COMBUSTION CHAMBER MEETING

MONDAY, AUGUST 3, 2015

FACILITATOR: Beth

STACK: Kate

SCRIBE: Chim-Chim

ATTENDEES (39): Breezy, Turtle, VeryScary, Casey, Adam, Ghost, Kati, Izzi, Serious, Judge, Gyesika, Lily, Monk, Princess, Alpha, Cooper, Mer, Zack, Problem, Kate, Beth, Chim-Chim, St. Tiki, Prost, Clovis, Henry, Monkey, Thomas, Dahling, Aaron, Bonobo, Tamerika, Wrinn, Susan, Dotti, Fumbles, Tim, Liz, Paije

7:55pm MEETING BEGINS

7:58pm AAR/LLC UPDATE (Princess)

A new warehouse has been acquired!!! Lease has been signed today; Located at 183/Mopac
Meredith is the new 360AF; She is currently working on the setup for the move
The Flipside Flood Relief Fundraiser is up; Purpose—to help folks in Milam County; Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/flipsidefloodrelief?fref=ts; Please support; Volunteers needed for August 15
The earliest day to put stuff in the other warehouse has not been announced yet; There will be an opportunity to move in stuff beforehand, but there is already existing stuff needing to be demolished before we begin filling it up

8:00pm AF UPDATE (Mer)

Keep an eye on any big items that people may want; Turtle and Bonobo will be helping take down parts of the warehouse; We are currently working with outside safety stuff with Serious, including making money off scrap metal; Packing will begin August 22, and will continue every weekend and every Church Night; There will be ‘runs’ to the new warehouse with loads of stuff which will preferably occur at night because of heat/traffic; Anyone interested in participating on the warehouse move, please get on the email list; The list is for people who would like to assist/coordinate
Please welcome Serious as the new Safety AF!!!!!
Pics were taken of stuff outside; Will be sending out to the community, and figuring out where everything goes (NOTE: The new warehouse space does NOT have outside storage

8:06pm REGIONAL UPDATE (St. Tiki)

Burning Man had a well-articulated stance on ‘Plug n’ Play’ camps
Locally: People are being informed about the truck to Burning Man; First Google hangout occurred last Thursday; The entire discussion was broadcasted to a hotel in Reno!; There will be another Google hangout session regarding Burning Man on August 6 which will include a live Q & A; Email St. Tiki for more info
Community truck to Burning Man 2015: August 22; $10/cubic square feet; $40/box; $30 contigo size; Truck returns between 9/7-9/11; The community truck will not be something moved from the warehouse; Items will have to be picked up in advance; More info to be announced later; The Wooden Nickel Carnival crew will be responsible for the community truck this year

8:13pm TOPIC: SAFETY COMMUNICATIONS (Casey)

Discussion: How to reach the most amount of people in the least amount of time during incidents
K-flip is useful; 2 options: 1) Our own radio station; 2) Entry/Exit; The problem with the radio station is that, at the event, people aren’t sitting around listening to the radio
2-way Radios: Mult-layered approach through the Dirt Rangers; Use of Multi-use radio service (MURS) radios; The challenge is getting the consistent message out
Consider having a Safety Lead for Theme Camps
Transformus has a radio station as a safety team; Consider contacting for more info
Suggestion: Add option to have Safety Lead as part of theme camp registration
Suggestion: Advertise on kiosk on where to get info on incidents/weather updates, etc.
Issue: People in the Badlands may not get all the information needed; Solution—MEGAPHONES
The idea of having a Safety rep is great, but can we handle the influx of people who don’t commit to a certain discipline? It is possible to create content; Auxiliary Safety Rep who doesn’t have to commit to a certain discipline without choking the current Safetyside training
The problem is, as a community, we are not taking care of ourselves. We have the responsibility of taking care of our own camp
MURS is license-free; Channels can NOT be reserved; Consider programming; Safety communications is a liability
Issue: People driving around with megaphones may be screaming disinformation; This may lead to messages being ignored, and may also create panic; It shouldn’t be one person designated, but the entire camp should be notified
Low-tech is the best: If we have a time machine, we can plan for the future; At Safetyside, we had 180 people; We have 120 radios; 40 should be pledged in a box; When it’s time to break out the airhorns, everyone goes into position, with defcon 10, and no DJs playing; Utilize one message, one plan, with exodus ready, LEO, and DPS ready for us; Everyone would hear the same thing; the little ones ad hoc; We can’t take over K-flip; We’ve been using the same frequency for years with few recorded messages; Problems are for the individuals to handle
Radios are the nervous system for Flipside. Having a Theme Camp Safety Lead can switch that up, allowing us to increase our network and gives us the ability to send/receive messages. If an incident occurs, the message is easier to get out with the radio. There is a difficulty with establishing a system and increasing a network of radios; Safety is going to have to listen to them which means we’re going to need more volunteers; Regardless, Flipside could benefit from having MURS radios at theme camps; Theme camps can serve as populated call boxes; BARTENDERS SHOULD NOT BE THE ONES ON RADIOS
Relaying is beyond context (asking K-flip to act as repeater)
The challenge with 150 theme camp safety leads is a consistent message
Biggest problems this year: 1) Having people listen; 2) Community/Culture problem; 3) Shutting down music/going into Defcon 10 mode; 4) Brainstorming ways to have individuals take the message seriously
ENCULTURATION: We should take a multi-pronged approach, and use the massive sound systems; Bullhorns may not work for those not listening
The most trusted way to disseminate information is through Rangers
With over 3,000 people onsite, we are overcomplicating things; Establish the criteria for Defcon 10; Have a GIANT air horns; Rangers should have bullhorns; Keep it simple and use a SIREN
Having Safety Leads for Theme Camps has to be VOLUNTARY; The challenge is approaching camps with fewer members with Leads; It would be awesome if Theme Camp registration has a signup for a Safety Lead slot that comes with an invitation to Safetyside
MESH network: Have a registered account at Ranger HQ with the Flipside Actual; If it’s advertised enough, we can have up to 3,000 people participating; The downside—Anyone can say whatever they want; Also, if someone is using the device, they can communicate with the outside world; This can be a bug or a feature; Application is FREE, and can have a basic level of Communication structure
Suggestion: Disseminate info at ICE
FIRECHAT: Would be good to try with an ‘OH FUCK’ siren; Procedure would be needed that includes community collaboration with Safety’s decisions; The challenge: How can we collaborate as teammates so we can have more of these events later? We need more collaboration from theme camps; We want to be princiPALs
Auxiliary training is available for those interested—contact safetyside@burningflipside.com for more info; Anything that gets decided will have to be announced through Town Hall

9:25pm 5-minute BREAK

9:31pm TOPIC: DAFT (Bonobo)

SAFETY THIRD: How big should we let the effigy get? This year’s effigy was 48’; The tallest effigy to date was the Rocket ship at 52’ tall; It took almost (2) days to get the first floor level; Reason: It was a bad year; What can we do to support the organization and DAFT?
THANK YOU to DAFT for dealing with the conditions this year
Background: Similar to Burning Man; The effigy was part of the community; Committees of former DAFT Leads were entrusted in building the effigy and making a decision; The THEME was decided by the community
DAFT Selection Committee: Consists of former DAFT Leads who build it; 25’ is the current guideline; DAFT picks a proposal that is both WORKABLE and AESTHETIC; Pyro team uses a 100’ perimeter (2x the height of the effigy); QUESTION—Do we change the guidance? Do we want to impose a HARD LIMIT?
QUESTION: How do we temper ambition? We must have guidance and find ramifications in a more strict way to enable success instead of burnout
There is a psychic separation between the bubble created by working on the effigy and being there early; We are asking DAFT to create participancy; QUESTION: How can we continue that in reverse at the event? How can we give breaks?
DAFT Leads put their HEART and SOUL into these projects
Community support vs. Operational level: DAFT felt undersupported by the community this year; We should change this; Suggestion—Project Manager; DAFT would like to open this discussion for community input, to include programmers, builders, etc.; Rain undermined the concept this year
There should be one dedicated Fluffer; Pick an artist, and allow them to do what they need to do to make that happen; We should manage expectations
BUDGET: Has been the same; Can be used as a rough proxy for ambition of the project; Flexible on labor; The DAFT selection committee looks at not necessarily the merit of the proposal as much as the person capable of pulling it off; A lot of DAFT Leads have built at least (2) effigies
There is a need for more OPERATIONAL help for things during the event; In order to make things go, every person needs to work at least (3) hours
There is no need to change guidelines; Think about the ambition/elaborateness/number of parts going on in the effigy; Contingency—How much slack do you have to absorb; DAFT will have senior guidance to situations; BE PREPARED—How can you cut corners to get in earlier and be prepared to welcome it to the community
Support the crew instead of the artist; CHALLENGE—How to have greater participation; We might have a more complicated effigy; If we can support the group, we can still have a vision and participation; There is the old issue of ‘entitlement’; The focus should be on the needs of the build group, including an allocation of resources; The artist determines how to involve the community; Churettes (sp?)—An opportunity for people to come with creative ideas/brainstorming/designers and show what they have in mind; Ex. A/V crew filling in for Pyro; Build foreman?
ISSUE: People leaving when DAFT is brought up; There are NO actual lieutenants; There are people who spend an inordinate amount of time working on the effigy, and there are no breaks; The problem with volunteers is that people are asking how they can participate; DAFT needs help involving the community, and needs support
Another name for Project Manager? How ‘bout DAFT union?
Suggest care and feeding of DAFT volunteers; When the DAFT selection committee meets, consider the person who wants to build; That person may need project management assistance; Barriers need to be broken down; Crowdsourcing projects need managing; Church nights are chaotic; Saturdays or Fridays are better for work days

10:45pm TOPIC: CC SCRIBES, AND THE PROCESS FOR CHOOSING CC SCRIBES (Beth)

DEFINITION OF SCOPE: 360 AF currently has the ability to veto Scribe
Queston: Who manages the volunteers, and who manages the CC Scribes? Answer—A lead caliber/peer; How do we make sure we don’t have too many people managing? The 360 AF and AAR structure is kept fair
If the 360 AF is required to veto, we may want to revisit WHY it’s called a CC Scribe in determining the difference between veto and informal system in hopes of addressing the situation
Scribe came about as a junior CC member; Someone not ready, but willing to contribute; It’s an informal agreement that turned into an operational thing (and we are a POLICY body); ARGUMENT: We don’t have a choice because it’s operational; Question—Who controls the power? It’s the 360 AF which is NOT fundamental
Scribe is a provisional CC role; Question—What support are they getting from the AF
CC gets to interview/decide/block; The social contract changed; It’s not a provisional position
The organization wanted to protect volunteers to continue the role when it comes to continuity; Nothing has changed; AFs get to veto Leads; PAGE 13—Change occurred 2 years ago
SETTLING ISSUES: Discuss further at CC retreat; Clearly, there is a fundamental misunderstanding of the role; Find minutes where change occurred; Throw out to CC list

NEXT MEETING: Monday, August 17

FACILITATOR: Turtlebunnie

STACK: Kate

SCRIBE: Chim-Chim

TOPICS: Town Hall (all); Early dropoff/vendor interaction (Adam); 2-minute rule (?)

11:24pm MEETING ADJOURNED

# COMBUSTION CHAMBER MEETING

# MONDAY, JULY 20, 2015

# FACILITATOR: Decibel

# STACK: Breezy

# SCRIBE: Chim-Chim

ATTENDEES (26): Decibel, Adam, Wrinn, Beth, Problem, Thomas, Izzi, Princess, Gyesika, Pixie, Turtlebunnie, Kate, T-Rey, Very Scary, Kate, Breezy, Chim-Chim, Clovis, Monkey, Casey, Bonobo, Psyche, Sam, Will, and two guests

# 8:09pm        MEETING BEGINS

# AAR/LLC UPDATE (Problem/Adam)

• A Letter of Intent and Lease application have been submitted for a new warehouse; Location is 183/Mopac area; The potential new warehouse is double in size of area; Includes an HVAC system; Located near Austin Beerworks
• Met with the Gate crew to discuss how Gate went and how to do better [for next year]
• Had a face-to-face with the Safety volunteers involved in response to the flood; Ghost facilitated; A coherent document will be released publicly soon

# 8:13pm        REGIONAL UPDATE (Clovis)

• A participant from Transformus passed away
• Tickets are out there for Burning Man
• Still negotiating about a Regional use agreement

# 8:15pm        AF UPDATE (Wrinn)

• Shortcake is the new Site Prep Lead!!!
• Leads/Volunteer appreciation is this weekend

# 8:16pm        TOPIC: PHOTOGRAPHY (Kate)

• Discussion over the current policy on photography, and issues pertaining to asking permission to take a photograph, and posting on social media
• Once a pic is posted onto a social media site, it becomes property of that site (i.e. Twitter, Facebook, etc.)
• Another issue with photography is taking photos of art, especially those that state NO PICS of the project
• Regarding the current policy: There are distinct differences between the laws of the land, Texas, and the rules/feels within Flipside; Just because it’s legal doesn’t mean you should; Different rules apply in contrast to taking photos in the streets of Autin
• Current policy for Flipside: The AAR/LLC is not going to commercially distribute photos or works of video productions, moving video, audio, recordings, or performance art pieces (e.g. dance, art, sound); Every element is its own piece, and everyone is protected by the AAR/LLC because, in the state of Texas, on private property, unless otherwise negotiated, it’s 50/50 with the landowner; If you sign documents, you are protected as arranged in advance
• What happens if the AAR/LLC are not involved? The challenge is figuring out how the community can get involved
• There is a difference between taking advantage of art and ruining someone’s life; The AAR/LLC would rather the community don’t do that; There needs to be education; Distinction is important
• Edjumication is a poor substitute for culture; There is an interest in figuring how to reinforce culture in protecting each other and other people and how to get people to be in a different mindset; You’re not attached to recording devices [at Flipside]; You have to use them consciously; The reason we have different rules is because we have a different environment and different risks; We are trying to build a culture that expresses differently and privately; Because of that, we need difference in media; The issues are complex, important, and too big for us; We should focus on things where we are different and apply; For people’s safety and lives, we need to get people to understand that cameras and media are special; As long as people get the point, we should be fine dealing with the rest of the stuff (contracts, ad hoc, etc.); We need to build into the culture intentionality consent in recording other people
• Photos of inanimate objects are also an issue at Flipside
• “If there is so much to lose, then why attend?”: Enculturation; It impacts self-expression, community, people who have contributed a lot even though they go ahead and take that risk; It’s not just edjumication; Attitude is out there; It speaks about autonomy; It speaks to the interrelationship with the art we create and who gets to make the call on that
• The idea of banning photography—Using villages and zones: In this space, all participants turn off gadgets; The idea should be promoted for immediacy
• Photography is art in itself; We should not force people to self-edit because of technology
• Regarding attendance despite the risks involved: You used to not have to think about it; The problem is WE HAVE TO THINK ABOUT IT; We would not be where we are today were it for that freedom; We are not as free as it used to be; We are being attacked by ignorance
• Example: Photos were taken; Phone/Camera was stolen; Can you guarantee those photos won’t get out? Can you really trust the security or intentions? As a community, do we want to start enculturating NO? You can’t necessarily be perfectly safe; We have to further enculturate consent and the risks in media; Younger people at the event who are between the ages of 18-21 have no concept of how dangerous it could be
• If we add [the education] to the culture, then it will make discussions easier
• Regarding the creation of immediacy: Change wording to immediacy within your reality; Have community signs in the theme camps saying, “This is an immediacy zone. Please turn off photography.”; The concept of immediacy is mind-blowing to an extent…not limiting, but opening
• Idea of banning cameras through camera-free zones—May put limits on expression
• Camera-free zones will dilute the concept—infiltration vs. edjumication
• There are no clear answers legally or culturally; There is no consent without an argument plus grey zones; Also, FUCK 18-YEAR OLDS

# 9:03pm        MOTION TO CLOSE STACK; NO BLOCKS; STACK CLOSED

• Offshoot events having the same conversations
• The concept of the Butterfly effect

# 9:14pm        TOPIC: EDJUMICATION (Kate)

• Discussion over enculturation, giving money to the cult, cultural smores: Topic is over how to further edjumicate dealing with output of information given to people, and the topic of further enculturation—How to enculture better regarding newbies/virgins
• Best thing to do is REMIND people
• Concept of having the Better Burner Bureau where volunteers come and answer questions
• In enculturation, there is a conflict with the rules; Solution—Have a more open forum
• Kids are one of our most exploitable resources; One of the ways to have education is to get on YouTube and eat ghost peppers and tell stories we are tired of telling and say things we are tired of hearing until they say, “I GET IT.”; Say it over and over; Repeating our culture has to be one of our cultural values; Figuring how to tell our stories is an important part of our culture; There is only so much that can be our story before it’s too long; The more we incorporate it as our core values, the more it’s a part of us; We aren’t saying, “And you have to adopt them, and they’re yours, too.”, but there is a deal we have to make with people: If you want to be a part of it, you have to think of our values; This is our attempt to express our core values; You’re not one of us if you don’t try; Everyone needs to know these small number of things
• Look at the tools providing for the community and spit ideas for putting it at the event; The Survival Guide and Better Burner Bureau is not enough; Help the community through tools
• Communication and Education is not the only answer; You can’t expect someone to get it all; You have to learn through immersion
• The point is the journey—Remaking/Reshaping it all the time; Distill principles of Burning Man into 6 ½ principles; There is an infinite amount to grow which is why we do it; When it’s not fun anymore, it’ll stagnate; Some are experiential learners; That’s why we don’t have rules; In banning, we don’t make that public so they will learn; We have to have cooperation because we have to work together with self-expression; There is accountability between us all; There is a lot of discussion; WE have to talk about what we know, and get rid of what we need to get rid of; Some things are hard to understand; Conversation is in of itself; TALK TO THE THEME CAMPS
• Today’s sparklepony is tomorrow’s oldie
• Regarding awkwardness, creepiness, uncomfortableness: Generally, when you have an experience, it locks in—physical, social, mental which is the key to enculturation because you’ll understand better in five days; Work weekends are good for enculturation; We never stop learning; We tend to change when we are uncomfortable

# 9:53pm        MOTION TO CLOSE STACK; NO BLOCKS; STACK CLOSED

# 9:55pm        MOTION TO DO SOMETHING; BRAINSTORM WHAT CC CAN DO; HAVE CC MEETIING AT EVENT; If anyone has questions and do not know who to ask, email the Combustion Chamber

• Edjumication Lead? The 360 AF is in charge of the Edjumication Lead; What do we want communicated? Idea of having people with a question mark on their helmet; Idea of worldly information booths; Make questions accessible to the Flipside website and Combustion Chamber; Idea of putting in stupid answers and then real answers

# 9:57pm        MOTION—Questions go to the Combustion Chamber from the website; Reina is the current Edjumication Lead; Send info to her; MOTION SECONDED; NO BLOCKS; MOTION PASSES

# 10:14pm      TOPIC: CC SCRIBES

#10:14pm       MOTION TO PASS UNTIL PROST AND GEORGE ARE HERE; ALSO, PRIORITIZE TO WHERE 360 AF COULD MAKE IT; DO WE NEED SCRIBES? NO BLOCKS; MOTION PASSES

# 10:21pm      COMMUNITY DISCUSSION

• Kate will be Town Hall producer
• Location for CC retreat sill being searched
• If you have a topic, write a brief description and send to Susan
• Flipside Flood Relief has gone live; $1,000 was donated from the Lava Lounge; $80 in patches were purchased; For more info, see www.flipsidefloodrelief.com
• There will be a community truck to Burning Man from Austin organized by the people from the Wooden Nickel group, posted on the Burning Flipside Flipizens group page on Facebook

# NEXT MEETING: MONDAY, AUGUST 3

# FACILITATOR: Turtlebunnie

# STACK: Kate

# SCRIBE: Chim-Chim

# TOPICS: SAFETY COMM (Casey); EFFIGY (Bonobo)

# 10:25pm      MEETING ADJOURNED

#          Combustion Chamber Meeting

#          Monday, July 6, 2015

#          Facilitator: Kate

#          Stack: Pixie

#          Scribe: Chim-Chim

#          Attendees (29): Izzi, Wrinn, Princess, Beth, Breezy, Kate, Prost, St. Tiki, Pixie, Turtlebunnie, Decibel, Sparky, Cheyne, Dick, T-Rey, Chim-Chim, Dahling, Andrea, Monkey, Problem, Adam, Clovis, Bonobo, Doug, Switch, Susan, Lori, Mayhem, Psyche

#          8:11pm           AAR/LLC UPDATE (Problem, Adam)

• New Warehouse Update

o        A couple of properties are currently being looked at

o        One in particular, located north on 183 and Mopac: Brewery nearby; Rollerderby on the weekends; Plenty of parking; In the process of writing a letter of intent, including specifications

• Flooded Flipside

o        Safety teams kicked ass

o        Discussion of debriefing (specific to mud at Flipside)

o        Meeting was facilitated by Ghost

o        Agenda was consolidated for AAR/LLC—Discussion over ICS relative to flooding

#          8:15pm           BURNING MAN REGIONAL CONTACT REPORT (Clovis, St. Tiki)

• Austin asked to be part of Carnival of mirrors  as part of support group at midway . (sp?)
• Discussion of Operations to engage for Burning Man  and support wooden nickel carnival.
• There is currently a yearly influx of Burners going to Burning Man; Any Burners in Austin interested on finding more information on heading out to the playa, please contact austin@burningman.org for more details

#          8:19pm           AF UPDATE (Wrinn, Clovis)

• A debriefing between the AF and LLC occurred a couple of weeks ago; Discussion was over rain and mud at Flipside, volunteer issues, Leads selection, and Town Hall
• Discussion of a retreat before Town Hall
• Meredith F. has been selected as the new 360 AF Lead; Thanks to Reese and Augustin for doing a kickass job as former 360 AF Leads!

#          8:21pm           TOPIC: PRE-EVENT COMMUNICATIONS

• QUESTION: Do we need to tweak the event?
• Discussion over consumable vs. combustible flame effects: There was a communication problem over placement of  flame effects; No map was received, but was posted onto the website (Note: the Burnable Art Lead is in charge of consumable art, NOT combustible art)
• ISSUES TO BE DISCUSSED:

o        Communication with people up to the event

o        How to better inform participants with the conditions on the property

o        What is the best form of media to use?

o        How can we re-focus attention to the website

• A tentative date is being scheduled for the next Town Hall
• Discussion over the current methods being used to get information out to the community
• NOTE: When CC is carrying out information to the community, be careful when referencing historically known stuff; Be sure to check in with AAR/LLC first
• There are participants between the ages of 8-80; Communications is a multi-mobile approach
• Current trend is that nobody goes to the website or checks their emails; We currently have fragmented communication
• Use ‘Calendaring’ to point out key things (theme camp registration, art registration, etc.)
• Encourage people in the community to communicate
• Some people are intimidated to speak with Leads
• The Flipside Flame is encouraged to go on and provide further information clarification
• IDEA: Quit putting official information on the Burning Flipside Flipizens page on Facebook

#          9:06pm           MOTION WAS MADE AND SECONDED TO CLOSE STACK; NO BLOCKS

• IDEA: Wifi mesh networks (firechat); Download the app; Turn on wifi; app works among whoever uses the app
• Art Communications Lead spoke with AFs; On the art registration form, there was a box that asked, ‘What is the best way to reach you?’
• Discussion over how to reach people in Houston; Contact Regional Outreach for further info
• KFlip is NOT an official means of communication
• Concepts in building a Flipside app are in the works
• Greeters provide the extra step in providing information to people
• ISSUE: Inconsistency where we put things (resources); It’s easier if we use the right tools where one can cross-post to other channels

#          9:24pm           MOTION HAS BEEN MADE AND SECONDED TO GATHER IDEAS AND ASK THE COMMUNITY HOW TO BETTER COMMUNICATE, AND NOMINATE A SUB-COMMITTEE (Sparky on sub-committee); NO BLOCKS; St. Tiki will lead with a survey and response; Will be taking suggestions and ideas and figure out how to put information out to the community

#          9:32pm           TOPIC: ENSMALLENING THE EVENT (CLovis)

• QUESTION: Can we do the event? Is it sustainable? How does the AAR/LLC feels on liability?
• We have lost as many of 50% of leads in some depts. whether through  burn out or life changing events ( marriages, pregnancies, divorce ) etc. on the plus side , oportunity for growth .
• Community decides whether to shrink the event
• TREND: Same volunteers are starting to get burned out; There is a current push for Leads to get a Lieutenant and divide the load out
• We are failing to communicate to the community; This will be a major focus at the CC retreat, with the question—How to act as Edjumication Leads and how to educate each other
• QUESTION: What’s the fun in volunteering? What is it that hasn’t made volunteering enticing?
• Replacements should be less guilt-based
• QUESTION: Ask community—Are you willing to accept less Gate hours?
• Based on the number of volunteers, census will determine population
• # of Guardians are based on the geographic size of the property; As we grow, it’s hard to cover the geographic area (distance, costs, etc.)
• Volume issue vs. Culture issue
• Stressors with growth will have communication issues
• Operational needs vs. Philosophical needs
• If people start volunteering, some say it’s a gateway

#          10:11pm         MOTION HAS BEEN MADE AND SECONDED TO CLOSE STACK; NO BLOCKS

• Issues with absenteeism  rate is high, with people just wanting a ticket
• Discussion on ways to incentivize; There currently is a shortage of Leads; We must find ways to transition more shift people into Leads positions
• REASONS FOR SHRINKING THE EVENT: Flipside may be on new land; New land needs to be terra-formed
• Shrinking the event would also cut the # of people who could have volunteered
• Moving the event to new land took a couple of years to get used to
• EDUCATION: Different people will respond to different things

#          10:35pm         TOPIC: CC BUSINESS—NEW MEMBER RECRUITMENT (Doug)

• Process will take 5-8 weeks to get in place; Should be accomplished either now, or before the holidays
• When CC members are at Flipside, they should be actively recruiting
• See Doug’s Notes
• With the number of current members, we are not overstaffed at the meetings; Specifically, the CC is asking—What do you have to bring to the table?; Members should use new technologies to reach people
• Flipside Ambassador Lead

o        Include Ambassadors (people in other cities)

o        Flipside Ambassador is a separate position; Leads in this position will have a commitment to have two people on the Google community; Each has a mentor and a connection to the Combustion Chamber

o        AI: BOARD MEETING: To discuss the new position of Flipside Ambassador

o        Document roles and responsibilities

o        Zip code data to define

o        Primary method of communication

o        If CC decides to put off, suggest DATE

o        Flipside Ambassadors will act as a conduit of Flipside information

#          11:05pm         MOTION HAS BEEN MADE AND SECONDED TO TABLE DISCUSSION AND SET AS A TOPIC AND TO BE DISCUSSED FURTHER ONLINE; NO BLOCKS; (Original deadlines): Friday—Wording; To be reviewed and edited through Sunday; If it looks good, then send out; If people block new wording on Monday, revert back to old wording

#          11:07pm         TOPIC: CC BUSINESS—MENTORSHIP (Doug)

• Rename ‘mentor’ to one of the following: guide, guru, spirit animal, jock strap

#          11:23pm         MOTION HAS BEEN MADE AND SECONDED TO CONTINUE RECRUITING PEOPLE WITH A GURU; NO BLOCKS; Continue putting a call out also for Scribes (Note: 360 AF has veto power on Scribes); ADD ‘CC Scribes’ as a TOPIC for the next meeting (7/20) with a pre-meeting via email

#          11:33pm         TOPIC: CC BUSINESS—RETREAT (Kate)

• Still currently seeking location within price range, including amenities
• Parameters: Friday night—2-hour meeting; Set agenda; Saturday morning—Breakfast; All-day meeting with a break in-between; Sunday—Meeting; Pack & go home
• 20 people tentatively scheduled
• Can be lodge or camping
• Price range: ~$80 Friday – Sunday
• Need to determine # CC members vs. those who actually show up
• AI: Discuss on CC list—Need a head count
• Location must be within a 2-hour drive

#          Next meeting: Monday, July 20

#          Facilitator: Decibel

#          Stack: Breezy

#          Scribe: Chim-Chim

#          Topics:           Photography (Kate)

                                    Edjumicate—Safety, Enculturation, Community S’mores & Mores (Doug)

                                    CC Scribes (Kate?)

#          11:45pm         MEETING ADJOURNED

Monday, June 22, 2015

Facilitator: Henry

Stack: Princess

Scribe: Charlcye

Attendees (): Princess, Problem, Thomas, Henry, Adam, Beth, Stephanie, Reese, Casey, Dahling, T Rey, Wrinn, Psyche, cLovis, Decibel, Bonobo, Pinky Farrington, Susan, Brandt,

## 7:54pm MEETING BEGINS

LLC Update (Problem)

Warehouse lease is up end of September. AF’s will have first sort of the warehouse, then community, then whatever’s left will be disposed of.
Looked at Warehouse off old bastrop hwy. Parking too small for load out, too far away.
Looked at another Warehouse near Mr. Tramps off 183. 40% larger than our current space, in addition to climate controlled office space. Has good storage. Room for storage container outside. Active industrial park. Not conducive to working on vehicles outside. Property is gated. Need to assess gate controls. Neighbors are refrigerator repair company (pretty cool) and surf board manufacturing company. Mostly 9-5 companies. ServPro is there, would have to make sure we don’t block their parking.

## Regional Update (cLovis)
-Lakes of Fire was last weekend.
-Austin list moved to Google group.
-Regional agreement still under discussion by LLC. Same discussion likely ongoing at other regionals as well.
-Burning Man is in 2 months.

## AF Updates (Wrinn)
-LNT: Two trips, once for theme camps to get their stuff that we asked them to abandon, once just for cleanup. Filled two dumpsters with large items. However, river was still high so we don’t know what’s under there, and we missed a lot of small stuff (zip ties, etc.). Landowner flattened all that into the mud. Will need to wait until waters recede and then go out and do another cleanup.
-Lost 5 structures, 2 portapotties, one generator (might have walked). All was covered by insurance but $100 of the new generator. Org prepared to cover these losses.

Topic:

Volunteer Burnout (Dahling)
-Not fair to judge the volunteer situation this year since we had severe weather. On the other hand, it was great to see where anything and everything could go wrong so we can improve and reinforce our model.
-We had more people in the gates for early entry and sold more tickets than ever before, and we had more no-shows for volunteer shifts than we’ve ever had before. When volunteers don’t show up to do their jobs, the community suffers because we have fewer people allowed for early entry and the event in the future.
-MGA went from 2500 to 3000 but we still recruit the same volunteer base in the same way. Feels like it’s time to discuss reoptimizing our distribution of volunteer responsibility. Would be nice to make every lead have a lieutenant. (Lieutenants aren’t a formally recognized position currently.)
-Time commitment for volunteers is what leads to burnout. Would be nice to have lieutenants were trained and empowered to be complete backups for the leads. People are less effective when they’re overworked and will start making decisions that may not be the best for the organization. We need to give people the breaks they need.
-Would need to figure out how to ensure information is communicated clearly and fully throughout the ranks as we expand them
-Dahling: Highly visible org explanation (who are the leads, what are their responsibilities) and radio guides posted on the property would have helped this year.
-Also having this info visible at committee meetings may be helpful in educating the community pre-event since we usually just say “check the wiki” and people don’t always follow up on doing that.
-How can we make our volunteers feel appreciated and empowered? Incentives or consequences? We want volunteering to be a gift, not a job. As an AF or a lead, if one of our volunteers doesn’t do their job, we just don’t invite them back to do that job next year. We’ve seen TTITD and other regionals experiment with incentives like discounted tickets and it has not accomplished what we want. This isn’t an event that you “go to,” it’s an event that you build, and we need to keep getting that message to new participants.
-Very few organizations do it the way we do. Because of our principles, including drawing a line in the sand at 69 leads which hasn’t changed in 5 years, we’ve done a lot, grown the event, kept it flat rate, with failures (not meant critically) are because we choose to be flexible, empower our volunteers, and never punish anyone. Volunteering at Flipside is unlike volunteering in any other realm because you’re doing it because you want to or you love it, because you believe in it in a cult-like way. You engage with the event on your own terms. We should change our language requesting volunteers to include who we are and what we’re doing and why, so people don’t think we’re in it for the sexiness or the money. LLC has talked about capital expenses and budgets, and we often think we’re getting the message out, but it doesn’t make it out to everyone. Sometimes we miss even our key volunteers in communication, but as an event we are successful. We just need to tweak the successful model we have to make improvements.
-Had some volunteers sign up for lead positions not knowing how much work it would be or what would be expected of them.
-A lot of info is communicated verbally. Some people are visual; having written expectations would be helpful. How could we align people with similar work/communication styles together in the right roles?
-Calendar of deadlines may be helpful, especially for positions where work happens before the event.
-Would like more organized volunteer outreach to new people. Volunteers who signed up at town hall were not contacted. Navigating wiki isn’t easy (most people don’t know cartel exists, much less who to talk to about volunteering for it.)
-Burnout isn’t always bad. Turnover can be good.
-Working on redesign for volunteering website.
-Would like system to communicate on site when we need people to step up to volunteer during the event.
-Dahling riding around on the cart with water this year was really helpful. It helps to make sure volunteers and leads have basic necessities covered. Would be nice to have one big shade structure with water up during pre-post. Fluffer carts are really important.
-Leads should assess what would make their job less challenging, talk to their AF, and make sure they get what they need to make their department enjoyable to work for. Leads should all have a budget.
-The roles for leads and lieutenants are somewhat being made up as we go along. We don’t want to unnecessarily restrict their roles. Want to foster creativity and initiative. That’s also part of why we don’t have a master schedule. No one knows all of the details that go into producing flipside. There are a lot of moving parts.
-It may help to minimize the number of positions that must be filled for the event to be successful. We want to build a structure that allows for volunteers to be unreliable. We can’t pay them not to have other obligations of higher priority going on in their lives.
-We’re on burner time at the event, so it helps to have someone out on the cart reminding people that they have a shift coming up.
-We don’t want to overload our volunteers with responsibilities. We need to make sure we’re communicating with our volunteers about what a realistic commitment would be for them.
-If you’re volunteering for the appreciation or the recognition, you’re doing it for the wrong reason. For a myriad of reasons the community can fall short. Volunteering is sexy. We need to communicate that.
-Would be cool to nominate people to post in the flame about how they kicked ass this year.
-Leads list was really small this year. First and second leads all hands were also very small this year. Those are good checkpoints for next year.
-Reese’s mantra: “It doesn’t matter what happens on your volunteer shift; the event is still going to happen.” We knew volunteerism was down this year, but we embraced the suck. We need to keep people aware of what’s going on during the event when volunteers are needed, instead of making it look so easy. If we pull the “hero” thing, maybe we prevent the opportunity for someone else to step up.
-We breached the $100 mark for tickets this year, and maybe that had something to do with people not signing up for a 6 hour shift.
-We want Flipside to stay up to our high standard or we think it’s not working. The truth is, it’s working pretty well, and we may be killing ourselves trying to get it up to the high standards, leading to a certain cliquishness among our hard core volunteers, and leading to burnout.
-Having high visibility on-site volunteer signup would be great.
-Need to regularly check up on shift volunteers pre-event. Just because they put their name on the wiki months ago doesn’t mean they’re still planning to show up.
-Need to empower the community to teach people how to sign up to volunteer, teach everyone that this is their event and they need to know how to maintain it.
-Maybe stop asking people if they’re going to Flipside this year and start asking them if they’re building Flipside this year.

Topic:

Town Hall, When Is It & Who’s Producing It (Beth)
-Would like to have it Sept 26.
-People we’d normally voluntell to be producer aren’t here, but Clovis will browbeat someone into producing it.
-Not sure whether we should have it at current or future warehouse or offsite at moose or something; maybe town hall at new warehouse with afterparty at old warehouse.
-AF meeting is coming up so if we could tell them what the format would be that would be great mmkay

MOTION PASSES: Town hall date is tentatively set for 2:34 on Sept 26, tailgating starting at noon.

##Topic: Submit topic descriptions to CC list. <insert topic list from Beth’s last email>

Next Meeting: in 2 weeks
Facilitator: Kate
Stack: Pixie
Scribe: Chim-chim

## 10:00 STACK OFFICIALLY CLOSED
## 10:04 METING ADJOURNED

Combustion Chamber Meeting

Monday, June 8, 2015

Facilitator: Decibel

Stack: Breezy

Scribe: Chim-Chim

Attendees (26): Problem, Jeff, Izzi, Gyseka, Dahling, Henry, Beth, Breezy, T-Rey, Kate, Prost, Princess, Adam, Decibel, Chim-Chim, Thomas, Wrinn, St. Tiki, Ghost, Notfunny, Psyche, Bonobo, Clovis, Pixie, Turtle, Casey

8:00pm MEETING BEGINS

8:02pm LLC UPDATE (Adam)

(See FULL REPORT)
Local newspaper reported (4) agencies used for rescue; Stated (4) people were trapped due to rising waters; Evacuated (40) people at Flipside
Discussion of paper tickets
Review of Flipside 2015 discussed
Some feel event should have been cancelled; Some have issues with ticket prices going up; Some feel they didn’t get their money’s worth; Things important for the community to understand will be discussed at the next Town Hall
$14,000 spent last year with site prep, And another $10,000 spent this year on building out the roads in site prep
Augmentation of roads requires at least a dry day to put in tons of rock; Due to the rains leading up to Flipside, delivery and road construction were ongoing right up to Thursday of Flipside. Trucks are heavy, and they sink, too
Issues discussed: Fireworks, Insurance, Pyrotechnics, Risk Management
Many participants unsure how they could be helpful
Discussion over how to encourage theme camps to take on less party and have infrastructure in mind; Discussion over taking care of self
Discussion over experiences with divisions: Alpha, Bravo, Charlie, Delta
Discussion over Thursday night line wait
Discussion over Volunteer Toll: Guardians understaffed; Missed shifts; More people on Wednesday (Early Entry); (5) different Gate-crashing incidents (4 handled, 1 alleged)—Liability with unsigned waivers; Grave Ranger shifts/All Perimeter shifts understaffed; LEO caught (6) people, with (3) that came across foot bridge—Escorted off land; Need to push how serious Gate-crashing is, and push VOLUNTEERING
Discussion of Flood: Weak points No official word from Incident Commander (IC) of where people should be going; Participants didn’t respond to emergencies regarding personal items; Discussion over flood preparedness
“Tuesday Quarterback”—Cancelling the event on Saturday would have been a nightmare; Exodus volunteers were FANTASTIC, especially in directing traffic; They put themselves and their stuff in danger
Evaluate participants on the “late” list

8:57pm MOTION MADE AND SECONDED TO CLOSE STACK; MOTION PASSES

Spooks were found to help fill in empty Guardian shifts
At least one theme camp was not taking the flooding seriously; Some theme camps were interested in coming up with their own safety plan
Counter-point with Gate crashers: There is a social dimension; Discussion about ‘tourists’ at Burns; Those people are not part of the social construct and the community should take seriously at their intrusion
Props to DAFT for the trenching and work
Post-Op recap:
Earth Guardians did more education; Would like to see more on website or at the next Flipside
Volunteers: Started strong, then dropped off
Recycling: Took in less than last year (fewer showed up)
Exodus: Overall was FUBR; Lead left a week before event; Lots of early Sunday departures; Monday’s roads caused issues; Light work on Tuesday
The following Saturday was delayed due to events; 124 showed up last Saturday, and it was pretty clean; On June 6th, it took longer than expected; 126 volunteers showed up
Cleanup: Initially a disaster; There is no MOOP map—No way of determining who’s where
Discussion over idea of leaving stuff behind during flooding event
ICS handled excellently
Overall AFs in good spirits
Gate crashing: By ending the event, it’s all about precedent; Further discussion of the seriousness and repercussions related to courts ruling against LLC and the costs
Thanks to Ghost and bride for making ICS happen
Dealing with sustainability = smaller Flipside; If you don’t want a smaller Flipside, there should be Leads
What did well: Weather reporting; Flood communication good
What could have been better: Conflicting flood information could have been better
Things to do better: Parking; Earth Guardians; Foot paths; Event publication; Better skills for getting heavy equipment out of the mud; Have K-flip disseminate over radio
People did a good job reporting incidents; Keep spreading the news; There was a decrease in occurrences; Occurrences go down and reporting goes up
Theme camp participants: Add mini safety education to Theme Camp socials, with an additional post with LNT
How to communicate to the entire property—Bullhorns; Let people know there is a volunteer gap; These are operational things to address

9:43pm REGIONAL UPDATE (Clovis)

6-7 Regional Contacts showed up
Danger Ranger appeared at the Moose Lodge last week
Money was raised for the Flipside fund
People are beginning to ping about Burning Man

9:48pm AF UPDATE (Wrinn)

AFs had vacation; Currently working on upcoming meeting
Beth was the most impressive sight handling Clovis’ business; EMBRACE THE SUCK!
(Please review Mark’s notes as Safety AF)
Overall Monday-Thursday—tranquil; Blisters, twisted ankles
(2) people ejected from event due to consent issues
Meteorology was busy
Guardians were understaffed
More volunteer absenteeism this year; Worse than volunteer recruitment; All volunteers were heroes

9:54pm WAREHOUSE UPDATE (Thomas)

We have to get out before the end of September; By October 1st, it’s already too late
Currently looking to find a place to rent to replicate everything we do
Currently looking at it into pieces
Worst case scenario, we’re gonna be ‘floatella’
We are always looking for a warehouse; We are always looking for new land
Budgets, planning, and questions, leads, please send to burningflipside@llc.com
Debris on land: Hard to determine what is good stuff versus abandoned stuff; We must find some way to do things easier; 360 AF and Warehouse Managers are on that; If you want to take stuff out, contact the warehouse managers

10:00pm BETH’S TOPIC

–      AAR asked Ava to form a board to help Flipizens and Milam county recover their losses
o   The board met Tuesday, and discussed how to take care of fiscal responsibility
o   Board worked on wording
o   The board is Ava, Toby, Doryan and Delia Davila
o   Hope is to raise a larger sum of money than past fundraisers in the Flipside community, with the intent of helping both Flipizens and folks in Milam county
o   Nothing is finalized; Still working on how it’s gonna happen
o   Delia will be setting up a loss intake for Flipizens
o   Toby is reaching out to charities in Milam county
o   Flood relief info on the Milam county website is only a notice that FEMA aid is available
o   In contrast, Hayes county has a plethora of options

10:11pm CALENDARING (Kate)

6/22:
Town Hall date and Producer Selector (All)
Volunteer Burnout
7/6:
COMM Pre-Event (George)
Shrinking the Event (Clovis)
CC All Business (All)
New Members (Doug)
Retreat
Mentorship
7/20:
Photography (Kate)
Edjumicate (Doug); Safety, Enculturation, Community S’mores & Mores
8/3:
Safety Comm (Casey)
Effigy (Bonobo)
8/17:
Town Hall (All)
Early Dropoff/Vendor Interaction (Adam)
9/14:
Town Hall (All)
Calendaring (Kate)
Exodus (Kate)

NEXT MEETING: MONDAY, JUNE 22

FACILITATOR: HENRY

STACK: TURTLEBUNNIE

SCRIBE: CHARLCYE

10:37pm MEETING ADJOURNED

# COMBUSTION CHAMBER MEETING

# MONDAY, MAY 4, 2015

# Facilitator: Beth

# Stack: Pixie

# Scribe: Chim-Chim

# Attendees (27): Charlcye, Beth, Breezy, Pixie, Dick, Doug, Kate, Prost, Problem, Gyesika, Princess, Dahling, Mayhem, Chim-Chim, Decibel, Adam, Thomas, Izzi, Bonobo, Henry, Monkey, Clovis, Fractallia, Michael, Sassy, Mr. Huggles, Yertle

# 7:56pm        MEETING BEGINS

# 7:57pm        LLC UPDATE (Adam)

–       Gate dry run will be later this week

–       Will be working on more roads

–       Work weekend occurred this past weekend

–       CC members interested in early entry need to send Adam info to be put on the list for Flipside

–       Gyesika is stepping down as AF; Questions that are volunteer-related will be directed to Dahling and Charlcye; Volunteer contact will go to the correct address

–       Early entry includes: Infrastructure pre-event, DAFT, LLC, Gate staff; Certain art projects

–       Early entry Gate Hours: Tuesday and Wednesday, 9:00am-10:00pm

–       Insurance for Flipside is still difficult to acquire

–       More tickets were sold in the aftermarket—Event is SOLD OUT with a 3,211 cap

# 8:05pm        AF UPDATE (Wrinn)

–       Work weekend had a good turnout; Included new people; Land is looking good; Lots of ivy—BE PREPARED!

–       Last push for volunteers

–       City Planning: Theme camp placement went out to the Theme Camp Leads; NOT FINAL, but preliminary, to be evaluated

–       Saturday, May 16: Load in at the warehouse—If you are a Department Lead and anything here that you’d want out there, be at the warehouse at 10:00am

# 8:08pm        TOPIC: Volunteering (Dahling, Charlcye, Gyesika)

–       Volunteering has been going well

–       Safetyside was good

–       Greeters are full

–       Needs: Zone Greeters, Shaven Apes, late shifts, Guardians, Post-event (including the Saturday after Flipside)

–       There will be an onsite volunteering kiosk by the Greeters station; This will consist of non-safety volunteer wikis; A pagoda will be built in a week (or two)

–       T-shirts: Currently making an effort to make operational—If you are wearing a Flipside t-shirt, you are ACTIVELY wearing that shirt for volunteering

–       Parking is half-staffed

–       “Joe ‘sparkle’ schmo”: Anyone wanting to volunteer—Joe can be sparkly and volunteer

–       There is a need to evangelize LATE SHIFTS

# 8:18pm        TOPIC: Art Events similar to EAST (Kate)

–       QUESTIONS TO ASK: 1) Do we want one? 2) Do we want to fund it?

–       Discussion begins with the need to identify a small team to liaison, including a producer, and providing support for anyone presenting the team with an idea for a theme; This includes having (3) people on the Combustion Chamber willing to lend hands; There will be two weekends, and the community would have to do both, although the opening can be one weekend only (presuming that we have the warehouse)

–       (The community) would like to do something, if not on the East side with the warehouse, then planning a one-time event with the property; This would be a great place for the community to have a safe interaction with the Austin community; We would build into the structure to have once a year an Open House event that acts as a shallow entry point for the community

–       The lease is up on September 30; EAST is in November; Application deadline is in late June; THEREFORE, we (the CC/LLC) would need to know if we are on the east side; Knowing this makes things logistically difficult

–       In the past, we have taken up a collection to cover the cost which went to the city last time; We had the Fire Marshall come out; The more official things are, the more we want to be in front of it; This requires cash; Is it worth spending ticket money? If not, then where would the funds come from? Porto-potties? Permitting falls under the purposes of the AAR/LLC; Putting the event together would be a community effort

–       The same people who organize EAST also organize WEST which occurs a week before Flipside; We are unlikely moving off the east side; If we do, logistics would be pointed to WEST; What should AAR’s proper focus be? Organized on Flipside? The Central Burner community? The broader community? We are closely engaged with the area we find ourselves in, but not closely engaged with the rest of Austin; We should keep that in mind when we dive into something like EAST; Does this fit with what we want this organization to be? There needs to be a little change in focus

–       As a Burner, there is a bit of shame; We are the “authority” on art; We should use talents and skills as a community; If this isn’t an opportunity for us to show to the rest of the world, then it just shows an us-versus-them mentality; There is no shame in what we do; If we have a group of people working with an EAST artist, then we can find an alternate venue

–       In the past, we were right to be focused on the singular; This had sustainability; A relationship with the larger city is something we have to take seriously; Nurturing art in the community is the wise thing to do; EAST is one of the places where you can be poor and have something

–       Hosting outside somewhere in the eastside would cost thousands of dollars, including expensive permits

–       We can self-define; The microcosm can be handled the same way the larger Burn is handled; This is who we are and this is why we are

–       What we should be voting on: Allowing $10K to be spent to pull off a kick-ass EAST (since we probably won’t be there); We should set aside an amount and define/discuss; There needs to be a shift in focus; Worry about the negative space; We should not put the worst foot forward in putting together EAST right when we know we are shopping for a new warehouse; We should establish clout we wish to exercise, or find another place to rent and make it work for us; Can we afford to do it now? We should already have a concept in how to best represent Burners; We don’t have time; We are going through existential concerns (insurance, event, pyro, volunteering); We are working hard to support that; If we cannot agree that setting aside money to secure space for the east side so we won’t be flaky; SOLUTION: Instead, let’s decide if we will set aside money to have a spot to cover EAST; Is this the right way to apply the community’s money? Right now, it’s goofy getting on the culture map in Austin; We want to do more stuff and not have a bad perception of us; It would be bad for us to be flaky, not bring it, not do it right which is the worst thing to do; Unless we can go big, keep in mind with the bigger pic with AAR

–       We should have something EAST-esque

–       An annual hospitality event for the community makes sense in the long-run; Next year, it would behoove us to commit to the event

–       DECOMP: The volunteer base is too small which is why we haven’t had a Decomp; Unless the volunteer base grows, it’s a bad time

–       LAST PARTY AT THE WAREHOUSE: Consider one last hurrah to be scheduled between June and September; Logistically, we are dealing with volunteering; Scheduling also conflicts with Burning Man and Burnt Soup; Possibly mid-September

–       WAREHOUSE: Discussion over housewarming at new location versus houseclosing at current location

# 8:55pm        MOTION WAS MADE TO CLOSE STACK; MOTION PASSES; MOTION MADE AND SECONDED TO APPOINT A COMMITTEE TO EXPLORE OPTIONS FOR SAYING GOODBYE/SAYING HELLO; NO BLOCKS; MOTION PASSES

–       Committee: Kate, Prost, Beth, Bonobo, Henry, Pixie

# 8:59pm        REGIONAL UPDATE (Clovis)

–       Big project going to Midway Burn

–       Danger Ranger will be visiting Austin the first/second week (founded Rangers in Burning Man; Original member of the Cacophony Society); Will be giving symposium

# 9:01pm        CLOSING REMARKS

–       Burner Charm School this weekend, May 9; Currently seeking instructors; Contact Reina

–       UPDATE on CC RETREAT: No availability on tentative location; Currently looking for a location; Time frame is still going to happen; Tentatively scheduled for September/October

–       Think about people interested in inviting to the Combustion Chamber; Be aware during Flipside, and revisit after Flipside

–       Theme camp mixer at Flipside?

–       Soliciting calendar events: Events to be calendared prior to Flipside

–       Suggestion box at Greeters or Ice; Motion to have a suggestion box for where to put a suggestion box; Motion BLOCKED

–       Calendared TOPICS due by JUNE 7, 11:42pm

–       HAPPY BIRTHDAY, GYESIKA!!!

# Next Meeting: June 8

# Facilitator: Decibel

# Stackinator: Breezy

# Scribinator: Chim-Chim

# 9:08pm        MEETING ADJOURNED

—

Combustion Chamber Meeting

Monday, April 20, 2015

Facilitator: Prost

Stack: Henry

Scribe: Chim-Chim

Attendees (21):  Tully Mars, Prost, Adam, Izzi, Chim-Chim, Breezy, Henry, Beth, Princess, Wrinn, Gyeseka, Turtlebunnie, Pixie, Kate, Problem, Danno, Puzz, Doug, Thomas, Clovis, St. Tiki

7:56pm         MEETING BEGINS

7:58pm         AAR/LLC UPDATE (Adam)

–       Many representatives from the Texas region attended the Global Leadership Conference (GLC) this past weekend

–       There were (5) tracks to choose from

–       Community engagement was the big theme of the conference

–       There were keynote addresses

–       Most interesting parts of the conference were the breakout sessions

–       One of the sessions included, “How to hold a better meeting”; Relates to the importance and value of the Combustion Chamber and how it takes an active approach to help solving issues occurring in the community

–       Safetyside occurred last weekend; 250 registered; 165 attended; Many may not have shown up due to inclement weather or sickness; People representing (6) different regions attended

–       AF meeting occurred

–       AAR/LLC will be meeting with Gate in a couple of weeks to go through a dry-run

–       LEADS-ALL-HANDS is this Sunday (April 26) at the Warehouse

8:06pm       AF UPDATE (Wrinn/Gyesika)

–       Art registration and Art Car registration have ended

–       City Planning is hoping to have a preliminary map available before the next work weekend

–       Regarding Communications, the Flipside Flame and Announce list are up

–       On the volunteer page, there is a “Choose Your Own Adventure” link where you can answer questions and sends you to specific departments that include the email for the Lead; Thanks to Dahling for putting this link together

–       155 theme camps are currently registered (20-30+ more than the previous year)

–       DAFT is kicking ass and kicking names

8:10pm TOPIC: WAREHOUSE (Problem)

–       The land where the current warehouse is located has been sold

–       We have a new land owner which means prices have gone up

–       The lease has been renewed through September

–        AAR/LLC is currently exploring options

o   Should we rent, buy, or build another space?

o   Currently discussing with lawyer about structures

o   Possible co-op opportunity

–       Concerns: Determining the next move versus the ultimate move; Central location potentially in conflict with getting a good deal on a property; Flexibility; Ramifications

–       NOTE: Commercial market tends to move quickly; We may find property where we would have to make a move that same day

–       NOTE: City of Austin has a (6) month backlog on plan reviews (residential/commercial)

–       Fall-back Plan: Purchase a second or third container and searching for a few places as storage in between events

–       Major Tenets: Having a social meeting place; Having a place to build things; Logistics—storage, accessibility; Central location; Determining whether we need a warehouse or not; Bigger space with an 18’ clear height minimum

–       AAR/LLC has a spreadsheet of potential properties

–       Potential Option: Buying a bigger property than we would need, then subletting the part we don’t need

–       List of priorities is requested

–       AI: Add list of priorities to calendaring after Flipside as a topic for discussion; Ask for community feedback; Discuss the future of the warehouse; Topic to be discussed after Flipside

–       We should dream big and think about what change and artistic endeavors means to us; We can always rent; There are places in town that still have warehouses; We will decide if we want to own; Right now, the status quo is not quo; Questions to ask are—Where should the warehouse be? What should it look like? Who do we know in zoning?

–       Suggestion: A multi-modal approach where we would rent storage while having a spot to go to

8:35pm       Motion was made to close stack and move on as TOPIC

–       Develop criteria for what’s important; Acquire more community feedback; Calendar Warehouse topic for the summer; Discuss with the community

–       Topic of Warehouse has been tabled for the next meeting; AAR/LLC cannot buy a warehouse immediately; It would not be legal; PLAN: Have another structure setup to protect the community from itself, the AAR/LLC, or the participants

8:39pm       REGIONAL UPDATE (St. Tiki/Clovis)

–       Report from the Global Leadership Conference (GLC)

o   Notice of cost-cutting/dilution involved

o   This year’s conference felt less hospitable, but the discussions were robust

o   Good representation from Texas

o   Format was different this year

8:45pm       TOPIC: THEME CAMP LEADS MIXER (Kate)

–       There will be a Theme Camp Leads Mixer, 7:00pm, Wednesday, April 22, at the Warehouse

–       SUGGESTED THEME CAMP MIXER TOPICS

o   Fundraising

o   Sharing resources among theme camps

o   Edjumicating your noobs

o   All the Safetyside topics—The rundown, not the reacharound

o   Communication with theme camp leads

o   Theme camp registration process

o   Theme camp events

o   Volunteering! “The zombie horse that just won’t die!”

o   Alcohol restrictions – Age limits, etc.

o   Theme camps across events—Interregional theme camps

o   Polycamporous

o   LNT—both intra and extra (No dumping at the ISD!)

o   Exodus—Not GTFO, but GTFO

8:58pm       Motion has been made and seconded to close stack and send; Motion PASSED

9:00pm       TOPIC: CC RETREAT (Kate)

–       Community Announcement: Tinderbox Update: $4600 will be disbursed, including Twitch’s Grant and FAIL grant (ends Friday, April 24); The art jury decided to fund everybody

–       Option: Split venue with Leads appreciation

–       No luxury of time this year—May be a benefit or detriment

–       CC retreat would be tentatively set in June/July

–       First retreat was one day

–       Suggestion to formalize a business discussion for Friday night

–       Request for clarification on sleeping arrangements

9:24pm       Motion has been made and seconded to move forward and bust out info; Motion passes

NEXT MEETING

FACILITATOR: Beth

STACK: Turtlebunnie

SCRIBE: Chim-Chim

TOPICS:

State of Volunteering (Kate/Gyesika)

EAST or NOT EAST: Topic left open; Scope will change

AI:    First meeting after Flipside scheduled for June 8; TOPICS—Flipside wrapup, Calendaring, Followup on retreat; Warehouse

9:29pm       MEETING ADJOURNED

—

Combustion Chamber Meeting

Monday, April 6, 2015

Facilitator: Turtlebunnie

Stack: Kate

Scribe: Chim-Chim

Attendees (20): Problem, Izzi, Princess, Adam, Turtlebunnie, Decibel, Kate, Chim-Chim, Sparkles, Kit, Beth, Henry, Prost, Wrinn, Psyche, Clovis, Augustin, Bonobo, Thomas, St. Tiki

7:54pm         MEETING BEGINS

7:57pm         LLC UPDATE (Adam)

–       Meeting with Gate Lead this past week; Discussed reaffirmations for plans; On schedule to have the smoothest Gate ever; Gate hours have been determined; Sunday: 9am-4pm; Notifications to parents, Survival Guide will be sent out; Tickets printed; Stickers printed; Wristbands is being finalized by Mark;

–       Some going to San Francisco for GLC

–       Safetycide coming up

–       Leads all hands

–       Work weekend

–       3^rd and 1^st work weekend this weekend; Needs help

–       Tannenbaum stepped off board for Burning Man;

8:01pm         AF Update (Wrinn)

–       Safetycide registration deadline April 10

–       Work weekend is this weekend

–       Theme camp registration has closed

–       Art registration closes April 8; If not complete, send info for space, then work

–       150 theme camps this year; 38+ art projects registered;  21 art cars registered; Effigy coming along—third floor will be worked on soon

8:05pm         TOPIC: Cultural Appropriation (Kit)

–       Native American headdresses in specific: Worst after last year; Controversial topic; Not appropriate to ban anything or police; Would like to see community through the Flame and Survival Guide with specific language not to wear Indian headdresses and practice cultural appropriation, specific garments ceremonial to Indians; Artistic license and appropriateness; Lightning in a Bottle is a commercial event in California—Cultural Appropriation Appreciation or Disrespect read aloud;

–       WRITE ARTICLE ON CULTURAL APPROPRIATION AND THE WEARING OF INDIAN HEADRESSES; Include in Survival Guide next year

–       Plains Indian headdress needs to be addressed; Think before you take

–       Much broader topic; As an organization, kind of extends beyond scope; Don’t want to lead into censorship issues

–       Would like to see this communicated to theme camp leads

–       This year, we are burning a witch….wait, WIZARD. It’s a boundary we stretch constantly; Drawing attention to this may cause people to do the opposite

–       Social media would be a good outlet for forum discussion

–       Burning a witch on Apache pass with teepees in the front; Motion to ban Party City

–       This topic is something to add to RESPECT series of discussions; Initial first meeting; Racism and sexism discussed; Would be appropriate to add this

–       Discussion of similarities with frats and border patrols

–       Dangerous to presume who’s not part of our community

8:31pm   MOTION TO CLOSE STACK AND SECONDED; PASSED

–       It’s an acculturation issue: Truthfully, no matter what we do, there is always someone who is going to be offended; Indigenous people would constitute as inappropriate

8:32pm MOTION HAS BEEN MADE for Kit to be referred to Flipside Flame and other avenues; Seconded; Passed

8:34pm   Community Announcement (Sparkles)

–       Theme Camp Leads Mixer will be Wednesday, April 22, during Church Night at the warehouse

–       ADDED TOPIC: Suggestions for Theme Camp Mixer discussion topics

–       Ex. Had Fall Leads mixer: Infrastructure, Fundraising, Interpersonal relationships

–       Parking issue: Encourage people to carpool to point of using community truck, reducing number of vehicles; Suggested for community-wide discussion, NOT Theme Camp mixer

8:38pm Facilitator: Prost

Stack: Henry

Scribe: Chim-Chim

Topics: Warehouse (LLC)

Theme Camp Leads Mixer topics of Discussion (Kate)

CC retreat (Kate)

8:43PM           MEETING ADJOURNED