CC Meeting 8 June 2015

Posted on August 10, 2015 by Mattmo

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

CC meeting 4 May 2015

Posted on July 20, 2015 by Mattmo

# 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

—

CC meeting 20 April 2015

Posted on July 20, 2015 by Mattmo

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

—

CC meeting 6 April 2015

Posted on July 20, 2015 by Mattmo

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

CC meeting 23 March 2015

Posted on July 20, 2015 by Mattmo

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

—

CC meeting Feb. 9 2015

Posted on March 31, 2015 by Mattmo

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

CC meeting: Mar 23, 2015

Posted on March 24, 2015 by adamrice

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

CC meeting 23 March 2015

Posted on March 24, 2015 by SJ