TTATC11: 9 Lives

TTATC can’t stop, won’t stop! You can try to keep us down, but we will keep coming back. Through storms, flooding, accidents, naughty Burners, and even a global pandemic, TTATC lives on! I don’t know how many of these 9 lives we’ve already gone through over our previous 10 events, but we are STILL HERE!
9 Lives may have been the perfect theme for TTATC9, but that whole Yellow Brick Road thing happened that year, and that was super cool too. However, a CAT theme has been inevitable, and if there’s anything we’ve learned from recent times, and the principle of immediacy, there’s no time like the present. Don’t wait. Do it now. Take the present moment by the balls, and make it happen! So this is the year to officially celebrate our adorable furry friends, and I’m excited!
With all the seriousness and difficulties going around these days, it’s time for something FUN, something silly, and something easy – like CATS! Yeah, we could have chosen something more profound, serious, and heavy (ugh), but NO. Cats are the best!
Theme direction ideas: cats are adorable, sweet, playful, but also sometimes naughty, feral, and scratchy little nightmares. Cats are tough, survivors, sleepy, hilarious, and strange. Sometimes they can even be deadly – cat scratch fever is a thing! Fortunately, for the allergic, no real cats will be allowed at TTATC11. Also… don’t forget about the BALLS!
❤ Fire Mama
Amazing graphic by the amazing Paul Gutoski! THANK YOU! I love it so much!
😻😻😻That Thing at the CAT!!😻😻😻

IF you made the first half of your ticket and/or RV pass payment through Burner Tickets weeks ago (ALL SOLD OUT), it’s GO TIME to pay for the rest through a special link! Check the email you provided with your initial half ticket payment. There’s a BUNCH more info in that email, so check it, complete it, and you’ll be all set! You have until next Friday (when the list officially closes) to transfer tickets or complete your purchase, but do it sooner than later for everybody’s peace of mind! Thanks! Thanks for playing along with our crazy ticket game this year! It’s happening!* Much more event info coming soon!
Fire Mama

I hereby declare that…..
THE OFFICIAL TTATC10 GREETING WILL BE THE BUTT BUMP!
Yeah, ask first (hey! wanna butt bump?!), cuz you don’t wanna offend anybody, or knock them over! I know personally that I’m gonna wanna hug each and every one of you, but nahhhh…. let’s go with the butt bump this year! Coooool? I weirdly think about that a lot. Haha!

THE PLAN
OK! At this point, we are GO, as long as the MN requirement of a maximum of 250 people at an outdoor event sticks (I’m cautiously predicting this will NOT change, but that will be the ONLY thing that will stop us now, as far as I’m concerned!). Yes, the world is all kinds of confusing and bizarre right now, and that’s how I kinda feel about all this unprecedented weirdness! However, I’m willing to throw the dice, and just GO. Let the ACTUAL planning commence! LOTS to do in a short amount of time, but we got this! This is sure to be a chill TTATC, with fewer theme camps, and less/different kinds of things going on, and like I’ve said before,this is an opportunity for all of us to “just go camping.” So think of it that way, as this year is just so OFF in every way, but if I know one thing…. BURNERS MAKE IT HAPPEN! So there’s sure to be plenty of amazing Burningerness all around, and it will be amaaaaazing! I’m stoked.
I’m throwing around lots of ideas about how we can make this event almost sarcastically distant and super responsible (more info on that in my next blast), so we aren’t THAT event, but instead…. we are THAT EVENT! We gotta be super cool, y’all, and I KNOW it can be done. Like FOR REAL. Let’s DO THIS! Post every weird idea you got…. be creative! I wanna hear em! LOTS more info on all this will come!

VOLUNTEERING
This year in particular, lending a helping hand is SUPER important, as we won’t have our usual full team of leads, and we ALL have to figure out how to make sure all is well. This is a great time to get more involved moving forward, if you wanna! Our volunteer sign up link will be sent with the ticket link on Friday. Click on it! Do the thing!
PLUS we are hereby putting out a separate call (not on our regular sign up list), specifically for MEDICAL, RANGERS, many small effigy builders (not just one big one this year!), and just as many FAST (Fire Arts Safety Team) volunteers, so get at me personally if you wanna be involved in any of that, sooner than later for that one. BIG THX!
PLEEEEZ sign up for SOMETHING, cuz we need you! This is a community, civic responsibility, participation, meet other cool people doing cool things, badass thing, which is what Burns are all about. SO THANKS for being a freakin Burner about it!

TICKETS
IF you have your name and email on a “ticket” already (remember when you paid for the first half of your ticket a few weeks ago, and it sold out in 6 crazy minutes?!?) then you will be sent a link NEXT FRIDAY, August 14, and you will have (one week) until August 21 at noon, to either purchase the 2nd half of your ticket ($44), or sell it and change the name of your original ticket so somebody else can pay the 2nd half (again all due by the 21st). CUZ THEN the entire ticket list CLOSES (purchases, transfers, whatever, everything must be done by the 21st). This process also goes for RV spots (was $15, now the 2nd $15). Does that whole crazy thing make sense?
Somebody asked me….. Will tickets that aren’t paid in full be eventually sold to more people? The answer is no. So figure out what you’re gonna do with your tickets, if you paid for a first half, and decide not to come, or whatever you’re doing. If there are some tickets just not used, that’s just how it will be. #crunchtime
Things are sooo weird this year, and we are simply doing the best we can! Please work with us on this! Burner Tickets makes it super easy to change the names on tickets, and the more names that are for the actual ticket holders, the better, so then everything is just easier for everybody. Ya know? THANKS!

OTHER INFO
Booze – I think we’ll most likely only have one bar this year, if we’re lucky(!), so give em a break, and plan to BYOB for the most part this year. Radical self-reliance, right? Let’s try not to be a drunken mess anyways! I’ve never been much of a big drinker. Seriously 2 drinks = drunk Mama!
Kids – maybe this isn’t a great year for kids, really, actually, as they could possibly be more difficult to sarcastically distance, don’t fully understand the butt bump, and might just get knocked over! Ha! As far as I know, there will hardly be any kids there this year, so if you bring a kid, there probably won’t be many other kids for them to hang out with, and they’re gonna be all up in your game the whole time, soooo…. you know what I’m sayin.
Speed Friending – this is something I usually offer on TTATC Thursday nights, and LOVE IT! But I’m having a hard time wrapping me head around how to it this sarcastically distant this year! If you have any ideas (weird or otherwise!), I’d love to hear them!
Volunteer – This is a 2nd reminder (see how important this is?!?) to sign up for something via the link list next Friday! This is ALSO a reminder of our special call out for Medical, Rangers, small effigy Builders, and FAST crew! So yeah…. get at me! We are short staffed, but figuring it out! Please step up! THX!
More info coming soooooon, but that’s plenty for now!
I really like the word “Burningerness!” 🙂
❤ Fire Mama

How are you doing?!? This has been the craziest year. We’ve had to push TTATC back again and again, cuz CRAZY, but FINALLY, here’s some solid info!
BASICS:
TTATC is mostly on track, but we still must be prepared for ANYTHING!
Dates: Thursday, August 27 – 30, 2020 (set-up: Wed. 8/26)
Population cap: 200.
Our cap is smaller this year to follow current state guidelines, allow for distancing, and mostly to be manageable, as we are losing many of our leads this year due to situations, the date change, and general chaos.Things are looking good right now, but we are still “tentative” cuz you never know what’s gonna happen…. Maybe aliens, maybe zombies, maybe GHOSTS (I’m putting my money on ghosts).

TICKETS: (I know you wanna know what’s up!)
Fun Fact: We’ve transitioned to BURNER TICKETS this year!!! That’s been part of our behind-the-scenes, figuring-it-all-out adventure that we’ve been on! I think we are finally ALMOST READY to rock!
We are gonna go live with GENERAL SALE tickets THIS FRIDAY at noon!
On Friday, you will be able to purchase HALF of your ticket…. (what?)….. And then 3 weeks before the event, when we know FOR SURE that we are gonna do this, you will be able to complete your ticket purchase by paying for the 2nd half of your ticket. We are shooting for Friday, August 8th to be our final decision date. See how we get to push things out AGAIN with this plan?? Cuz really, if we had to decide right now, we wouldn’t do it at all, but this gives us a MUCH BETTER CHANCE to make it happen!
Total ticket price: $88 (with taxes and ticketing fees, which we gotta do twice this year – sorry!)
Important! Limit TWO tickets per transaction.
First round of ticket sales this Friday: $44, with another $44 due when we are GO!
NOTE *** If TTATC does NOT end up happening, our first round of sales will NOT be refundable. IF we are not able to go ahead with the event this year, those funds will be used to pay for ongoing annual costs, and we’ll apply funds to our Art Grant program for next year!
Limited RV spaces will once again be available, for $30 each ($15 each half). You MUST reserve a space to bring a camper, and keep your vehicle inside the grounds in our designated RV area. ALL other vehicles will need to park in our main parking lot near the gate. No exceptions.
Yes, tickets are still transferable at any point.
(Directed ticket people, stay tuned for more info coming VERY SOOOON!)

LEADS/CREW/VOLUNTEERS
We are working out the details of our leads/crew, and I think we have enough to get by this year, but it will be a bit more skeleton, so we’re gonna need your help! Everybody must be on their BEST behavior this year, and BE EXTRA COOL! We are combining a few departments this year to make things more manageable (For example, DPW, Transport, and Parking is all one this time!), and we will be working out a volunteer schedule that is gonna be ok, somehow! I know that with good (principles!) Participation, Civic Responsibility, and Community Involvement this could be an EXCELLENT BURN!
*** SEEKING: Ranger and Medical Crew…… please contact us to help out! We need you!
THEME CAMPS and ART:
We aren’t reaching out for new camps or placed art this year, BUT we’ve reached out to previous groups, and I’m happy to report that (out of 26 on the map last year), SIX crews are coming back to do amazing things! That’s not many, but that’s OK, as that will be manageable, and AWESOME.

ART GRANTS:
With so many unknowns, including not knowing if TTATC will even happen for sure right now, we won’t be doing a “normal” grant program this year, but we have ideas and options, and more info will eventually come on that….. at the very least, we could roll money into next year, and have a BIG BLOWOUT return! Or whatever works…. so many strange details… things are SO WEIRD this year!
OK…. those are the big details! Of course I have more to say (ALWAYS), but this is enough for now! Thanks to everybody that has been helping to make this happen already….. It’s been a VERY challenging year, and soooo weird trying to plan an event, but we are doing our best. Thanks for hanging in there with us!
❤ Fire Mama

Fire Mama

How are you feeling?!? 2020 and the whole world has been CRAZY! Ready for something FUN yet?!? I know I am! I hope you’re taking care of yourselves and each other. We’ll get through this, and come out even better on the other side, with an even greater appreciation for the GOOD STUFF. We’re gonna try really hard to make TTATC happen this year, and hope you are with us!
Here are the facts:

• We’ve pushed back the event dates to Aug. 27 – 30, 2020, with set up on Aug 26.
• We aren’t 100% sure that TTATC will happen this year, and are currently buying more time to figure that out. In an effort to keep moving forward, and start planning, we will proceed with ticket sales in a few weeks – exact dates TBA! If the event doesn’t end up actually happening, for whatever reason, we have a plan in place to work that out… more info about all that will come – stay tuned!
• In an effort to make TTATC manageable and even remotely possible this year, we’ve decided to limit attendance to 200, instead of the 500 as originally planned. This will allow for greater distancing, as desired, and will keep the event alive for this year. I know that many people have stated that they plan not to come this year anyways, and unfortunately that may include many members of our lead team and other crew. That’s definitely a logistic concern, and contributes to the reasoning for limiting attendance.
• With this smaller attendance number, we will be able to change a few major things (just for this year), such as not using transport vehicles from the gate, and allowing people to drive in, drop off their things at their camps, and then immediately move their cars to the parking area. With a smaller number of people, there should be enough space for everybody to park in our usual parking area, and not have to expand parking up to the Clubhouse. I apologize in advance for the hike back to your camps from parking, but you’ll be ok!
• I already know we’re going to be missing some of our long standing theme camps for this year, and that’s ok, and we understand! For the ones that still plan to come, we’ll be happy to see you, and will be contacting you shortly regarding your attendance status and directed ticket needs. In discussions with various camps, we know that projects and plans may be pared down this year, and that’s super cool. I know it’s hard to plan for something that we don’t know for sure will even happen, so take it easy on yourselves! It’s definitely a year of NO PRESSURE.
• In the spirit of keeping a bit of distance, we won’t be having a center camp space, or a formal, and there have been ideas on how to have several smaller effigy burns, rather than one big one, so that we can all gather in several spaces, rather than in one big group. Other creative solutions and ideas are still welcome, on how we can make this year distance-friendly, and as safe as possible, so keep em coming.
• We’ll still need people to fill some volunteer shifts, but with a smaller population, this can be a shorter list as well. We might have to limit our gate hours, or make other adjustments, but if I know one thing about Burners…. we can figure it out and MAKE IT HAPPEN!
• I’ve been in contact with the CGC (Caribou Gun Club), and they love and miss us. I’m confident that they will do all they can to help us make this happen. We’ll still make sure to get some firewood, and have a bug bomb! It will be interesting to see how the weather will be there in late August, and hopefully it cooperates better than last year! That was just crazy.
• This hasn’t been a normal year so far at all, and we already know this won’t be a normal TTATC, and that’s ok. Maybe for this year, we all just plan for a much more relaxed vibe, and …just go camping! I know that I would love some time out of the city, to spend a few nights in a tent, and to see some cool people. And maybe that’s all TTATC is this year, and that still sounds GREAT to me.
• Our next steps are to see how y’all are feeling about all this, check in with leads and crew, work out our ticket sale details, think about what else we can do to make this year as safe and smart as possible. We welcome feedback and ideas as we proceed.
  THANK YOU for loving TTATC, and for all the support as we keep moving forward!
  <3 Fire Mama

HEY EVERYBODY!
We have TENTATIVE new dates for 2020!
Tickets TENTATIVELY go on sale:
**** Friday, June 5th @ noon! ****
TTATC 10:
**8/27/20 at 12 PM – 8/30/20 at 12 PM**
I really hope to TENTATIVELY see you there!
Stay tuned… there’s no guarantee that this will even happen, but we’re gonna buy some time, see what’s up, and hope for the best!
TENTATIVELY YOURS –
♥ Fire Mama

Hello TTATCers!

*** PLAN C ***

(Like it, love it, get mad at it, whatever! Tag your friends! Spread the word! SWORDFISH! Thx!)

Times are WEIRD! This whole pandemic thing has definitely been a rollercoaster! There are good days and bad days, and TTATC has certainly been on everybody’s mind. We are only a couple of weeks out from our original date for ticket sales (April 24), so I suppose it’s about time to make some decisions, and proceed somehow. Other Burns this summer are dropping like flies, and people are starting to ask about this year more and more, so here’s what’s going on….

Summary of our options:

Plan A: TTATC as planned in July, nothing is weird. Yay! Hahaha!

Plan B: Pandemic. We might be ok in July, let’s just start planning and see what happens.

Plan C: Maybe Burning Man will cancel and we can figure out August dates and do it then???

Plan D: NEVERMIND, see you next year. Ugh. Hmmmph.

Descriptions of our options:

Plan A is OUT. Not happening.

Plan B was in my head for a while, but now I’m thinking that’s not practical.

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***PLAN C****

WE ARE HERE! BUT…. we kinda gotta wait to see what happens with the Big Burn before we do anything about it. So, I’m suggesting that at this point is that we push everything back 6 weeks for now (ticket sales, all the forms, due dates, etc), and see what happens. Cross your fingers?? IF this works, our new dates would be August 27 – 30, with a set up date of Aug 26, and our ticket sales would happen on Friday, June 5th, at noon! We’ll see!

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Plan D is to cancel. BTW – Sept/Oct won’t work, as it’s hunting season at our venue.

We’ve weighed all the options and talked to our venue, and this is where we are right now., knowing that we still need to keep an eye on what’s happening. With the possibility of Plan C, we are giving ourselves 6 more weeks to decide and make an informed decision of changing our date. During this time, we will keep you as informed as possible. We’re not giving up yet!

None of us had any idea that any of this would happen, and this whole thing has come to a shock (to everybody and events everywhere!), but here we are. All we can do at this point is play the hand we are dealt. If anybody is holding any aces under the table, now would be the time to show em. It’s gambling time.

Thanks for your support and understanding during this difficult time for everybody. Be smart, be safe, and keep being awesome.

<3 Fire Mama

Did you miss my previous post?!? It included this information! Make sure to read all the things!

<3 General ticket sales happen on April 24, but in the meantime, there’s THIS! There’s a ticket link and everything! READ……

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This year we are adding something new.. We are making 50 tickets available as ART SUPPORT TICKETS available for $250 each, and go on sale very soon! Some people in our community have more money than time, and have the ability to give more financially. These particular tickets will support our ever expanding Art Grant program. Maybe well sell 2? 20? 50 of these? We don”t know! But we do know that Burning Man has offered this program before, and like many Things we do, we follow the Burning Man lead, and so well give it a shot! Some will love this and some wont (if you don”t, this program isn’t for you), but were gonna try it out. Art Support tickets will go on sale Wednesday, Dec. 18th at NOON, just in time to give as holiday gifts, if your Thing! We will be making decisions and providing directed tickets to established camps and a few departments as usual, THEN we will see where we are at as of our Main Sale, and sell ALL that remains of our 500 ticket cap (up 50 tickets total each year as usual) at that time. May the ticket odds be with you! Don’t forget that tickets tend to bounce around closer to the event, so if it doesn’t happen for you during these sales, its not over! Lets make it happen!
Art Support ticket LINK!
https://ttatc10artsupport.bpt.me

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Pretty sure there’s NO RUSH for these! These tickets will be available until General ticket sales in April! Thanks for supporting Burner Art!

<3 Fire Mama

TTATC is only EIGHT months away! Time to get going! Hahahaha! Well, the Lead Team is already on it, and we have a few Things and Announcements for ya! Are you ready?!? YOU SHOULD READ THIS WHOLE THING for a bunch of info! Here we go!

1. What is TTATC (That Thing at the Cabin)?
   For the newbies and reminders to everybody! TTATC is an event that follows the 10 Principles of Burning Man, including all the community stuff, such as Participation, Community Involvement, and Civic Responsibility. We all create and enjoy the art (interactive theme camps, static art, effigies, etc), we all volunteer to run the event (many opportunities!), and we all express ourselves, clean up after ourselves, offer gifts (time and things), and accept anybody and everybody, and so on and so on! TTATC will remain unsanctioned (no thanks red tape), privately run as an LLC (as always), and isn’t much different than other Regional Burns. Overall, we are a Burn, not a festival (so different!), and we are all in this together! TTATC isn’t provided FOR YOU, it’s a collaboration created by ALL OF US!
2. What is the C4?
   The Core 4 Team (C4) consists of 4 long time TTATCers that collaborate to take the lead on major decisions, deal with all things ethical, financial, and large scale planning for now and in the future as we continue to grow. This team has experienced some shifting through time (from 4 to 3 and back to 4, with some adjustments), but now we are set with myself, Paulski, J5, and Jeffy! We have a nice balance of people that bring many aspects of prep, planning, web stuff, and humor (gotta have humor!). Thanks for believing in us and our Core decisions.
3. What is the TTATC Lead Team?
   Most of our Lead Team has existed since TTATC THREE, which is basically when our team was established! Quite an impressive run for many of our crew! We have leads for Gate, FAST, Volunteers, Rangers, etc etc etc, those kinds of things, and we’ve added a few departments over the years as we’ve grown, as necessary. This is a team of almost 20 people, and this crew is BADASS. Thanks for stepping up to volunteer with these leads and departments to keep these necessary parts of TTATC alive and well!
4. What’s up with the TTATC Grounds?
   As most of you know, last year was very HOT and very WET (woooo!), our land took a hit, and as somebody eloquently said… “It was the best kind of brutal.” Many people stepped up, kept it together, and made it happen, regardless of the challenges! However, there are some things we must be mindful of moving forward as an event and community. We will keep our eyes on the weather and will make sure to have a Plan A and a Plan B for all things. As we grow, our Parking situation continues to be a challenge, but we have ideas and plans that will come. The neighborhood continues to mostly love us, but we did get a major SOUND complaint last year that is A BIG DEAL. This is something we will need to monitor and work together to manage as we move forward. However, it took us SIX YEARS to get a complaint, which is awesome! But the fact is…. the town knows we exist. We are loved by many, but must tiptoe around a few. Fortunately, our venue LOVES US and will work with us as much as possible, as long as we do our part. We are VERY LUCKY in so many ways…. Let;s be careful and protect what we have!
5. When do TICKETS go on sale?!?!
   Our main sale will commence on Friday, April 24th at NOON! Mark your calendars! All general tickets will be sold for $80 each, and when they are gone, they are gone! Last year, we sold out all (450) available tickets in 2.5 hours! It was crazy! This year we are adding something new….. We are making 50 tickets available as ART SUPPORT TICKETS available for $250 each, and go on sale very soon! Some people in our community have more money than time, and have the ability to give more financially. These particular tickets will support our ever expanding Art Grant program. Maybe we’ll sell 2? 20? 50 of these? We don’t know! But we do know that Burning Man has offered this program before, and like many Things we do, we follow the Burning Man lead, and so we’ll give it a shot! Some will love this and some won’t (if you don’t, this program isn’t for you), but we’re gonna try it out. Art Support tickets will go on sale Wednesday, Dec. 18th at NOON, just in time to give as holiday gifts, if that’s your Thing! We will be making decisions and providing directed tickets to established camps and a few departments as usual, THEN we will see where we are at as of our Main Sale, and sell ALL that remains of our 500 ticket cap (up 50 tickets total each year as usual) at that time. May the ticket odds be with you! Don’t forget that tickets tend to become available closer to the event, so if it doesn’t happen for you during these sales, it’s not over! Let’s make it happen!

THAT’S IT! Thanks for playing along! TTATC is awesome. You are awesome, we are awesome. It’s already happening, and it will be great! Thanks for being a TTATCer!

<3 Fire Mama (and crew!)