In the interest of furthering this policy, Apogaea is offering a “bounty” on scalpers. Any person who can prove to the satisfaction of the Apogaea Board of Directors that another individual has sold, or offered to sell, a ticket to our event for more than face value will receive the right to purchase the scalper’s cancelled ticket(s) at face value from Apogaea if the Board decides to cancel the ticket (which it will normally do). Satisfactory proof will generally mean emails, photographs, or recordings of some kind that evidence the identity of the individual selling the ticket as well as the terms and conditions of the proposed sale.

Scalpers beware – every potential customer is a snitch waiting to turn you in and obtain their ticket at face value.

While we are discussing the subject of ticket sales, please remember that a physical ticket does not guarantee you entry into the event. Your right of entry is evidenced by BOTH your physical ticket and the presence of your name on our list of participants which will be kept at the gate. You will be required to show a government issued photo ID that matches your name at the gate. If your ID does not match a name on the list of participants YOU WILL NOT BE ALLOWED TO ENTER THE EVENT. If you have purchased a ticket from another community member: (a) they need to contact Brown Paper Tickets and have your name substituted for their name on the list of ticketed attendees; or (b) they need to come to the gate with you and their own valid ID.

There will be NO EXCEPTIONS to these rules. You can beg, scream, cry, and plead BUT IT WILL DO YOU NO GOOD AND WE WILL LIKELY LAUGH AT YOU.

Your Apogaea Board of Directors

It seems like we’ve been waiting so long, and all of a sudden it’s almost here! Things are really kicking into high gear, so be sure to check the website often for news and events. Here’s a little info. from Guy that you may find interesting:

I’ve looked through the ticket sales and we are now an international event! We’ve had tickets shipped to London! Also there’s Alaska, Hawaii, New York, Vermont, Texas, Indiana, Tennessee, Arizona, California, Florida, Washington DC, Washington, Oregon, Wisconsin, South Dakota, Georgia, Iowa, Illinois, Massachusetts ( a bunch), Maryland, Missouri, Montana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and of course Wyoming

Thanks to all of you for all the work you do to put Apogaea on the map!

This weekend you have lots of events to choose from:

Saturday:

• (GuildWerks in Denver) Help Quartermaster Dave load up Apogaea’s brand new (to us) semi trailer: http://apogaea.com/event/pre-event-load-up/
• (Fusion Factory in Denver) Don’t miss the DPW Fundraiser Saturday night. This is your chance to see all your white trash DPW Dics embarrass themselves for money. It’s sure to be… well, we’ll see: http://apogaea.com/event/dpw-fundraiser/

Sunday:

Boulder:

• Start off your day having brunch with BAMF. They are holding an open forum from 10-12 at the Laughing Latte: http://apogaea.com/event/bamf-open-forum-2/
• Then head over to the Magic Mansion for the May Board Meeting from 1-4. This is the last public board meeting before Apogaea! http://apogaea.com/event/may-board-meeting/

Denver:

• After the board meeting, head back to Denver for the MANDATORY sound meeting. If you are bringing sound to Apogaea you must attend this meeting: http://apogaea.com/event/mandatory-sound-meeting/

If you’re still not excited, read through the list of granted art projects again. We’re about to see, hear, touch, smell, climb, and enjoy these ideas turned into reality.
1st round art grant awards
2nd round art grant awards

Get fired up, people, it’s almost time to burn in the mountains!

Flame on,

Flaming Art

We recommend using zimride to setup or find a carpool to Bailey, CO during the event dates: http://www.zimride.com

Or, use this spreadsheet, which unfortunately can expose some of your private info if you share it,  (phone number, etc)

• First fill out the form: Apogaea 2012 Rideshare Form
• Then go here and find your ride(rs): Apogaea 2012 Rideshare Spreadsheet

In And Out Access

There is a fee to leave the event and re-enter. If you know ahead of time that you’ll need to leave and re-enter and you have a VERY IMPORTANT reason, you MUST fill out this form for pre-approval. The deadline for pre-approval is May 20th.
Gate in and out access pre-approval form

Ticket Name Check

If you’re not sure if your name is on the attendee list, or if you made a change and you want to check it, fill out this form and Guy will get back to you. If you want a faster response or if you don’t want to take up Guy’s time, contact Brown Paper Tickets:  24/7 Ticket Hotline: 1-800-838-3006 | email hidden; JavaScript is required

visit: https://docs.google.com/a/apogaea.com/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dFVHaWpJNWljbEtMOFFzdnNtdUMyU0E6MQ

Survival Guide

Thank you for your cooperation!

RV registration worksheet

Questions about RV parking? Contact Michael at email hidden; JavaScript is required

Register your event using the form found here: http://tinyurl.com/7u85k2u

As most of you have noticed, Colorado has been a bit on the dry side recently, and has a very low snowpack. This means low embodied moisture in our vegetation, which creates dangerous fire conditions. All of this means that summer Burn Bans are a very real possibility. Here is what you need to do to stay up-to-date as we get closer to our event.

Register Your Fire

If you are bringing a “Fire Device”, such as a burn barrel, flaming sculpture, propane poofer, jetpack, or “anything flaming that isn’t a cookstove or fire performance gear (poi/staff)”, it must be PRE-REGISTERED along with art projects and theme camps! If you are already making a theme camp or art registration, make sure you add details about your FIRE THINGS to the form. If you are just bringing a burn barrel but are not registering a theme camp, then please register your device on it’s own.

WHY? The jurisdiction and land owner trust us to manage our fire safety in part because we commit to knowing what is going on at all times on the property. By registering, I know what is on fire where, and can answer any questions asked of us by the local jurisdictions or land owner. Also, if you register, I have your contact information and will give you regular updates on burn ban status, and advice on our rules for burn barrels and other fire devices to make sure they are both safe and awesome.

PRE-REGISTRATION FORM: http://apogaea.com/art-camps-things/pre-registration-form/

Burn Bans

There are three levels of burn ban that you should be aware of. These levels are set by Apogaea, and reflect our own needs, the needs of the land owner, and the needs of the local fire authority, all of whom we are in constant communication with. Burn ban status can change at any time, even partway through the event! As of today (4/7) there is No Burn Ban, but that can and will change on a weekly basis as we approach June.

• NO BURN BAN- This is our default state. Note that even with no burn ban, some things are still not allowed:
  • NO in-ground fires
  • NO tiki torches or candles
  • NO open-top burn barrels
  • NO unregistered structure burns
  • YES approved burn barrels and fire devices
  • YES approved art burns
  • YES fire performances
• LEVEL 1 BAN – “PARTIAL BAN” – This level of ban restricts some of our fire use, but allows others:
• NO wood burning fires (including burn barrels)
• NO art burns
• NO open fires
• YES propane fire devices in approved locations
• YES fire performances in specific approved locations
• LEVEL 2 BAN – “FULL BAN” – A full ban indicates serious fire danger!
• NO fires
• NO fire performances
• NO smoking outside of enclosed spaces
• YES propane cookstoves if fully protected and elevated

What Should I DO?

1. Ask Questions: email hidden; JavaScript is required
2. Register your fire devices: http://apogaea.com/art-camps-things/pre-registration-form/
3. Fire Performers (poi, staff, hoop, etc.) – Check in with Fire Convergence when you arrive – they will know the current status for fire performance, and if special zones have been setup due to fire danger. (for more info. contact Enthusi Adam)
4. Plan on a possible burn ban:
1. Extra dry and warm clothing
2. Consider building propane inserts for burn barrels or stoves
3. Tons of sweet blinky LED powered things to light up the night
5. Stay in touch – further updates will come as we approach the event.
6. Stay awesome – burn bans are a reality for Apogaea, but there is no reason that should slow us down!

“I don’t believe this shit!”

I think many of you shared this reaction. In 2011, Apogaea sold out in about 6 weeks. Tickets for Apogaea 2012 sold out in 2 hours and 1 minute.

What does this mean?

Well, it means we as a community have built a kick-ass festival that many, many people would like to attend. It means that following the Burning Man ticket fiasco, lots of folks are turning to regional burns instead of the big event. It means that lots of people are interested in the type of community and event we’re building. And unfortunately, it means that some of you did not get tickets.

The Board of Directors has worked hard to grow the festival over the past two years. In 2010-2011, the board performed an extensive land search and ultimately chose to move from Happy Ass Ranch to Fhloston Peak. The new location allowed more opportunity for growth, but required a lot of work. Last year, we worked with the landowner to develop a responsible growth plan and policies to ensure the beautiful location would not be damaged any more than necessary by our festival. The board made land improvements, including BUILDING A ROAD to make the land accessible. Then we all went up to the mountains, threw a kick-ass festival, and after we all left CANO walked the site with the landowner and picked up any remaining garbage. He collected less than one ziploc bag full of MOOP (matter out of place). That’s how hard we all rocked it.

This year, the board worked hard to increase the size and capacity of the event. Team Ignition has filled out over the course of the year to provide more leadership roles. The board has moved away from running the event and focused more on policy while letting Ignition members build teams and do the work. The board also carefully considered options for growth and decided to grow the festival responsibly, not allowing the number of attendees to overwhelm the number of volunteers and the facilities (port-a-potties, medical, fire, volunteer support). After much consideration, they arrived at the magic number of 1300. The board also opened up an early entry day, so all volunteers and Ignition members can come in on Wednesday before the event.

You can see by this graph that Apogaea’s growth (as well as that of Burning Man and other regional events) has been linear but the demand has likely been growing exponentially. That means the ticket shortage may be even worse next year unless we come up with some creative solutions.  If you want to help Apogaea grow responsibly, please volunteer (but note that you must already have a ticket in hand), help with the land search, or come up with another way to get involved.

So the Board came up with a plan for responsible growth, but their work wasn’t done. After Burning Man royally screwed up their ticketing process, the board spent many hours discussing the best way to conduct ticket sales. In the end, they settled on a first-come-first-served system and announced the date and time of ticket sales a month in advance. The date and time were chosen to minimize conflict with jobs and social activities and the first-come-first served system ensured that those who put in the effort to get prepared got their tickets. Was the system perfect? No, but it was pretty damn good. The server didn’t go down, checkout was quick, tickets went on sale exactly when they were advertised, and as far as we can tell, very few scalpers got their dirty little hands on our tickets. I think we owe the Board of Directors, and particularly Guywire who was in charge of ticket sales, a big thank you for their smokin’ hot passion and hard work.

If you don’t have a ticket

• First of all, the board would like to express their sincere sympathy. We truly wish that everybody who wanted to attend could have a ticket, but unfortunately demand has outweighed supply and some people who really want to go and could have made a great contribution will be unable to attend this year.
• We recommend looking for a ticket on our Facebook group.  There are lots of active Apogaeans on that group and a community maintained list of people who need tickets titled “I need a ticket – Apogaea 2012.“
• If you find a ticket for sale, please don’t pay over list price for it. If nobody will buy overpriced tickets, scalpers will have no market and will be discouraged.
• Please be aware that if you buy a ticket from someone else, they need to call Brown Paper Tickets and change the name associated with that ticket. Make sure they do that before money changes hands, then call yourself and double check! If the name associated with your ticket does not match your ID, you will not be allowed entry. Please, please, please take care of this! None of us wants to turn people away at the gate.
• Have hope! Plans change and tickets will become available between now and the event.

If you have an extra ticket

• We announced before the sale that tickets could be returned to Brown Paper Tickets and then resold. Unfortunately, BPT has never had to use that feature before and they realized it doesn’t actually work. This means you need to sell or gift the ticket yourself.
• Please be aware that if you sell a ticket to someone else, you need to call Brown Paper Tickets and get their name associated with that ticket. THIS IS THE TICKET SELLER’S RESPONSIBILITY. If the name on the ticket does not match the person’s ID, they will not be allowed entry. Please, please, please take care of this! None of us wants to turn people away at the gate.
• Please do not sell tickets above face value. Profiting from ticket sales is against our principles. Nobody should profit from this event.
• Don’t be afraid to give a ticket away if it feels right. We encourage gifting, just don’t forget to change the name linked to the ticket!
• Feel free to gift or sell the ticket to your friends, family, and camp mates. But if you don’t have someone in mind, check out the list of people who need tickets on the Facebook group.
• Please be sensitive to those who did not get tickets and don’t accuse them of being irresponsible and unprepared. You can’t possibly know what circumstances led them to not getting a ticket.

Finally, a little note from me, Flaming Art. The community response to this ticket shortage has been overwhelming. You have all stepped up to give credit where credit is due, take responsibility where you can, and be proactive in this difficult circumstance. Give yourself a mirror high five! You deserve it.

Until next time, Flaming Art is putting out.

7 board members, all 4 officers, 10 Ignition members, and 5 community members were in attendance.

Ticket sales

• Presale codes have been sent out and 30 Ignition tickets have been sold. There were 26 applications for low-income tickets and 6 for teen tickets so far.
• You will get a ticket in the mail from brown paper tickets and that will be exchanged for an art ticket at the gate. Your name must be on the list to get in. Important note: when checking out on Brown paper tickets, Apo gets their money faster if you use Google checkout. Please use this option if you can!
• There will be free “tickets” for work weekend and only approved people will be able to purchase.
• We are trying to get cloth wrist bands for this year, there is a donation page on the website: wristband fund drive.
• Luki is hosting a ticket-buying party in Ft. Collins and Shutterbug is hosting a ticket-buying party in Denver. Get in touch with these two if you need internet access to buy your ticket. People are throwing parties to buy tickets for our party!  How cool is that? Oh, and in case you missed it somehow, tickets go on sale Tuesday, March 20th at 7:00 PM!!

Parking *Please, please, please carpool*

We have been given more space to use on the property by the landowner but parking WILL be an issue. Some ideas for parking include use of a meadow that was unavailable last year, charging for parking on site to encourage carpooling, and the use of a shuttle van to get people from a lower parking lot to the event.

Officer Reports

Guy (VP) made contact with all BM and territorial ambassadors to tell them he is the official board liaison and asked them if there’s anything they want to do. BM regional reps may help with the logistics of the Ignition retreat. Luki is hosting a ticket-buying party in Fort Collins (see above).

Shutterbug (treasurer) – art grant checks are going out and artists need to turn in their W-9 forms. We are currently over budget (158% of budget) because there were insurance and legal fees higher than expected and many things have come in over budget lately. The board will be extra aware of where the money is going to make sure they stay within the budget.

Land

At our current rate of growth, we can only use the new location for one more year after this so the land search and the idea of Apogaea buying their own land are topics important for discussion. (Ian Bates was recently ratified as our new land search lead.)

The land contract is signed! The event permit has been applied for and should come back any day!  Insurance is set!  Onward and upward!

BAMF wellness center proposed

BAMF would like to offer a wellness center this year. They plan to provide massages, a rehydration station, and more. Aria would be wellness center lead and would recruit volunteers and screen therapists to make sure they are qualified. The board thought this was a great idea but was concerned about the legal issues since this service would be offered by Apogaea BAMF, not a theme camp. The board will continue to discuss this idea through the mission control email list and Aria will be included in the discussion.

2nd round Art grants

The art grant committee had a little over $2000 to award, and there were requests for ~$6000. 21 applications were received and the top 10-11 grants were funded. Congratulations to all those who received art grants!  Read about the projects

Center Camp

Amelia submitted a detailed, multi-tiered budget. A large burn barrel is being donated and Amelia’s proposal includes an expansion from the tent to surround the burn barrel, playatech furniture, and walls that can be made into art. She would also like to include theme camp flags, hanging artwork, lighting, and electrical for night time performances. The board wants to support Center Camp but was not prepared to make a full decision on how much money they could spend. Cyn offered to move $200 from BAMF funds to Center Camp so the board gave Amelia $200 to get started and will re-evaluate in 2 weeks.

Sound

Ishe (representing sound) and Michael (representing quiet) are working together to create and enforce sound policies this year. There will be a mandatory sound meeting for all sound camps to go over rules. Quiet hours will be 4AM-12 noon. There are two large 24 hour sound camps which are allowed to play if they have enough people there (a minimum percentage of the Apo community). This has not changed from last year. There will be a sound town hall for input from the community regarding sound policy – if you have an opinion about sound, look for this event coming soon!

Quartermaster’s Report

There is no room in the current storage unit for the effigy in case of a burn ban. We do have a bunch of propane gear (hoses and valves) in case we need to use propane instead of open flame in burn barrels, etc. Quartermaster Dave will get everything together in case of a burn ban but wait to buy propane.  Q Dave requested and was given $50 for propane gear and $100 for storage tubs for Center camp stuff.

Apogaea is looking to buy a semi trailer for year round storage.  Uncle Dave has requested a donation or discount purchase of a retired FedEx trailer.  If this doesn’t work out, Michael can get a trailer at auction for $1500-2000.  Several people are going to follow up with this.

New Ignition leads

Jon Douglas Norton – daily parking lead
Charlie Puma – daily parking lead
Travis Roberts – BAMF daily lead in charge of infrastructure
Art grant committee members: Rachel Cain, Jersey Miranda and Michael Moss.
Ranger Daily Khaki leads:  Ronica Roth, Duney Dan, Kimberly Clinton, Trevor Stone, Lavendyr Broyden
Cat Herder:  Deb Pika.  Deb will be in charge of coordinating volunteers at the event and making sure “floaters” are assigned to the area where they are most needed.

The board discussed whether there should be multiple levels of Ignition leads. Maybe Ignition members who have others reporting to them should be separate from Ignition members that just do a lot of work but don’t have a “lead” position? The board agreed to table the discussion of different levels of Ignition members until after the event this year at which time it will be revisited.

The current Volunteer Swag Lead was removed from Ignition for failing to meet deadlines. The board hates to remove volunteers, people who just want to help, but it’s also important to get things done.  Apogaea is now looking for a new swag lead.

Retreat

The board and Ignition retreat will be held on May 5 – 6. The retreat will include the board only on Friday night with Ignition joining in on Saturday morning.  This is a no drug and alcohol event.

Bailey Chamber of Commerce

Apo will communicate with the Bailey chamber of commerce to let them know when tickets go on sale. The board agreed that it would be great if local Bailey people could attend the event.

Next Board Meeting

The board will start bimonthly conference calls on April 25th. The next board meeting is April 8th Fusion Factory. The board is aware that this is Easter Sunday but has decided to meet anyway.

That’s all for now, folks.  If you haven’t done so yet, please sign up for our newsletter so I can keep you in the know about Apo. Flame on,

~Flaming Art

Hoop It Forward

led by Travis Roberts
The Hoop It Forward workshop would allow people to try out hoops that were made prior to the event (for size, weight, etc.) and then to use their own creativity to decorate the hoops (with all kinds of crazy ass tape). The participants may take this hoop home with them.

Hypnotic Spiral Vortex

led by Kevin Johnson
A spinning spiral vortex of rebar, mirrors, dichroic glass and LEDs. By day, light will reflect off the mirrors and through the glass sending light and rainbows over the forest. By night, ‘snow falling’ LEDs will twinkle. Inside the spiral vortex will be an illuminated 6′ balloon with a hypnotic spiral on both sides. It will look as if the balloon is traveling up the vortex. It will have the effect of causing any onlookers to be mesmerized into a state of ecstasy and euphoria.

Viking Ship Dance Stage

led by Gilbert Barnes
Imagine a stripper pole on a Viking ship, add Apogaeans and pump the music.

Volcadexteras: Colorado ‘can’ded Fire Stage

led by Jesse Taenzer
Two interlocking hands create a stairway and fire performance stage. The ‘skin’ of the hands being a collage of fuel cans collected over the past year.

Odd’itory Illusions

led by Christopher Mikkelson
A Multi-dimensional 3 screen broadcast used to create a panoptic experience to guide the audiences consciousness through perceptually meaningful elements & physi’o'ptical illusions.

The UFO Has Landed

led by Aaron Ordaz
We will be build a UFO that is in the landing position. There will be 8 panels that will have LEDs on it that are controllable by the user.

Camp Shibari

led by Diana Drake
Camp Shibari is to be a place of comfort and relaxation where all can enjoy the beauty and comfort of wearing, tying and learning about rope. We will offer classes and be glad to allow any and all to wear our ropes as they wish.

The Sound Bath

led by AnDrew Brislin
The Sound Bath is a space for you to go and let meditative vibrations spiral around you. Upon entering the Sound Bath frequencies begin to swirl around your body. The participant controls the sound by slowly moving around in the space.

Metascene Camp

led by John Sondericker
Like a lighthouse in a foggy, foggy night, Metascene Camp helps intrepid Apogaeans find their way, warming their hearts with welcome arms that grope and fondle in the most appropriate ways. Metascene Camp is the Rx for your soul.

Everybody Needs a Little TuTu!

led by Jessica Zimmerman
Camp Wardrobe Malfunktion will be hosting a tutu making workshop. The goal is to have a multi-hour workshop that will allow Apogaea to be covered in tutus. The workshop attendees will keep their tutu creations.

Rickjob Spincat Toys

led by Adam Kemis
We build an arsenal of recycled props for the sole purpose of learning and gifting to anyone interested. By collecting popped and therefore useless bike inner tubes from local shops we can use them to build poi, staff, double staff, clubs etc. props to play with both being eco friendly and inexpensive these props are quite the blast to play with!

Mallurd Wedding Camp

led by Yana Nightingale
During the day, an ordained minister will be available for weddings or ceremonies expressing love toward one another under a beautifully designed and decorated arbor.

Nobody got all the money that they will spend on their project, far from it. All are putting in their own funds or holding fundraisers so do help them out with your time, materials, and moolah.

Thanks to all of you who are participating in one of the world’s greatest festivals.
This is gonna be good.

~Rev. ttt, Apo Art Lead