Lottery results will be announced on Tuesday and Wednesday, January 31 and February 1. We already know from the Jack Rabbit Speaks that there were many more requests than there were tickets (40,000 were allotted to this “main” lottery). What if you didn’t get a ticket?
The Burning Man organization believes that there are actually plenty of tickets available, but because people ordered more than they need or, by asking others to order tickets for them, more than they were actually entitled to (2 per person). According to the Jack Rabbit Speaks (JRS):
“…the reality is that there are now a lot of tickets held by our community that will now simply be redistributed to those who need them. Based on analysis we hold a strong belief that things will settle out over the course of time, once that redistribution takes place, such that most everybody who wants a ticket will find their way to one.”
This sounds a little simpler than it may be, but the fact is Burning Man has developed a system for helping people find tickets or get rid of tickets to someone else who needs them in the Burning Man community. Again, from the JRS:
“The STEP (Secure Ticket Exchange Program) is a web-based system that will allow Burners to sell their unneeded tickets, and Burners wanting tickets to access them. This will allow for safe and secure transactions in a central place for community-monitored, face-value resales.”
Check the tickets area of the Burning Man website (http://tickets.burningman.com) for more information on STEP as well as other details on ticket sales.
Finally, the JRS has asked that Burners not use “secondary resources (eBay, Craigslist, StubHub, etc.) for the resale of tickets, and we encourage those who do not obtain tickets from the Main Sale/Open Sale to utilize community-centric sources to keep a handle on this process together.”
This information may not feel fully satisfying at this point in the ticket purchasing process, but we all need to be patient and try to let the system work so that everyone who truly wants and ticket and plans to go to the Burn in 2012 can get a ticket. Please remember, if you have extra tickets, do your best to sell them to a real Burner and not a scalper. There is likely to be some panic early on over tickets, and scalper will try to get the maximum price they can during this early and unsettled phase of the process.
Sunrise Burners will continue to watch for updates on the ticketing issue and let our readers know the latest information.