Quick recap
This meeting was a SCAT (Swing City Advanced Team) planning session focused on coordinating the early arrival team for Burning Man camp setup. The discussion covered the SCAT schedule, with teams arriving on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday to build the camp before the main event, including setting up the first-in-first-out structure, kitchen, and Tensegrity shade structures. Key challenges discussed included managing 6-7 RVs connected to the power grid, requiring map redesign and kitchen repositioning, as well as coordinating power and water supply through New York Deli. The team reviewed the current SCAT membership, which was below the target of 30 people, and discussed the importance of having experienced Burn participants in the early build team. Additional topics included RV waste pumping services, potential large tent acquisition for weather protection, and the decision to decline bamboo pole donations due to storage constraints.
Next steps
Kyle
- Send pictures of the giant tent from Ellie's wedding to the group for consideration as a future asset.
Lisa
- Ensure Stefan and Eric are added to the WhatsApp group (or share the link for self-adding).
Ryin
- Reach out to Rain for advice on RV pumping and coordinate with other RV owners in the group chat.
- Follow up with Jesse about coordinating RV pumping services.
Zep
- Resume development of the camp app and discuss further with filchy in private.
filchy
- Reach out to New York Deli for an update on RV power requirements and share the information with the RV group chat.
- Share information about Sierra's RV pumping services in the RV group chat.
- Add Eric to the SCAT team list and start discussions about his involvement.
- Engage in a conversation with Stefan about the camp map drafting issues.
- Share the tensegrity structures PDF with interested engineers via the Swing City Ops email.
- Send a synopsis and announcement about the meeting to the group.
Collaboration
- All SCAT members: Download and review the tensegrity build instructions and packing lists from the Camp Resources/Documents section.
- All camp members: Update their camp profiles with photos and descriptions, following Proto's example.
Summary
New Member Introduction Meeting
The meeting began with casual conversation about Stefan's hair and personal matters, followed by introductions of new member Eric Born to the group. Participants discussed a recent wedding where several attendees got tattoos, including Kyle who showed off a new ring with wings design. The group addressed communication logistics, specifically adding Stefan and Eric to the WhatsApp group used for general discussions, with Lisa offering to help add their phone numbers to the platform.
Team Communication Platform Migration
The team discussed moving from WhatsApp to Slack for SCAT communications, with Filchy explaining that Zep controls the WhatsApp setup and admins can share links for others to join. Patrick attended the conversation and confirmed he would be returning to Swing City, wearing his characteristic onesie. Jennie, who is part of Ryan's crew from Jacksonville, Florida, was introduced as a new participant who will be involved in an RV/DJ truck project with Thaddeus and Brett.
SCAT Camp Infrastructure Build Planning
The meeting focused on explaining SCAT (Swing City Advanced Team), which is a group that builds camp infrastructure before burn week. The team has 30 Wet Ass Pussies (WAPs) access passes, with staggered arrival dates: 8 people on Monday, 12 on Tuesday, and 10 on Wednesday. The discussion covered the build schedule, starting with setting up a "first in, first out" structure on Monday, followed by kitchen construction on Tuesday, and the Tensegrity structures afterward. Lisa mentioned that she needs to arrive on Monday personally, and the kitchen truck arrives on Tuesday to begin meal service on Wednesday morning.
Tensegrity Structure Camp Planning
The group discussed the history and design of tensegrity structures, with Nicholas explaining the concept and Lisa mentioning its connection to Buckminster Fuller's geodesic dome designs. Filchy provided background on how the camp adopted tensegrity structures, sharing that founders Jess Kale and others developed the current honeycomb shade design after receiving a tensegrity structure in their first year. The discussion then shifted to explaining the camp's build and break-down teams (SCAD and SCAB), with Filchy noting that they learned to have everyone arrive at the same time rather than gradually throughout the week to improve efficiency in camp construction.
Camp Setup Planning Meeting
The team discussed plans for setting up camp, with the goal of arriving on Monday to place storage, begin building the camp, and have the kitchen set up by Wednesday. They identified the need to redraw the camp layout due to RV placement issues and problems with the plot's irregular shape from the previous year. Stefan raised concerns about the current mapping approach and requested a conversation with the drafts person to address geometry issues from last year's setup.
RV Accommodation Layout Reorganization
The team discussed the challenges of accommodating 6-7 RVs in camp, which requires reorganizing the layout and moving the kitchen and semi-trailer positions. Lisa raised concerns about power supply reliability, to which Filchy explained that while New York Deli will provide power, there is a backup generator available for service this year. The discussion also covered the relocation of the Wizard Hut, which will move away from the kitchen to accommodate the RVs, with power and water supply arrangements being adjusted accordingly.
Event Power and RV Accommodations
The team discussed power and RV accommodations for an upcoming event. Filchy expressed confidence that New York Deli has adequate power buffers and addressed concerns about RV and e-bike charging, noting that while e-bike charging is lower priority than RV power, they successfully supported all power needs last year. Kyle shared that power issues from the previous year had been resolved by elevating connection points, and this improvement had been added to the wish list for future events. The group also discussed shade structures for tent camping and the need for an information sheet about RV requirements, with Filchy noting that New York Deli was supposed to provide updated RV guidelines two weeks prior but had not yet done so.
RV Pumping Services Discussion
The group discussed RV pumping services, with filchy noting that United Services requires a minimum of 5 RVs but the current group only has 3. Rain shared experience from previous Burning Man events about using United Services vouchers and explained the process of flagging them down for service. Filchy suggested exploring Sierra as an alternative provider and agreed to share information about them in the WhatsApp group. The discussion ended with Lisa asking about timeline details for SCAT, though the specific timeline was not provided in the transcript.
Camp Build Planning Meeting
The team discussed building the camp and identified current participants including filchy, Lisa, Kyle, and others, with 30 spots available and about 12 filled so far. Kyle announced he would be part of SCAT (the build team) and bringing his Toyota Tacoma truck for transportation during build week. The group reviewed camp profiles and emphasized the importance of including faces and descriptions to help build community cohesion before arriving at the playa. They discussed potential additions to the camp including bamboo poles from a New Zealand art piece and a large tent structure that could protect the kitchen from rain, though both would require additional storage space.