Greeters has evolved into a well-run team. With well-established Metas and Leads in place, the station was well-staffed, and except for a few hitches and glitches, ran smoothly. Greeters Camp hosted approximately 85 campers. Plenty of new campers blended well with the old-timers. Setup and teardown of both Greeters Station and Greeters Camp went smoothly.
A new Greeters schedule was implemented in 2010, which was a huge success, particularly since volunteers were able to sign up for and manage their own accounts and shifts. The new program is very user friendly and was designed for the future. Thanks to the volunteer who developed the new schedule!
The Greeters early team of collators and station builders arrived on-playa on Saturday August 21st. Collation of Greeter hand-out materials and station building was completed timely and greeting began 247 at noon on Thursday the 26th. Greeters station closed at midnight, Friday the 3rd.
For the first time and hopefully not the last, there was fire at Greeters Station on opening night of the event. A long time volunteer turned the traditional Greeter Beacons into Flaming Greeter Beacons. What a huge treat it was for newbies, long-time burners, and children to all have the opportunity to participate with fire the moment that they arrived in the city! Thanks to the volunteer who brought fire to Greeters Station.
A survey of Greeters was taken after the event this year. Comments included an appreciation for having the Meta shifts change from an eight hour shift to a six hour shift. There were also suggestions to designate lanes for returning Burners with no first-timers in the vehicle vs. lanes for first-timers, to use speed greeting when appropriate, maintaining respect for peoples' boundaries, and not making people do things they might not really want to do. There were also requests for more training for volunteers, Metas and Leads, and to update our job descriptions. And, of course, many said that Greeting is the most fun they've ever had!
Greeters are still the smiling faces of Burning Man. Everyone should be proud of their 2010 accomplishments.
Submitted by,
Deb Stiers