Quinn (aka Ghost Dancer) is Burning Man’s Nevada Properties Manager, which includes the year-round oversight of Burning Man’s Ranch (our staging and production facility), located north of the event site. Apropos of this year’s Art Theme, Fertility 2.0, we’d like to share this wonderful piece he wrote:

"Free!" Photograph by Betty Emirzian, 2009

Beyond judgments and dogma, Burning Man is at its core simply a stage of opportunity for people of all the world’s cultures to come together for a single week of the year to explore, exchange and express ourselves without the shackles of fear within an arena free of judgment, free of repression, free of self denial in an open free environment which supports and encourages that very intention.

For 7 short days; some 50,000 human beings join together in peaceful self expression, passionate self exploration and joyful giving of themselves to their fellow man without expectation of return or personal gain. This organic stage of opportunity for potential enlightened self experience is unique in the world and it happens but for a single week right here in our small sleepy little town of Gerlach.

Long ago the Constitution of the United States was drafted, many wars have been fought and many lives tragically sacrificed to protect your unalienable Right to Life, Liberty, the Pursuit of Happiness and the Right to “freely express yourself” while doing no harm to others. Yet there are many who would deny you these Rights or who simply choose to live life in a self-imposed prison of conditioned fear while sitting brain dead in front of the Television vegetating on what Paris Hilton’s wearing today.

Not the Burner…

These human beings of ecstatic spirit and a lust for creative living who discover and attend the Burning Man event are not content to just sit and watch TV nor passively accept whatever soulless doctrine is currently being spoon fed by the media. No my friends, Burners are in my observation the Peaceful Warriors of today’s potential humanity who are inspired by confronting the lifeless face of the mundane, and who burn within to awaken and live life to the fullest with an open fearless heart passionately driven to create and explore meaningful and lasting relationships with their fellow man in harmony with the natural world which supports us all.

As the gate opens and the people join together to spontaneously create Black Rock City, each and every ongoing moment is a completely unique creative expression unlike the moment before or after it, each person is more clearly seen and accepted for who they truly are through the process of contributing their individual perspective while simultaneously giving birth to more and more beauty and art inspiring deeper and deeper self reflection for both the individual and the collective experience. Basically it’s freedom of expression giving birth to greater levels of freedom of expression and mutual respect as a result, for 7 days and nights.

At least that’s how I see it.
You may call me a dreamer, I hope some day you’ll join me…

Thank you, Quinn!

The registration period for the Burning Man 2012 ticket Main Sale wrapped up last Sunday night, and our ticket vendor is currently de-duping and cleaning up the registrant database (including removing known scammers), before we do the drawing for the three pricing tiers on January 31 and February 1.

And guess what? Turns out, people are VERY EAGER to go to Burning Man this year. So much so, in fact, that they found creative ways to increase their odds of getting tickets in the Main Sale. As a result, there are a lot more tickets being requested than there are tickets available — an inordinately large number, in fact, and far more than we projected even after last year’s sold-out event. It seems that people a) likely got their friends, family and campmates to order tickets as well, and/or b) requested more tickets than they actually need.

So the unfortunate net result is that there will be a lot of people who aren’t awarded tickets from the Main Sale … BUT DO NOT FEAR!! Because this means that there will be a large number of tickets in circulation within the existing community, tickets that simply need to be redistributed to those who need them. Based on our analysis, we hold a strong belief that things will settle out over the course of time, once that redistribution takes place, such that most everybody who wants a ticket will find their way to one.

In order to facilitate the redistribution of those extra tickets now in circulation, we have set up the Secure Ticket Exchange Program (STEP). The STEP is a web-based system that will allow Burners to sell their unneeded tickets, and Burners wanting tickets to access them. This will allow for safe and secure transactions in a central place for community-monitored, face-value resales. This is in addition to 10,000 tickets going on sale on a first-come first-served basis in our March 28th Open Sale.

We would like to reinforce that we all share responsibility for preventing the scalping of Burning Man tickets. Burners can commit to only selling their tickets at face value, and to never buying tickets above face value. Friends don’t let friends buy from scalpers! We can work together by using STEP, keeping a vigilant eye out for scams and inflated-price vending, and reporting known scammers on our ePlaya ticketing thread.

Burning Man actively discourages the use of secondary resources (eBay, Craigslist, StubHub, etc.) for the resale of tickets, and we encourage those who do not obtain tickets from the Main Sale/Open Sale to utilize community-centric sources to keep a handle on this process together. Please use STEP and/or direct local connections to known Burners to find the tickets you seek. We will post information on how to access and use STEP next week.

So, folks, it’s up to all of us to decide how this all plays out … we can work together in our communities to ensure that most everybody who wants a ticket to Burning Man can get one, and avoid falling prey to third-party price gouging. Just as we’re able to create the world’s largest Leave No Trace event — against all odds, in the middle of the remote desert — we can see this challenge through together as well.

As always, you can find full ticket information on the Burning Man tickets page, and you can be sure to stay informed by subscribing to the Jackrabbit Speaks email newsletter.

The Border Burners with Their Effigy

Here’s a great story we’d like to pass along … as our global community has grown, we’ve heard about more and more “Orphan Burns”, where Burners who can’t make it to the playa for Burning Man get together to celebrate on Burn night.

And while we’d rather use a term like “Alterna-Burn”, since “Orphan Burn” implies one is without family, which clearly isn’t the case here, to each their own! It’s quite possible that down the line, as this phenomenon grows, this natural extension of Burning Man will simply be called “The [insert your locale here] Burn”. Time will tell.  Stevil of the Border Burners writes:

Spinning Poi at The Burn

“Representing one of the world’s smallest communities of Burners, the Border Burners from El Paso, TX, Las Cruces, NM, and Juarez Mexico, held their first “Orphan Burn” on Saturday, September 3, 2011; while over 1200 miles away, The Man was burning in Black Rock City. While not a sanctioned/official Burning Man event, it was a time for the few Burners from this area to get together and keep the Burning Man flame lit, even though we couldn’t make it to the Playa this summer.

Representing the far other end of the statistics spectrum, there were about 20 people in attendance … 6 of whom had been to Burning Man before. Our effigy was built out of scrap lumber on the day of the Burn by Border Burners Gordon Howell and Fernie Fernandez.

Fire!

In general, the Border Burners try to keep our tiny community of a handful of Burners (and Burners at heart) connected while we’re waiting for the next Man to burn on the playa. We have a monthly poi/fire arts workshop in Las Cruces, NM. We have a few slide shows and documentary screenings throughout the year. We are starting to have a presence at many local civic art events, and have an active announce list with over 300 subscribers. We also try to establish a Border Burner’s presence when on the playa (semi-famous for our tamales); and we usually have a small group who attend the local regional Burns closer to home, such as Saguaro Man and the Arizona Decompression.

For any more information about the Border Burners, please contact Stevil at : elpaso [Email address: elpaso #AT# burningman.com - replace #AT# with @ ]”

Border Burners 2011 Orphan Burn from Tortilla Productions on Vimeo.

WHAT: Public Relations Manager position available

WHERE: Burning Man office/San Francisco

BY WHEN: Submit resume and cover letter by Sunday, January 22nd, through this link.

JOB SUMMARY:
Are you a veteran of the world of public relations and a proud citizen of Black Rock City? Have you longed for a PR role that lets you apply your communications chops and management expertise to something you’re passionate about – something just like Burning Man?

Your dream could be a reality! Due to internal evolution and growth on our existing team, we are seeking an experienced Public Relations Manager to join the leadership of Burning Man’s Communications Department.

This is a strategic, year-round, San Francisco-based role that will serve as the glue amongst the other communications staffers for the organization.

The candidate will oversee the execution of Burning Man’s external communications strategies and provide budgetary, staff, and administrative oversight for Communications-related teams and programs, including:
* Print Production
* Public Relations/Media Operations/Social Media
* Intellectual Property Enforcement
* Print Press, Online Press, Film/Video, and Academic Archives
* Burning Man Information Radio
* The Black Rock City Census

The PR Manager will also collaborate with the Government Relations leadership team to support activities engaging with community organizations, governmental collaborators, and other key entities in Nevada.

The PR Manager role will have support from the vast volunteer team as well as existing communications team members within the organization.

Other duties include management of the Media Mecca process and other volunteer teams leading up to, during and after the Burning Man event. Candidates must be prepared to perform full-time, active daily duties in the desert during the Burning Man event. This includes camping with and providing supervisory support for the Media Mecca leadership team as well as other relevant staff and volunteers.

During the rest of the year, the PR Manager maintains relevant media, press, and academic relationships, and creates and advances Public Relations content and campaigns using tools such as the Jack Rabbit Speaks, Burning Blog, Facebook/Twitter/other social networks, Burningman.com, and print materials, and other public-facing communications channels.

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS:
* 5-7yrs of experience in Communications, Public Relations, and/or Media industries, ideally including aspects of intellectual property law, contract law, the media/entertainment industries, festival/event production, and/or any combination thereof.
* 3-5yrs of experience in management, including knowledge of reading financials, developing budgets, and human resources/personnel management.
* Excellent communication chops, including strong writing, copy editing, and interpersonal communications skills.
* High level of exposure to and comprehension of the Internet and related technologies.
* Understanding and support of core Burning Man philosophies, in order to effectively uphold policies related to the maintenance of these philosophies.
* At least 3-5yrs participating in Burning Man, preferably at some volunteer level or other exposure to its organizational infrastructure.
* Ability to multitask, and be flexible and adaptable about numerous and frequently dynamic sets of priorities. Self-motivated. Able to effectively delegate responsibilities and negotiate effectively.
* Dedication to organizational, legal, and interpersonal confidentiality in all applicable matters.

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS:
* BA or equivalent in fields relating to Communications, Writing/Journalism, Media/Public Relations, or related fields.
* Experience speaking as a liaison to the Press.
* Experience supporting at a managerial level within a business organization.

If you’re ready to put your hard-won skills and expertise to work for your community, we want to meet you! Submit resume and cover letter by Sunday, January 22nd, using this link.

This is a full-time, regular position eligible for benefits in our San Francisco office.

Yowza! Money tree.

On December 13, 2011, the Burning Man Special Events Team hosted a free workshop about fundraising for art projects, conducted by yours truly, wearing my art curator / maker / facilitator / supporter hat for the evening.  We’re happy to say that it was well-attended, both in house at Burning Man HQ and online via live webcast.

We recorded the audio from the workshop and uploaded the accompanying PowerPoint presentation so those of you who couldn’t attend can still benefit from the information presented. Feel free to share this around, of course … the more people learning how to raise funds for art projects the better.  Here’s the workshop description:

Want to create something awe inspiring — on playa or off — and wondering how to cover the costs? If so, this workshop on fundraising might be just for you! If you want to create a medium- or large-scale art project, you’re likely going to need money to realize your vision … and unless you’re independently wealthy, this will require fundraising of some kind. This workshop will cover fundraising strategies, tips and techniques to help maximize your effort whether you’re looking for help from your immediate community or a broader audience of donors. (Note: this workshop will NOT cover grants or grantwriting. It will instead focus more on on-line crowd-sourcing options and similar direct fundraising efforts.)

If you’re interested in learning specifically about applying for Burning Man Art Grants, there’s a workshop coming up soon on that topic … stay tuned for more information.