The Placement Team Maps Black Rock City and Supports All Placed Camps
Placement is how camps receive a reserved camping spot in Black Rock City (BRC). The Placement team facilitates the process. Visit the Criteria for Camp Placement webpage to learn about the types of camps in Black Rock City.
To reserve a Black Rock City address or arrive before the Gate opens to build or set up your camp in a reserved camping spot, you will need to participate in the placement process.
The Placed Camp Handbook is essential reading for all camp leads.
Sign up for the Placement Newsletter to receive timely email updates.
How do placed camps find their Placer on Playa?
If you are the first person from your camp to arrive, you must meet your Placer first, and officially be placed before you start unloading anything. Read more…
When you arrive at Greeters (These are the cheerful, colorful folks after you pass through Gate), tell them that you are the first people arriving for your camp.
Tell the Greeter your camp name, your approximate location or sector, and your Placers’ names. They’ll radio your Placers and get you a meeting spot and approximate wait time. Each Sector has its own protocols for where Placers want to meet you, so please make sure you listen carefully to Greeters before heading into the city.
To reach your assigned meeting point with your Placer, drive to the back street of the city (K); take a left if headed toward the 10:00 side of the city, a right if headed toward the 2:00 side of the city and drive down K street; then turn toward The Man at the cross street where we’ve asked you to meet us.
Drive directly to your meeting place with no detours — even if we’ve said it’s going to be a while. Stay at the meeting location until your Placer arrives.
Visit Placement Headquarters in BRC at Esplanade & 5:45
We are here for you. If you have a question about where to camp or have a conflict with a neighboring camp, stop by to seek help.
Placement Headquarters is open daily 9am – 9pm during Build Week and 9am – 6pm during the event.
Camp Support, PEERS, and Placers; Three Teams Serving Camps and Camp Leads
Camp Support Team
The Camp Support Team advises and supports camps year ’round and in Black Rock City. We provide a variety of services to help solve and prevent problems.
- Online help desk for the inner workings of your camp — build, food, acculturation, logistics, interactivity, frontage, leave no trace, camp finances, camper participation, leadership, and unique situations
- Camp Advisory & Mentorship Program (CAMP) — matches camps and their leads with experienced peer camp leaders who mentor and advise them
- Online Resources — Camp Resource Guide, Burning Man Hive, Theme Camp Archive
- Camp Symposium — an annual event where camp leaders convene for programming, panels, breakout sessions, knowledge sharing, and connection with our amazing community
- Campfire Talks — a virtual panel to share ideas on timely, relevant, and thought-provoking topics to help camps and campers thrive, survive, and revive
Placement’s Exploration & Engagement Research Squad (PEERS)
Placement’s Exploration and Engagement Research Squad (PEERS) are awesome volunteers who visit as many theme camps as they can, Monday through Friday of the event.
Please be prepared to receive PEERS volunteers and welcome them into your camp. They’ll be taking photos of your camp frontage and interactivity, and asking for your thoughts on your location, neighbors, and interaction with the Placement team. Many PEERS volunteers are camp leaders themselves; you may want to sign up for a shift and meet fellow camp leaders. PEERS can also refer campers to resources to solve problems that may have arisen on playa.
The data PEERS collects is held with each camp’s record and helps Placers better visualize the neighborhoods they assembled so they can continue to improve Black Rock City.
Placers
The team that folks generally think of when talking about Placement, Placers are volunteers who facilitate the placement process, work directly with every camp, and make the map of Black Rock City. Since 1995 they have planned the city, corresponded with Camp Leads year-round, and met camp leads in person to place camps on the playa.
Consider Your Place on the Placement Team
We’re always welcoming new members to our team. Visit Placement’s Volunteer page for more information. If you’re already convinced, sign in with your Burner Profile (or create one) and complete the Volunteer Questionnaire. Select “Placement” or “Placement’s Exploration and Engagement Research Squad (PEERS)” and add a note in the text box if you are interested in joining the Camp Support Team.