we sucked and we blew, and there was lots of dust and wind!
hey, get on our googlegroup, silly!
Spicey

actually, this post playa report by Pedro is a good start...

2008 BRCPO Playa Report
>
> (Note: This was difficult to write, it's certain that important
> things were left out. Please feel free to comment.)
>
> We had one simple objective, to establish the BRCPO in a manner we
> chose.
> Or as Gregory Perkins worded it, "The General Purpose is to have fun."
>
> To do this we had to create a theme camp from scratch.
> This turned out to be quite a bit of work, let there be no doubt;
> but it was much more than worth the trouble.
>
> The Seed
>
> Back in the spring, Blue had the idea of creating a separate camp.
> As it turned out, the application for the camp went in at 11:59 PM.
> (the last possible moment) thanks to his dedication in drafting and
> submitting it. The plan included the prospect of an "Uncencored"
> post office, seeing as how this was part of the 'philosophical
> difference of opinion' that we had with the other place. This last point
> made the placers question our location in center camp. They suggested
> Tokyo Plaza. A vote was taken; Tokyo was chosen.
>
> We began with a small core of folks who have been associated
> with the BRCPO for some years. We were lucky enough to be able to
> add a number of other folks. Some virgins, some veterans. But all had
> a great deal to contribute and so they did. The outpouring of effort and
> resources was truely a phenomena in and of itself. Blue kept the whole
> thing on track by being the central focus for so many months. Taking in
> a lot of info and passing it along to the critical parties. The biggest
> challenge was the planning, funding, and building of the structure.
> Here we were once again tremendously fortunate to have Bethany
> Epiphany there to help give us structure and the benefit of her experience
> organizing a theme camp last year. Also the only way we had to get
> materials to the playa was her Rent A Truck. This was a big expense
> that she paid out of her pocket. She wasn't planning to go to Reno,
> but getting the wood on site made that more practical. That was a
> $100+ trip all by itself, just by mileage and fuel alone.
> Many phonecalls and emails went into the camp and they ALL paid off.
>
> The Structure
>
> The structure took us two days to assemble. Sunday was a nice day,
> but Monday we had white out conditions for more than 8 hours. We
> went ahead and kept building anyway, hoping it would quit. At this point
> I want to point out that fluffE was the backbone of the construction effort.
> We were enormously fortunate that he joined our camp. It's imperative
> to mention the shower he designed and built. Without question it was
> the best one I've seen in 8 years on the playa. I know that somebody
> has photos of it, please post them.
> The facade went up on Monday, it also came down by a gust of wind.
> Fortunately there was no damage. But then, without the facade in place,
> the COSTCO shade structures were vulnerable to the wind. One of them
> blew up, teathered only by a single leg and hit the windshield on fluffE's
> rental cat, breaking it. We were able to regain control of the carport and
> tag it down. Then we stood the facade back up and tagged it with the
> "T posts." They were a great idea. They made an enormous difference
> in the solid nature of the front. We had no further issues with it after
> that.
>
> Last Minute Boons
>
> There were several last minute initiatives that made contribution to
> the post office. One was Blue's idea to approach the Reno Post Office
> to see if we could get our own cancellation stamp. After several rounds
> of discussion and some great legwork by Brian, we were able to make
> that a go. We used the iconic image that Romeo developed for our
> facade. It looks great. See the attachement.
> Also at the last minute, Brian had the wisdom to suggest we reprint
> the Green Cards. He got that done, so we could use the INNS schtick
> on the hapless customers.
>
> Tokyo Plaza
>
> It didn't take long for us to be glad we were in Tokyo Plaza.
> It's a much more friendly environment than Center Camp ever was.
> On one side we had the Black Rock Beacon. A great bunch of folks.
> They also serve Bacon. They did a story on the two post offices. See
> separate email with the text of the article. They also proved to be
> great neighbors, loaning us paper and other items when we needed them.
> On the other side was Rue Morgue. They were also great to have around
> with their stupendous Art Car. And beyond them was the Pancake
> Playhouse which served fresh pancakes every morning. How cool was that!
> Accross the plaza was a stand which dispenses Bad Advice.
> In the center of the plaza was a huge sculpture which helped us to
> navigate our way back to camp, both day and night. I heard that the
> guy who did the sculpture had upwards of $15,000 in materials alone
> in the piece. I'm guessing it was about 25' tall.
> I have heard that this year was the year of "local neighborhoods" at
> Burning Man. There were two additional plazas added to the city plan.
> Those were at 7:30 and 4:30 respectively. And Both the Tokyo and Berlin
> plazas had Arctica Ice camps. Saving folks the long trek to Center Camp.
>
> Delivery Specialists
>
> We recruited a lot of new Delivery Specialists this year. Many of
> whom reported having a GREAT time delivering. There were some who
> came from the 'other' camp and did some deliveries for us. We did
> get mail delivered from that camp to ours from the outside world.
>
> Window Traffic
>
> It was inevitable that the number of customers we had at the window
> would be less than it would have been at center camp. The first few
> days were a bit thin. We were still in the business of completing the
> structure. But then we hit upon the idea of sending people out into the
> plaza to take our message to the streets. This proved to be an
> incredibly great idea. Also when folks were out delivering mail, they
> passed out postcards with the address of the BRCPO Tokyo.
> Between the two strategies, we had a HUGE burst in traffic at the
> windows. Indeed we had all 6 windows working at once. It seems
> that after a year or two in Tokyo, we'll have the same amount
> of traffic we had in Center Camp, if not more.
>
> Email to the Playa
>
> The email project was a resounding success. We would never
> have gotten it off the ground in the time we had were it not for the
> very generous efforts of Andres. He wrote the code for the webpage
> that accepted the incoming emails and the transfer ofdata in both
> directions. We even got an email from the Philosopher, to our
> great delight! It was worth it just for that.
>
> Day to Day Life in BRCPO Extreme Edition
>
> The biggest challenge was the flow of food in the ecosystem.
> Our kitchen was a little haphazard as it happened. We weren't
> really prepared for accommodating Vegetarians or Vegans.
> There was really no one in charge of the kitchen. And in light
> of that, we did a spectacular job of responding extemporaneously.
> One person who really proved to be an incredible resource is
> Mika. He was a virgin, but you'd never know it. He was there through
> the building of the structure, washing dishes (which was very
> daunting) and on through break down. A big tip of the hat for
> tremendous efforts on his part.
> We were very glad to receive the arrival of Dr. Vijay into our
> camp. He brought a new breeze of good vibes and true playa
> spirit. One night he organized about 8 or 9 of us to work together
> to make an incredible meal. It was a phenomena.
> Blue earned the title of Recycling Guru in his efforts to get
> all the various classifications of discards in the appropriate bins.
> I'm sure he'll use that title with pride, I know I would.
> Toward the end of the week, it was noted that our MOOP
> levels were very low for a camp of our size. Something to be
> proud of.
>
> No Drama
>
> The atmosphere in the camp was the best we've ever had.
> Many people commented on it. We invited a lot of customers from the
> window to come back into the shade and protection of the structure
> so they could fill out their postcards in comfort. Any time someone
> new turned up, they were always greeted warmly and made to feel
> welcome. It made me very proud to be part of this camp. The net result
> was that we all had a great time. The contrast to 2007 couldn't have
> been more stark.
>
> Endgame
>
> We debated some on the fate of the facade. In the end, (after a
> review by the Finance Committee), decided to rent space in Empire
> and store it there. Once again, we'd have been lost without the great
> advantage of Bethany Epiphany's big Rental Truck to move it there.
> I have to say that Smarty Marti was a great help in tear down, right
> down to the last rebar stake.
>
> That's just my opinion, I could be wrong.
>
> --
> People in a hurry cannot think, cannot grow,
> nor can they decay.
> They are preserved in a state of perpetual puerility.
> -- Eric Hoffer