1. New Mudskipper Orientation 2016

2. Welcome to Mudskippers
The Ten Principles
Who We Are (and Not)
Sparkle Ponies
History
Camp Principles
MOOP, MOOP, MOOP
Participating as a ‘Skipper
What Do I Bring?
What About Showers?
Camp Fees
Drugs
Questions

3. The Ten Principles of Burning Man
Radical Inclusion
Gifting
Decommoditization
Radical Self Reliance
Radical Self-expression
Communal Effort
Civic Responsibility
Leaving No Trace
Participation
Immediacy

4. “I wasn’t prepared to wash my dishes and underestimated the community aspect of the Burn”
“Nobody told me to come prepared to give back in some way – be it in gifting (items or services) or just helping with the camp (setup, tear down). It would
be nice if everyone came with the expectation of giving, and not just receiving.”
Things Newbies Say
“I wish someone had told me to read the s. And, yes, that I should have rebar’d my tent more securely”
“I wasn’t prepared for the dust”
“Why did someone call me a sparkle pony?”

5. Don’t Be A Sparkle Pony

6. We Are A Theme Camp
We apply and are selected by BM.org based on the following criteria:
Camps should be visually stimulating, have an inviting design and a plan for bike parking and crowd management.
Camps must be interactive. They should include activities, events or services within their camps and they must be available to the entire Burning Man community.
Camps must be neighborly. This includes keeping sound within set limits, controlling where camp generators vent exhaust, and easily resolving any boundary disputes that arise.
Camps must have a good previous MOOP record (for returning camps).
Camps must follow safety protocols designed by the organization (this includes traffic management on the streets, proper handling of fuels, and any other areas defined by the organization’s production team including alternatives to RV lined streets).

7. History: Stepping From Water to Land
Founders Bart, Gabriel and Graham first attend in 1993
Gabriel: “The origins of my first year were that I asked Graham if he had any plans for Labor Day weekend, and he said he was planning to go out to the desert for this thing that someone in a cafe was talking about called Burning Man, which they were not really able to describe very well but which sounded interesting. So Graham, Bart, and I piled in my truck with a tent, some water, and some food to see what was this mysterious thing in the desert was all about. At that time there were no roads, and the whole event was about the size of center camp now.”

8. History: Stepping From Water to Land
Bart, Gabriel and Graham and other early gay Burners evolved their community into the huge collective village know as “Avalon Village” in a camp known as “UT” or “Uncharted Territories”
In 2009, Avalon Village broke into separate camps and Mudskipper’s Urban Café was born – So, like the Mudskipper taking its first step onto land from water, the cafe took its first step to being its own entity
The camp has grown to 70 campers in 2015
Check out more history of the Gayborhood and Mudskippers here

9. Our Principles: Just Do It
We are a participation theme camp
We are inclusive of all ‘Skippers and anyone visiting the camp
We respect each other and keep our eyes open for each other’s safety, health, and property
We step forward to add our sparkle and talent to the camp
We Leave No Trace and are ALWAYS MOOPING
We radically clean up after ourselves
We honor our commitments
We are responsible for our virgins
We don’t wait for someone else to do it
We help setup and/or break down the camp

10. We Are Not a Plug-and-Play Camp

11. How Do I Participate as a Skipper?
Sign up for a volunteer shift
Total 6 hours per Skipper for the week
Smoothie Café
Pretty Nail Salon
Coffee Appreciation
Belly Dancing
Portrait Studio
Late Night Chocolate Attack
Beauty Bar
Moose Knuckle and Camel Toe
Crack is Whack
Our your own event? Add your sparkle?

12. Here’s What Skippers Did Last Year

13. What Is MOOP?
MOOP is an acronym for “Matter Out of Place”, a convenient way of referring to anything that is not originally of the land on which our event takes place. So everything that wasn’t originally on or of the Black Rock Desert, no matter how small, is considered MOOP, and is to be removed as part of our Leave No Trace efforts. MOOP also includes grey water, and the particulates contained therein.

15. What Do I Need To Bring?
Remember, radical self reliance is a principle…Full List Here
Item
Why?
Ticket
There is nothing worse than getting all the way to the playa and forgetting your ticket and/or car pass
WATER
Even if you are on our water plan, bring a 5-gallon water jug to keep inside your tent
Water bottles / Camelback
Need an easy way to stay hydrated as you cruise around the playa
Sunscreen
Obviously you don't want to return to Babylon for skin grafting
Bicycle (with a basket if possible)
The essential transport for Black Rock City - bring a lock so that it won't disappear. Decorating your bike is also a good idea as when you leave crowded venues, it will be impossible to find your bike 90% of the time
Head Lamp
You will not be able to live w/o one - also can be used when riding bike at night
Goggles
There are great ones out there that are air tight and change shade with the lighting - there's nothing worse than being blinded in a wind storm
Gatorade or other electrolyte replenishing drink
For obvious reasons
All the alcohol you plan to drink
For beer, bring CANS. Easier to crush and port out. For liquor, plastic bottles. For wine, boxed works well. Also keeps broken glass to a minimum.
Extra car keys
Believe me, you don't want to get stuck on the playa with no car keys
Moist towelettes
Great for sponge baths (some people use all week instead of showers) and getting playa dust off your bod
Tent, Yurt, RV
Sleeping space where you can also store your shit. Tents tend to be superhot to sleep in the morning so bringing a tarp to drape over will help you get that extra hour in the morning
Inflatable mattress w/ battery-powered air pump
They are comfy and prevent body heat from escaping into the playa
Warm sleeping bag, extra blankets, pillows
You won't sleep much but when you do, you'll be glad you thought of good bedding

16. What About Showers? Radical Self-Shower Reliance
Skippers share a shower structure to minimize the Playa MOOP factor
Bring a SOLAR shower bag
Water? No, it’s part of your camp fees
A tarp helps to keep your bag from leaking on the Playa
We all work together to keep the water evaporating during the week – 70 people showering for a week is MOOP City
One shower per day per person
Remember, showering together helps conserve water and means that you can scrub each other squeaky clean. It’s also lots of fun.
Join the camp shower team!

17. Shower Options

18. Camp Layout
Since we are allocated a finite amount of space, we have already starting brainstorming camp layout
This space limitation means that we have to be careful about the
# of RVs, etc., to ensure that our
infrastructure for up to 70 people will work!

19. Where Do My Camp Fees Go?

20. Very Important!!!
When things break or go wrong with our camp infrastructure, we are all affected, there are no refunds, once the money is spent, it is spent. If someone plugs into our generator and it
blows out, or if someone steals it, there is no more money to replace it, buy more food that spoils due to lack of refrigeration, keep the café running, or even give refunds, once the money is spent it is spent. We all lose. The playa can suck sometimes, but as a family, we will pull together and make the most out of a shitty situation. Be prepared, be adaptable and flexible to even the most harshestconditions and the worstsituations, and have an open mind.
And…..
Reading s is important, how many times do we run into on the playa “I didn’t
know” and we have sent out numerous s aboutthe subjects….???? Read
everyone. It will most definitely save you a lot of unnecessary aggravation the playa. XOXO

21. What About Drugs? Bring your own – remember radical self-reliance?
Nevada is Strict!!!
Law enforcement– uniformedand undercover– are everywhere
Do not accept or offer drugs to anyone whom you don’t know (even Poppers are considered illegal)
Keep license plate uncovered at all times
Make sure everything on your vehicle works (brake lights, turn signals, headlights)
If confronted by officers or rangers
Always cooperate – you won’t win any fights on the Playa
Don’t create reason for probable cause – don’t smoke pot, take pills, or otherwise get high in public (that’s what your car is for)
Lock your stash in your vehicle
If busted and you bring the law back to camp, officers can search everyone
BE SMART

22. QUESTIONS?