I managed to register myself in the Secure Ticket Exchange Program (STEP) want list. Only after 18 minutes, as the site was unreachable for me untill then, brought down under the load of probably thousands of people wanting to get in the want list queue as soon as possible to at least have a shot at getting one of those so hard to get Burning Man 2012 tickets. I’m not even hoping to get tickets anymore, but you never know. At least I’m in the queue, no idea where, but there cannot be more then 2000 before me. :-/
Dear Burner, Welcome to the STEP Announcement List. We'll be using this email list to keep you informed about STEP. Today at noon PST the WANT list for the Secure Ticket Exchange Program (STEP) opens. We have in the past few days seen some tickets posted for sale in the HAVE category. However, as we all know the demand for tickets for Burning Man 2012 has been significantly higher than our supply. This means that the HAVE list will never satisfy the WANT list. Additionally, we want everyone to remember that the STEP program is not intended as dependable flow of ticket availability it is designed as a secure, hassle-free resale option. We want STEP to be effective in that regard. Rather than allow an unlimited queue of WANT to form without any reasonable chance of an equally high number of HAVE tickets entering the system we will need to pause the sign ups when the WANT list reaches 2000. We will reopen the list periodically as a few hundred tickets are sold. This will happen on a revolving basis contingent upon the flow and rate of exchanges that transpire. We will not be sending any further warning emails about the pending pause or the reopening. It is up to you, the WANT-lister to check back via your URL as you see fit. There are a few hundred tickets in the HAVE queue awaiting the start of STEP WANT, but that's not enough to satisfy the demand. It is enough to allow the system to open back up again in a few days as buyers pick up their email and decide to purchase the ticket they were notified is available. Please remember there are only 72 hours to reply to a HAVE ticket for sale. Once the offer expires the next person in line will be given an opportunity to purchase. We know this is a short window, but we need to keep the list moving and create as much opportunity for as many possible participants to purchase a ticket and attend Burning Man. We fully recognize that STEP won't satisfy the majority of people still hoping for tickets to Burning Man, but it wasn't designed to satisfy that flow. Though it was originally designed for anyone wanting a ticket to buy one via the exchange we felt it prudent to instead limit buying to those who originally registered for a ticket and were not chosen in the January Main Sale drawing. Some of you may not be entering STEP and are instead waiting for the direct ticket redistribution of the remaining 10,000 tickets that had been intended for the March 28th open sale. Please, If you are part of a theme camp or art car project we urge your team leadership to follow through and submit a questionnaire by March 8th so that direct sale allocations can be confirmed. Placers have accelerated part of their timeline to begin to sort through the distribution. The Placement staff sent out information to recent camps from the past few years, please encourage leadership with important projects and teams to follow through with filling out the questionnaire immediately. Low Income ticket applications are coming in very steadily, and this program is likely to sell out quickly also. Our criteria and process for determining qualifications can be satisfied by filling out the application and attaching evidence of income. Lastly, we do believe that the summer will offer it's annual "change of plans" opportunities to buy a ticket. We know that seems long to wait, but it will be worth it for those that can. We urge Burners to not buy from scalpers and not sell to scalpers. The scalping system depends on people paying inflated prices, if we're going to fight the system it means Burners need to fight it together. This is a challenging time of change and growth without room to grow the desert city we love. We are working to do what we can to ensure the social fabric of Burning Man 2012 will be intact, and in doing so are looking to what our process for 2013 will look like. Please stay connected to our various means of communication and please continue sharing constructive feedback. We wish you the best in your efforts to reach Black Rock City 2012. ~ The Burning Man Organizers