And then I went to a Burner Conference
4/27 '18
There are burner conferences. MALC i.e., Mid Atlantic Leadership conference is one I just attended. Words that I captured (not mine mostly, but the resonated):
"We are in the practice of creating safe space for the expression of the full spectrum of human experiences"
"We have the Demonstrated ability to create the world we envision"
"It's not my job, it's just my turn"
"Allows you to be, Invites you to do"
"Exclusive to people who want to be inclusive"
"Play!"
BEAUTIFUL SIDE PROJECT < I want this to be my burner name
ART CLAVE < I wanna do a popup store called this. Is this possible in my town??
The difference between me and my campmate exemplified on day 2 of the conference: ME: I lost my notebook. HER: I lost my vape
He did a Pop up maker space? Who'd have thunk it? Is this possible in my town??
Housing gentrification: things to think about. 6 values: Equity, Inclusion, Creativity, Self determination, Responsibility. Also "Triple bottom line"
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Below, my more detailed notes/musings:
We have evolved (are evolving) from throwing kick-ass burns into extending our culture into the outside world. Just look at what is happening at Museums like the Heritage Norfolk or the Renwick in DC. WHAT IS OUR CULTURE? (insert a lot of fuzziness here) AT WHAT POINT IS THE MAINSTREAMING TOO MUCH? (inserts more fuzziness here)
Acculturation. Partnering with the Burner Adjacent fold. (meso cresso, figment, all those others I'd have to look up)
HOW DO I BRING THE AWESOMENESS OF A BURN BACK TO MY COMMUNITY? I personally struggle with this, because I'm a smallish town burner, where we lack critical mass. It's natural to want to share an awesome experience. It's natural to want to share what one has worked on.
There are folks who do this actively. Bring some of the values home: immediacy, gifting. Showing artforms that are less familiar to new audiances.
THE TOPIC OF ARTIST PAY: the artist says "If I feel strongly about the event, especially a free event, I'll gift my time/effort. And sometimes I'll work for minimal pay for the joy of sharing my craft. One key to this is having clear expectations set and payment defined before we start"
"Attainably priced workforce housing" goes over some much better than the "Affordable housing" term.
And also we gave out $1500 in grants. (Our comminity needs coaching on grant writing).
Gotta run, more later. (maybe)
I ran out of gas and ended up being *very* frustrated by BMOrg Leadership who almost seemed to go out of their way to not support our community here. The classic example were that it took them five years to deign to interview a second regional coordinator (and that only happened after duress and semi-public shaming). When DC's RC announced his retirement it took them 6 months to bring in THREE new RCs.
When I went to the "Global" Leadership meeting in the Bay Area, it was something of an echo chamber, but there was also a lot of positive energy, which I appreciated.
I have lots of thoughts on bringing the spirit to your local community, but the easy ones might be:
1. Host a monthly gathering somewhere you don't mind being anyway, so that people interested in the community have someone to talk to. I did it at a bar. I met many wonderful people who have since become wonderful members of the community, all they needed was someone to help them learn about it and talk to.
2. Can you set up an art project or booth at a local fair or farmers market? Could be as easy as having a costume exchange and/or face painting. Take is as an excuse to buy fabulous clothes from thrift stores, then offer free costumes: you help people pick and give them the confidence to be fabulous. You can also accept old "costumes" (read: fur and fun stuff) at PDF or other burns and bring them there. Do it once a year so it's not a burden. Or do it more! Have some sort of interactive crafting to get people involved? Set something up at the Pumpkin' Chunkin' (sp?) like a pumpkin decorating booth where people can bring their pumpkin and you help them decorate, then take photos (polaroids or other) and post them on a board throughout the day..
3. Invite regional burners to come to a once a year event you set up. Is there an outdoor summer movie series nearby? Host a pillow-fight at one movie a year? Or create an esoteric and fun event that will draw attention:
(a) The Ides of March March (Pittsburgh started this years ago);
(b) A fun costume bike ride on decorated bikes one day a year;
(c) Enter a float in a parade with all burners having fun;
(d) Host a Mardi Gras [costume party at a bar | parade | king cake party | etc.]
(e) Invite people with Art Cars to do a "shriners parade" or just gather in a very public/central parking lot for one day a year
Above all, just keep being you and keep kicking ass. If all the burns do for you is recharge your batteries so you can be a more awesome you, that's still a big deal. Just use it to shine your positivity into the local people. It doesn't have to be burner-y, it can just be you being awesome. Then people will want to be cool like you and will want to start doing cool things with you. Collaborators and critical mass can help us all do more awesome things.
I'm on the PDF board these days and that is spreading me pretty thin. We move to two different events at two new sites in the last year, so it's been a crazy year to join the board. But I hope as I learn the ropes, and as things settle down, it will get smoother. Then maybe I"ll have energy to figure out something for this area.
The BORG I think is recognizing that regional are the future. BORG speakers how supported this event said as much. Maybe they were pandering, but I didn't get that impression. They canceled GLC this year because I think they too were getting the echo-chamber vibe and wanted to rethink things.
I honestly think the monthly happy hour - especially if you have a bar you'd be going to anyway - is an easy win. You'd be surprised who randomly turns up. And regarding being RC: I understand being stretched thin and not wanting the job, but at the same time, if you can just be a local point of contact (and set boundaries for yourself) it might bear fruit. Just a thought. Again, happy to discuss in more detail offline.
I do so appreciate how he ignited an event that means so much to so many, and burns on so brightly. Hopefully it continues the brightness for many years to come