A blatant disregard of some Burning Man principles has recently been reported. That makes this a good time to look at the Principles and the lines we’ve drawn in the sand.
**NOTE: I AM NOT AN OFFICIAL REPRESENTATIVE OF BURNING MAN. I am merely a Participant with a passion for the event, people, and principles of Burning Man. Half-baked ideas & views expressed aren’t necessarily those of the Burning Man organization.” **
I heard this story from a woman I met over the weekend, who lives in Hollywood.
One of the many drones who flies around the City of Dreams with the label “writer/actor/producer,” she had finally gotten her shot with a project she’d worked up from scratch and managed to pitch to people who can make things happen. It came from her heart, and they loved it. Show runners with standing were on board, and the ink was wet on the contracts.
This was in 2006. When the writer’s strike hit, everything stopped.
Everyone who had a lifeboat took one. When the strike was over, all the people who could make things happen were already attached to other projects.
Here’s where the story gets interesting. Of course she picked herself up and tried again. That goes with the territory: tourists are the only people in Hollywood who don’t expect to be regularly shot down like a marriage proposal to a stripper.
She got some more meetings and pitched her story again. But something had happened. “Just listening to myself,” she told me, “I could hear that it was different. There was no more passion in my voice: I was telling my own story, explaining my own creation, like a stranger.” Read more »
Some people just don’t get it. It is sad and upsetting for Burners when brands ignore our cultural expectations and try to pull marketing stunts on the playa, and worse yet when they pretend it’s not happening. Due to diligent staffers and volunteers, we usually find and stop these marketing stunts, and protect our community, before the commodifiers make it into the city.
The scene. Photo by Peg Ortner.
But some slip through. This year, one company tried literally to bottle up the Burning Man experience, and turned it into a product shoot. They amplified their marketing efforts by co-opting some major publications to publish articles with photographs that violate our core principles and media policies. They knew what they were doing, but they did it anyway. We are sharing this story in explicit detail in order to keep the community alert to these transgressions, and to deter others who are eyeing our event as a place to launch or promote products or companies. Let us be clear: this is not the kind of marketing activity that raises brand value. Our culture just won’t tolerate it, and it often backfires. (Burners, remember this brand, and perhaps you’ll want to weigh this as you choose your next bottle of champagne.) Read more »
At the 2011 Burn, a small group of talented video producers and friends got generous. As part of a public relations gift initiative, they undertook to produce video treatments of selected art projects. The idea was to give Burning Man artists the benefit of what Media Team members do well, and to give the artists new tools to promote their work, their teams and their dreams.
The videos on this blog have all been gifted to the artists, and are being simultaneously made available to you. They are an example of how unexpected generosity serves new friends in original ways, just as it serves art in new ways. These “Profiles in Dust” are a gift from the Burning Man Media Team to all artists and Burners, whether depicted in this collection of films or not.
We encourage you to share these videos with your friends, family, and others who are interested in Burning Man. It’s truly amazing what happens when talent and inspiration unite with the spirit of gifting.
No one is stirring in camp. It is dark and quiet. As quiet as things get, anyway. The dance still rages on in all directions, but it sounds faint now that you’re home again.
The stars have moved a lot. The wind is chilly. Your legs ache, and your eyes are heavy. Take a slug of water. A few drops spill on the dust. Take another swallow.
