Thanks. I’m dealing entirely with third-hand information here…
I don’t seem to use my own camera out there, since I’m living in the moment the whole time, and there are enough other cameras to get those pictures.
I enjoy the opportunity to help out when I see a group of people, one of whom is taking a photo of the others. I offer to take the picture so they can all be in it. Then I notice that when I look through the viewfinder, it’s going to be an incredible shot, always. Sure, I’ll get that crescent moon to be in just the right spot.
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Of course, if you’re purchasing your package online (as I presume most overseas folks are), said buttmunch can quite simply use ANY NAME THEY WANT, and you’d never know.
After 3 AWESOME experiences at B.M. here is my conclusion:
and:
Mmm… yes and no. My daughter and I came in with our van, and left with two plastic grocery bags of trash. Probably 1/3 of it was MOOP we picked up and stuffed in our pockets.
I would think it would reduce the risk of that some if they don’t buy from folks that are unknown or that have a bad reputation. You get involved in the community BEFORE you hand over the money. Joining a camp shouldn’t just be about shelling out some cash and letting someone else handle everything like they’re your personal shopper and you just show up and consume. That kind of festival runs best off more of a true community kind of spirit. It’s not the kind of thing you buy a ticket and just do that one week. It’s not like a concert you just buy a ticket and come watch. It’s something you participate in. You don’t just go to Burning Man that one week of the year. You’re a citizen of Burning Man all year leading up to it. You spend months getting ready, becoming involved with the people, spending lots of time in online forums about it, you get to know who’s more likely to be a real part of the community that you can be more likely to trust and who’s just in it for the money or an out and out scammer. You interact on posts and threads with these folks and you can tell who’s for real and who’s truly all about it and who is well-respected in the community. You build long-distance relationships with other participants. And those are the folks you trust to handle your arrangements. You don’t throw in with the folks you’ve never heard of or seen participating actively in the community or who aren’t well-liked and respected in the community. You’ll get to know other folks who’ve let that guy make their arrangements in past years and be able to trust them and their vouching that he did a good job or he was sketchy or whatever. If you get really involved like that, yeah, some scammers may still slip through and be able to fake their way into making community members trust them, but it’s a LOT tougher for them.
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Of course, that’s the ideal. But the popularity of burning man has made it such that it’s become a “cool” thing to want to go to, so there are always going to be people who think “Damn, I wanna go to that. What’s the easiest way for me to get there?” - and that’s who these scammers are going to catch every time. It’s strictly a numbers game, really.
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Yeah! How dare they mention something that’s been mentioned before! By golly, you will be the… sixth… person to call them on it!
That comment thread covers a lot of ground! I’m given to understand that"plug and play" camps have been around for a while, they’re controversial, and a board member runs one for fun and profit. So much for “no spectators”!. If an attendee isn’t expected to pitch their own tent, how can they be expected to patrol their own moop?
“What happens on the playa, comes back to haunt you for another year”. Maybe this should be added to the 10 principles.
I think MOOP focuses a burner’s attention on the fact that the site is supposed to be “pristine” after the festival, not merely clean. It’s a higher standard.
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