Black Rock City Census - Replacing the Wagon!

 

 

 

 

Greetings from Black Rock City Census! We’ve been busy during this pandemic and today we’re coming to you with a major announcement… The Census department is retiring our beloved volunteer transport vehicle, the Yak and Covered Wagon!

 

 

Though it has given us many years of service at the event, during our last year on playa we became aware of a number of potential safety issues that could no longer be ignored. The prohibitive nature of the design requires too much work to make it playa safe for our volunteers. Because of that, we’re sending her off to greener pastures!

 

What does this mean for the Census Department? We scoured far and wide for a solution and are happy to announce that we found a replacement. It is with great pleasure that we introduce The DataBeast, our new volunteer transport vehicle.

 

 

In its current rendition, the DataBeast comes to us in a very minimalist form. A former Bison decorated Mutant Vehicle with a mobile DJ Booth, it came to us stripped down to its bare bones. What does this mean? We have to make a number of improvements to get the DataBeast operational, some of which are critical.

 

Unfortunately with two years of cancelled burns, we have temporary budget issues. In the future, we'll once again have support from the organization... but we need to get to that point first!

 

That is why we are reaching out to you.

 

With your support, we will be able to get this DataBeast up and running before you can smell the playa dust in your nostrils!

 

 

We have a multi-year plan for making the renovations to the vehicle. In year one, we are focusing on improvements that address the safety and usability required to transport Census volunteers. For instance, right now there’s nowhere to sit! We have a plan to create benches uptop and inside as well as upgrading the back step so that it’s much safer for volunteers to board the DataBeast. We also need a new door system to ensure that volunteers aren’t trapped inside hotboxing exhaust fumes while the DataBeast roams around the playa.

 

 

Our initial goal of $5000 will be for the following items:

 

 

Must Haves

 

 

If we surpass our goal, we would add the following items in as funds become available.

 

For example, for $1,000 dollars, we could add some comfort items:

We could double our seating capacity plus make a second loan payment for another $3,500.

Eventually, we would like to add exterior lights and even turn the truck cab into an actual BEAST!

 

Your support is crucial to the continued success of the Black Rock City Census. BRC Census is a collaborative research project that started in 2002 with the goal of learning more about the participants who make up Black Rock City. We conduct a random sample of Burners entering the event, then collect online survey responses after the Burn. The data we collect is used by the Burning Man Organization in various ways as well as providing academic researchers with information to support their research. Without a vehicle to transport our volunteers, we would be unable to conduct a random sample on playa!

 

 

 

Now, I’m sure some of you are wondering if there is some reward for backing this project, aside from directly supporting the existence of Black Rock City. Wonder no further! First, once we are back on playa with the DataBeast, we will host a backers-only Burning Man Art Tour,. For those of who wish to support this project but will not be on playa, we are creating a unique DataBeast Census sticker available exclusively to supporters of the GoFundMe Campaign.

 

Once the vehicle is up to speed regarding safety and usability, we will focus on turning the DataBeast into a true Mutant Vehicle. Until then, we’ll use our imaginations.

 

Thank you for considering contributing to our project. We hope that you will support Black Rock City Census and help us to continue to be successful in serving as a trusted provider of data about Black Rock City and the Burning Man community.