Hey Flipsters! We have a scribe again, which means we can have CC Minutes again. To celebrate, enjoy these hot fresh minutes from the Flipside AfterBurn Meeting, which took place back on June 10th of this year.
More minutes incoming! So many minutes! Take cover and bunker in place!
Attendees: Sam Arnold, Patrick “Problem” Boyd, Adam Rice, Bryan “Breezy” Frolick, Bill Blome, Laura, Clovis, Henry, Mayor of Flipside (for life) the Honorable Prost, Izzi, Kataluna, Blanche, Tim A, Han, Tim M, Dale, RD, Brently, Liv, Wrinn
Facilitator – Bill Stackinator – Sam Scribe – Laura
Burning Flipside Afterburn Prost: this is an open topic to discuss the good and bad of Flipside.
Clovis: any failure points, like the LLC?
Kataluna: What? We are not…
Adam: We did get out our information report already on the Website already. Don’t want to sit here and read that, but we can discuss any questions or anything anyone feels isn’t covered.
Problem: 3% of tickets didn’t show up, fairly low. 2650 people showed up. 4 total medical transports, which is half of last year.
Blanche: And it wasn’t muddy!!
Kataluna: I’ll take it and I enjoyed.
Henry: There was a lot of confusion about which direction the roads went. Some people removed the signs, or bypassed the greeters, and then people couldn’t tell what direction to go.
Kataluna: I saw that on Thurs night, and I was confused about which way to go. I saw a city planning person moving the sign to get it in the right spot.
Henry: Several of the short cuts were very helpful.
Problem: Suggested buying commercial grade one-way signs.
Brently: Suggestion – gel safety covers for the carts that are different than everyone else.
Kataluna: I liked the signs for the tops of the carts, which helped identify what the carts were there for.
Prost:
• Kudos to city planning for their messages this year about RVs, helped explain that really well. Covered all kinds of vehicles – vans, campers, etc.
• Kudos to AAR for sending out a message about the rain we got and that we might cancel, which is great. The message saying the event was on might have gone out, I just didn’t see it.
• I heard complaints about the roads and which way they were supposed to go; probably a signage problem.
• We did have a mixer – we had 4 CC members and 1 community member Linda show up. Very glad that things are continuing the way they are, don’t want to change things.
• The effigy didn’t get open until Sat, and this isn’t the first one to wait that long. Would like DaFT to take a hard look at why it happened, and what can the community/org can do to help next time.
• Really appreciated the post-event report, it’s the 21st flipside but it’s the 22nd event.
Henry: I noticed that the greeters were getting people to volunteer when it was their first-time at the event, and they don’t know what to expect when they volunteer there. Maybe there should be a broadcast, online video, that can explain everything about Flipside and volunteering for the first-time person.
Bill: Continuing on volunteering, and this has been a hot topic of discussion post-Flip Side. I felt like the energy was really good this year. I’m sure there were hiccups happening, but I saw a lot of people helping each other out, and a lot of formal and informal volunteering happening. I missed the weekend after for the cleanup weekend but would like to hear from Clovis about it. Outside of maybe tweaking a few things, I would like to say that the volunteering community is alive and kicking even if they need some extra poking.
Blanche: On the volunteering thing, I lost something of significant value that was turned into Echelon and by the time I got back it was missing.
Kataluna: Are you sure it happened after it was in Echelon?
Blanche: My friends found that I left something on their cart and turned it into Echelon. I got the item back, but when I looked inside of it the valuable thing was gone and my friends said the valuable thing was in there when they turned it in. Need to review who has access to what, like Echelon.
Problem:
• For the vast majority of the event, we were on top of things in terms of volunteers and things running as they should.
• There were a few problematic areas: hard to get IT support folks, medics for the events, and the guardians shifts were hard to fill. There were a few low shifts, but mostly covered.
• The big problem was post-weekend on site. At the warehouse, we had a ton of people to help unload trucks. It was really out onsite having enough people to help clean up, and we needed about 20 more people helping with that.
• If you know someone who can do medical, or can help with radios, or can do guardian shifts those are the ones we struggle with.
• I’m glad everyone has enthusiasm around volunteering, but don’t put a bunch of solutions in place in search of a problem.
Wrinn:
• I think the volunteering problem the weekend afterwards for clean-up was a bit worse than before.
• Messaging channels sucks, no one reads emails.
• When it’s after the event, it’s harder to get people onsite. The same people keep coming out year after year – and some people want to skip a year. And the people coming out are getting older and can’t move as quickly as they did before.
• It was light, but it was doable but hard. We got out of there at a reasonable hour, but still a bit late.
Clovis: I agree with Wrinn. The social media aspect sucked this year, and lots of messages about getting out to the land for clean-up showed up three days after it was over. I didn’t want to shame anyone with my post, I just wanted to get everyone’s attention on it.
Han: We had 50% more vols than we needed; and we wanted to send them off to other departments that might need people “Greeters, Guardians.”
Sam: Volunteer squad would like to hear about that.
Han: I would like to get the word out there.
Blanche: What if we had a post department?
Kataluna: We do have one.
Blanche: This is my 6th Flip Side and I didn’t know that.
Kataluna:
• Flip Side is organized to be a servant leadership model, so that everyone can get a chance to lead and do things.
• We had 6 new AFs and leads this year, and so new people are learning how to do things. People did a great job.
• When an AF steps down, then the people who volunteer with that person also usually step down. It’s not a terrible problem, because the new people will grow their teams and develop people.
• The volunteer problem wasn’t any worse this year, and people are working on it and building up the teams.
Problem: There are a couple of things we are experimenting with:
• One is a central volunteer app. The app will be one place to see all the shifts that are available, and folks can sign up there.
• When you fill out the forms on the Website, you get an answer back from the leads/AF team to help get people into volunteering.
Wrinn: Congrats to the fire clean-up crew, did a great job cleaning up things after the burns.
RD: • I’m usually the first truck out with the effigy in it – and I usually coach the DAFT lead to
spend the time directing the volunteers to do productive things rather than standing around and tripping over themselves.
• Because we’ve had a smaller group before, and fewer strangers before, those relationships help drive the tasks and keep people productive. It’s not practical to have 1 person manage the site here, drive out, and then manage the site there.
• I said we should load DAFT on Friday night, and that was a good thing to help get things going.
• The lead of DAFT is a big job – you have to project manage people, the project, and help be creative and design the effigy. We need more structure to help scale.
Blanche: I joined FU telecom this year, and XXXX is committed to working with Flipside to help provide more telecom for safety, and anything the community needs. Letting him know what we want to do with the phones earlier rather than later, is appreciated and XXXX is willing to do what is asked.
Clovis:
• As someone who stepped down as an AF this year, the person who ran it this year did a great job (better than I did).
• Volunteer levels seem fine to me. Leads change and that’s a good thing. There’s going to be transition, and that’s fine.
• DAFT needs a PM in their structure, and it should be incorporated into their structure so that the designer can focus on the artistic side.
• Some mother fucker towed my god damn Lincoln. That was a dick move.
• It was a good Flipside.
Bill: • With respect to XXXXXXXXXX, and XXXX not being the best communicator. We got a phone at Camp Camp this year, and I was so excited that it worked so well. That is some seriously heavy lifting to get that done.
• To get stuff to grow and scale it’s best through the community rather than the org.
• I will help XXXX figure out what will help him grow FU telecom in the future. I want to help him, and I want my telephone again.
Blanche: He needs people to set up a camp for him, with the shade structures and so on, and cook food so he can focus on the phones.
Prost: The phone was great until we got spam calls. I did find an emergency phone box this year – it was right there by the greeters and I knew what to look for. Kudos to making it more visible. If you paint it more visible might get asshats making prank calls.
Brently: I wanted to mention things that were already covered, like DAFT is completely overloaded. Might form a subcommittee to review how to help teams like this as human beings can only handle 5 – 7 things at one time.
Kataluna:
• We try to direct leads to make sure they have enough team members and the right structure and support that they need to be successful. We also council them during their endeavor to help them not get overloaded.
• There were a lot of new leads who had amazing and ambitious ideas of what they could accomplish in the time they had. That means someone can overestimate how much they can do, and our goal is to help ensure no one fails.
• Some departments have high turnover, with at times getting a new lead every year or so.
• We also have former leads come and offer help to the new leads.
Brently: Any time I asked for help, I got it, and I made sure to always ask for it. Thank you to everyone in this room to helped me when I asked.
RD: The lack of volunteers loading here at the warehouse and loading the trucks out at the land was very challenging and put a huge amount of drain on the leads. The community left a gap and DAFT filled it.
Breezy: I brought my first piece of burnable art out there, and it went off very well.
Adam: Copy the AR.
Breezy: It was very hard to get perimeter team for it, but I got lucky. Hard to get volunteers to do that part, but I’m not sure how to get more people to volunteer for that.
Tim A:
• Adding onto what other people said about DAFT, as someone who worked on the build for the effigy I was broken and exhausted.
• It wasn’t a lack of volunteers, as there would be people showing up and asking to help and the DAFT lead only had a certain amount of bandwidth to give instruction to individual people. There wasn’t always clear direction for everyone there.
• There is an idea that DAFT leads knew what needed to be done, but they couldn’t always be in charge of it. Need a dedicated project manager.
Kataluna: So, having a dedicated lead that isn’t a part of DAFT that makes sure DAFT happens?
Tim A: There is a loose structure within DAFT that changes every year, and it doesn’t seem sustainable moving forward. There is a different lead and a different way of doing things every year – lack of carry-over of knowledge and best practices and how to do them the best way seems to not be happening. Need more structure and consistency year after year. The lack of that structure rather than the lack of volunteers was the biggest issue.
Wrinn: Thank you very much for your art pieces, and all pieces were cleaned up very well. I didn’t have to worry about it.
Kataluna: The nature of DAFT, and of it being a new lead whenever it happens, is how things are structured today but there is a ton of guidance there to help the lead. There were also a ton of people trying to help the lead. Don’t think it’s an org issue, it’s just people have specific work styles and vision. If we can see some carry over from this year to next, I think there will be improvement and it won’t be a problem. I don’t know that we need to add onto the DAFT team.
RD: One of the things we have with our culture, is that we want to separate the real-world from our community. Sometimes we lose that connection to the best practices and high-level things that can help.
Bill: • I don’t want to wade too much into the DAFT department, because being able to
organize volunteers is a very specific skill. You can be a lead, and have a certain level of organizing volunteers, and there is value to having someone being able to direct those volunteers on a regular basis.
• Jack Miller would put on these half day workshops on how to organize volunteers, and I’ve done it professionally and it’s really hard.
• It’s impossible to be the figure head directing the top-level thing and then also direct the individual contributors to get the work done.
• Don’t think the org needs to make big changes to DAFT, but maybe part of every proposal is “here is how I’m going to organize this thing or do this piece of it.”
• The institutional history of this org is deep and long, and folks are willing to share and help.
Adam:
• Many times, we have leads that are SMEs, but not great as admins or doing the day to day activities. We encourage people to appoint LTs, and not take on everything yourself.
• Many times, we don’t have many options for DAFT – some years we only get 2 viable proposals sometimes we only get 1. You go with the strength and weaknesses of those proposals and that lead, and you get an effigy.
• If someone doesn’t like the way DAFT projects are managed, then put in a proposal.
Prost:
• I’m going to disagree with that statement, because sometimes if you are a great manager doesn’t mean you are a great designer, artist, etc.
• As an artist, I would rather just go out and do something myself than ask somebody for help.
• Think if we took the same approach to the Rangers as we do DAFT and the new Ranger Lead can run it any way they want; that’s not the case today and wouldn’t be a good idea.
• As an artist, I think having someone there to run it from an operational standpoint is a good idea.
Izzi: The artist needs to select that person, so that they will work well together.
Prost: If someone shows up on church night wanting to know how to use a hammer, and the lead is showing them, then that takes that person away from more critical tasks.
Kataluna: It isn’t just “here is a hammer” and you go after it. They need instruction.
RD: I think some structure would be great for DAFT. We don’t have a great way to onboard people and get them up-to-speed. DAFT would benefit greatly from an information table or something to help get people up to speed.
Motion to close stack by Breezy, Bill seconded.
CC Calendaring for summer/fall 2019 Prost: Motion to disband the CC (not seconded). Prost got up and captured items on the white board. Topics
● Review Ticket Window – 8/5
● Re-examine 3 principles – 10/28
● Effigy and temple ws/charrette – does the community want to get money together for a temple – 10/7
● The new digital platform for vol – vol reg system review/input – 10/28
Definition of an RVs – the LLC should work this out
● Community input on video for first timers – VC can come and talk about it – 9/16
● Fall Town Hall Planning – 8/5
● Fall Town Hall Walkthrough – 9/16
● Fall Town Hall Afterburn – 9/30
● How would we respond to FS being postponed or canceled? – 11/9
We did not have recycling this year again and it was fine. Haven’t heard anything from the community.
● CC Mixer – 12/9
● How the warehouse meets community needs – 9/30
● Land criteria – 11/9
● Incident FAQs – once in Fall and once in Spring 12/9
Bill: A few months ago, we had a nice discussion about the process for reporting incidents. I haven’t personally heard about anyone being made uncomfortable, being assaulted etc.
Kataluna: It usually takes about 2 weeks from now to start hearing about things.
Problem: The vast majority of what we hear about are things that didn’t happen at the event.
Bill: Sounds like there is a good time to discuss that later in the calendar.
Kataluna: Can add it to the list and have it there. We get reports in Spring and Fall. Do it in the fall before the ticket window.
Izzi: I see a lot of non-CC members here and would like to hear about topics that would be interesting to those members.
Bill made a motion to close the calendar, Prost seconded. Closed.
LLC Update Problem: We are an official regional burn, we signed the agreement again. Had a small event recently that you might have heard of.
AF update Wrinn: Did the event and did a thing. Will get going on doing things again soon.
Regional Update Clovis: We are an official regional event. Camera girl (Burning Man IT person) is retiring.
Adam: Beach burn is coming up in 24 days.
Izzi: There is the soup event coming up soon, and some parents have spoken up and said they would like to do a family friendly burn event. There is a burning parents group on FB.
Blanche: I work with the rabbit soup folks and can offer to work with them on the parent/family version.
Clovis: Oblivium just happened.
Adam: There are 4 regional events the same weekend as flipside.
Problem: Elemt 11 just happened. Colorado event just happened.
Bill: Hopefully they had as much fun at their events as we did.
Izzi: People tuned in KFLIP in South Africa when they were broadcasting during Flipside, and they loved it.
Bill: There is a regional platform Called Shouting Fire that allows KFLIP to broadcast world- wide during the event. Any other questions about regionals?
CC business Prost: Going to make another call for CC members somehow. Make a post on the Website which will go out to Twitter, FB, etc. Want to get more diversity in the CC.
Kataluna: Yeah, almost all white guys over 35 on CC right now. Will put a post out on Face Book to help recruit.
Gyesika stepped down from the CC.
Next meeting is Aug 5th. Facilitator: Prost and Bill will stack.