Fall 2013 Afterburn reports

[reverend_dave]

New thread for getting the coordinator post-burn reports in one place for the November PC meeting agenda.
--
Burning Art Post Burn (Rev Dave - Devin will probably post additional stuff)

The Good:
So far, regarding the stuff we've burned this, I've gotten no reports of injuries, no reports of property damage, and no complaints from vets or neighbors.

We had a bunch of neat art, and most of it burned (in some cases, it took some coaxing).

I'd like to thank Doug Taphouse for letting us burn his piece a day early in the place of the pony.

I'd like to thank the vets, who came through with some gas and a couple gallons of diesel after we ran through all the tiki oil in the shed, and Fatboy for offering up some road flares, and members of the community who offered up a number of other burnables.

Also, I'd like to thank all the people who volunteered to drop everything else that they (and in some cases, their campmates) were planning to do during their burn to rush to Home Depot or Lowes to buy everything necessary to build a pony right that second... It was an awesome offer, and I think something along those lines (with a little prep and no need to run to the store) could make for a cool participatory art workshop at a future burn.

The Bad:
As some folks may have noticed, things were a bit wet, and some pieces took rather more coaxing (and more time) to burn than the historical norm.

There were issues with two artists; due to changes not anticipated when the proposal got made, the pony artist ended up having logistical problems such that he couldn't make it, and one of the other artists (who was new to PDF) didn't get told that the placement Heidi gives is not the final burn location, and, as a consequence, didn't realize that the assembled piece needed to be moveable. I'll take responsibility for the second one; it'll be something that gets mentioned to artists early on in the future.

The Ugly:
The mud, the mud, the mud. Also, the mud.

The Numbers:
The budget covered 14 cords of wood, with an option for 3 more if the weather turned out unusually cold; I suspect that, had the weather turned out dryer, we would have needed it, but between reduced turnout (a lot of people just coming out for a day or two) and people having trouble getting wet wood dried out enough to burn, we still had a certain amount left over on Monday. So, 14 cords at $175 = $2450 (payment handled by the vendor invoicing the organization)

Budgeted 10 gallons of tiki fuel @ $12 ($120), purchased a total of 11 @ $10.98/gal ("Yeah, it's wet, I'll pick up an extra gallon just in case" - HAH!): $120.78.

I paid Pineapple for the diesel the vets provided; as a cash payment (with no receipt, no prior authorization, and no consultation), this is not (and should not be) a reimburseable item; this is just noted so that the above mention of the vets providing diesel doesn't leave the question hanging. Fatboy has received replacement flares under pretty much the same circumstances. Budgeted $0, claiming $0.

Other stuff:
I had some stuff walk out of the shed this time, including a package of road flares (picked up Sunday, just in case they were needed for the Sunday night burns) and my mallet (wondering why only the first set of street signs in the back 40 went up? I set the mallet down in the shed, went to the front gate to check on something, and it walked off before I got back). Not sure if there's anything to be done there, other than to remind people that the presence of something in the shed does not mean that the universe is gifting it to them.

[rumrunner96]

MASH Camp

The Good:
No real injuries. A lot of minor items of burns, cuts, etc.
Many new volunteers that did a good number of shifts.

The Bad:
Heard that there were some complaints about MASH not being fully stocked. That was disappointing to hear since we try to have something for everyone. Victory and I feel that it is more of a person beng used to and wanting a Cadillac when a Golf Cart is suffice. Contact info was given to this person but no contact has been made.
Most no shows for shifts since MASH began. Do not know if it was due to weather and the apparent lack of injuries but it did happen.

The Ugly:
The MUD!!!

Numbers:
Will be posted after consulting with Victory the numbers keeper.

Rumrunner

[Just1K]

Fall 2013 Perimeter AfterBurn Report

Worked:

Participants in general are now awesome at setting a line where they think the perimeter may be. They’re generally very willing for me to reposition them, and swing the line as needed. On Sunday when there was a definitive down draft, I let the people on that side know that depending on how the piece burns they should be prepared to get up and move back quickly simply because they were downwind of the Large Thing On Fire. When the wind kicked up, I looked over and saw them doing just that. Self-regulating lines are great, but I’m glad I gave them the heads up that they should prepare for the possibility to move.


Didn't Work:

GIANT MUDDY BOGGY PUDDLES OF DOOM! These were a great for helping set the perimeter. NO one wanted to walk there. However it was inconvenient for when trying to chase line breakers out of the live fuel zone.


Areas to improve:

I would like to coordinate some sort of designator for people (fire arts team, art team crews, conclave safeties, etc) that separate them from the crowd. I and other members of the team were constantly trying to chase people out of the circle that actually belonged there. I am still working on ideas for this, input is welcome.

I want to have a pre-burn on site perimeter volunteer meeting to go over the do’s and don’ts, ins and outs of how to be the very best perimeter person you can be. Kinda like Ranger training, but not. Will schedule and publicize this prior to Spring 2014.

[Shelly]

Parking:

The good: Teamwork #1: having 3 of us as a coordinator team, allowed for each of us to have some fun. Teamwork#2 Greeting/ticketing/parking staff all working together in adverse conditions and being adaptable to the changing parking lot situations. Teamwork #3: people stepping up to help push vehicles out of the mud, and helping people carry in/out.

RV parking: MUCH better than the spring even though we had half the room to place vehicles. For the most part, people were very cooperative with the change in placement.

Finally, Wednesday evening arrival allowed for the carry in/out decision much earlier Thursday, which hopefully allowed people more time to plan

The bad: communication still needs work, I was still hearing that there was confusion about who was being allowed in to drop off infrastructure etc. Per Phil: yes, communication, not sure if it was between badgers or shift leads, but several times I had to reiterate that the rules for no one coming on site unless theme camp infrastructure or had onsite camping. Also, I wasn't getting called every time someone needed onsite camping pass. Will have to work on that. There were many people that didn't follow directions and TONS of vehicles left onsite without permission or parking passes. Also, received multiple RV requests while I was onsite (didn't know until I arrived home) will look into posting when onsite requesting is open and closed on the 'official site' next time so people aren't scrambling last minute.

The ugly: mud (I think this is consistent with the last 3 afterburn reports!) but we are learning to deal with it and getting better each time.

Budgets: Still working on receipts, but we spent significantly less than budgeted. Part of that was not connecting with Lizard in time to get radios (do we need to re-submit that approved cost for spring?) Also because Hatter always rocked it and parking hadn't had their own cart, I didn't budget for gas. We did not purchase the signage and stakes we were hoping to, mainly because the outside world hampered our ability to front those costs.

[snuggles]

RANGERS AfterBurn Report - Fall PDF 2013

THE GOOD
-Increasing the number of Assistant Ranger Coordinators (ARCs), which will continue to grow a bit more and solidify, allowed the Ranger Coordination Team members some actual time off to enjoy the burn.
-The working relationship between RANGERS/MASH/SANCTUARY: Truly rockin' it out together and communicating very well!
-Face to face discussions between the On Site Ranger Coordinator (OSRC) and ARCs about policies and procedures to make sure we are all up to date and on the same page.
-Ranger Training: Sanctuary and MASH attended the radio portion of Training, we began to write down what is covered to make sure Training can happen even if our usual Trainer can't be there, divided up Training facilitation amongst the OSRC and ARCS to diversify the presentation, included role plays.
-Generally a quiet burn with very few calls comparatively.
-Meeting with the BOD and OSCR/ARCs to get on the same page, go over procedures and make introductions was great, short, and helpful for all involved.
-The cart was absolutely vital in our ability to provide rapid response.
-Ranger Coordination Team communication was great.
-Shift coverage was very good.
-BOD having 3 radios and 3 people on call at all times was a very positive change.

ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT (I don't believe in BAD or UGLY)
-Vet Contact: Pineapple has always refused to carry a radio, which makes it extremely difficult to find him when we need to although he has absolutely no trouble finding us. It would be helpful if someone from the Vets always had a radio, as it is not always possible to run out to the front gate to use the cell phone and call Pineapple.
-We need to be able to contact coordinators who are vital to something that happens on site during the event at times when they are working. For example, it would be helpful if we had a way to contact the people in charge of Fire Safety and Burning Art when it gets close to burn time, or the DPW person on call if there's a giant ditch that needs filling in. Radios? (Note that I'm not calling people out here, just mentioning scenarios that came to mind. Please do not take offense.)
-In general, it would be helpful to have a coordinator meet and greet, since some of us do not actually know all of our fellow coordinators let alone what they look like or where they camp.
-We (as an org) need to think about how to ensure the various items for burning actually burn, even in the rain. Why is this a Ranger concern? When the people at the burn get grumpy and agitated because something won't light, we have to deal with the results; heightened emotional states, greater potential for conflict and negative physical encounters, folks taking more substances because they're bored or sad, etc.
-All people and departments that use radios should consider coming to radio training, or perhaps we need to do a separate radio training for y'all. The rules and regulations for how RANGERS/MASH/SANCTUARY use the radios need to be applied to all PDF radio usage for a number of reasons that are directly related to the future of the event.
-Golf carts were picked up early on Monday, which was definitely challenging for breakdown and making sure all people were awake and packing up before noon. Is there a way to have them picked up during the afternoon instead?
-Puddles and mud, puddles and mud, puddles and mud. Although they provided for some very entertaining moments and happenings, they also lead to lots of very cold people and golf carts getting stuck. We had the most rugged golf carts available to us, and the weather is the weather, but I'm wondering if there is some planning that can happen so we have stuff in place to deal with burns like these better.

[dinah]

Ranger Budget Review-
we came out under budget in all areas.

Uniforms, spent $957.10, budgeted $1200
Water, snacks, office supply-like items (for laminates, etc.): spent $38.28, budgeted $100

we budgeted for Ranger Photo Board/Banner supplies but no one took ownership of that project, so nothing was spent.
also we budgeted for laminates and the golf cart, which then came out of our budget and into a general one.

[DiverseElements]

Fall 2013 MOOP Afterburn Report:

MOOP was at an overall low level during the event from what I saw. I think the mud ate most of it.
The place that was MOOPiest was... the pavilion, no surprise there. As of Sunday morning, it was trashed and garbage had been blown out into the nearby puddles, despite the presence of numerous trash bags and a trash can in the pavilion.
MOOP in portapotties was fairly low.
General ground MOOP was low (or mud-camouflaged, hard to say for sure).

Due to a sewing machine breakdown, the new MOOP bags were not finished before the Fall burn. They will be making their debut appearance at Spring '14.

Volunteers: Saturday volunteers rocked. I was late getting to PartStat because my alarm failed, and they were already out de-MOOPing.
On Sunday no one showed at PartStat around 9-9:30 due to the rain, so I cleaned the pavilion and some other public areas myself.

-Jen

[yeti]

Department of Public Works (brief afterburn report)

Early arrival occurred smoothly.
Necessary cleanup was conducted well.

Ticketing and greeters structures were combined at front gate due to muddy back field conditions.

The Ranger/Participation Station was set up Wednesday evening, after the weather conditions negatively impacted it's structural integrity, necessary adjustments were made on Thursday morning. The structure withstood environmental and other stresses successfully for the remainder of the burn.

The parking team needed a structure to put up at the back gate. After a little searching by the volunteers and community at large, a participant donated a tent for parking use. It lacked certain bells and whistles but was adequate.

Through out the course of the event various works were done on an ad-hoc basis.
(Apart from the setup and take down, much of DPW's area of responsibility remains particular to each burn in itself. As need's arise they are met with DPW coordination and assistance.

Vehicles were pushed pulled out of the mud as needed.
Individual and theme camps were assisted in the set up of their camps when we were able too, especially in circumstances where safety and health were to be preserved by such assistance.
Some mechanical assistance was given in the form of car jumps, tools provided and generator repairs.
Through out the course of the event portapotty and dumpster conditions were monitored and corrected when necessary and when possible. (cleaning portapotty's occasionally and checking and preserving conditions of safety around the dumpsters)

Take down went smoothly.
The shed was packed fairly efficiently with consideration for the value and importance of the Departmental equipment.
Some prompting was required of theme and individual camps' to continue their take down after the 12:00 departure from property goal.
In the end we were done the take down of infrastructure and returned the property to it's found conditions by approximately 6:00 pm.

As of the time of the posting of this DPW report no request for reimbursement for expenditure was made to me.

AS coordinator I will be posting additional afterburn information as it is provided my DPW team members. Individually written reports are to be provided at certain members' requests' and we are happily waiting for them to be provided.

Good work all around.
Thank You.

[TheMadHatter]

Very sorry for not getting this out earlier. I won't be able to make the meeting tomorrow due to the Eagles!

Purchasing Coordinator Report:

Carts: Got all the carts we asked for. Had one lose a belt on the first day due to all the MUD, but the cart company came back out and replaced it the next day. All the carts were returned in good, albeit muddy condition full of gas so no other charges were incurred.

Water: We only received 1 hot/cold water cooler this time because that is all they had in stock, but still got 2 cold water coolers. We had plenty of water for the event, sadly most of it fell from the sky. With the last 2 cooler weather burns we've been using a lot less water than we had the previous couple so we have been returning a lot of the water, sadly we do not get a discount for unused water. If anyone happens to know the exact number of full water bottles please let me know so I can try to adjust the numbers accordingly in the spring.

Asst. Gate Coordinator Report:
My last burn as a member of the gate team seemed to go pretty well. I think Marty rocked it in her new lead coordinator position and rolled with some pretty touch punches due to the rain. I definitely feel like I'm leaving the gate in good hands. The larger tent in the front was very nice in the rain and I would hope a new tent for the front of that size will be budgeted for for spring if Greeters/Parking move to the back again.

Web Team Notes:
We did a couple new things this burn that I think worked out really well.
Volunteer Emails: The week before the event an email was sent to everyone who had signed up for a volunteer shift. Included was what they signed up for, when and some basic instructions about the position.

Event Calendar: A google calendar and .ical file was created so people could download all the WWW events directly to their smart devices and have them on hand (if they carry their phone around).
Also, we plan on creating a calendar at the beginning of next year that will show all the dates for everything for the year. The will include events, deadlines, meetings etc. I'll be sending out an email to all the coordinators with the proposed dates early January. I ask that all coordinators respond asap to ok the dates so they can be published.

[TheMadHatter]

An answer to a ranger question:

Golf carts were picked up early on Monday, which was definitely challenging for breakdown and making sure all people were awake and packing up before noon. Is there a way to have them picked up during the afternoon instead?

The short answer is no. The cart company creates a schedule based on the location of the carts and picks them up accordingly. Since we are the furthest away and both our events are on very busy holiday weekends. I've asked before if we can get picked up late and have effectively been told no. I've not pushed it because we get the carts for 5 days and only really pay for 3.

- Hatter

[smartie martie]

Afterburn Report Fall PDF 2013 Ticketing

-All the volunteers who volunteered were awesome and without the volunteers the event would not be possible.
-Some of the early entry first shift volunteers were late or did not show up for their shift for (insert reason).
-Ticketing, Greeters, and Parking were all moved to the front Gate entrance due to the rain and mud.
-The back Parking lot was closed on Thursday morning and parking in the front lot.
-The Ticketing tent and Parking tent were combined to create one big tent for Ticketing, Parking and Greeters.
-Greeters might be relocating to the front Gate.
-The volunteers were happy with the hot cocoa, hot coffee, snacks and hot water feature on the water cooler.
-The snacks ran out on Friday afternoon after my GOD shift. I went back into town to buy more snacks for the volunteers
-I made bacon for the volunteers at Ticketing,Greeters and Parking, volunteering on Saturday and Sunday morning.
-The combination lock was reset with a different code, and the lock had to be cut off. When Ticketing was closed the computer and wristbands were stored in my car. A new lock will be needed for Spring PDF.
-I will need an Assistant Ticketing Coordinator and additional GOD's for Spring PDF.
- The Ticketing tent is too small, will need a new Ticketing structure for Spring PDF.
-I would like to have actual Tickets for participants, and fabric wristbands with official PDF pony logo.
-I was not able to purchase all the materials in my budget prior to the event for the event.
-Hatter purchased the wristbands and I purchased other items for the event.
-The extra clipboards improved the flow of the waivers being filled out and the check in process.
-Karnak made some stencils for Greeters, Parking and Ticketing.
-The Ticketing Golf cart was shared with Parking and the Participation station.
-Early Entry when okay.
-Some participants were asking to have access to the list, that should not have access to the list.
-Volunteers were emailing me after the deadline for the early entry.
- The following items were donated to the front gate: small space heater, trash bags, cleaning solution, paper towels, cleaning sponges, green spray paint and yellow spray paint.

2013 Fall Greeter Budget - 1.
Front Gate / Ticketing / Greeters


Item Budget Actual

7 x 5 Gallon Water bottles (Ticketing & Greeter)
Extra 6 dollars added in case of missing bottle. 41.00 41.00
1 Water Cooler Rental with Hot Water Feature (Front Gate) 25.00 25.00

Wrist Bands (I’m looking at getting custom print wrist bands this
year. They will say Playa Del Fuego Fall 2013 and be numbered
instead of just being blank. 225.00 225.00

Golf Cart: 200.00 200.00
Breathalyzer 29.99

Office Supplies and Miscellaneous
New markers for dry erase board, paper for logs,
file folders for waiver bins., pen, clean up solution,
sponge, paper towels, hand sanitizer ,4x clipboards,
6x pen leashes, laminitis for principal greeter project, 100.00 15.91

Snacks, Coffee, Hot Chocolate, Ice Tea Mix (For all gate stations) 75.00 97.90

1 bag of ice per station per day (6 bags @ 3.00 each)
Purchased from Vets 18.00 12.00

1 small whiteboard: for inside the tent 25.00

2x Megaphones rechargeable: One for the Golf Cart,
One for directing traffic up at the front gate 120.00+ Shipping

Gas card for golf cart gas 25.00

10x small solar lights ( to light up area around the front Gate ) 20.00

2x tarps to cover firewood due to last 2 burns rainy weather 40.00 27.98

8x d batteries 20.00

Golf cart rental fee (1/4 of the cost, which split between four
other department, The gate budget should not be spending its
budget for the other departments golf cart rental fee.) 43.75 43.75

TOTAL 887.74 688.54

- Additional Gate Budget:
Hired Gate Crew

We will be hiring the Vets to watch the gates when Ticketing is closed (currently 2am - 9am Thu-Fri, 8pm-9am Sat-Mon), this includes the Pony and Art burns and Overnight Sunday into Monday morning.

Total: $1,300.00



Some additional Comments from Butterbean's email
A few thoughts

I heard they found a 2 or 3 kids over the weekend without tickets.

Someone slowed down and took a picture of the front gate while I was around. Idiot driveway person kept inviting them into the parking lot to check us out.

I think Parking did a great job being prepared for this burn and the mud. BUT...............

RV Row - They actually filled it up but with the awning ban and pushing them almost bumper to bumper, it was dead waste land of social interaction. Only the Van that was asked to move by the Helicopter was able to set up some tables and chairs. Several RV instead ran their generators almost 24/7 since they never came out. Including one at the very end of the line, which the burners complained about as they huddled around their fire 20 feet away but didn't want to cause any problems. I think once they finish placing the RV row, we should be allowed to put out awing. I noticed several people didn't actually sleep in their vehicles but instead set up camps across the RV Road. Probably that's what RV row is going to turn into. RV'ers staking out land on the other side of the road to set up pop ups and tables. I'm already thinking of it, if I get yelled at for popping my awing. RV'ers have the same desires and "tenter's". They have pop ups and we have awing

CONES - Need more cones dropped off out front during Mud Burns to block off bad areas earlier. And more cones even when its not a mud burn. A dozen should be the minimum.

Front Gate - We should have something LED lighting up the front driveway corners. One excuse was that we don't want people noticing us. Opps Too late. 1000 cars, Noise and lights. I don't see anyway to run an electric cord over there, so something battery operated. And we need some lighting shining out on Temp parking. Maybe the VETS could mount a spot light and switch on the Pole? Or we could get a LED dual head spot light and run a cord to it. I say LED over the regular halogen so we don't over load that pole circuit. Maybe 100 FT of 12G cord to position it.

Shed - What a free for all mess. I think each department should have an 8 ft section. With a few new departments since I built the one side of shelves, we have no room. Next spring work weekend I could build 16 ft of shelves on the other side for Ticketing and Greeting. A row of five shelves 16 ft long should take 5 sheets of 1/2 ply and 15 to 20 2 x 3's. Box of screws and I'll bring my nail gun. Also find some of those blue or white plastic 40 gal barrels, cut them in half, make rope handles and you can use one to hold all the wooden stakes instead of a jumbled pile under 8 ft of shelving. Or just cut one end off and use one to store the structure poles neatly.

Gorilla tape to hold the power bars on the table so they don't fall in the water.

Ticket Print Outs - Mad Hatter said he was going to suggest they drop the old waver message and maybe add the events hours and volunteering instead. Also put in BOLD LETTERS - PRINT OUT YOUR TICKET. It would speed up the line and prevent burner melt down when they can't get an Internet connection. I had 2 Canadians from Toronto show up at Sat 1.30 AM with no paper tickets and they couldn't get a signal. They didn't like my idea to drive back towards Middletown or Smyrna and get a signal and write down the numbers. Luckily that Karnac had ATT and service. Verizon sucks mud.


Well, I think that's all my comments.