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