Inspired by a recent post by DanNation.Org it was time to do some hindsight into the Burning Man Ticket fiasco and start looking ahead instead of looking backward. @queer_burners on Twitter call this horse-hamburger and that might have been premature. Since then there has been statements by 2 key voices of BMorg (Burning Man Organization) that have come out in recent days.
There was a lot of frustration and anxiety thrown at Burning Man with the announcement of the Lottery and the snarky, bitchy responses to any criticism noted in a previous post on this site a moot now. No, many are busy making excuses for the debacle. They say scarcity was the problem but really, the registration was just too easy and the true believers* would have waited through a queue to get those tickets while the tourists might have fled for an easier choice.
SO MANY EXCUSES
There were a lot of blogs and no shortage of people ready to either complain or swallow the unqualified responses of anxiety riddled believers*. This blog is not going to judge which was which except to say that the opinion of this writer is “scarcity” is a diversion. WITHOUT A DOUBT hindsight is 20/20 and if the Lottery did work the way it was intended there would be something people would be bitching about.
VOICES OF REASON
It took a while but it was not an unreasonable amount of time, but 2 people we needed to hear from gave us the voice we needed. There was an acceptance of the situation and ownership of the failure… yet with a solution/answer still pending we as a community have some reasonable expectation that a band-aide is coming.
Marion Goodell (aka MaidMarion) posted a letter out through the JRS and followed up with an interview on NPR. The letter, on first review, reeked of spin and asking the community to be patient (while some translated that as ‘get over it’). Certainly her voice in the interview was a clear acknowledgement of the crisis and the perfect follow up to the letter because she sounded sincere and concerned. [LISTEN]
Andie Grace (aka ActionGrl) sent out an announcement that was authentic and true to the character of this caring, compassionate fixture at Burning Man. Her voice and presence in the organization has benefit Queer Burners in the past as an avid supporter of the community as a whole; which we are a part of. See the Andie Grace comments embedded in a blog post by DanNation.Org - JRS – Jack Rabbit Speaks news letter is the vein of communication from Burning Man… even more than their Facebook, web site and twitter (@burningman). It is merely a channel and where Marion’s letter appeared days after it was publicly published inviting people to comment on the BurningMan.Com blog pages.
The mystery of this upcoming 2012 Burning Man event called Fertility 2.0 is slowly coming into focus. The viral decomposition of the event with many upon many of it’s participants now without tickets (including this author) and a foreseeable solution that brings it all around. I cannot imagine it not happening.
BELIEVERS
*Believers are not swayed with this issue and those of us with a full glass of the Burning Man Kool-Aide will be the positive force to an ultimate solution. Yes, this ticket issue shook the faith… but there are signs all over the web where new energy and positive voices are working to make it better. Those who are making excuses… those who are deluding themselves as believers who cannot accept mommy & daddy can be flawed… those who want to turn their back on something they have LONG benefit from … chill out. We hold the powers to be to the fire and the fire is bright, but we know how to play with fire and make it fun.