Apparently the need for sustainable transportation that reduces the impact of cars on Gerlach and Black Rock City is bigger than Burner Express (BE) buses can provide. While many of us are grateful for a means of self-reliant transportation WHAT Burner Express was has expanded to is including air travel. They have even gone to the level of offering tickets to TTITD in conjunction with their BE ticket.
While Burner Express is a ray of sunshine for participants for many organizers who build the city are hampered a little by the service which means there are fewer people to help build, take out refuse and assist with breakdown. Yes, BE passengers are each given a recycling bag and a trash bag and can take out one of each. All camp leaders should make sure BE riders are doing their share.
BURNERS TAKING CONTROL
There are some camps making their own express buses out of a need to get their people on site and reduce impact on the playa. We can only hope that these groups are getting the same direct access as Burner Express, but we are moving in baby steps. We are reducing impact on the environment and helping BMorg to achieve their goals.
At least 2 camps have been posting about a bus service they rallied and are looking for riders to get to Burning Man (TTITD). If you are still looking for transportation and cannot hook up with someone in your camp already then this service can be a good fit.
GLAMCOCKS (from Chris Ruiz) [Original post since taken down]
Started a campaign to get a bus out but as of this post we found out that the project was started but was not financially solvable. It was exciting to see and then Mystopia said they were trying to do something too it made sense to talk about both. Why bring it up if not happening… to show that there is a need and then we have Mystopia:
The Mystopia Burner Bus tickets are now available for the 7:30 Sector neighborhood camps, so take the opportunity to grab your tickets now. Below is all the pertinent information, please let me know if you have any questions and please distribute to your fellow campers as you see fit!
The whirlwind is here and for those of us building camps we are in crunch time. It is the mission of this site to be a platform that helps the community in their creative and community building efforts. That being said what we do out there at TTITD has a reflection on what we do beyond the trash fence.
CAMP BUILDERS have resources you should be engaged with:
These are the community wide resources out there. The Haven (mentioned above) is a new feature this year that may or may-not make it to the playa. None the less, it is good to know and use.
PARTICIPANTS should use every resource out there. Acculturation is absolutely vital for Burgins (Burning Man Virgins) to know what they are getting into. We will be listing queer camps, queer friendly (not implying those that are no listed are not queer friendly), and then we will also have key events.
Queer Burners on Facebook Page & Group (2 different things)
Not to weigh down your in box but there are a couple more notes from our calendar and happenings.
A link was broken on the last email:
We have this fund raiser that is about to end and we really need to meet our goal. It is only $2500 but that will do a lot for Queer Burners.
1. every few bucks helps out
2. some of the higher rewards will get you early access to the 2017 event on Mdemorial Day weekend.
Believe it or not there are a few camps still looking for people for TTITD. Want to camp with a Theme Camp? Each one of these brings a distinctly different flavor to the playa.
Thank you all for your participation and help this year with the Queer Burner Retreat. The next year is going to be absolutely amazing so stay tuned for more and exciting announcements for the next year.
The web site has a new look and more changes to make it a better resource for YOU. We have some big things coming in the Queer Burner network for growth, structure and what we are able to deliver. We do need you participation and help to make it real though. Who benefits? Our community does.
How is this for a logo for 2017 starting with DaVinci’s Workshop and moving ahead through the coming calendar year. “Gayborhood” was removed as we seek to remind people that we are a radically inclusive community and many of our participants fall under the many other letters in the acronyms used to capture us bunch of Queers.
Starting July 1st we started a Fun Raising Campaign to take care of a few obligations and pave the road to the future. We are creating a legal identity and need a little boost to make that happen. The nice thing about the “rewards” from this fund raiser is a chance to get in on early ticket purchases for the 2017 queer burner retreat called “All Of Us”. EVERY PENNY COUNTS and we thank you all.
Playa Prep
On your way out to the playa for your first time? You must be prepared… and if you are going on your own be extra prepared. If you are going with a camp make sure you are getting your acculturation training and HOW to prepare for the Playa.
Quite literally this is all the events I have listed and for some reason only items in San Francisco. To get listed here and on the web site use the contact form on the web site or post on Queer Burners Facebook Group.
Things to mark your calendar on the playa!
There are some events to make special note of now and see more as they appear online in the coming future on the web site:
MONDAY burn week:
Down Low Club Annual Meet & Greet in the camp at night
Tectonic will host a Queer Burner dance party
TUESDAY burn week:
Sun Guardians Village hosts: Theme Camp Organizer Mixer with representatives from Placement
FRIDAY burn week:
Comfort & Joy w/ BAAAHS are moving their amazing Afterglow party out to the Playa! THIS IS A SOLID MUST ATTEND… it will be the hottest party for the week! Stay tuned for more information
We started a fund raising campaign on July 1st asking our community for $2500. that will pay a little of on Queer Burners and give us enough money to create the legal entity needed for the fulfillment of Queer Burners under “Life Grand Brilliant Triumphant Production” as an umbrella. Our mission is:
To create and curate events & spaces for intentional development of community and leadership based on the Burning Man 10 Principles. To give members of the community the space to rise into roles that let them become leaders and creators and drive the wake that makes, creates and promotes radical creativity. Promote projects and collaboration.
– 7/22/2016 undergoing revision
Since the campaign began, on days 1, we received a wonderful donation of $20 but since then it has been rather quiet. Mama may not get that raincoat after all.
Hope still reigns that over the next 10 days or more that things might turn around and goals will be achieved. The money has vert specific goals meant for it as noted above.
Our bank balance is $20. The 2016 Queer Burner Retreat was not meant to be profitable, but neither was it meant to dig into my pockets especially as deeply as it did. There was some overflow from 2015 that went into gifts for the community.
As for 2017 the plan is a lot more stable and we are already building a frame work so that finances are well managed and there is a bank balance in the end with a marvelous team and there are resources as companies like ir35 umbrella that help managing finances in business since accounting services are not that easy to find. In fact we had our first meeting last night signing the contract for the 2017 Event.
Burning Man co-founder Larry Harvey wrote the Ten Principles in 2004 as guidelines for the newly-formed Regional Network. They were crafted not as a dictate of how people should be and act, but as a reflection of the community’s ethos and culture as it had organically developed since the event’s inception.
The 10 Principles were drilled into me when I first came into the community and I adopted them whole-heartedly. As a camp and community leader it is vital I embody these, but is the meaning of these being diluted with the ever growing commercial access of TTITD?
Radical Inclusion Anyone may be a part of Burning Man. We welcome and respect the stranger. No prerequisites exist for participation in our community.
QB: exclusion is something we as a community know well as being excluded and a large part of the LGBTQAI population consider themselves MARGINALIZED in society. This is one of the Principles that holds an extremely important characteristic we value and are attracted to.
Gifting Burning Man is devoted to acts of gift giving. The value of a gift is unconditional. Gifting does not contemplate a return or an exchange for something of equal value.
QB: Gifting is not Bartering. Accepting a gift with kindness and appreciation without expectation of exchange is also a key part of this Principle.
Decommodification In order to preserve the spirit of gifting, our community seeks to create social environments that are unmediated by commercial sponsorships, transactions, or advertising. We stand ready to protect our culture from such exploitation. We resist the substitution of consumption for participatory experience.
QB: This is about taking the commercial and mass marketed part of products out of the experience.
Radical Self-reliance Burning Man encourages the individual to discover, exercise and rely on his or her inner resources.
QB: Do not be a “Sparkle Pony” – come to the burn prepared to survive long enough to not die.
Join the conversation in the 10 Principles blog series.
Radical Self-expression Radical self-expression arises from the unique gifts of the individual. No one other than the individual or a collaborating group can determine its content. It is offered as a gift to others. In this spirit, the giver should respect the rights and liberties of the recipient.
QB: “Don’t dream it, be it…” – Dr Frankenfurter
Communal Effort Our community values creative cooperation and collaboration. We strive to produce, promote and protect social networks, public spaces, works of art, and methods of communication that support such interaction.
QB: Some camps have this down like a fine art, some camps seem to be struggling with getting people rallied to make a camp happen. It seems that the larger the event gets, the more accessible by the bucket list crowd, the more attendees are looking at theme camps as hotels for the weekend where everything is set up for their pleasure. Getting some people engaged is a struggle while some get very motivated participants.
Civic Responsibility We value civil society. Community members who organize events should assume responsibility for public welfare and endeavor to communicate civic responsibilities to participants. They must also assume responsibility for conducting events in accordance with local, state and federal laws.
QB: Part of this is the responsibility of the camp to provide an attraction for the city residents. It includes making sure that our spaces and streets are safe and clean. In fact there is a lot that falls under this umbrella. I think some camps are not evolving and working on making their presentations fresh for the years as they progress.
Leaving No Trace Our community respects the environment. We are committed to leaving no physical trace of our activities wherever we gather. We clean up after ourselves and endeavor, whenever possible, to leave such places in a better state than when we found them.
QB: Pack it in and Pack it out… if you bring it with you take it with you when you leave. LNT is vital for camps and individuals and is perhaps one of the most abused and bruised Principles on the list. e.g.:
ever see the trash left along the side of the road on your way out of burning man?
campers who dump their excess on follow campers and leave without taking any trash with them?
Participation Our community is committed to a radically participatory ethic. We believe that transformative change, whether in the individual or in society, can occur only through the medium of deeply personal participation. We achieve being through doing. Everyone is invited to work. Everyone is invited to play. We make the world real through actions that open the heart.
QB: We have layers of community and it is important that each one supports the other with near seamless lines. From our group of friends, our camps, our queer neighborhood and the city at large.
Immediacy Immediate experience is, in many ways, the most important touchstone of value in our culture. We seek to overcome barriers that stand between us and a recognition of our inner selves, the reality of those around us, participation in society, and contact with a natural world exceeding human powers. No idea can substitute for this experience.
QB: That means now. Your team needs to get a goal accomplished that means that people are needed to spring into action.
EVERYTHING in Gray is written by the author/presenter: Toaster
Depending on where you are in this community of Burning Man participants you might see the 10 Principles and how they can be applied. As camp leaders, community leaders or individual participants perspective is perhaps very different.
I think we are in trouble of loosing some very important ties to the 10 Principles in the wake of a tourist/festival mentality that is filtering into a culture that many of us have really opted into. As a camp builder and community leader, I personally see a lot of holes that participants are not filling in while leaders scramble to make up the difference.
Some leaders are really good at reaching into the assets of the community and asking for, selecting people, that are perfect for filling those spaces where someone is needed. On one hand it might seem like a lack of immediacy and civic responsibility when that volunteer is asked for, but on the other hand I hear participants say “I’ve done my share.”
Another area I think we are loosing ground is in the area of LNT. Leave No Trace is a case for the environment and the ability of our community to show we are reducing our impact on the very precious land we gather upon. This is something that has a point of view as well.
As a camp leader and community leader we often see participants unconsciously leaving their footprint on people in those roles. While it is not seen as a direct assault on the idea of LNT the importance of a camp leader is to get that green and hopefully the entire camp can feel proud about getting that green on the MOOP map.
Campers departing from the event often abandon furniture, food or other items with the assumption that someone else will take care of it. This is the biggest complain heard by camp leaders year after year. It takes the community minded collective to see the project from built to breakdown and leaving the space clean upon departure.
The real answer is Acculturation Training. While it will come from a variety of perspectives having a clear understanding of the 10 Principles and how they apply to the burn experience on and off the playa is the key to success in the culture.
