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The Ship's Log

Sky pirates of the playa · 2026
Burning Man 2026 · 10:00 & HELAU. One link for ~100 Fluffers. Campers book their own shifts, leads run arrivals, check-ins and MOOP checkout from one dashboard, and the deposit decision writes itself.
fluffy.camp → open the shift board
built & live no passwords double-booking impossible 23/23 tests passing $0 to run
← back to the shift board

The whole thing in four steps

Campers sign up

Go to fluffy.camp, enter your email, click the link we send, book your shifts. No password, works on any phone.

Arrival at the cloud

Lead finds them on the list at the Esplanade table, issues a wristband, records their zone. Their booked shifts appear on screen.

Shifts during the burn

Lead taps ✓ as people turn up, ✗ for no-shows. Attendance is public in camp.

Checkout & MOOP

Lead walks their zone, photographs it, records clear or issues. Deposit call is then evidence-based.

Why it's fair, and why nobody can game it

Enforced by the database, not by trust

  • First come, first served, timestamped by the server rather than anyone's phone.
  • A shift physically cannot exceed capacity, even if two people tap the last spot in the same instant.
  • Nobody can double-book themselves or hold two overlapping shifts.
  • An hour cap stops anyone hoovering up the good shifts before others look.
  • Waitlists promote automatically, in join order, the moment someone cancels.
  • Wristband numbers can't be issued twice.
  • Every action is logged with who and when, so disputes end with a scroll rather than an argument.

What leads get

Live overview. Fill rate per role, which shifts are understaffed, who hasn't signed up for anything yet.

Arrival desk. Search a name, hand over a wristband, type the number, record their zone. One tap.

Shift check-in. Shows the shifts happening around now. Tap to mark attended or no-show.

MOOP checkout. Verdict, notes and photos of their zone, stored against the person.

Deposit export. One CSV with attendance, no-shows, MOOP verdict, photo count and a recommended refund / withhold / review call per camper.

Full control. Roles, times, capacities, roster approvals and the hour cap are all editable in the dashboard. No developer needed after launch.

Shifts currently loaded (placeholders, easy to change)

Camp care — everyone does at least one, including the mandatory MOOP.

MOOP · mandatory 2h Meal prep · 2h Meal cleanup · 1h Bathroom Shower

Interactivity — the fun ones, on party nights.

Ladder On-cloud safety Fluffer 1 + 2

Sunday — all-camp breakdown and deMOOP, noon to 4pm, everyone.

Working assumption: 6 hours per person plus the Sunday all-hands. Times and headcounts below are my best guess and take minutes to change once you tell me the real plan.

The week as the board now shows it

NightWhat's onCloud shifts
Sat 29 AugEarly arrival only — an Early Access Pass is required. Camp has 50 passes, ~20 to build crew, so ~30 left. Early entry comes with helping out. Marco is first boots on the ground.2 setup blocks, 15 each
Sun 30 AugCamp kickoff meeting 6pm, group photo #1 straight after, then the mini party — the crew who built the cloud DJ.light, one 8pm–midnight block
Mon 31 AugCrew night, full party. Anyone who brings all-in-one DJ decks (the backup rig we need) earns a set.full
Tue 1 SepExploration night. The pirate ship embarks at midnight.none
Wed 2 SepFluffers Choice, full party. Ship sails again and throws a 4am–8am sunrise party.full + ship support
Thu 3 SepExploration day. No parties.none
Fri 4 SepExploration by day, party by night, then another 4am–8am ship party.full + ship support
Sat 5 SepGroup photo #2 at noon, then burn night — we watch the Man together (barring trouble).see decision below
Sun 6 SepMandatory all-camp breakdown and deMOOP, noon–4pm.everyone

All-camp events (kickoff, exploration, ship parties, burn night, breakdown) cost nobody any volunteer hours. They sit on the board so people can mark themselves in and so the system won't let anyone book a work shift on top of one.

Decisions we need from camp leadership

DecisionOptions / defaultWhen
The real shift grid Exact times and how many people per shift, per role. Currently placeholder at ~530 person-hours, which is a little short of ~600 needed for 100 people × 6h. before launch
Hours per camper Working assumption 6 hours plus the 4-hour Sunday breakdown. Confirm, or set a different number. before launch
Who gets admin access Jorge is already set up. Add any of Luca, Rod, Luis, Gino, Marco, or whoever runs the arrival table. Suggest at least 3 so nobody is a bottleneck on playa. before launch
Open link or approved roster Anyone with the link can book, or leads approve each person first. Suggest open for the first week, then switch to approved once the real roster is in. at launch
How early access passes are handed out The board now allocates the ~30 non-build-crew passes itself: claim a Saturday setup block and the pass is yours, first come first served, with an automatic waitlist. Confirm the split (50 total, ~20 build crew) and whether setup hours count towards someone's 6, or sit on top. Currently on top. before launch
Cloud shifts during the burn Saturday 8pm–midnight currently has ladder, on-cloud safety, bathroom and a captain rostered, which collides with everyone watching the Man together. Suggest closing the cloud during the burn and moving that staffing to after it. soon
Is "Captain" a role? It appears with a question mark on the shift list. Say what it does and it goes on the board. soon
Force one camp care shift? Right now the rule is stated but not enforced. We can make the site refuse interactivity bookings until a MOOP shift is booked. Recommend yes. soon
Build/strike crew exemption DOE and build crew were exempt from on-playa shifts in past years. Confirm, and we simply don't require hours from them. soon
Deposit rule wording Currently on the site as: $500 back if you showed up for the shifts you booked and left no MOOP. Confirm or reword. soon
Zone naming Arrival desk records where each person is camped. Works best with agreed names (RV row A/B, tent zone 1/2, and so on). before gate
Wristband numbering Numbers are typed at check-in and must be unique. Any scheme works, sequential is simplest. before gate
Custom address Runs today on a free web address. Optional upgrade to shifts.thefluffycloud.org, which needs a DNS record on the camp domain. nice to have

Practical notes

On-playa reality

The dashboard works on a phone, but playa wifi is playa wifi. Export the CSV before gate and print it, so the arrival table has a paper fallback.

MOOP photos upload when there's a connection. If an upload fails, the verdict is still saved, so checkout never blocks on signal.

Cost and ownership

Runs on free tiers with headroom for a camp several times our size. No subscription, no per-user fees, nothing to renew.

Data lives in a standard database the camp owns, exportable to spreadsheet at any time. Nothing is locked in.