hi everyone,

first off a huge big thanks to everyone for all the hard work, especially to the load-in and set-up crews and the strike and load-out crews. those folks put in *days* of solid work, often under challenging conditions, so much gratitude. also thanks to all our cooks - the food this year was incredible, a huge improvement from last year. and having a kitchen dome was fantastic.

for next year, i would definitely like to be involved in the organization of camp again. i have worked with other groups where there is a greater division of labor in putting together events and this seems to be an effective and more sustainable way to organize people. when a huge burden falls on the shoulders of a few, burnout is more likely to occur and it is more difficult to pass on the knowledge gained only through experience. the organizational model that i have worked with in the past includes one or two main leads/coordinators and then several area leads, each of whom has their crew of volunteers. off the top of my head in no particular order, for contact camp the area leads might be (1) infrastructure, camp layout, building (2) food buying, kitchen, cooks (3) work shift coordinator, crew manager (4) workshop/classes coordinator (5) load-in/transportation (6) strike/load-out (7) storage/camp property (8) special events. the main coordinator(s) could handle budget, registration, timelines/scheduling, and communications between leads and the greater contact community. i'm sure there's other stuff to think about here, but the general idea is just to spread the burden out in clearly defined areas with one or two people taking responsibility for coordinating and bringing it all together. of course, this model only works when there are enough folks wiling to take on that level of commitment and responsibility. who is up for it?? i am...

another approach might be to be less ambitious in what we are providing. for example, having a kitchen and community dinner every night is fantastic, but requires a lot more in terms of time, effort and money. how would it be if we each fended for ourselves in that respect? or, is having community meals important enough that we are willing to do what it takes to make it happen? are there other ways in which we could be less ambitious and if so, what are we willing to let go of and what do we absolutely want to keep?

anyway, those are just some thoughts. would love to hear what others are thinking.

by the way, i am not really on here. i swear. you're just imagining i am. if you want to contact me directly, it would be better to email me at lumagoo <at> gmail <dot> com

lauralu

Carrie just told me yesterday that she is into helping again at about the level she was at this year,

Sam (who did infrastructure in 2006) is interested for 2008 (don't take that as a commitment, yet, though).

I could see myself doing workshop/event coordination if winter roles around and it looks like i will be going again in 2008.

K

Thanks to all who make contact camp such a great place to be in BRC, and thanks to Karl for spearheading and holding it together so constantly through it all.
This was my first burning man though I have been involved in organising and participating in many similar sized camps os contact village (60+people) in the UK.
Some of the positives for me were;
1. the food - Amazing job carrie. I love the community and care that sharing food offers. Having a meal a day together made the camp gell together in my experience. Real community gathers in kitchens.
2. The pack in and pack out teams. Arriving to a set up samp on the Monday was amazing. Being part of the pack out team was a real special bonus for me - time to be and share and journey together. We had an extra 6 days in total being part of the 'tribe' and some great times on the road, lakes, rivers and hotsprings.
3. The bus and the kit. - Gathering a working set of kit takes time and effort. I loved the spaces set up by the camp and really valued the parachute to camp under.
4. The fridge!

Breaking the jobs up to manageable portions is quite important Morpheus I agree, but too many heads can lead to communication breakdown! 3 team leaders or perhaps 5 at most is feasable, ore than that and problems uccur to frequently in my experience.

I hope that the camp will return next year, and I would love to travel again to BM 2008 and be a part of set up / strike down.
Such a great adventure,

Cheers, Eight