The Buffalo Chip Campground and the media for the 2011 Sturgis Rally

Each year the Buffalo Chip gets hundreds of requests for "press passes." No place on earth is more accommodating to the press. We love having you here. Video crews from around the world, including Japan, Sweden, The Netherlands, Germany, French Public Broadcasting, New Zealand, Australia, England, NBC, ABC, CBS, FOX, MTV, ESPN, CNN, TNN, VH-1, The Travel Channel, National Geographic, EasyRiders,  and many more have covered the events at the Buffalo Chip. Newspapers and magazines show up in similar numbers. Radio stations from coast-to- coast, broadcast live from the Buffalo Chip. We try to accommodate everyone.
As we have grown, so have the demands of the press and unfortunately we cannot accommodate everyone in exactly the manner they might choose. Our first consideration must always be providing the best possible experience for our campers.
 
That doesn't mean you won't be able to get photos or video. We'll help you get your shot. No video or still photographers will be allowed on any stage except those who have a contract with the Buffalo Chip, or who have personally been escorted to the stage by the Chip’s publicist. Credentialed photographers may get special access if they've made prior arrangements with the publicist.
 
ARRANGEMENTS FOR BUFFALO CHIP PRESS PASSES MUST BE MADE NOT LATER THAN JULY 15TH! Press credentials from any other source will not be accepted at the Buffalo Chip Campground or any of its activities.
 
All press people who appear at the gate without prior arrangement with The BUFFALO CHIP will be required to pay for admission to the campground. No professional cameras, video or otherwise, will be allowed onto the campground without Buffalo Chip prior arrangement. 

If you have made the appropriate arrangements, your Buffalo Chip press credentials will be at the Credentials Window of the Campers’ Box Office.  Please be certain to read the Credentials Procedure set forth on this website.
 
Here is how you obtain Buffalo Chip press passes:
 
1. Submit a letter by e-mail or U.S. post your request for credentials. This letter must be on company letterhead.

Complete the application form here:

http://www.buffalochip.com/GENERALINFO/MediaCredentialsApplication/tabid/363/Default.aspx 

 

*If you are a free-lance journalist, you will need to provide a letter from the publication to which you expect to sell your photos, video or story, confirming that the publication is interested in publication of your work and that the Buffalo Chip will be provided a copy prior to any publication.
 
2. State the name of each person necessary to your mission and list that person’s duties.
 
4. Submit the e-mail to:
 

Vicky Hauck
Buffalo Chip Campground
20622 131st Ave.
Sturgis, SD 57785

Contact Us

and a copy to:
 
Carol Woodruff

Buffalo Chip Campground
20622 131st Ave.
Sturgis, SD 57785

 

Contact Us
 
In the event you have made these arrangements and your passes are not at the ticket office when you arrive, you will need to contact the Chip’s publicist at the campground.
 
We will notify you whether your request for press access is granted or denied.
 
Finally, we try not to have a lot of rules at the Buffalo Chip. We want our guests to have a hassle-free good time. That goes for the press too. We do have a special understanding and rules for press, as
follows:
 
1. A person's campsite is private. Press people are not allowed to photograph campers in their campsite without having first obtained written permission. Credentialed photographers may photograph anything in the vendor and stage areas.
 
2. Our customers' rights to see a show supersede the press' privilege to photograph it.
 
3. The performers' rules are the Buffalo Chip's rules.
 
4. When people ask not to be photographed, don't photograph them.
 
5. Our campers are entitled to a hassle-free party. Taunting anyone is considered a hassle.
 
6. Chip staff members on the grounds, at the gates, and in the ticket office are hired to serve our campers. Press issues are to be handled by the publicist or the campground's owner. Press persons are not to make requests of any Chip employee and no employee is authorized to make or permit exception to any rule.
 
7. Three tear sheets from the print press, air checks from the radio (on CD), DVD copies of all video stories are required in order to obtain future access. Submit tear sheets, CDs and DVDs to:

Vicky Hauck

Buffalo Chip Campground
20622 131st Ave.
Sturgis, SD 57785