COMBUSTION CHAMBER MEETING

MONDAY, MARCH 23, 2015

FACILITATOR: Prost

STACK: Turtlebunnie/Bonobo

SCRIBE: Chim-Chim

TOPICS: Recycling (Pixie); Flipside without a Burn (Prost)

ATTENDEES: Problem, Adam, Danny, Olivia, Decibel, Izzi, Pixie, Turtlebunnie, Prost, Wrinn, Breezy, Princess, Chim-Chim, guest, guest 2, Henry, Monkey, Bonobo, Beth, Brently, Cydney, Clovis

7:59pm         MEETING BEGINS

8:00pm         LLC UPDATE (Adam)

–       WW weekend was cancelled this past weekend

–       Casey (Site Prep AF) –  Property in good shape; Cleanup work and maintenance are still needing to be done

–       Corral—Kit has cleared it out; twice as much useable space than last year; 80 x 130 yards; Awesome potential for art placement

–       Gate meeting will be scheduled

–       Need Leads all hands within next two weeks

–       AF meeting this coming Wednesday

8:04pm AF Update

8:05pm         TOPIC: Recycling (Pixie)

–       Thoughts on wanting to do this year?

–       Periodic topic: Theme camp started doing recycling themselves; Then, job got too big; Rolled into Earth Guardian area; Job was getting too big, again

–       There are (2) different positions now

–       Putting bins is considered in-the-past

–       Misconception—Recycling pays for itself; False belief; Not all recycling places take steel; 10 – 15 cents per ticket to cover bags $350/yr; higher or lower; Equates to 3-4 tix approx..

–       From a Volunteer standpoint—It takes 30 slots to run recycling

–       Impact on event itself—It does make a mess; Not as bad as it was last year; could have prepped better for rain

–       Impact on values and beliefs—Impacts self-reliance aspect vs. Part of don’t have self-reliance, but cooperation; Communal effort

–       From personal standpoint, it does help clean up; Helps sustainability

–       Feedback—Everyone loves recycling; Individually, some don’t like it; It’s the idea of recycling they don’t like because of the need to practice self-reliance;

–       Not as much with cans; glass issue; Cans, aluminum—choices? Simplified; Cans, cardboard, glass; Tin, steel, aluminum separate;

–       History—Didn’t used to be as separated; How much education getting out to community? As we get closer, will do more—Earth Guardians and Recycling

–       WRITE ARTICLE ON RECYCLING: Why it’s important? What do you take?

–       Some people don’t care as long as community takes care of it; Ideally, people would take care of their own stuff and thus having no site sign off at all;

–       Why should I pay 10 cents for everybody else to do it?  Part of communal effort and ethics for everyone to participate; Part of collective ethic to welcome people

–       Might not be using it, but eventually will; Convenience

–       Cooperation is one of our principles

8:27pm         Motion has been made and seconded to close stack; Motion passes

8:29pm         CC continues to support recycling; Motion and seconded; Passed

8:30pm         TOPIC: FLIPSIDE WITHOUT A BURN (Prost)

–       Milam County currently not under a burn ban

–       Insurance: Stumbling block on insurance: Insurance or no event; Don’t know insurance repercussions since Utah burn; What does Flipside look like without a Burn?

–       From insurance perspective: There is more concern with how other events handle theirs; Lawyers are more concerned about Art cars

–       A giant fire qualifies as an Obvious Hazard

–       In the past, someone has sued Burning Man; From liability standpoint, the biggest problem is a  Burn ban; There were two Flipsides (2009, 2002) where we didn’t have a Burn; Not a new reality; If Flipside continues, will have burn bans; Anyone submitting an effigy proposal will have to include a  “no burn” plan in proposal that includes a budget for hauling the effigy off the property if no burn exists

–       Question: How do we, as community, replace the catharsis we get from having a big fucking fire; we can’t put that all on daft lead to fill gap;

–       Alternative catharsis lead: Come up with someone else instead of ACL

–       Last time a burn ban came up, we had alternative solutions; However, people were unsatisfied with the solution

–       Implement Poll to the community asking for ideas

–       Alternate destruction needs

–       Consider having volunteer teams to take it apart and reduce it to several barrels; It’s not fair to put the job on Leave No Trace (LNT) department, or DAFT, in determining how the effigy is going to be moved

–       Alternative solution: Donate to Habitat for Humanity: Only whole pieces of lumber; If donating lumber is not an option, then make planters out of it: Most non-burn plans go take apart and haul and tiny thing on burn night instead

–       How to make non-burn plans better: Do whatever DAFT wants to do with it from poll

–       In 2002, “House of Cards”, there was a burn ban; The compromise consisted of the community running with sledgehammers, and taking pieces;

–       Cleanup will not disassemble effigy; DAFT does it or knocks it over;

–       Everyone enter a raffle to win effigy; and raffle for steel;

–       Alternatives: Find land for trench burning for disposal

–       Regarding the catharsis issue: DAFT came up with plans: In 2011—the idea was to destroy the  bridge by destroying its railings; Pieces would have been given to the community; Beast—saw horns off head;

–       Catharsis of freak; Face collapsed and there was a fire next to it

8:55pm         REGIONAL UPDATE (Clovis)

–       GLC in couple of weeks; Same weekend as work weekend; 2^nd weekend in April

–       Meet n greet went well

8:59pm         Facilitator: Turtlebunnie

Stack: Pixie

Scribe: Chim-Chim

Topics: Cultural Appropriation (Bonobo)

9:00pm  MEETING ADJOURNED

—

Monday, February 9th, 2015

Facilitator : TurtleBunnie

Stack: Breezy

Scribes: Chim-Chim

Attendees (37): Decible, Stephy, Pixie, Cheyne, Sparky, Stephanie, DN, Adam, Meredith, Monkey, TurtleBunnie, Izzi, Wrinn, Pr0st, Princess, Beth, Breezy, Thomas, Kate, Henry, cLovis, Problem, Jerry, Kaet, Bob, Mulch, Paul, Brant, Apollo, Don, David, Caleb

## 7:54pm MEETING BEGINS

## Regional Update (Cheyne)
-GLC coming up. If you want to go let Cheyne know.

## AF Updates (Stephy/Gyesika)
-Stephy: Town hall coming up. Theme camp registration underway.
-Meeting this Wednesday where town hall is on the agenda. If you haven’t registered on the website for tickets, go register.

Topic:  Safetyside April 17-19 (Sparky)

-Anyone involved with safety should attend. Invite anyone who will volunteer at least 1 shift for safety. (Boundaries and Safety Signage, Echelon, Fire Safety, Guardian, Meteorology, PETs, Rangers, Sanctuary, Sound Marshal) 106 registered so far. Rapidly becoming a small burn event (without a burn.). Will have advanced training for those who’ve attended multiple years.

Topic:  Adult Themed Camps (Kate)

-Hisorically these camps have been specially located, some concern about where they’ll be located in the future.
-[Kaet, lead for Temple de Sade]: These camps do not want to be hidden. We feel like putting us on the new part of the land (“the corral”) will hide us.
-[Temple of the Purple Yoni]: We would like visitors, and being off of the beaten path makes this difficult.
-[Thomas]: Flipside is, and has always been, a family event. Our perspective is “Set up a flow like an old fashioned 1960’s boardwalk arcade where, as you walk along, you’ll see things that are alike, and things that are different, and then more things that are alike.”. From our perspective we like to check out the city, go past the effigy, and then go into ACRES of land where no one’s been before. We’re looking for a conglomeration of non-sound people (because there’s a neighbor on that side) who can make this lit, and make it welcoming, and make it awesome.
-[Kate]: I’m tied into Kidsville (360, not 365) and the reasonable parents don’t have the “oh no, think of the children” attitude. Legally, we’re right in the middle of the State of Texas, and there are some real world concerns that we want to find the best way to deal with. As a participant in Adult Theme Camps, I prefer to be off of the main road.
-[Camp aHole]: First I was against segregating adult camps, but after this conversation, I think I’ll just move our camp to the adult side.
-[Henry]: I think we should leave the camps where they are, so we don’t disturb the neighbor. These camps are happy where they are.
-[Princess]: If you want to be placed in a specific place or next to a certain camp, or not, tell city planning. Originally city planning put all these camps together because we thought they all wanted to be together, as many of them had requested such. Two of our principles, besides self-expression, are accountability and cooperation, including with the portapotty company or the ambulance services who come in.
-[Mulch, Beat Off Camp]: I like the distance between our camp and Kidsville. We do worry that being out of the way could deter visitors.
-[Problem]: Apologies if I made you guys feel like we were trying to marginalize you; I meant to communicate that I wanted to help you solve a problem.
-[Bob]: I remember when we put the tarp up a long time ago to shield a particular camp from children’s eyes. There are also a lot of adults who have triggers, and we’d like to allow them the option to choose consent to viewing these activities.
-[Sparky]: I was on the LLC when we moved to this land, and the first concern we heard from the sheriff was “men” and “nudity.” There was an incident that caused this to become a community discussion, so the LLC has done a great job of helping address and accommodate everyone’s concerns. We should make an attempt to educate the parents of the community about where different types of camps are located. Education, and these conversations, are a year-round activity.
I encourage you think about, and talk to the LLC about, how forming a Village might benefit you.
-[Kaet]: We are not a sound camp but we do make loud noises. I have learned that if there is an unattended child, we will call a ranger immediately and they will be removed from the event. We are working on more and bigger signs. Definitely want to educate parents about where there kids will go. Maybe a dome instead of a tarp, but that will take time. We do like the seclusion from parties outside of the event (people walking along the perimeter) of the corral.
-[Apollo] It would be easier to police our 18+ areas if there was a different color wristband. We can share generators and water or be in a village with any other type of camp; we don’t have to be kept together. I liked it when we were interspersed with other camps. We like to introduce safe, sane, and consensual to the community.
[Patrick]: Wristbands actually add, and don’t remove any liability.
-[Prost]: We welcome everyone who plays well together and your camps are absolutely welcome. You’re family.
-[Gyesika]: Flipside is not sex positive, negative, or neutral; we’re a group of people. People all have their own feelings. I would like to advocate that as an adult, I don’t want my right to consent being taken away by being made a voyeur without warning. I love the gifts that these camps give the community but I don’t want it forced on anyone who isn’t ready yet. Also, I don’t want the onus of responsibility for checking the age of a participant taken away from the camps and put onto the org.
-[Breezy]: Town Hall is coming up and it’s a great opportunity for the Theme Camps to come out and educate and talk to and socialize with the community. It’s definitely a good opportunity to attract more people to your camp.
-[Monkey]: There are lots of things that are always legal, or always illegal, but some things are circumstantially legal (alcohol, kids, tobacco, sex, etc). Unlike alcohol or tabacco, seeing someone drink or smoke is always legal. However seeing some of the other adult activities could circumstantially be illegal and vision extends much further than touch. Similar to the laser pointer discussion, you can’t consent at the distance that you could be exposed. This isn’t the only hard problem; lots of complicated issues require these conversations because they require well contemplated solutions. You guys are doing great work and we appreciate that you’re having these conversations so that can continue.
-[Brant, placement lead]: We have historically played with having fashion districts, foodie districts, adult districts, just because they were mutually supportive. Two years ago we placed the city on an east to west axis, with the morning breakfast and yoga camps on the east where the sun rises, afternoon camps in the middle, and adult camps in the east. That’s how these camps ended up where they are now. Placement really pays attention to the comments on your ticket and theme camp requests and make every effort to listen to and accommodate you. I’d really like the signage to be an art piece. Bringing up consent in this signage would be cool.
-[Stephy]: Placement has not made the decision to put these camps in the corral, so please talk to me or Brant or Mercedes if you want to talk about placement. Meredith is also a good contact if you want to talk about Villages.
-[Meredith]: If there’s some rule about adult activities being hidden, we should tell all camps. These things happen everywhere.
-[Stephanie]: Definitely recommend great signage. I’m the sign lead. I had made an exec decision to call this district the red light district. Please think about that and provide your feedback to CitySigns15@burningflipside.com.
-[Purple Yoni]: We don’t only want to protect people from accidentally visiting an activity, but we also want to protect participants who don’t want to encounter judgmental or accidental visitors.
-[DN]: I’ve experienced great love for your camps from all over the community, and I feel like no matter where we put you, people will find you. Being collocated could be a real gift for attracting traffic. I think the corral would be awesome. We want to solve our problems using Art and Community. Apply for a tinderbox grant if you don’t have the funds you need for the solution you want. Our event does cooperation very well.
-[Jerry Dahling]: Most of the “adult” problems we’ve encountered at the event were outside of the adult camps. A lot of the positive education occurs at these camps. The idea of seclusion doesn’t make a lot of sense as they help ameliorate the bad behavior.
-[Beth]: I think it would be interesting to see if people would wristband their own children voluntarily without the org participating. Church night coordinator, Kidsville, other camps would probably be happy to help facilitate some activities to educate the community.
-[Bonobo]: If you see a kid without an adult at Flipside, there is a problem with an adult. The founders of this event have stated that the adult camps have been with us since the beginning and they are family. These camps are very loved and very dear to us.
-[David]: I like the idea of having help to make this area well lit and welcoming.
-[Wrinn]: The org should not be responsible for putting up warning signs for everyone’s triggers.
-[Thomas]: We are us, and we are them, and we need to figure out how to be us together. This year we’ve had great conversations with the synopsis of discretion, one of them was parents and children and wristbands, and there’s this adult camp discussion. We do have constraints as an organization. One of those is that we can’t wristband kids and take responsibility for their identification. We need to figure out how to phrase the problem so we come up with the best solution. The county does recognize that there is a lot of liberty and freedom at this event; they say “with discretion comes rights.”. Every single one of us has the responsibility to ensure that discretion is properly used.

##MOTION PASSES: We affirm as a community that the adult camps are welcome and they will work out their placement with city planning.

Topic:  Spring Town Hall (Pixie)

-Want to add introduction of new CC members to the agenda right after AAR update (Beth). Nobo is our MC.
-CC members to inform Pixie if their assigned AF needs anything
-Emily Sparkles and Meredith have been really helpful. Lots of theme camps want to come.
-Making a row of theme camps. Some have vehicles. Let me know if there’s any problem with having vehicles back there.
-Will have craft night for making buttons. We don’t need more stamp pads; we do need more stamps.
-Will have the meeting in the wherehouse but all the lumber will be behind the yellow line.
-Decentralized Dance Party could use their FM transmitter and boomboxes to broadcast the meeting if we have it outside of the wherehouse.
-Sound equipment is covered.
-Volunteer schwag fashion show.
-Gyes to cover late shift volunteers in her agenda topic- “starting Sunday we need lots of help” and also safetyside

LLC Update (Adam)

-Stuff about to happen: AF meeting coming up. Meeting with lawyers to do survival guide review.
MGA permit coming up. Ticket opening coming up.
-Burning Man changing the way they classify official regionals. We now have to sign an official legal agreement (one sided in BM’s favor) to be classified.
-Took vote, people who don’t care if we’re an official regional outnumbered (almost unanimously) people who DO care if we’re officially classified.
-Cheyne, BRC, says there could be benefits that we’ll hear more about at the GLC.
-Jerry Dahling: concerned that there could be legal complications if we don’t register with them since “burn” is in our name and we were formally affiliated.
-DN: Symbolic gestures and their consequences should be considered. Let’s not make this decision on the fly without exploring the big picture consequences.
-Pr0st: We are leaders in this community and that gives us a bargaining chip and the ability to stand up for the little guy. We have the opportunity to express as a regional what we are. Most of us came to Flipside before we went to Burning Man. We are what it is. You have the CC’s full support to NOT sign a contract that makes you uncomfortable.
-Bonobo: I feel our LLC has the obligation to be the voice for regionals. If the terms aren’t acceptable for us, they’re likely unacceptable for much smaller regionals who don’t have as much of a voice. Being de-affiliated from Burning Man means more to them than it does to us for growth reasons.
-Thomas: Burning Man is shifting to pay attention to the other regional events. They’re still trying to figure out what they’re doing; how to make the right deal happen. We’ll redraft their proposal and send it back to them.
-Wrinn: Don’t make us a franchise, or the small 150-people burns a franchise. That’s not what we are.
-Tiki, Clovis, and Cheyne are your contacts for Burning Man specific issues.
-DN: if we have to break contact with them to make a point and reinitiate it later, that’s okay with me.
-cLovis: This is like kids negotiating curfew. At the end of the day, the relationship’s still there, we’re still sending volunteers, things will keep happening the way they have for the last 15 years.
-Hi Steven. cLovis is grateful for his ticket.
-Sparky: Let’s leave this to LLC to reply and negotiate. Stand down until they feel a community discussion is warranted.
-Pr0st: I wonder what smaller regionals have to say about it.
-Aug C has taken over as 360 AF since Reese has stepped down.
-Want to put the prospect of AAR buying a warehouse on the CC agenda in April.
-The previous warehouse we were investigating on Airport rented for more than we were willing to pay. Property values in Austin are only going up.
-Our current lease is up in April (bad timing!) so we’re trying to be the best tenants possible to help us renew our lease.
-Gyesika: can we get the calendaring highly visible on the website somewhere?

Topic:  Old Business: Assault

-Motion passed awhile back to have LLC review with attorneys what services we can offer on site for assault situations. Want to talk about this at Safetyside
-[Thomas] This is a giant open ended question, complicated subject. Meeting attorney Monday, will get back to you.

Next Meeting: in 2 weeks
Facilitator: Henry
Stack: Pixie
Scribe: Chim

## 11:00 STACK OFFICIALLY CLOSED
## 11:14 METING ADJOURNED