[Gauging Interest] Bitcoin at Burning Man!

[Raoul Duke]

You'll be surrounded by who??? 

You honestly don't know what you're talking about.
I've been involved with the psytrance scene for the last 15 years and I can assure you that they are some of the most technologicaly minded people around.

I might not been to the Boom Fest, but I've been meditating and practising yoga for the past 4 years.  I've been to yoga retreats in India, Thailand and here in Canada.

The issue of money is mostly shunned upon.

I might not know everything, but I do know something, that's from experience.

And what has Yoga to do with Psytrance? Do you really think you'll be able to meditate in the middle of Boom Festival?
Only if you take a dosage of LsD that'll put you into coma

Like I said, you are confusing marketing strategies with how technologicaly advanced people are.
Do as I say, don't do as I do, and all that stuff

EDIT: BTW: Infected Mushroom, one of the biggest psytrance icons, are the official soundtrack of BackTrack Linux... How's that for people who don't even know what encryption is? Really... LOL Big LOL

Proof:
http://www.backtrack-linux.org/backtrack/backtrack-5-are-you-infected-yet/
http://www.backtrack-linux.org/backtrack-5-and-infected-mushroom/

[BitBlitz]

I've been there.  Once.  By accident.
Yes, there is probably a reasonable percentage of the crowd that would be interested in Bitcoin.  Forget selling or advertising.  If you want to promote bitcoin, I think the best way would be to hand out something like bitcent-value business cards with printed privkeys (maybe QR codes) that they can redeem later.  As a side benefit-- after whatever they were taking wears off, they have a business card that will remind them to check out bitcoins.

They depart one week later, having left no trace whatsoever.

Unfortunately, that part is far from true.  I used to travel to the playa weeks after Burning Man.  There would still be loads of trash out there.

[Yankee (BitInstant)]

I've been there.  Once.  By accident.
Yes, there is probably a reasonable percentage of the crowd that would be interested in Bitcoin.  Forget selling or advertising.  If you want to promote bitcoin, I think the best way would be to hand out something like bitcent-value business cards with printed privkeys (maybe QR codes) that they can redeem later.  As a side benefit-- after whatever they were taking wears off, they have a business card that will remind them to check out bitcoins.

This is a good idea, maybe the guys at Bit-pay can make some cards with bitcents or on an address, or instawallet / blockchain.info branded cards.

Sponsoring something like this would pay for the coins on the card itself.

...Hold up a sign that says 'Free Money!' (Can we do that ?)

They depart one week later, having left no trace whatsoever.

Unfortunately, that part is far from true.  I used to travel to the playa weeks after Burning Man.  There would still be loads of trash out there.

Thats a terrible thing, we will make sure to clean up all our stuff !

[evoorhees]

Ahh Burning Man! Thanks for volunteering me Charlie

Such a trip will be absolutely fantastic under the following conditions:

1) First and foremost, the purpose has to be to go with bitcoiners as a social and networking and ideating activity. We'll be able to talk bitcoin all day long among ourselves and I'm sure some great work would come out of it. BUT - we will not (and should not) be able to "sell" or promote bitcoin at Burning Man in any visible way. If it comes up in conversation with outsiders, that's great, but we can't be there to evangelize. So to the extent that it's partly a business trip, the business would be primarily limited to internally within our group, not externally toward other burners. The event is explicitly "money free" and "promotion free"... and if we're promoting money then we FAIL doubly With that said, many burners would be interested in a counter-culture monetary system - so hopefully lots of organic conversations could happen.

2) There's actually an issue of ticketing this year... basically the event has gotten so large that there are not enough tickets. Because the operators don't understand how price mechanisms work, they thought it'd be better to distribute tickets on a lottery system than by raising prices to curb demand. Any free-marketer would be able to predict the outcome - shortages! I have no idea how to get tickets this year, and it might be impossible to do in any coordinated way for a group of us. So, this might be a problem :/

3) Burning Man is absolutely wild and awesome and interesting (just like Bitcoin). I can think of no better way to spend a week with fellow bitcoiners. But, it's intense, and requires lots of planning. Cannot be done last-minute. Requires commitment and dedication.

4) A nice RV is mandatory... fuck tents in the hot sun. A/C, showers, and cold beer

[Red Emerald]

If you don't have tickets yet, you are too late.

[Yankee (BitInstant)]

If you don't have tickets yet, you are too late.

StubHub price is ~$1250 per ticket + 10% stubhub fee. (I have a no-fee discount though)

If were buying multiple, I can scour craigslist to pay a little less.

[Red Emerald]

If you don't have tickets yet, you are too late.

StubHub price is ~$1250 per ticket + 10% stubhub fee. (I have a no-fee discount though)

If were buying multiple, I can scour craigslist to pay a little less.

So 4x or more what they cost the seller. Nice. Really the spirit of Burning Man...

[evoorhees]

If you don't have tickets yet, you are too late.

StubHub price is ~$1250 per ticket + 10% stubhub fee. (I have a no-fee discount though)

If were buying multiple, I can scour craigslist to pay a little less.

So 4x or more what they cost the seller. Nice. Really the spirit of Burning Man...

The price mechanism doesn't care about spirit... when a good is scarce, the price will rise. To sell them for less would be to make the scarcity worse. If they were sold for less, you wouldn't see them on Craigslist at all, because they'd already be bought, and instead of having the option to buy at $1,250 you'd have no option at all

[beckspace]

I've been there last year and I can tell you, there are lots of courses in tents about everything you can imagine: lucid dreams, girls only fun, yoga classes, reddit group (!!)... everything. It's totally feasible to set up a tent, have a quick talk on Bitcoin, and give away bitcents at the end. Pure win.

Would be nice if it was official, in the schedule survival guide.

EDIT: There was a place called "Temple of Transition". By the next day the temple would be burned down and people were writing messages for the deceased ones at the walls.

I wrote: "Bye US dollars, Hello Bitcoin." No pics, so it didn't happen. In Burning Man, sometimes it's better this way.

[Phinnaeus Gage]

If you don't have tickets yet, you are too late.

StubHub price is ~$1250 per ticket + 10% stubhub fee. (I have a no-fee discount though)

If were buying multiple, I can scour craigslist to pay a little less.

I do remember seeing them last year on Craigslist and not at scalp pricing either. They were also legit.

BTW, where is this caravan starting from?

~Bruno~

[Yankee (BitInstant)]

If you don't have tickets yet, you are too late.

StubHub price is ~$1250 per ticket + 10% stubhub fee. (I have a no-fee discount though)

If were buying multiple, I can scour craigslist to pay a little less.

I do remember seeing them last year on Craigslist and not at scalp pricing either. They were also legit.

BTW, where is this caravan starting from?

~Bruno~

I'm not sure yet, I know people start it from Reno, but I'd be down to start it from anywhere in California, maybe San Francisco or LA.

Any ideas?

[Phinnaeus Gage]

If you don't have tickets yet, you are too late.

StubHub price is ~$1250 per ticket + 10% stubhub fee. (I have a no-fee discount though)

If were buying multiple, I can scour craigslist to pay a little less.

I do remember seeing them last year on Craigslist and not at scalp pricing either. They were also legit.

BTW, where is this caravan starting from?

~Bruno~

I'm not sure yet, I know people start it from Reno, but I'd be down to start it from anywhere in California, maybe San Francisco or LA.

Any ideas?

I meant where were you planning on starting the trip from? State? Coast?

Also, what the hell is this? http://www.blackrockarts.org/participate/howtogive.html

~Bruno~

[Yankee (BitInstant)]

If you don't have tickets yet, you are too late.

StubHub price is ~$1250 per ticket + 10% stubhub fee. (I have a no-fee discount though)

If were buying multiple, I can scour craigslist to pay a little less.

I do remember seeing them last year on Craigslist and not at scalp pricing either. They were also legit.

BTW, where is this caravan starting from?

~Bruno~

I'm not sure yet, I know people start it from Reno, but I'd be down to start it from anywhere in California, maybe San Francisco or LA.

Any ideas?

I meant where were you planning on starting the trip from? State? Coast?

Also, what the hell is this? http://www.blackrockarts.org/participate/howtogive.html

~Bruno~

Yeh, my original answer applies. We can rent the RV somewhere in California or we can all fly to Reno and drive from there.

It depends who comes and their preference.

[cbeast]

I'm not sure how well internet would work at such an event. It would not be impressive to try to get to mtgox if you are all using a single IP. If someone were to print Burning Man bitbills that could be given away with small amounts of bitcoin, it might impress even the most Bohemian hipster.

[Revalin]

It depends who comes and their preference.

I'd say it depends where you can find someone willing to rent you an RV for BTC.    There are lots of private owners who rent out so it's a possibility.

http://privatemotorhomerental.com/
http://www.1rvrentals.com/

[Phinnaeus Gage]

If you don't have tickets yet, you are too late.

StubHub price is ~$1250 per ticket + 10% stubhub fee. (I have a no-fee discount though)

If were buying multiple, I can scour craigslist to pay a little less.

I do remember seeing them last year on Craigslist and not at scalp pricing either. They were also legit.

BTW, where is this caravan starting from?

~Bruno~

I'm not sure yet, I know people start it from Reno, but I'd be down to start it from anywhere in California, maybe San Francisco or LA.

Any ideas?

I meant where were you planning on starting the trip from? State? Coast?

Also, what the hell is this? http://www.blackrockarts.org/participate/howtogive.html

~Bruno~

Yeh, my original answer applies. We can rent the RV somewhere in California or we can all fly to Reno and drive from there.

It depends who comes and their preference.

Stupid me, I missed that, Yankee. I see it now--California.

If someone were to print Burning Man bitbills that could be given away with small amounts of bitcoin, it might impress even the most Bohemian hipster.

Great idea--BurningBits. On second though, isn't there suppose to be a fire at some time during this festival?

Seriously, Burning Man themed bitbills with bitcents could be the ticket.

~Bruno~

[Yankee (BitInstant)]

If you don't have tickets yet, you are too late.

StubHub price is ~$1250 per ticket + 10% stubhub fee. (I have a no-fee discount though)

If were buying multiple, I can scour craigslist to pay a little less.

I do remember seeing them last year on Craigslist and not at scalp pricing either. They were also legit.

BTW, where is this caravan starting from?

~Bruno~

I'm not sure yet, I know people start it from Reno, but I'd be down to start it from anywhere in California, maybe San Francisco or LA.

Any ideas?

I meant where were you planning on starting the trip from? State? Coast?

Also, what the hell is this? http://www.blackrockarts.org/participate/howtogive.html

~Bruno~

Yeh, my original answer applies. We can rent the RV somewhere in California or we can all fly to Reno and drive from there.

It depends who comes and their preference.

Stupid me, I missed that, Yankee. I see it now--California.

If someone were to print Burning Man bitbills that could be given away with small amounts of bitcoin, it might impress even the most Bohemian hipster.

Great idea--BurningBits. On second though, isn't there suppose to be a fire at some time during this festival?

Seriously, Burning Man themed bitbills with bitcents could be the ticket.

~Bruno~

Thats a great idea, I think we can do that. Bruno, you coming? 

[Stephen Gornick]

I knew that Burning Man is huge and that there are a lot of people that go, but i had no idea that Burning Man WAS ABSOLUTELY HUGE and that THERE WERE A LOT OF PEOPLE that went.



I didn't go but just saw a link to a video.

This video was captured by private drone (ya, ... private drones, .. welcome to 2012!):  

 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ftsNhUKAJ-s

An aerial video shows the enormity of the event unlike what any photo slideshow even begins to hint at.



Here's satellite photo:


 
 - http://www.flickr.com/photos/thejaymo/7986877363/


Here's a video of their Burn Wall Street, in which burned in effigy were bank buildings with the names "Bank of Un-America", "Merrill Lynched", "Goldman Sucks" and "Chaos Manhattan". 




  - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6KPrLgWHMF0



I got the link for the drone video from the Burn census that counted 744 hexayurts.  If there ever are significant dislocations of people, I suspect Bitcoin, Hexayurt, and mesh networking (Free Network Foundation) can help in the resettlement and provide structure going forward more than any other plans that exist would do in an environment of austerity.




 - http://www.Hexayurt.com


The drone is flown using UHF RC:

 - http://www.dragonlinkstore.com/v2/


Incidentally, there's a bet related to this:

Human Injury Due To Drone Within The U.S. In 2012

 - http://betsofbitco.in/item?id=631

[Edited: added links, burn wall street and hexayurt.]

[Bitcoin Oz]

Burning Man is closer to occupy than anything else.

Someone really should chat to Silk Road about sponsorship 

[Phinnaeus Gage]

Click the image to view the video.