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A Letter From Black Rock City's Event Operations Director
I thought this letter from BMOrg was worth sharing:
A letter from the desk of Charlie Dolman,
Black Rock City’s Event Operations Director
Hello, Beautiful People,
We’re nearly there! Many months of planning and hard work have started taking physical shape on the playa — it's sooo exciting!
My name is Charlie Dolman. I am Black Rock City’s Event Operations Director. I have the pleasure of working year-round with a fantastic group of humans to help build the systems in Black Rock City that support the awesome things you all bring to the Playa. I love my job!
When I was a participant fifteen to twenty years ago, aside from arriving in BRC and meeting Gate, Greeters, and Placement, I had zero interaction with Burning Man staff. My time on playa was wild and free. Black Rock City has evolved and grown a lot since then, and over time the interactions between the teams and staff producing the event and the magic being crafted by others in the community has at times been too frequent. We've taken a look at this feedback and have changed some of the ways we communicate and engage to address this. To do that, we all must be well-informed and accountable for ourselves during our time in Black Rock City.
A key principle of our permit to build our city in the Black Rock Desert (in a National Conservation Area) is about being good impeccable stewards of the land. We, and the Bureau of Land Management (the BLM), take this very seriously, and we know you all do too. While many of you have worked very hard to meet that standard, it has become clear that some participants have not. We cannot clean up after those less accountable, nor can we solve all our city's problems. Everyone must do their part if we wish for less bureaucracy in Black Rock City. So, what are some things we should all know and do to support the event being good stewards of the land.
Firstly, fuel storage — if you are in the BRC fuel program or store fuel in your camp, read the updated (and simplified!) fuel storage guidelines. Follow this plan, and we’ll all be more comfortable knowing you all are doing what needs to be done for safety and protecting the playa AND you’ll reduce the need for BLM to poke their heads into your business (and possibly cite you)!
Secondly, eBikes? We all know many eBike riders are still speeding, despite all the requests and information shared about eBike use in the last few years. Camp leads, please talk to your campers about the speed limits (5 mph!) and being considerate of other Burners. If the community can help get this back under control, Burning Man Project won’t have to make more rules.
My final example is MOOP. We’ve been getting closer to failing BLM’s post-event environmental inspection, and in 2023 we were closer than ever. As our Head of Playa Restoration DA frequently says, we would never pass without the community's effort. So, to help us move the results back in the right direction, we’re asking all camps to run their own inspections before departing the playa. Following the protocol we use with the BLM only takes about 8 minutes, and every test that is done will help us pass the final inspection!
I hope you can see the thread I am communicating here – if we are to continue to be good citizens and custodians of the land, and you want less interference from Burning Man staff while on playa, we need everyone’s help to re-calibrate. We don’t want to be “police”; we want to be community members along with you.
One final reminder: As you plan for the playa, don’t forget a wind-up radio and your own first aid kits and suncream — it’ll help you take care of your own booboos and tune into BMIR if we get hit with weather again. Get these and put them in your camping kit!
I am so excited about this coming event - it's looking really good out on the playa and I know we’re all ready to go Home.
Happy packing, travel safely, and see you soon!
Louder, Charlie