First Camp is the Black Rock City home to the Burning Man Board of Directors, Burning Man Management Staff, their families and some of their friends. The main front camp design remained essentially the same as the past several years, supporting our need to have a balanced blend of public and private space. The very public front portion of First Camp again showcased the historically significant ‘Bone Tree’ sculpture and the ‘Tribute’, ‘Carp’ and ‘Kitty’ art cars. This art gallery provided the interactive public focal point area that is necessary for the high public traffic in this center circle location.
The back area of First Camp underwent a significant design modification that allowed for the placement of several of the Project’s top managers to camp together, work together and have some of their friends and family nearby. Included in this new design was a large, shaded meeting space that became the management center and social center for Black Rock City operations. This new approach worked better then expected, everyone had their privacy when needed, and the new meeting space proved to be effective. We expect that this design will continue into the future.
The External Relations Team (XRT) again used the front of First Camp as their focal point for daily tours for special guests that began on Monday and ended on Friday. First Camp continues to be the logical meeting place for our government, political and special visitors for these delightful, informative XRT tours.
The continuing challenge for this camp is to meet each individual’s expectations and to provide the best blend of public verses private space, and we have approached this challenge successfully.
It was a real pleasure to live and work in this important camp during Black Rock City 2009 (it is considered this author’s real home), and we look forward to returning there in 2010.
Submitted by,
Will Roger