Bike Valet Lead
- Jenny Vatrenko
Where the fun will be done
- The Grand Hotel Lawn – you are the face (and voice!) of the camp, along with our fabulous concierges
When the shift is
- Sunday-Thursday evenings, starting at 8:00pm until the night slows down (this will vary by night)
- 8pm: first shift of the night meets on the front lawn
- 8:30pm: doors open, guests start arriving, and this is when we get to set the foundation for our perfect bike rows!
- It will be super busy between 9-10pm as guests arrive en masse for the show + raffle, and we have to make sure to catch any misfits trying to park on the street or our neighbors’ properties
- 10pm: the show + raffle, a bit of a slowdown
- The first wave of departures starts around 11pm; this is when we begin to rearrange/consolidate parked bikes to keep rows orderly
- 11pm – end: arrivals are more evenly spread out throughout the night, but guests get progressively slower to take direction, for whatever reason 🤷♀️
- Sunday is a little different because there is no raffle, and it will be a steady flow of folks arriving to their first party on the playa! We are one of the very few parties happening on Sunday, so it gets prettay prettay busy.
Highlights of what’s involved
- You don’t actually have to valet any bikes (phew!), just direct our guests to parallel park in the bike parking area and make sure there are no stray bikes on the streets and in our neighbors’ yards
- You are – literally – the first person our guests interact with when they arrive at the red carpet of the Grand Hotel!
- Both extroverts and introverts get to shine: if you enjoy being the star of the show, you get to play with a loudspeaker to get guests’ attention and direct them to your teammates, who will show them where to park their bikes
- If you are in the slightest OCD, this is the perfect shift for you – you will get to arrange and rearrange parked bikes to create neat and orderly rows – super satisfying!
- And of course there is no better place to people watch and see all of the whimsical and delightfully weird characters arriving to the best party on the playa
FAQ
- Do I actually have to valet bikes?
Nope! - Do I have to be there the entire night?
No, there are multiple shifts throughout the night. - Do I have to be sober(ish) for my shift?
Yes – you gotta be able to pay attention and react quickly. It’s not a slow shift, but it’s a short one! - Do I have to talk to guests?
If you want to! If you do not, you can always direct them to our concierges, who are there to greet and welcome them. - Can the bikes park anywhere on the front lawn?
No, there is a designated bike parking area, and there cannot be any bikes parked outside of that area, and especially not in front of the stage. If you see a random bike elsewhere on the lawn, please move it to the parking area. - What if we run out of space in the bike parking lot?
This should not happen, except mayyyybeeeee on Thursday night. See first if there is open space within the rows to fill. If it’s absolutely packed and overwhelming, and your shift lead is not around to problem solve, send all bikes into the playa past K street. This is absolutely the last resort! - What if an art car tries to park on the lawn?
If there is room in the front (close to 9 street), and it doesn’t take much space, let it. Otherwise, have it park across K street on the playa. - Can guests use our camp portas to potty?
Absolutely not. The closest public ones are just a block away at 9 & I. - Who is playing tonight? (This is #1 – maybe #2 after bathrooms – question you will get from guests.)
Daft Punk, Taylor Swift – your call! - What’s the big deal about not letting guests park their bikes on the street or our neighbors’ lots?
We get in trouble with the org and lose our placement. Rangers come by once in a while to monitor traffic (and party 😉), and we have to be on top of it to maintain good standing.