The season of the burn is here; Burning Man, that is. The Burning Man Festival, which is held the week prior to the Labor Day holiday, was originally created to commemorate the fall equinox (September 22) and to express renewal of purpose, mind and body. This was held in the Baker Beach area near San Francisco, California. Since 1986 it has grown and evolved.
CouchSurfing members organized a camp starting last year in 2007 with a CouchSurfing group devoted to the event. This year is the second consecutive year that the “CouchSurfing Camp” will be dedicated to the idea and practice of CouchSurfing, and a “The Mutant Sofa” will be the centerpiece of the camp. The camp offers much in the way of benefits to both the CS and the Burning Man communities. Community is a big part of both cultures, as is active participation.
The camp offers shade, refreshments, shelter and other community benefits, not only to its residents but to anyone who happens by as well. It’s also an opportunity to share the CS community, ethos and idea with thousands of participants who have potential couches. The real strength of any network is the number of people that employ it and although we are already a phenomenon, imagine what could be! The camp undertakes this mission with an intense plan of internal and external communications to guests and residents alike.
In charge of coordinating the camp activities this year is CS member Dave Breese, or “LamborghiniDave”. He is curently coordinating efforts from the UK. He has assembled a mutant crew to help as well. Chocolate Éclair, Katja Smirnov, kikielectique, Klaire Rueckert, Marc Watley, Rachael Fiori, Robbie Johnston, Toast, Glenn Caballero and Gadget are all are a part of “Team CSC” for 2008 and sweating out the details each day until the event. They maintain a BaseCamp website, Wiki, and BBS and plan just like large companies to ensure a great result.
LamborghiniDave has a position about many of the synergies between CS and Burning Man. “There is a fundamental value in human relationships that have a mutual need to better the world they live in. CS and Burning Man both are living examples of this. To give without expectation, to help with being requested or any expected reciprocation and to truly value someone else’s vision of their world is where our communities intersect.”
One large part of this effort is coordinating the participants. This year, like last, the camp grows and evolves. Limited space is available in Black Rock City. We had a premium location afforded to us last year and this is a big draw in a city that spans nearly 5 square miles. “Being close to the center of the action is very key”, states Gadget (Jonathan Lewis). “I bring WiFi and other tech services to the camp and this really helps. I also do not like walking too far for an espresso, thank you!” This year the camp will enjoy a similar centralized location at the intersection of Dart & 6:00. This is an even better and more ideal location than in the previous year. It is right behind the center camp area.
One large challenge is the ‘village within the city’ idea. The camp must be self-reliant when it comes to basic services, like sanitation, community meals, and safety. This falls upon the organizers and the residents as well. Waste water, trash, everything must be monitored and attended to. “CouchSurfers leave no trace!”, remarks Toast. A big part of the ideals of the festival is that the desert home will remain un-blemished from our activities.
This will not be a “virgin burn” for Princess Rachelina, who is an active CouchSurfing host in San Francisco, California. Fiori, known to her good friends and campmates as “Princess Rachelina”, says she is overjoyed to be in the same camp as a few of her CouchSurfing friends. Last year, unwilling to stop hosting even while traveling, Rachel provided a ride from San Francisco to Black Rock City for two Italian CouchSurfers. She also opened her home in Black Rock City for anyone that needed a place to stay during a cold desert night. Campo de Fiori tent space was available for surfing while my home base couch is not. "Feel free to surf on over to The Mutant Sofa or Campo de Fiori.” Some residents bring bigger means. Gadget has a 16’ travel trailer. “The 'Sin Shack' is notorious”, he laughs. “I think that all 10 Commandments have been broken in there and I think that was all at the same time!”
“The rewards taken away from the desert are so much greater than the investment that you make to get there”, says LamborghiniDave. “The positive aspects of couch surfing and of Burning Man can remain with a person for a lifetime. After the long hours planning this whole weeklong event, I feel like I have made a positive contribution and had an amazing journey too.” Gadget adds, “I feel like every time I host someone, not only am I meeting that person for the first time. I am creating a bond and a memory for them and for me for a lifetime. Although, living in Las Vegas, some of them are rather hazy!”
Burning Man today is a massive festival dedicated to art, radical self-reliance and radical self-expression. It will start on Monday, 25 August and will continue for an entire week. Last year’s event drew 48,000+ people from around the world. The art theme of this year’s event (it has a new theme each year) is “The American Dream”. A temporary city, called “Black Rock City”, is erected on a dry lakebed about 160 miles north of the city of Reno, Nevada for the event. Participants are required to take their own water, food and shelter to attend. The elements can be harsh but the freedom of expression the festival offers remains one of our nation’s largest, longest parties!
People of like mind often band together in camps. These did not take long to evolve into themed camps. There are theme camps dedicated to music, art, fire dancing, sexuality, you name it! Some are just for fun. LamborghiniDave mentions, “A CS member will no doubt be full of the energy of travel and the wonderment it brings. It eclipses money, danger and all sorts of things. CS members are adventurers and open-minded by nature. In this way there are so many parallels between our experience here and traveling as couch surfers around the planet.”
Neither the CouchSurfing Camp nor Burning Man is officially connected to or funded by CouchSurfing. However, Casey Fenton, co-founder of
CouchSurfing.com says the website was partly inspired by Burning Man and that “a large portion of the first members of CS were burners”. The name 'burners' refers to enthusiasts of the event. "These people created wildly individual and colorful profiles, setting the stage for the amazing collection of people that CS is now”, Casey adds.
The initiative to set up a CouchSurfing camp for the festival was born nowhere else but on the CouchSurfing website by enthusiastic CouchSurfing members. “There were several posts on the ‘Burning Man’ group calling for someone to take the lead on doing a CS camp. I decided to go ahead and put it together and take the summer off from school”, says James Lathrop, known to his campmates as Sofa King in Charge. “The only rule that I've stuck to from the beginning is that every single member of CouchSurfing camp is a member of CS.”
The CouchSurfing camp will host a topless meet and greet on Monday evening (opening night) of the event, with help from female residents without clothing. Yes, that’s right, topless. Remember the self-expression part? Participants and guests need not drop their tops but attendance is expected to be very good this year. 1000 invitations will go out Monday during the day. The camp plans are developing now for other events during the week.
For more information about the Burning Man event or the CouchSurfing Camp, you may visit these links:
Official Burning Man Website {
BurningMan.com}
Official CouchSurfing Camp Website (
CouchSurfingCamp.com}
Burning Man Group on CouchSurfing {
www.couchsurfing.com/group.html?gid=434}
By: Gadget {CS Id:Gadgeteer}
(with nods to Raminta for leading the way. Thanks.)
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Picture link "Building the Mutant Sofa"
i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb305/jameslathrop/Sofa%20Buildi...Posted August 1st, 2008 - 12:09 am by
Dave Breese from Leighton Buzzard, United Kingdom
