Saturday December 31, 2022
Each year this is my space as Benevolent Dictator to reflect on the year that was in Black Rock City ala The Village of PolyParadise. To take a look at what we did right and what we did wrong; how the changes we instituted from the previous year worked out and what we might do to improve in 2023. This was the 24th year of PolyParadise; There is no doubt that it gets better & better each year.
You all should be very proud of the Community you created & nurtured all Year/Week long. I thank you all for being part of the 24th ANNIVERSARY of the Village 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 or to our Facebook Page - generate some chatter; let's get PSYCHED!!! 238 Days!!!
****PolyParadise****
The total population of the PolyParadise On-Playa was 270 Campers. We thank the Twisted Swan & The Temple of Bacchus for being part of our Village; adding in their 60 Campers we had a total of 330 Campers within the Village - WOW!!!!!
We had 130 veteran campers return and 140 new campers and of that number 79 were Burning Man 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. Thank you to the 69 International campers from (Australia, Belize, Canada, England, France, Germany, Israel, Latvia, Mexico, New Zealand, Singapore, Sweden, Switzerland).
We did end 2022 with a negative balance of $1,280. The deficit was incurred by the 2nd Truck Rental & increased cost of fuel.
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 and that everyone had an amazing time as a Village of PolyParadise Resident.
This was the first year that Placement allowed us to be put on contact with our neighbor camps a few weeks prior to BRC landfall. We had a few discussions via email & Zoom between our neighbor camp leaders. I was interested in being able to share the dimensions of the Service roads on each side. All camps agreed that they would be able to share said space - but when we got on-playa the camps on either side of our Playa location had containers already delivered and those containers were already placed right on the line between our two camps. Because of that we were required to allocate all of the space for the service roads from our own given dimensions.
Our 2022 Playa dimensions was 350'x440'. We did not get linear straight lines between the E to F streets; we were given the same sqft space but a 60'x100' cutout on the 9:30/F side with the same 60'x100' space on the 9:00/F side.
The Twisted Swan & Temple of Bacchus were included within that allocated space; they were given a 60'x175' space with road frontage. Our space took shape from Day One (Tuesday Pre-Event) with Pin Flags being placed to create three (3) distinct RV Service Roads (On on each end and between PolyParadise & The Twisted Swan), from there within PolyParadise we did the best we could to create vertical rows of vehicles between Enigma to Fugue. This allowed us to create walkways thru camp that should have 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. No one acted like a 3-year old. So Thanks to all of YOU!!!
****Playa Location****
Each year BRC Placement continues to create unique neighborhoods with all placed Theme Camps & Villages. In 2022 we were mapped @ 9:15 Enigma to Fugue with the Twisted Swan & Temple of Bacchus as part of that allocated space. We were mid-block between 9:00 & 9:30. We again located the the Human Carcass Wash on the F-Street within the 60'x100' cutout space on the 9:00/F; we were able to create the a Bike parking area next to the Human Carcass Wash to keep the bikes out of the road.
We had awesome foot traffic in our Community Space and incredible attendance at all of our camp events. The Twisted Swan & Temple of Bacchus had awesome attendance @ their events - The BAR was well attended every night.
The Playa Map was altered for 2022 with the Double-Block (440' Deep) all the way from 10:00 to 2:00; that meant that the F-Street goes all the way around and did not stop where in previous years those limited double-blocks got in the way. I did not see any real issues in being @ 9:15 this year instead of our previous 8:15 spot. The 9:15 location was just as amazing with awesome neighbors.
For 2023 we will be asking for the same placement area & dimensions; but there are no guarantees - we get placed and given our Camp Dimensions and that is that; it is Burning Man we adapt.
What were your impressions of 9:15 - Enigma to Fugue -
****Community Space****
The Community Space was an amaizng space for campers to hang out - eat - converse and otherwise stay out of the Day Star influence. The front area between the Events shade structure and the long-arm of the Community space (40'x50') allows for a larger area for the Walkway - Village of PolyParadise UV-Light sign - Camp Signs - Bike Racks and Fire Pit.
The Fire Pit did not get used as much as anticipated; we transported back to Phoenix ~75% of the Firewood we brought. Unless there is large community request to have the Fire Pit; I am considering not bringing back the Fire Pit/Firewood for 2023.
The Popcorn Machine & Cotton Candy {Some call it 'Floss' - though we have a prior year PolyCamper names Floss}. My apologies that I could not find the VGA Cable to hook up the projector for late night movies; the reason the VGA cable could not be found was because it was in the ONE MILK CRATE that was in the PolyParadise Storage Area aka Scotto/WildChild's garage.
The space really kicked ass at night. The move a few years ago to using all Rope Light to light the Kitchen and Community space was amazing!! It gave off the just enough ambient light. There were a few stands of Rope Light that will need to be replaced.
Setting up (12) 20'x40's; all of our shade structures is quite the feat and requires not only a large commitment of time but also people power. In 2022 we purchased 250 18" Lag Screws as well as (6) Battery Operated Impact Drivers. Without a doubt this made the Erection/Teardown process so much EASIER & so much FASTER and way SAFER than using/pounding Rebar.
****Covid - Yeah Remember the Pandemic****
After a 2-Year hiatus in BRC due to the Covid Pandemic - After 2-Years of fierce debates & discussions with at times words/ideas that deeply divided us as PolyCampers as Burners and as Humans - we returned to BRC in 2022 with Covid still being a thing that required plans & contingencies.
On August 14, 2022 I posted the following Village of PolyParadise Covid Policy.
As far as what was brought to my attention while in BRC 2022 we had (4) campers that tested + for Covid. Two persons left BRC and two campers isolated away from others within camp. I am sure that there were additional campers within our borders that were Covid + that either did not know it or knew it but was not reported to me.
Post Playa there were several postings across multiple Social Media outlets of our own campers as well as the greater Playa Citizenry about testing Covid +. My presumption is that there was a 10%-15% positivity rate post Burning Man 2022; which was the same reported Covid + rate from Regional Events that were restarted in 2022 after being dormant in 2020-2021.
No one knows what the future holds for the spread of Covid or its variants or other air-borne viruses that might come to the forefront across the globe and how that might affect the future of the Gerlach Regional and or Global Local Regional events we all want to attend.
