventures that happen along the way.
All the months of Planning, all of the
Flowcharts,
Diagrams,
Maps, Layouts,
Questionnaires,
Village Meetings &
Playa Prep
kinda go out the window once you leave your house and head to the
Playa for another year...
Just as BMORG does it's
AfterBurn Report,
so does PolyParadise, well so do I. A time when I can look back on
"What Went
Write & What Went Wrong" in PolyParadise & Shangri-La Village, 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....
****Shangri-La Village****
This was our 3rd year being part of Shangri-La Village. Being part of this group
of peeps has been an amazing experience, I hope that as a PolyParadise Residents
you had the opportunity to visit the other great camps within SLV.
My THANKS to the other 4 Mayors (SmokeBlower, Viagra, Jones & Fraggle) with
SPECIAL THANKS to Carl. The success
of this years SLV was accomplished with each of the 5 Mayors taking on some of
the Pre-Playa logistical arrangements as well as On-Playa responsibilities.
I cannot thank each of them enough for all the work & dedication they showed in
months of Prep work and long hours on Playa.
In past years post assessment's, I had continued to ask the PP populace if we
should continue to be part of SLV. In previous years the participation in those
discussions were less than ideal. There is NO discussion necessary post Playa
'05 as the commitment of PolyParadise shall remain a part of Shangri-La Village
as long as the Village is a viable entity on the Playa each year. The
combination of talents and just plain FUN of being part of Shangri-La Village is
now part of PolyParadise and PolyParadise is part of Shangri-La Village.
Of course, I also serve as a Village Mayor and On-Playa Contact for BMORG & SLV,
and if you were at the On-Playa Village Meeting on Thursday in the Purple Turtle
Lounge you witnessed my own COMING OUT as Bi!!!! That is Bi-Regional....Arizona
& San Diego/Orange County. I have so enjoyed making so many cross-regional
friendships and have enjoyed being part of many Regional Events in both locals.
Speaking of...
I hope to see you @ the
AZ Decompression
10/7-9 & the
SD/OC Decom - 10/21-23
****PolyParadise****
The number of PolyParadise Campers jumped from 50 in '04 to 73 in '05 at
final count....That is quite a LARGE increase in our population. In fact out of
the 73 folks who camped with us this year, only 15 were return campers.
That
is INCREDIBLE!!!! I had fought hard for us within the Village to have a
space allocation consistent with our growing population and from that end it
could not have worked out better. Our 200x225 space gave us all 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. In the future we will again ask for the same space allocation within
the Village.
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...
I wanted to thank EACH & EVERY PERSON who helped in securing ALL PP
Structures from the brutal effects of the wind. It is when we all come together
as a Community that we SHINE as Individuals & learn as a Group!!!
I hope that you all enjoyed the Ice Breaker Game that was set in motion for you
via the dual-sided PolyParadise Resident Tags. I hope that this provided you a
way to interact and get to know many of your fellow camp mates. I was present
for 5 of 7 Community Meals and made a concerted effort to make sure that the
necessary Camp Business was communicated and have a setting for us all to share
Bitches & Roses on a daily basis while On-Playa.
Look for a similar type of Ice Breaker next year!!!
****Playa Location****
As part of Shangri-La Village our Playa location is somewhat dictated by forces
outside of our control. As BMORG changed the Theme Camp locations throughout BRC
for 2005, thus Shangri-La Village & PolyParadise changed locations. We had been
asked early on to occupy the 4-Corner Area on not yet named streets on the
7:30 arm. SLV's projected size also dictated is eventual Playa address.
Personally I enjoyed our location within BRC. It allowed me to see much of the
8:00-10:00 area of which I had not explored in previous years. Though being
@
7:30 and the 8th street made it a
LONG walk to Center Camp for Coffee &
Ice...
I enjoyed our Playa neighbors, we could not have asked for better ones. Having
Comfort & Joy
across from us and their amazing Neon & Mylar interactive
exhibits was amazing as well as a beacon for returning home.
I have not heard anything from BMORG as to weather they felt the 2005 BRC Layout
changes accomplished their intended results or if the same layout will be
present in 2006. I had heard some rumblings from other Village Camps about our
location near the 'Back' of BRC, but when you look at the Camps within the
Village and their Playa Citizenry interactivity, there is NOT much we offer in
the way of entertainment and especially Nighttime enjoyment. I think that as
long as our Village remains 'Small Time' in its interactive activities we will
be asked and placed within the 'Back' areas of this Layout.
In a way it was nice to have a Porta Potty bank close to us and of course that
also made it a bit difficult or even downright smelly when the wind shifted just
right. I think we ended out with that bank of Potties @ 7:30/Gestalt because we
had the DPW Ghetto behind us, and well you know those DPW folks...LOL
It was an honor and pleasure to be on the 7:30 arm and have the two Lamp posts
lit each night by the graceful procession of the Lamplighters.
I thought we had GREAT neighbors as far as keeping the noise level down to a
dull roar during the peak times of Poly High Tea.
What were your impressions on being 7:30/Ego-Fetish?
****Kitchen & Stuff****
As it has been, as it was the Community Kitchen was a MASSIVE SUCCESS!!!
Thanks so much to
WiLdcHiLd,
DClynn and everyone else who helped setup and maintain the kitchen all week
long.
This was surely the
BEST year for the Community Menu!!! 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 personally spent less time this
year doing dishes as many of you stepped up and washed what was dirty. We
had a larger Dish Drying Rack available and with 70+ campers this came in handy.
We had plenty of snacks for everyone, and everyone all seemed satisfied with the
selections available. Look for the same fair next year...
Camp
Scotto/WiLdcHiLd
never materialized as our tents laid waste to Mondays powerful winds. It
became necessary to store our PERSONAL COOLERS in the
BACK OF THE
KITCHEN AREA. I was continually
AMAZED that people would
peruse, use & abuse the contents of what was CLEARY SOMEONE'S PERSONAL COOLER
AND NOT COMMUNITY PROPERTY!
The standup garbage receptacles continued to help in managing our garbage
situation and again my thanks go out to Kingsley for being our
'Czar de
Garbage'.
Though I do think we might be better off with
3 Full
Size Garbage Cans as the current trash receptacle is lower in height then is
required for the trash bags as well as the amount of garbage generated.
I appreciated everyone's willingness to take some Community
Trash home with them. This small act is so very valuable as you may have seen
there were in excess of 35+ bags of garbage plus all the white buckets....Having
to haul it all out myself is just not preferable...again
Thank YOU very much...
Having a Full stocked
First Aid Kit was invaluable
as several of us including myself had minor cuts and scrapes that required
medical attention. Having a First Aid Kit in camp will continue to
be a priority.
****Community Meals****
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 Cobb Salad by DcLynn & Costello was a great start to the week...
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.
Wednesday's
AZBurner Pot Luck was an amazing array of food and
drink...Thanks to all who hung out and partied.
Thursday's
Feast by Haven House was AMAZINGLY DELICIOUS!!! Thank
you all for sharing with us.
Friday's, Beef & Chicken Stir fry by
WiLdcHiLd
& myself was very awesome if I do say so myself. I hope you all enjoyed it
too...
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, I think next year calls for
more Bacon and Hash browns, but someone needs to bring eggs.
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!
****Human Carcass Wash****
The HCW is a
BRC STAPLE, in fact it is the reason that many of you
decided to camp with us. You either heard of or participated in the HCW in
previous years and could see how awesome this event is to be in and help run.
I hope all of you that helped with the daily running of the event found it fun
and enjoyable, and of course that you were not worked so hard that your
participation & help for next year is in jeopardy.
I would estimate that there were ~200+ people per day that enjoyed the
HCW. MY HATS OFF to all of you that ran the event each day!!!!
AMAZING JOB!!!!! This year the HCW was housed in a
20'x30' Shade Structure
that appeared to work quite well in containing the area of the HCW and keep the
attendees out of the sun. Thank you for all the attention to Setup &
Cleanup Pre & Post event.
I think one area we can do better on next year is to have
the HCW event Structure set back ~20ft from the road way. This would allow
the multitudes of bicycles and bodies to flow easier and allow the road to
remain open for Art Car Traffic. I think this setback will also minimize
the Passerby Look and of course the Picture Takers.
The NO CAMERA ZONE signs seemed to work some, though having them @ ground
level seemed to negate their impact.
In the future The NO CAMERA ZONE Signs need to be
suspended from the Shade Structure for better visibility.
As certain incidents & altercations occurred this year with our ENFORCEMENT of
the NO CAMERA ZONE area, we need to take a
NEW
LOOK at this issue.
In the Future if someone is determined to take a picture of the Human Carcass
Wash even at the behest of our signs and our LOUD WARNINGS we will NOT FORCE THE
ISSUE WITH ANYTHING MORE THAN A VERBAL REPRIMAND, AT NO TIME SHOULD PHYSICAL
FORCE OR THREAT THEREOF BE USED TO MAINTAIN THE NO CAMERA ZONE AREA.
We did VERY well on water this year...With all the donations from our campers
and Playa Citizenry, We left
the Playa with (4) 5-Gallon containers of water. I brought
120 Gallons of
water and left with ~40 gallons.
****Poly High Tea****
It is awesome as Lifestyle adventure's that we can share our trails &
tribulations on the Road of Poly an the
Road of Open Relationships
with Poly High Tea. This year the PHT attracted ~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.
Other than the sound of a passerby Art Cars, we had AWESOME neighbors for
keeping the sound at tolerable levels. .
There has been some conversation about possibly changing
the time of PHT. The hustle & bustle of creating a Community Dinner has
its overflow into the dynamics of the group discussion. In addition as the
end of PHT coincides with the Dinner Bell we had MANY MANY folks from the Group
Discussion getting right in line for food. Now I am not against feeding
and or helping Playa travelers out while they are in our Camp, but I want to
make sure that our own Campers get served first.
Should Poly High Tea be a 2-Hour event? Instead of 1.5 hours? The
discussions always seem to run long anyway?
As a 2-Hour Event, would 1p-3p be an acceptable time? Would this time
change create problems for our own Facilitators? Would a change in time
for PHT cause confusion of Playa Citizenry as it has been 4:30-6:00 for the past
6 years?
****Perfect Place for Poly Play****
What can be said...The PPPP was supposed to be this
AWESOME space
decorated with Lace, lit by Glowsticks...It was to fabulous, a place to
PLAY!!!
That just did not work out. The 10'x20' Tent this was supposed to be got
laid to WASTE on
Monday's WIND FURY!!! I felt
VERY VERY BAD
that I was unable to deliver a place for all of you folks to PLAY! Heck I
was even hoping to get to use the space myself....
I thank FoxyGoddess and others who helped resurrect the tent later in the
week. I did expect the Tent to have way more structural integrity than it
did, but as I later found out it was 'Made in America'...LOL Seriously, I
have been more and more disappointed with the quality of all products and
services I purchase regardless of its assembly geography...Ya know what I
mean...
We will obviously need to come up with some alternatives for a
NEW PPPP
space. Maybe it is time to look at Domes, if anyone has any leads, please
speak up. So if PolyParadise is going to have a sexually permissive & pervasive space out
of the wind, protected from the dust we will need to come up with some other
ideas, structures or what have you to facilitate that end for '06.
****Poly Shower****
To say the
PolyParadise Shower was a success
would be partially true.
It would be my estimate that ~200 showers were taken during the week.
The structure itself was a resounding success, and a great improvement from
previous years. I had thought the semi-enclosed space out of the wind and
dust for the most part worked well, the Non-Skid standing area was a vast
improvement from last year, the Rug and Chairs in front of the shower added a
unique ambience and of course the Heated
Battery operated Shower...
I repeat
The Heated Battery operated Shower...
I do not think this model of Propane Powered Shower was designed with Burning
Man in mind and 200 showers in 7 days. The plastic tubing was not adequate
for the temperature of the water. The tubing was burned by an errant flame
when igniting the propane. The piece that worked the best was the water pump
that only needed the Batteries changed once during the week. In fact it worked so well that there was no cause to be water
efficient and use smaller amounts of water. The Shower produced in excess
of 400 Gallons (My estimate) of water to be treated by our water reclamation
project. The Evap area became more of a Water Collection area, as its depths
reached a few inches and evap was compromised.
In talks with Water Log, he was in favor of keeping the same shower design,
albeit with better equipment, in spite of the amount of grey water produced.
I have not as yet done any post Playa equipment assessment, so I do not know
in what shape the showers are in or if they can be salvaged. I will also
we looking for a Higher Capacity alternative.
The switch to
Pond Lining to frame the bottom
of the Water Collection area worked AMAZING, well worth the the added cost.
It was so good that when it was drained there was a drowned
mouse...
****Gender Ratio****
There was some Pre-Playa inquiries and some Post-Playa chatter about the
Gender Ratio in PolyParadise (Males to Females). PolyParadise has over the
years been a Camp of more Men then Women. Maybe us men should take
note of the comments, maybe they are some of the reasons women do not feel
comfortable camping or visiting us.
In general there is nothing that can be done about this tilted Ratio towards
Males, as we will not start to limit those that can camp with us based on
Gender, but again as Males we can heed the warning signs in front of us.
Comments
from women in our own Camp: I felt as though each male in Camp
tried his very best to 'Win' me as a prize.
Comments from women who visited our camp or whom
accompanied someone into camp: From the moment I entered PolyParadise
I felt like a piece of meat and felt sized
up and pounced upon.
To me, these comments seem more like things you would
find in a SWINGERS CAMP and NOT in POLYPARADISE! I am APPALLED & ASHAMED
and apologize to any and all female Campers or Visitors that felt they were
being sexually evaluated. In the future PREDATORY behavior should be
reported to ME and appropriate action will be taken.
****Community Space****
The 50'x20' Community space worked well for our needs, though it did sustain
some damage from the Winds of Monday.
There were (13) 10' emt conduit pieces that were
bent and will need to be replaced. If finances permit it would work to our
advantage to extend the Community area to 20'x60' which would give us more room
for PHT as well as room for PP Campers to eat and sit and chat. We added
20 more folks this year but did not increase the Common Space area.
****Generator Power****
As with every step forward some times, there seems to be two steps backward.
That seems to be our way with Generators. While the generator worked for
the first 4 days all was good, when Cactusman provided a generator as backup,
all was good. When that alternative went awry, my
Power Priority
was to the Water Reclamation project. The power borrowed for this
was from the FireStation and for that gift we thank them very much!!!
I felt very very bad that I was unable to provide continual power to the
Photo ID Station. I sincerely apologize to both Kinky & Indy. I
also realize that I relied on a LOUD generator to power an electric Coffee Pot.
The Coffee Pot worked great, the Generator did not.
Valuable lesson learned!!! You get the Generator you
pay for in reliability and noise output. PolyParadise will be looking to
purchase a
Honda EU3000
the most reliable portable generator I have come across. The cost of this
generator is ~$2000, ALL DONATIONS TO THIS CAUSE ARE GRACIOUSLY ACCEPTED!!!
****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.
Logistically we will need to re-arrange the Community
Kitchen space (Lay all tables end to end) so as not to create a bottle
neck in the distribution of food for so many people.
****Early Arrival & Exodus****
As you know it takes ~
3 Days to get all of the communal structures
up & operating On-Playa. As much as I would like additional help prior to
the start of the event, we are limited in the number of folks we can have arrive
prior to Sunday. If you know you will be able to
arrive On-Playa on Saturday prior to the event, I will need to know and
confirm with you by June 1st , 2006 at the latest, on a
First-Come-First--Serve basis with a limit of
3 persons.
Please note that you will be expected to WORK in getting your own Camp setup and
help in ANY WAY deemed necessary for HOWEVER LONG is deemed necessary. If
this is not within your travel plans, please do not even ask for Saturday
Arrival. There will be NO PLAYA ACCESS or admittance prior to
Saturday based on being part of PolyParadise or Shangri-La Village. You
may be able to gain early admittance through some additional
Playa Volunteerism
You are all also aware that ALL Community Structures are taken down in
1 Day, that
being Monday (Labor Day).
I cannot FORCE any of you to stay On-Playa until Monday. If in fact
you leave on Monday I cannot FORCE any of you to set aside a
portion of your day to help STRIKE the camp, but I would surely appreciate it.
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 some 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!!!
***What lessons have we learned being part of Shangri-La Village***
I hope that each of you had the opportunity to visit the other
GREAT CAMPS with
Shangri-La Village this year. My
HATS OFF TO -
FireStation
Camp Boy Toy
Kinky & Indy's Photo Booth
No Float Boat
Purple Turtle Play Asylum
Triplely's
Rainbow Connection
Shangri-Slums
Tattoo Station
I am so proud and honored
to have the fortune to have two Burner Families, in Arizona & California!!!
I am also relieved that my secret is OUT...I am Bi...Bi Regional
The current Mayorship of SLV will certainly change for 2006 as several peeps
will be moving on to other projects. Yours-Truly will be around the
Mayorship in one way or another. It is difficult for me to run things from
here in Arizona but I will serve in whatever capacity I can.
Being part of SLV allowed us to continue to share our Water Ecology.. A
La...Steve 'Water Log' Iddings...and the Water Reclamation area. Having the
definitive cutoff time for Gray Water being accepted worked to our advantage and
disadvantage. With the cutoff time established at the Village Meeting on
Thursday as 6pm on Sunday, Steve had a much better time of managing the last
batches of processing. Though it was then up to each camp and camper within the
Village to dispose of correctly any Gray Water generated until they left the
Playa.
HATS OFF TO WATER LOG...What was the final number of Gallons processed?
Steve your efforts to allow this water to be given to the Playa deserve much
applause, look forward to seeing what you come up with for next year. Thanks as
well to Steve for the awesome song about Water Ecology at the Village
Meeting on Thursday..."Conservation, Preservation...Guard Mother Earth...The
only way this will work is to spread the word"...A very catchy tune with an
awesome message...Look forward to seeing the Video...
I need YOUR Water!!!
General LNT efforts for PolyParadise and the Village as a whole were amazing.
I noticed a much better attention to LNT DETAIL this year form the Camps of SLV.
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.
Water Log & Foxygoddess were the last citizens of SLV as
WiLdcHiLd& I left @ 7p on Monday and as I was to
understand was going to do exactly that, scrape up some Playa, before he left
the following day. Steve...How much Playa did you end out taking home?
***Scotto Speak****
I cannot seem to get enough of this stuff!!!! I want more and I want it
NOW!!! With each passing year PolyParadise has grown in popularity with
its Playa events and with its awesome Playa Camping experience. 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....
'05 marked my
4th year as Camp Daddy, and I cannot get enough of this stuff!!!!
I want more and I want it NOW!!!
I had the most awesome time Creating, Running and Gloating about the camps
success with
WiLdcHiLd.
She is an awesome person, feeds off of this stuff too, can't get enough...She
wants More and she wants it NOW!!! Thank you
WiLdcHiLd,
thank you for believing in me and thank you for believing in PolyParadise.
it was my pleasure and honor to be your Camp Daddy. I had more fun at it
this year than I did last, worked just as hard and took on some Village roles as
well On-Playa. Even with all of that I took more time away from the Camp this
year than I have in the past, cause I knew there were awesome folks back in camp
taking care of what needed to be done with our Playa Events as well as taking
care of each other.
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...
339 days left till Burning Man!! -
August 28 - September 4, 2006
look forward to hearing from you...
FILL MY INBOX!!!...PLEASE...
Scotto
Camp Daddy