Spirited by Queerburners events

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Dates: October 29th to November 1st
Gates Open: Friday at Noon
Doors Close: Monday at Noon

Spirited Weekend is a chance to reconnect with each other, the spirits of our ancestors and those of the world around us for Halloween weekend. Revel, dance, celebrate, give thanks, embrace, experience with your community.

Spirited caters to LGBTQAI+ and our allies based on the 10 Principle community of Burning Man participants; not affiliated with Burning Man. This is in the spirit of a regional event that brings people in locally and afar who celebrate community and the rituals of our lives through art, education and performance.

This is a four day, three night event in the Northern California woods at the East Park Reservoir the same place Camp Tipsy is hosted. It is public land under the County of Colusa.

  • This is a LNT event: Leave No Trace (pack it in pack it out)
  • Radical Inclusion: yes, everyone

An ad hoc event with content generated by the participants. Theme Camps are welcome and encouraged. It is a camping event with designated areas for activity and residential tenting. You must bring your own home for the event and all your own food. No open flames or fires allowed because of drought conditions. However, participants can prepare food with a proper camping cooking device.

  • Radical Self Reliance: bring your own stuff for survival
  • Community: do not depend on others for your care, but teaming up is awesome

Our programming is minimal and we encourage groups to plan parties and host them in their camps or in a common area away from tenting spaces/residences. If you have a project or plan you would like to do to generate activity let us know what it is at events@queerburners.com

  • Participation: everyone puts a hand in to make it work

The entirety of the land is available for all participants including an amazing body of water good for freezing your bits off if it is too cold. The County of Colusa has advised that water levels are expected to be low and that participants should be mindful and careful.

Every participant will be required to complete a waiver upon arrival or will not be allowed to stay on the land and will not get a refund.
Consent and mutual respect of your fellow beings is an absolute and intolerance will not be tolerated – period. Community standards will be a part of the waiver. Radical Inclusion is a core value in who we are. And it is not up to other people different than you to educate you on their bodies or appearance, so be respectful.

Sound and Structures
This is a camping based event without large structures. A building permit may be required for tens larger than about 200 square feet. There are no plans for any structures or stages at this time.

Sound
We anticipate amplified sound that requires a sound permit with the Sheriff Office. We will do our best to manage our sound and activity so it will have a minimal impact on the surrounding community.

Safety and Security
This is an event on land that is managed by the County of Colusa and the Federal Bureau of Reclamation and must be respected as such. We are operating on a series of permits and agreements. We will also likely have a presence of the Country Sheriff office inside and outside the premier of our event.

  • All participants, volunteers and attendees must sign a standard waiver for our events.

Note: There is an expectation that the event will occur without any issues in the community around the venue. As long as we are respectful there is likely to be no problems and we will act to mitigate those potential issues. The County has warned that there may be some neighbors that have an issue and the Sheriff department will be the buffer to limit any issues.

Security
Attendees will have to check in at the Gate. At that point a waiver needs to be signed and a ticket presented in order to access. All attendees MUST maintain an event bracelet to be in the event:
Color1: Attendees who are 18 to 21 who are not of drinking age
Color2: Attendees 21 and over with a ticket and signed a waiver
Color3: Attendees who do not want to be photographed or video

Tickets must be purchased in advance and online. Sales at the gate are at the discretion of the gate lead and supervising staff and have the right to turn people away. This is an 18 and over event – no minors. Anyone under 21 drinking or using illegal substances will be ejected with no refund. No illegal substances will be tolerated.

Medical
Volunteers will be asked to take a shift with medical training that are EMT or medically certified professionals and patrol the event with a centralized triage space. There should be 1 or ideally 2 people per shift.

Patrols
Since this is not an officially sanctioned Burning Man event it is not possible to have Black Rock City Rangers in their official roles, but we have trained Rangers who have been willing to assist. We will have trained volunteers in confrontation management and some with a psychological and drug training roaming our event to mitigate and potential interpersonal issues within the event and with visitors who have questions about our event.

Law Enforcement
The County of Colusa Sheriff Department may want to have patrol(s) but that will follow an assessment. That will also affect the costs below. The Sheriff will generally remain outside the event but may enter for any reason they determine. The LEO (Law Enforcement Officer) should always be treated with respect and welcomed.

Events in the time of Covid
How does Queerburners intend on making the area safe for its participants? We will follow all health and safety requirements as mandated by the State of California including:

  • Intentional limited ticket sales so that all people have room for social distancing
  • Requirements at check-in as determined by CDC and local Health Department

Even if we have to cancel or postpone the event. We care that our participants are healthy and safe at all of our events.

Ticket Pricing:
Base price is $75 – $175/person for the weekend with discounts and add-ons based on individual needs and financial position.
Limited access tickets for persons with financial hardship who apply for it.

Pre-Sale: July (Coming Soon)
Tiered Ticket Sales: September 1
To be considered of a lower priced ticket click here: https://forms.gle/gCdhZNNn1Kvp2vbTA

Burning Man 2021 Live – Cancelled

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How are you coping with the news? We had a glimmer of hope that was turning into the light at the end of the tunnel that seemed to indicate Burning Man 2021 was happening. We had a theme. We had DGS ticket sales and Placement for Theme Camps warming up. There were a lot of communications, but with Maid Marian’s announcement last Tuesday brought so much to a halt.

Theme Camps

The Burning Man Theme Camp Symposium seems to still be happening for camps to gather and share resources. These resources have dwindled and transformed with this being the 2nd year of no migration to the playa. There is a call for information still: Link Here. Maybe that will change too? It is being spearheaded by our own Dr Dilemma from the Paradise Motel theme camp.

Camps were already getting their ducks in a row and there was a lot of energy being driven forward. I guess we proved that even in a much shorter window of time we could act and get our logistics lined up and deliver. However, the road was swept away. Some people saw it coming and some retained unbreakable optimism only to be left with a broken heart in the end.

Will Burning Man Survive?

Burning Man is much more than an event in the desert and many of us know that. The 10 Principles, their application to our individual lives and those around us, have evolved so much in 30 some odd years. Yet, so much energy has gone into regional events that the life breath created by Larry Harvey can continue to thrive on those places.

What makes regional events stronger is their ability to be more inclusive, enable diversity and be much more equitable because TTITD has strayed a long way from that. I do not believe (my opinion) that Burning Man is exclusive, it is achievable, but not for everyone. Should it be? Ideally yes, because we celebrate art, performance and self expression. It is a sense of joy and connection that will bleed down through it’s regional events and it’s most dedicated followers.

Burning Man 2022 might just be the most – off the chain – event of the decade. The community is facing the most powerful reset button one can imagine, but it is vital to appreciate that journey. By honoring the burners who did not survive this pandemic in the deepest most meaningful way possible we should move ahead. I truly hope the theme of that year is that phoenix that symbolizes the struggle and sacrifice of so many humans.

For the many vendors whose business suffered without that revenue, family businesses like MECO Water our of Reno, let’s remember them as well. Their services and livelihoods suffered too.

The Org struggles to maintain their projects, staff and mission in the vacuum of ticket sales. There are people there whom we have come to love and feel connected to.

So, yes Burning Man as an ideology and culture will continue to thrive as long as we have a channel to achieve that. Our network is strong and our ideas and spirit unbreakable.

Conclusion

The abrupt and sudden decision to call Burning Man 2021 was a hard one. BRCvr and other channels for a virtual burn will without doubt shine and help fill the void. Groups are already planning their own events and there seems to be an expectation that people will go to the playa anyway. They even released a travel guide for the journey: Link here. So looking ahead let’s look around and:

  • make sure your community or camp mate or partner or friend is doing okay with this news
  • see where your community is bringing the playa home and how you can participate
  • be the doacracy for your community and help forge that vision with partners
  • support your community participants in whatever the vision of the future take shape

Leadership and Board Meetings

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Today I made sure our Board Meetings were published for community review to see the road we are heading down. Hopefully it will demonstrate our commitment to the community and being socially responsible. While the board is largely Caucasian, so far 100% CIS, majority male, with some diversity in queerness we are still missing a lot of faces reflecting the body of the people we hope to participate with and hear from when it comes to the programming and voice we are putting forward.

Current Committees

  • Communications (Website, Social Media, Technology)
  • Events
    • All Of Us 2021 – Proposal Pending
    • Spirited 2021 – Proposal Pending
    • All Of Us (East Coast) – Pre-proposal
  • Budgeting and Finance
  • Documentation Management

Queerburners had a Town Hall

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How to find the Town Hall recording:

Topic: Queerburners Town Hall
Start Time : Jan 17, 2021 10:57 AM

Meeting Recording:
https://us02web.zoom.us/rec/share/q42qtiSg6CM9g0nGBFYUf3KorFbeNaczAWrWg0lMYLh_yozqOWvMhOshXT2OXPOK.3R_UEpX3dAMf401I

Feeling very grateful for the level of participation from this community. Since I started this thing so many years ago there have been a lot of people who have come and gone that took on some of the weight and added to the drive to find our successes. Today was not different and without a filter, the link above is to the whole meeting.

Thank you again to the current members of leadership for Queerburners:

  • Toaster founder of Queerburners – Chair
  • Wink from Tickled Mink – Communications
  • Matt from Land of Monkey – Clerk
  • Starduster from Comfort & Joy / Black Rock City Rangers – Events
  • Sara from Land of Monkey
  • Brace from Burners Without Borders – Treasurer (temporary)
  • Nexus from Comfort & Joy – EID
  • Joel from Gay Turtles – Technology

EMail sent to AOU 2018 Attendees

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The following email was sent out to AOU attendees from 2018 about the future of Queer Burners.

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If you are receiving this it is because you were an attendee of ALL OF US 2018. We want to reach out to the community about a new focus and new future for this platform that is made with all of you in mind. You can participate as well… and I am genuinely reaching out to people (but read the following first)

Queer Burners has been around since 2008 and was created as a grounding for LGBTQ+ burners to be able to connect without boundaries. Sometimes camps and regions can seperate us, but this platform was always meant to cross borders, limits and hopefully spawn collaboration.

The mission is/has been: Building Community and Leadership Together.

We even have an updated logo for 2020 you can see at www.queerburners.com!

Queer Burners is working on a 501.c3 status with a board and a new strategy. It is absolutely neccessary to put our events and activities on solid ground. This way nothing is dependant on a single person and community is 100% in focus. 

With this 501.c3 status we can:

  • harness a better leadership structure for all matters ahead
  • set standards and operate within a space of people commited to our culture

There is a huge perk with this change! I am excited to be able to sponsor artists and performers and offer them the perks of our status. We will have a chance to network with other groups for the promotion of creativity in 10 principle based events and more.

Sounds good so far? EVERYONE receiving this is … yes EVERYONE is welcome on this journey. Our goal is to have diversity on the board and we are struggling with that. We are also looking to you for some insight into helping foster that future. 

To signal your desire to participate pleae complete this: https://forms.gle/izbER4vMq77SpEiGA

To join in on the Queer Burner Leadership Network: https://www.facebook.com/groups/queerburnersleadershipnetwork

On Twitter:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/queer.burners

All Queer Burners Links: https://blog.queerburners.org/go-to-burning-man#regional that include regional groups on and off Facebook, because not everyone depends on it. However, most of the links are on Facebook still. 

THANK YOU for taking the time to look this over. Feel free to submit feedback we for anything I might have missed in this message and reply to info@queerburners.com. 

The Comms Team meet on the 1st and 3rd Sunday of the month.

The Events and Entity Team meet on tbhe 1st and 3rd Wednesday of the month.

Sincerely,

Scott aka Toaster
Queer Burners
toaster@queerburners.com

Ignore all this outdated stuff below  – – – – – – – – – – – – – 

The future as a 501.c3 Organization

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Queer Burners has been around since 2008 and has hosted Community and Leadership events over the years. It has also produced patches, created a network for LGBTQAI Burning Man participants to engage each other, and is always evolving.
At the same time the web page and service have often been static, has largely depended on a single person, and struggled to be financially solvent and stable to meet lofty goals. The good news that this is changing right now.

2 Teams have been meeting bi-weekly since May to prepare for a brighter future. It has been very exciting and inspiring so far. We are actively looking for stakeholders in leaders of today and tomorrow who want to be part of something brighter.

  • Events Team – Planning for ALL OF US 2021 and other new events over time.
  • Comms Team – Updating and evolving the web site, social media and communications.

We are also working towards becoming a 501.c3 which opens the door for us to do new and amazing things that is also so very exciting. By doing that we will need more people at the core to bring their talents to the table so we can establish a Board. Those roles have not been specifically defined yet so the field is open. However, there are a couple skill sets we are seeking right now (see below).

  • Lawyer and / or Law Student to be a Board Member in the role of Clerk & Clerk Assistant
  • CPA/Accountant to be a Board Member in the role of Treasurer
  • Writer/Editor to possibly be a member of the Board who will be the funnel for all external communications, press release, and promotions as Comms Manager.

Every interest is appreciated! If you want to go deep or to be a helper at an event we are embracing it all. If so please complete this form or share it with friends who you think might be a good fit: https://forms.gle/uFW62AE4yZJeKmos8 . Some of you might have filled this out already.

More news! With our 501.c3 status we will actively be looking to support artists with sponsorship for their work! For me personally this is one of the most exciting rewards for moving in this direction. It opens doors for art and performance in our community.

Is there compensation for joining the Board? Right now we are not in a position to offer remuneration for these roles. This is a community driven project still and we will be raising money for the costs to establish our legal status and start. No one has ever benefited financially with their involvement, but Queer Burners has paid some people for their services and work on a contract basis. 

Thank you for your time and attention! This is a call to action.

Queer Burners Mission Statement: “Building Community and Leadership together”