What Worked 2010 - PolyParadise Burning Man

Tuesday December 7, 2010

You all should be very proud of the Community you created & nurtured all week long. I thank you all for being part of the 12th Anniversary of PolyParadise. I offer my own observations and as always welcome Comments, Praises, Bitches & Roses for areas of your concern as campers that I have not addressed. Please post to our Yahoo Group, generate some chatter; let's get PSYCHED!!! 264 Days!!

****PolyParadise****

PolyParadise's population increased by 28 campers in 2010, to an On-Playa total of 168. Within our borders there was an additional 27 people; who did not use the camp infrastructure, who wanted to be part of us but separate, I know they all enjoyed their Playa Address. Total population 195.

We had 71 veteran campers return and 97 new campers and of that number 53 VIRGINS. I thank all of the returning campers for making PolyParadise your Playa home, I so depend on each & everyone of you in making our camp an amazing loving space. I hope that all of our Virgin campers have seen what Community really means, and I hope that you will all camp with us again.

I hope that everyone had an amazing time as a PolyParadise Resident.

Our 2010 Playa footprint gave us the necessary space to give each camper enough area to erect whatever infrastructure they brought to the Playa, enough space for our Community Shade/Kitchen, Event Space and Human Carcass Wash. As well as defined walkways thru camp that made getting from the ends of the camp to the Community Space easier. The Community Space, Serving Area & Kitchen was an INCREDIBLE space in both day light and at night.

PolyParadise continues to be a ‘Camp Drama Free Zone’, I mean everyone seems to get along, no assaults, no fisticuffs between campers.

I am so very lucky that over the years so many people have stepped up On-Playa to get things done. I have often said; within camp I have a Hypnotherapist (Hypno), a real life Rocket Scientist (Twist) and a true to life MacGyver (Tailfeather) and a Garbage Man (Stagger). If something goes wrong On-Playa and they cannot fix what is wrong, then we just do not need it, and can do without it. Thank you's many times over to the four (4) of you!!!

We did have our fair share of Camper Medical issues that necessitated the calling of Rangers & EMT services. Most of the incidents were for dehydration, I cannot stress enough the necessity of drinking enough water. Other calls were related to persons ingesting 'Baked Goods'. It is not enough to know your pharmacist, but it is also important for you to know your own limits. Start out with smaller portions, you can always ask for more...Enough said...

A special Callout to all Rangers & Medical Staff that cared for campers of PolyParadise and all Playa Citizens. Your dedication and sharing of your heart and skills is a real gift to our Community and I thank you so much.

Congratulations & Kudos to Sista Turtle Dove & Camber for becoming Rangers at Thursday's pinning ceremony. We all appreciate your effort & service to the greater good of the Playa Citizenry, know we are proud of you both. ****Playa Location**** Our Theme Camp Registration did not specify a Playa location preference as much as size allocation. I was very pleased with our Playa footprint & location. Our location @ 4:15 & Edinburg was ideal, a stones throw away from our 2009 address. We had great neighbors whom we shared with all week. We had awesome foot traffic in our Community Space and incredible attendance at all of our camp events. I would certainly be in favor of being given the same Playa Location for 2011.

What were your impressions of 4:15 & Edinburg to Florence -

****Kitchen & Stuff****

In 2010 PolyParadise continued with the Community related ‘Requirement’ that was to be part of the daily cleanup or cooking & sharing a meal. The Community Kitchen was an awesome success! Thanks so much to Hypnoburn and all of his helpers that maintained the kitchen all week long.

The kitchen & serving areas encompassed a full 40'x40' and allowed for a much larger prep area and better ingress & egress into and out of the kitchen area. With the addition of four (4) more 3-Burner Cast Iron stoves, we had plenty of cooking surface area.

We had plenty of snacks for everyone, and all seemed satisfied with the selections available.

Thanks to everyone that took the time & effort to create some awesome meals all week long. There were so many great courses served each day. Thanks to everyone who assisted with Trash Can Pizza & Trash Can Turkey!!! Thanks to everyone who cleaned up, picked up, MOOPED up.

Dishwashing and keeping the Pots/Pans washed and available for the next person was much better this year as some campers used this option as their contribution to the camp. Thank you everyone who washed dishes!!!

Was disappointed that the 2010 MOOP MAP showed our camp area with two RED areas. Not sure what is what with that as we had several people stay until Tuesday to clean our camp site. An overlay of the Playa gives a better view; it would appear that the areas correspond to the Event Space and an area adjacent to the Poly Dome. I do hope that the 'Powers That Be' provide feedback as to what made those areas RED so that we can do better in 2011. Regardless of what the MOOP Map says; Thank you to everybody that helped all week long and to those that stayed for teardown and beyond...You guys ROCK for making those last sweeps through our space.

We do need to better enclose the kitchen area to make it a bit more windproof so the burners on the stoves stay lit. I have considered purchasing an Army Tent (16'x30') it weighs in @ 450lbs and a shipped cost of $1600, and of course is one more structure we need to put up & take down. I think worth trying is rotating the two structures (Kitchen/Serving Area & Community Space) so that the straight edge meets instead of the peak. Using tarps to 'Wall Off' 20' (10' on either side), having a 20' opening (in the middle) between the two structures to better manage wind thru the kitchen.

We need to purchase several sets of oven mitts for moving hot pots & pans on and off the stoves.

During the annual Work-Party in March as we clean the kitchen stuff we need to get rid of unneeded items as we seem to have accumulated multitudes of several items, redundancy is not always a good thing.

It is incredible how many disposable plates we went thru, by Saturday morning we were close to running out; regardless I am convinced that going the disposable route is better than having regular tableware - having to constantly clean dishes & silverware. Note: For Burning Man Shopping Day - Buy LOTS More Plates & Bowls.

The Dish Washing area either needs to be covered and or shaded or located in the main kitchen area so people are not out in the sun getting a Tan/Burn while doing dishes.

The structures for the kitchen consist of four (4) 20'x20's - These structures need to be transformed into two (2) 20'x40's to reduce the number of poles in the middle of that space. Additional fittings, poles & tarps will need to be purchased.

With regards to Syrup - We had many campers volunteer to make pancakes/waffles or things that needed syrup. The food items were delicious & tasty but each person brought their own supply of syrup, which means we have lots & lots of syrup. We now have enough syrup for pancakes/waffles to feed several armies. So if you plan to cook Pancakes/Waffles for 2011 WE HAVE SYRUP, no need to bring anymore.

Having the Menu & Volunteer list printed in a 3'x5' poster size board displayed in the Kitchen was awesome, it let everyone know what was going to be cooked at each meal and who volunteered for what events. Of course did not plan for the rain, it was interesting to see how the poster board curled and distorted after getting wet.

Thanks so much to Stagger for heading up the Trash area and to everyone that assisted in bagging, tagging & tapping up trash. More importantly, thanks to all of you for taking some trash home. We generate this trash as a camp, we need to deal with its removal from the Playa as a Community. Because of your efforts and commitment and Love of Community Trash…We transported ZERO bags of trash off the Playa in the truck. We did have 5 buckets of general slop, generator oil, left over food stuff slop, the remnants of many a thing on the Playa.

Thanks again go to Twist for the Dishwashing Station. A marvelous portable double sink with drain…A great design; easy setup and durable enough to last another Playa Year.

****Community Meals****

In 2010 PolyParadise had a Community related ‘Requirement’ that was to be part of the daily cleanup or cooking & sharing a meal. The meals and the variety of all things cooked was amazing!!!! There was never a want for food, there was always choices.

Special callout to everyone that assisted in the creation of Trash Can Pizza on Tuesday, Of course to UncleBob for coming up with this crazy idea. Thanks to for everyone that assisted with Trash Can Turkey and a HUGE Thanks to Trevor, Hypno & Mr. Bird for jumping right in and carving up all 4 turkeys while an anxious crowd awaited food…Amazing!!!

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. For when we share a meal and break bread together we grow from just being friends to being FAMILY!