Greetings, Element 11 Community!

It’s been 1 month already! Can you believe it? Hopefully your return to default world is all treating you well. This year, we are filled with gratitude for the energy, creativity, and commitment each of you brought to the playa. Our shared experiences have created lasting memories, and as always, we have much to celebrate and learn from. Thus as your friendly Chairman of the Board for the Element 11 organization, here is our retrospective on the 2024 event.

Clarifying Parking Passes

This year, the introduction of the “Park and Camp” parking pass caused some confusion. Namely, the naming of the name itself of the named “Park and camp” pass caused the issues. To address this, next year, we are rebranding the two distinct parking passes: the “Parking Lot Pass” and the “General Parking Pass.” This change aims to make it easier for everyone to understand where their vehicle should live for the duration of the event.

Speaking of parking . . .

Our new parking lot was a tremendous success! Unlike previous years, the camping areas did not feel like congested parking zones. By the numbers, we sold more vehicle passes than in 2023, yet it felt less crowded. Specifically, we sold 0.45 general parking passes per ticket, but when combined with parking lot passes, the ratio was 0.63 passes per ticket sold. This streamlined parking solution made a noticeable difference in the overall experience.

We are incredibly proud of our Placement Team. As a brand new department, they excelled in their roles, ensuring that our campsites were organized and everyone knew where they should go. That the parking lot experiment was so successful is a direct testament to how well the Placement Team did this year.

Something which the organization noticed though, with the new parking lot arrangement, many theme camps overestimated the space they needed. We are considering changes to how theme camps request space for future gatherings to optimize our layout and better meet everyone’s needs.

Some notes for our lovely theme camp organizers

We were thrilled this year to see a growing push towards sustainable energy solutions within our community. The numerous solar setups were inspiring, and the responsible use of generators helped keep noise levels down. This shift towards greener energy is a fantastic trend we hope to see continue.

Our sound camps did an incredible job this year. As an organization, we did not receive a single escalated sound complaint, which is a testament to their consideration for the community. We want to greatly acknowledge the grace that the sound camp organizers received the feedback from the 2023 event and the changes they made. Sound camps are a pivotal part of our event, and we are so pleased with how they interacted with out community this year.

The org recognizes there were issues with the What Where When guide, particularly affecting theme camps and artists. Even though everything was mostly sorted out in the end, we have a plan in place to improve this experience for next year to ensure everyone has the information they need and the guide is accurate well before the event.

A few notes for the community

A significant amount of MOOP (Matter Out Of Place) was left in the porto potties this year. As a “Leave No Trace” event, it’s crucial that we all take responsibility for our waste. Next year, the organization will ensure that all porto potty banks are cleaned daily, but we also need each community member to be vigilant about their MOOP.

The road situation this year was less than ideal. Roads were not dragged before the event, leading to confusion and the creation of unintended paths. Our plan is to ensure that roads are clearly marked and maintained to prevent this issue in the future.

This year’s drone show and fireworks were absolutely spectacular! However, we acknowledge that the sound quality could have been better and will work on improving this aspect next year.

The music during the Temple Burn received mixed reactions. While some appreciated it, others did not. Ultimately, we believe it comes down to the artist’s vision, and we honored their request this year.

Share Your Feedback

Your feedback is invaluable to us. Please take a moment to share your thoughts on this year’s event and the organization by filling out our feedback form: Element 11 Feedback Form.

Celebrating an Amazing Gathering

Overall, this year’s Element 11 gathering was a resounding success from all perspectives. We are grateful for each of you who contributed to making it such a special event. Here’s to many more years of creativity, connection, and community!

Thank you for being a part of Element 11. We look forward to seeing you next year!

With love and light,

The Element 11 Board of Directors