Burning Man: Participate, Airport

It is only a short time until the Man burns and that means we need to be thinking about strip searches, belly button inspections, contraband feathers, and checking "ze peppers" of arriving aviators and their trusting passengers.

We operate the Customs gate at the airport for about 10 hours a day and that means we need many volunteers to make the whole thing work. Some but not all of the jobs that need doing include Box Officer, who sits in the air conditioned splendor of the airport box office for a luxurious few hours of cold comfort; Interceptor, who meets the arriving aircraft and is the first playa person arriving pilots and passengers see (an important job); Border Control and Customs Agent, who make sure only authorized people come and go across the event boundary (an event boundary is not the same as an event horizon and is not, therefore, related to a singularity) and generally answer questions for all and sundry.

If you have been a Customs agent before and would like to be one again, ask yourself if you could actually manage a shift as a Squadron Leader - you would then float as you saw fit between the Box Office, Customs Gate, Interceptor and Border Control. If you are simply interested in helping Burning Man in general and Black Rock City Spaceport in particular, being an airport volunteer is a great way to go.

Working a shift is as much fun as you make it and is often as much fun as you can have with your clothes on. You will meet lots of great people and be a part of the rapidly growing airport community.

So, if you can fully commit to work a shift, please let us know. If you have special skills we should know about, let us know that too. Some training may be required for your particular role. If you commit to a shift and then cannot make it, it becomes your responsibility to find a replacement.

If you have any questions or comments, write to blaze(at)burningman(dot)com.