What Worked 2006 PolyParadise

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.

****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
- Benevolent Dictator PolyParadise
- Burning Man Lifer/Geek/Zealot

****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
- Benevolent Dictator PolyParadise
- Burning Man Lifer/Geek/Zealot

PolyParadise What Worked - 2006