SOAK SOAK

Covid-19 and Radical Inclusion

To our incredible Burner community,

After two long years, we are so excited to return to the regional gatherings that mean so much to all of us. An essential part of gathering safely has meant crafting a Covid-19 Policy that protects and supports as many people as possible. In the interest of transparency and radical inclusion, we wanted to share our thought process with you.

Our Covid-19 Policy is based upon these core understandings:

  • Covid-19 is a real disease that can cause severe illness, disability, and death. The resulting illness and disability from infection is sometimes permanent and can affect people for the rest of their lives.

  • The Covid-19 vaccines are effective at preventing severe negative Covid outcomes, including short term hospitalization, Long Covid, and in some cases even death.

  • The Covid-19 vaccines are proven to provide a measure of protection against the transmission of Covid-19.  

  • Preventing the overall number of Covid-19 cases and limiting (or even eliminating) severe Covid outcomes provides a positive benefit to our local and global communities.

Those who do not agree with the basic points above will likely not agree with our Covid-19 Policy. 

For those who do still agree with the above points and are questioning whether it is “radically-inclusive” to exclude people who have not received a Covid-19 vaccine: We urge you to think beyond a single-issue view point. Yes, we recognize that it may seem as though we are excluding humans by the simple fact that some humans do not meet the criteria outlined in the policy and therefore are not allowed to attend. However, please understand that our intention is not to exclude people; we’re really trying our best to exclude the virus. Here are the reasons we believe the policy is in-line with Burning Man's principals of Radical Inclusion and our own Precipitation Northwest’s values of Inclusion:

  • Populations who are more vulnerable to severe cases of Covid-19 get to attend without putting their health and lives at risk.

  • Attendees who live in communities with at-risk populations can attend with a lessened fear of directly or indirectly exposing their communities to the virus. 

  • Vaccines are a part of important community-oriented measures. We don’t get vaccinated just for ourselves; we get vaccinated for our local and global communities.  

  • Vaccines contribute to ending the pandemic. Events with thousands of people in attendance can be hotspots for Covid-19 outbreaks. In implementing this policy we are doing our part to end the pandemic, which continues to negatively affect local and global communities and economic, social and mental health issues therein.

  • We care about medical professionals, who have worked tirelessly throughout this pandemic, and we want to lessen their burden by reducing the chances of an outbreak at the event. Widening our circle of compassion beyond our own selfish desires to have an event is radically inclusive.

  • Attendees can be close, physically connected and gather in enclosed spaces, knowing that all reasonable actions have been taken to not harm others who are not protected from the virus.

  • A necessary part of putting on a successful event is our relationship with local government entities. By showing that we are a responsible group that cares about preventing Covid-19 outbreaks we continue to build trust with these stakeholders and ensure the survival of the event long term. In turn, more events means more human connection and more community. 

Radical Inclusion does not mean that absolutely everyone gets to come to the event. It means that the doors are opened as wide as possible, but not without protective boundaries that are a necessary component of our civic responsibility.

Some have also asked why we are not offering the option of testing as an alternative to vaccination. The reason is simple: we want the Covid-19 Policy to be as effective and simple as possible. Testing gives us data for only one specific point in time – the time of the swab. A person could be contagious, but just not show as positive for that one point in time. Or a person could be exposed to the virus just prior to the event, provide a negative test, and become contagious before the event is over. Because we are a 5-day event, obtaining testing data for the exact point of entry into the event does not provide protection for the entire 5-day event. Simply put, the most effective way to prevent Covid-19 infection at SOAK is if every attendee is fully vaccinated.

Thank you for reading and understanding, and we’re looking forward to seeing you all at SOAK*2022!

Sincerely,

SOAK Producers and Precipitation Northwest Board of Directors

P.S. As always, please feel free to contact us with questions, comments and feedback about this topic.

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SOAK*2022 Ticket Sales Update

The SOAK Production Team would like to apologize for the KAOS of the Wednesday, March 23, ticket Mainsale and would like to provide more information on what occurred. At issue was the payment handover from the ticket processor Brown Paper Tickets to PayPal, our credit card processor. PayPal saw hundreds of transactions at once, flagged them as suspicious, and shut down the account. While we had proactively notified PayPal to expect this influx of payments, they were unable to manually override this fraud prevention setting. 

We had been using PayPal for two reasons:

  • It provides money up-front to SOAK so that we can produce the event.

  • It keeps prices slightly lower for you, the purchaser.


Moving forward, we will no longer be relying on PayPal as the credit card processor for high volume sales like these.

As a result of these issues, NO tickets were sold on March 23rd and no people were charged for any tickets that made it into their carts. The entire allocation of Mainsale tickets will be sold on the next sale, the exact date of which is still being discussed. We still plan holding the OMG sale closer to SOAK.

We want to recognize that there’s a lot of excitement and anticipation for gathering at SOAK after two long years, and are working diligently to ensure that Wednesday night’s experience does not happen again. Look for additional communications on the next sale date and time shortly. 

Thank you,
SOAK Producers

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SOAK*2022 Ticket Information

We're excited to announce SOAK*2022 ticket information! See below for important updates:

  1. Ticket prices this year will be $169 and RV passes will be $65

  2. The Main ticket sale will be Wednesday, March 23. Check the SOAK Ticket webpage for more information closer to the date. Amount: ~705

  3. Theme camp + Artist DGS will be notified March 11; sales will begin March 16. Amount: 600

  4. Afraid of missing the mainsale? There will be a limited number of tickets available for sale at mainsale prices on May 4. Amount: ~100

  5. The Subsidized Ticket form will be available soon. Those who qualify will be notified March 11. The Subsidized ticket sale is March 16. The price of this year's tickets are $84.50, half price of a regular ticket. More information can be found here. Amount: 75

  6. A small number of Patron tickets will be available at $550 on March 2 at noon o’clock.

  7. Did you earn a ticket from volunteering at previous SOAK’s? The Boxxxx Office team will email you a confirmation and you will be able to redeem your tickets starting March 2.

 

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Upcoming Event: Town Hall 2022

Join us for the annual Burning Man Town Hall meeting on Sunday, February 13th from 12pm-3pm on Zoom.

This annual event is sponsored by Precipitation Northwest and organized by Portland's Regional Contacts (RCs) as part of their volunteer work for the national Burning Man Project.

It is also a way for local burners (or the Burner curious) to meet each other, get information about local happenings, learn about updates to the annual regional event SOAK, as well as hear directly from the Precipitation Northwest Board of Directors about the organization’s recent and upcoming activities and work.

The agenda for the day is as follows:

12:00 pm - 12:10 pm: Welcome & Intros

12:10 pm - 12:30 pm: Burning Man Updates

12:35 pm - 1:15 pm: SOAK Updates

1:25 pm - 1:30 pm: Dance & Pee Break

1:30 pm - 2:00 pm: Precipitation NW Updates

2:05 pm - 3:00 pm: Break Out Rooms

For more details and to RSVP, visit the Facebook page here. 

Please contact the RCs directly for questions or more information about this event by emailing portland@burningman.org or by contacting Precipitation NW at info@precipitationnw.org

December 15, 2021

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SOAK*2022 Announcement

Read on for important details on SOAK*2022 including staffing updates, volunteer opportunities, and more!

It's been over two long years since we last gathered in Tygh Valley and burned together. While there are still many uncertainties ahead for 2022, the SOAK operations team is excited to announce that planning is underway for SOAK*2022! Save the dates on your calendars, May 26th-30th. We're closely monitoring COVID developments and recommendations from state and local authorities. We'll continue providing announcements with upcoming event details and will remain transparent with any changes if new circumstances arise. We're doing everything we can to ensure SOAK*2022 happens - as long as our event can remain safe, healthy and fun for everyone. 

There’s been a lot of planning activity leading up to this point. We are excited to share the following news and updates with the community :

  • Our new website is live! Go check it out at soakpdx.com and find all things SOAK related; including event news, updates, volunteer information, and much more! 

  • Your returning SOAK*2022 producers are GoldDust (Revé Oviedo) and One Eye (Jeannie Rodriguez). New to the SOAK production team is Rye (Ryan Krellwitz). 

  • Lead applications are now open! Interested in getting involved? We’re looking for qualified individuals who want to lead, or co-lead, a SOAK*2022 department. If you are interested in joining the team, please see below for details:

Open Lead Roles:

SOAK is 100% volunteer-led and volunteer-run. Joining the Leads team is a great way to give back to our community, develop new skills, and make a difference at the event you love to attend. Not only will you be contributing to make our event even better, you'll also earn a free ticket to SOAK*2022 plus access to purchase one ticket via a Directed Group Sale.This year we have openings for Leads in the following departments:

Ambassadors (1 opening): Welcomes participants to the event. Staffs the Info Booth, and manages Lost + Found at the Embassy location.

Art Placement (1 opening):  Reviews art submissions, places art installations, art support,  coordinates with the Placement team for mapping SOAK.

Box Office (2 openings): Manages ticket processing & shipping, vehicle badges, canine attendee badges, and will-call.

LNT (1 opening): Staff, train, and educate LNT ethos to team & SOAK participants. Performs post-event cleanup, restoring the event site to its original state (or better).

Parking (1 opening): “Parks & Wrecks” handles parking lot management and controls traffic flow.

Print (1 opening): Onsite support and a ream of print jobs, from the Survival Guide to wristbands to stickers.

Visit soakpdx.com for a list of full job descriptions and a link to application. The deadline to apply is Sunday, January 9th, 2022.  

Thank you everyone for your patience as we navigate through these unprecedented times.

Love and hugs,

Your SOAK*2022 Producers

Photo Cred: Papa Bear

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