COMBUSTION CHAMBER MEETING: Monday, December 15, 2014

Facilitator

Doug

Stack

Henry

Scribe

Chim-Chim

Attendees (22)

Doug, Henry, Chim-Chim, St. Tiki, Gyseka, Ren, Onako, Princess, Pat, Prost, Kate, Clovis, Problem, Izzi, Adam, Monkey, Turtlebunnie, Pixie, Decibel, Bonobo, Psyche, Beth

8:09pm MEETING BEGINS

LLC UPDATE

• Mass Gathering Permit (MGP)
• Discussion before end of the year
• In process
• Getting announcement on ticket price and window before end of year
• SHORTEST LLC UPDATE EVER!!!

8:12pm AF UPDATE (Ren)

• Leads-All-Hands occurred last Saturday
• Approximately 30 in attendance
• Well received
• Have some brand new Leads as well as existing

8:14pm TOPIC: CC TRAINING CURRICULUM (Turtlebunnie)

• Concept: Process Manual
• Ideas to go in manual are welcome
• Would love to see stuff from retreat
• Possibility of having a CC mentor?
• Possibility of designating one CC meeting to a training session
• Currently soliciting ideas for what needs to be trained on
• Good idea to toss out idea through email lists
• To be a CC member, you should know blacksmithing
• Idea for manual: Put into .pdf format and download to all Leads for access; Use some sort of distributable content (e.g. Google doc) as an idea; Utilize multiple formats

8:18pm MOTION HAS BEEN MADE TO MOVE INPUT ON THINGS FOR TRAINING TO ‘LIST’; NO BLOCKS AT THIS TIME

8:18pm TOPIC: FUTURE OF SAFETYCIDE (Princess)

• The increased budget will be spent on food (over $3,000 approx.)
• Safety teams do a good job running it (Ghost, Sara, Mark, Jess, Sparky, etc.)
• In the future, they may have to do some re-organizational rearranging
• AAR did not cook breakfast last year so that they could attend trainings
• Lunch was provided
• This year, AAR met with Safetycide organizers
• 20 people attended from out-of-the-region
• Spending money on Safetycide is good for Flipside
• Many who come from other regionals also volunteer for Flipside

8:24pm MOTION TO CLOSE STACK ON SAFETYCIDE

8:25pm TOPIC: LASERS (Adam)

• When laser is shined on you, you will blink
• One simply cannot tell [lasers] apart
• During the burn of burnable art at Burning Man 2014, a Ranger was permanently blinded in one eye
• Researched on eplaya, and found cautionary discussions going back 10 years
• People have been worrying, and now this [blinded Ranger] has happened
• Burning Man will be issuing protective eyewear to Rangers in the future
• Discussion on installed lasers at Flipside
  • Possibility of getting blinded by lasers can happen to us
  • Even if we decide to ban lasers, it would be impractical to enforce that
  • Adding more rules is not our way of doing business
  • If people are going around flashing lasers in a wreckless way, then we can train them
  • If they persist, then we have other means to deal with the issue
  • It is possible to go out and buy a laser powered meter, but it’s too expensive to provide for the Rangers
  • There is currently a policy on lasers stated in the Survival Guide; However, we may have to look at it again
  • The Burning Man policy on lasers is currently under review
  • Green lasers at 5mW may not be eye-safe.
  • Red-colored lasers under 5 mW are considered eye-safe, but labeling is unreliable.
• Suggestion has been made on having a conversation on banning lasers
  • It wouldn’t be a rule in itself if it weren’t a considerable safety issue
  • Losing eyesight is a high risk and a real threat
• Consider changing wording in Survival Guide
  • Confiscation policy similar to sound—Take away if it arises
• Opposed to new rules, but hesitant on personal use of lasers not being part of an art installation or theme camp
• Lasers should be allowed for fixed display units; Only allow on fixed installations or commercial units
• Possible registration of lasers similar to art cars
• One cannot tell people that lasers are dangerous when there are art cars and giant art pieces
  • There are lots of dangerous things at Flipside
  • Part of the event is participation
  • People can do a better job at communicating and education
• Just because we may not enforce the rule doesn’t mean we can’t make a guideline to discourage use
• Problems with registering lasers: Once lasers are checked in, LLC has become responsible which puts a greater liability
  • If a guideline is to be put in the Survival Guide, use a serious tone
  • Putting rules in books that aren’t enforceable weakens rules overall
  • Possible ‘new technology’ section of the Survival Guide using a proactive approach
• Consider writing article for the Flipside Flame to get the word out
• Consider strengthening language in Survival Guide

9:11pm MOTION TO CLOSE STACK

• Consider adding as part of Ranger training where there is possible immediate confiscation
• Izzi stated she will attempt to write an article on Lasers with an emphasis on talking about lasers in regards to our three principles; Responsibility, Accountability, Cooperation; If anyone is willing to help write with Izzi, you are welcome
• Education is important; Community needs to be responsible and aware; BE THE CHANGE

Next meeting: January 5, 2015

Facilitator

Kate

Stack

Turtlebunnie

Scribe

Chim-Chim

TOPICS:

• Calendar session January 5
• Term limits for CC members (Doug)
• Volunteering staffing during post-Burn (Henry)

9:28pm MEETING ADJOURNED

COMBUSTION CHAMBER MEETING: Monday, January 26, 2015

Facilitator

Beth

Stack

Decibel

Scribes

Charlcye

Chim-Chim

Attendees (26): Chim-Chim, Izzi, Princess, TurtleBunnie, Pixie, Decibel, Breezy, Charlcye, Doryan, Problem, Adam, Beth, Wrinn, Kano, Prost, Clovis, Monkey, Lori, Psyche, Ben, Erica, Mulch, Kat, Key, Nova, David

7:54pm MEETING BEGINS

LLC Update (Adam, Patrick)

• LLC Retreat happened. Rules are dumb.
• Announce list changes; now going out 1x/month. Contact content lead Susan Shelton to get into the monthly announce email. If not announce, will roll over into the Flipside Flame.
• New website needs photos. Contact Yertle to submit your photos, subject to the Media Use Agreement which reserves as many rights as possible for the artist. Artwork will not be used for any commercial purpose.
• Landowner meeting. Finalized Work Weekend Dates:
  • WW I: Feb 27-Mar 1
  • WW II: Mar 20-22
  • WW III: Apr 10-12
  • WW IV: May 1-3
• Mass Gathering Permit Application dropped off. Hearing date will occur before ticketing this year.
• DaFT Lead selected: Caleb will be building a wizard; More info will be presented at the upcoming Town Hall.

8:07pm Regional Update (No RC’s present)

• Ticket info has gone out
• Car passes are up to $50/each, don’t buy one unless you need it, there are plenty aftermarket
• Regional Conference scheduled 2nd weekend in April

8:07pm AF Updates (Wrinn)

• Stephy/city planning looking into expanding 4-5 acres of camping space into the corral.
• Gathering volunteer force, identifying critical volunteers
• Burn scar from last year completely grown over

Topic: Town Hall (Pixie)

• 1/3 of warehouse will be taken up by DaFT lumber
• Decibel & Pixie producing Town Hall this year.
• Nobodobodobon will MC.
• Emily’s ordering Porta Potties & working with Mercedes on setup/breakdown/parking
• Need volunteers to help with setup, breakdown, parking
• Breezy will work CC booth
• Henry will be time keeper
• Breezy will work CC booth
• Agenda
  • 11:00 Setup
  • 12:00 Tailgating
  • 2:34 Meeting Starts
  • Welcome, Pledge, LNT Announce
  • AAR Update
  • Tickets
  • DaFT
  • Volunteering
  • Dates for Work Weekends, Theme Camp Registration, Rolling Roadshows
  • Benediction (Go forth and sign up to volunteer for something.)
  • Community Announcements
  • (Burners Without Borders?)
• Assign CC Members to AFs
  • Art (.E) : Monkey
  • City Planning (Stephy) : Beth
  • Safety (Mark) : Breezy
  • Site Signoff (Wrinn) : TurtleBunnie
  • Communications (Russ) : Pixie
  • 360 (?) : Kate
  • Site Prep (Casey Schmit, aka “Pookie Bear”) : Psyche
  • VC (Gyesika) : Decible
• Each AF, Tinderbox, etc will have half a 10×20 booth, same as last year– AI: Pixie to ping everyone to see how much space they need.
• We’ll do passports again. Have stamps from last year. AI:Pixie will make buttons.

Topic: Ticket Update (Lori)

• Awesome FAQ posted online. Short version at http://burningflipside.com/event/tickets
• 1897 requests for 3096 tickets. Down by 30 requests from last year.
• Some bugs in the system, quickly addressed by Problem
• Cheyne running not not bob’s list this year
• Mailing out survival guides in March, maybe from fulfilment center
• Will still get tickets at the gate. Participants need to have a physical ticket in the event that you either lose your wristband or need in’s and out’s from the gate. Ticket stubs will be used for auditing number in attendance of event.
• Every ticket represents a place in the system.

8:44pm Topic: CC Notification of Cancellation or Moving (Beth)

How much notice do we need to give the community if we decide to

• Change meeting location due to weather: EOB on Friday
• Cancel a meeting: EOB on Friday
• Change topics for the meeting: 1 week (prior Monday)
  Motion passes: Meeting topics will be confirmed by Monday prior to the meeting and notice of cancellation or location change will be sent by Friday at close of business day central time.

Future Topic: Adult Camps location.

• Izzi is the liaison for city planning, so she can talk after the meeting.
• Want to address before placement.
• AI: Izzi to check with Stephy to see if Feb 9th will work; if not, will propose a new date. Will coordinate with community members present today.

Next Meeting:

Facilitator

TurtleBunnie

Stack

Breezy

Scribe

Chim Chim

Topics:

• Town Hall runthrough
• Respect (Doug)

9:00 STACK OFFICIALLY CLOSED

9:00 MEETING ADJOURNED

Minutes transcribed by Charlcye and Chim-Chim

COMBUSTION CHAMBER MEETING: Monday, January 5, 2015

Facilitator

Kate

Stack

Turtlebunnie

Scribe

Chim-Chim

Attendees (17)

Problem, Izzi, Adam, Princess, Gyseka, Decibel, Pixie, Kate, Clovis, Prost, Okano, Ren, Bonobo, Beth, Chim-Chim, Turtlebunnie

8:03pm MEETING BEGINS

LLC UPDATE (Problem)

• Ticket pricing has been announced
• Land recon this weekend; All leads are invited; Objective: Discuss what to do, with possibility of expanding the coral area
• Rezoning with the warehouse has gone through; Lease is valid through April; Confirmation has been requested for pricing
• Explanation of increase on ticket pricing
  • In November, we [LLC] got together to lock in budgets, then scramble to get AFs in
  • In December, messages were being sent to everyone
  • This year is odd—In the last few years, there has been a written message to CC saying this is what is happening
  • This year, we were stacked making sure the website, new ticket system, Leads, LLC were ready
  • Message was sent via message in email which was the only way to get the message out
  • As for price, there were (3) things to satisfy: 1) Meet budget; 2) Plan for certain amount 3) Lock in rate for a while
    • We [LLC] were looking at $100.00 pricing, trying to figure out the real dollar value plus good stewardship of money (tax included); the 11th dollar ($) is good for (3) years
• Teen tickets have been sold as adult tickets for forever

8:19pm REGIONAL UPDATE (Clovis)

• Discussion over letter from Jim Tannenbaum (sp?)
  • Response on regionals list has been less than enthusiastic
  • Responsible for ‘Caravansary’
  • Post is on the Burning Man website and Burning Man blog
• Will-call fiasco
• GLC (Global Leadership Conference) has been set
  • Less than firm date
  • May be changing venues
  • Do NOT book airfare
• Everyone’s gearing up for a theme
• If applying for an art grant, should have gone out by the 19th
• Next up: C.O.R.E./Souk notifications

8:25pm AF UPDATES (Kano)

• Gearing up to shift focus to volunteers, reminding them to send a ticket request, register, and pay
• Discussion over land recon; Looking for potential new spots
• AF meeting Thursday, January 15
  • Will be discussing Town Hall with shift booth model; Need to discuss with AFs; If they (AFs) do not like booths, then will discuss at the next meeting

8:28pm TOPIC: POST-BURN VOLUNTEERING/STAFFING/ETC. (Bonobo)

• Post-burn last year, there were only (3) rangers (Needs to be in groups of TWO)
• Discussion on how to incentivize in the community to get key people to cover our asses better after the Burn; Discussion of greeters on Burn day
• There is a difference between POLICY and OPERATIONAL; We [LLC/CC] are not here to tell them [Rangers] how to do it; It’s a COMMUNICATION issue…a conduit between the community and LLC; It’s up to the LLC and AFs to decide how to run shifts; As a communication problem, we need to raise this issue
• It’s everywhere, especially in leadership roles where AFs may want to step down
• Throw it out to the community—If we can’t have a safe Burn, it falls back on them; Should be a TOPIC at TOWN HALL; Should be on WEBSITE; Publicize need
• (2) ways to incentivize: The carrot and the stick—We carrot the hell out of volunteering; The community has nonverbally spoken; If the community doesn’t step up, then that’s the stick
• Greeters and the Safety team are equally as important; A conversation on Safety Teams needs to happen sooner
• Not an impossible problem, but a problem solving itself
  • We have been funding more time, money, staff
  • We have seen an increase of new people and those from other regionals
  • We need to make sure we are ready to get more people in there for Safetycide
  • As soon as more key staffing levels kick in, then we can incrementally grow
  • We can’t prime down the pump until we hold numbers; Budget has increased
  • Topic is about certified goals
  • For Burn night, it’s All-Hands-On-Deck for LLC—there to help Rangers and all do their job
  • It’s right to have CC come in and fill in gaps
  • We should support other Burn events
• There is an important difference between Safety and the rest
  • We have kept the Gate shut when we didn’t have Greeters and Parking up-to-speed
  • If we don’t have enough Safety [personnel], we encourage people to sign up
• Volunteer training will happen again this year
  • 6hrs after the Burn are CRITICAL
  • CC shouldn’t fix problem [of understaffing] by volunteering for that shift
  • Discussion: If you don’t want to do it, why?
  • Issue: People volunteering onfor that shift have already done other shifts; They are already burned out; Must encourage people to volunteer to balance staffing levels

8:57pm STACK OFFICIALLY CLOSED

• There is NO ‘QUID PRO QUO’ for tickets
  • People should give of themselves
  • Everyone knows when they are going to leave [volunteering] and come back and kick ass accordingly
  • Burn needs more cool people
  • Youngsters don’t know that; Hope is, they’ll figure it out; It’s all logistical
  • We do NOT want to do ‘quid pro quo’
  • There is plenty of schwag
  • Utopia event gave discounted tickets for participation in advance, and had a 60% failure rate; Hesitant to even start [considering quid pro quo]; Issue is Privilege vs. Entitlement; It’s easy to show up and do nothing; Many more ways than giving out monetary gain
• AI: Communicate to let people know to step up

9:23pm TOPIC: CALENDARING

1/26

Next CC meeting

Town Hall

Ticket Update

CC notification of cancellation or moving (Beth)

2/9

Town Hall run-through; Respect (Doug)

2/23

Town Hall wrap-up; Survival Guide language (Problem)

3/9

Arts Fest—Maybe similar to EAST (Kate)

Combustion Chamber term limits (Doug)

3/23

Recycling (Pixie)

Flipside without a Burn (Prost)

4/6

Cultural Appropriation (Bonobo)

4/20

CC retreat (Kate)

5/4

Volunteering (Kate)

New Town Hall Producer: Pixie

NEXT MEETING:

Facilitator

Beth

Stack

Decibel

Scribe

Chim-Chim

9:44pm MEETING ADJOURNED

• ATTENDEES: Doug, Princess, Mark, Decibel, Turtlebunnie, Pixie, Katie, Izzi,
  Problem, Chim-Chim, Henry, Monkey, Bonobo, Clovis
• Facilitator: Doug
• Stack: Turtlebunnie
• Scribe: Chim-Chim

8:00pm MEETING BEGINS

AAR UPDATE

• AAR/LLC is continuing to look for potential warehouses
• Budget meeting scheduled for November 18 and 20 (Review w/ AF’s)
• Mass Gathering Permit is currently being processed, with hopes of getting the application done by the end of the month; Review of permit takes up to 35 days; First year application was performed in March; Last year’s application was performed in February

8:08pm AF UPDATE

• AF’s performed a Leads rodeo with few unfilled/uncertain positions remaining
• No official date for announcement of Leads has been set
• AAR will review liability Leads; AF contacts will be informed tonight; Confirmation with nominees will be executed; Announcement of Leads will be scheduled upon completion
• Planning and Budget meeting scheduled for November 20
• Approximately 69 Leads have been accounted for (Same approximate number as last year)
• Regional Outreach position has been reactivated
• Definition of ‘Leads Rodeo’: Process by which CC announces Lead positions are open; Community is encouraged to nominate others/themselves for positions

8:13pm TOPICS FOR DISCUSSION

TOPIC: RESPECT

• 15 different agencies have been contacted to host a conversation over racism
• The CC needs someone trained in facilitating the conversation; However, the agencies don’t do it much anymore; The working model has shifted; The CC can hire a professor, but doing so doesn’t meet the community’s needs; What organizations want is for community members (of the Burner community) to send people for training in race facilitation for the organization
• Other agencies will do a systematic analysis
• Getting someone to come out to speak has been difficult; However, the CC has been able to find people who have interesting pullout pieces of interest of diversity, in general (People who have similar instances of cultural appropriation)
• What needs to happen next/What does the CC want versus what does the CC get?
• Discussion over calendaring: Look into March 2015; Pull 2-3 evenings
• Discussion over what do we need, and how we should go about it
• Possible speakers: Discussion of Martin Snowden’s Forgiveness Project: Using a personal approach instead of a theoretical approach; Scott Howser (sp.) grew up in South Africa in apartheid; Excellent resource to share story
• Possible speakers: Professor of diversity at St. Edwards with a decent introduction to ‘white privilege’
• Possible speakers: Professor of African history
• Calendaring: CC interested in picking a topic to discuss every Thursday night
• Discussion over racism versus conflict management and what distinguishes between the two; Also, discussion on respect and effective communication
• CC feels it is important to discuss and appropriate to do as an ongoing conversation, answering the questions: How do we perform better online communication (besides Facebook) and still carry forward a constructive conversation? Why can’t CC make a post about racism? The problem is—do we want to dictate right or wrong to the community?
• Motion proposed and seconded: Based on availability, schedule Thursday nights in February/March 2015 for the discussion and sharing of topics related to racism (within the first quarter of 2015) at the warehouse; Motion PASSED
• AI: Reach out to community for additional participation and information given to individuals on topic of racism; Create sub-committee that can make decisions (based on availability); Discuss with LLC on funding speakers; Pixie volunteers to work with sub-committee; Bean has also shown interest in helping; Katie shows interest in helping

TOPIC: CC COMMUNICATIONS TO THE COMMUNITY

• Motion proposed and seconded: Table discussion to another time; Motion PASSED
• Motion to move topic of whipped cream: Topic has been rescheduled to Monday, December 1, 2015
• Future CC topics of discussion: 11/17: Do we still want a warehouse? Communications; Spring Town Hall date; 12/1: Cultural respect; 12/15: Safety; 1/5: Moving east till next calendar session; Move east date 12/1
• AI: Hand-held laser use: Move to get it calendared; CC considers this more of a community-oriented conversation; There currently is a need for discussion over the dangers in the use of lasers

Next COMBUSTION CHAMBER meeting:

• Facilitator: Henry
• Stack: Pixie
• Scribe: Chim-Chim

8:54pm MEETING ADJOURNED