(picture by Annette Jenab, BRC 2016)

Participate! South Bay Burners is hosting a community conversation around Cultural Direction Setting for Black Rock City. We will have a deeper discussion around the topics below and share notes with the visioning group as qualitative data.

WHEN: Saturday Nov 17, from 1:00pm to 3:00pm
WHERE: San Jose (Manea’s home)
FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/events/486775788503056/

Details of the project:

In 2016, Burning Man launched Project Citizenship, an intentional effort to uphold some of the values and practices that make Burning Man events so special and meaningful for the participants who create them. This year, as part of those ongoing efforts, Burning Man established a group charged specifically with creating a vision for how we live in Black Rock City. Instead of reacting to situations and trying to figure out what to do after the fact, it’s time to design a focused vision and align our efforts and actions to that vision.

The Black Rock City Cultural Direction Setting group is made up of leaders from camps, community members, Burning Man Project’s Board, Regional Contact leadership, Placement Team members, and Burning Man Project Staff. This visioning group is responsible for examining questions such as:

• How and why are camps placed?
• What do camps need from the organization in order to thrive?
• What does Black Rock City need from camps in order to thrive?
• What is the role of the Placement Team and how can it best serve the evolving needs of both camps and the organization?
• How has the growth of camps affected Black Rock City culture?
• What levels of engagement should be required for receiving formal camp placement?
• What is the role of money and Decommodification in camps and camp culture at large?
• How does placement affect the overall culture of Black Rock City and Burning Man?

Our goal is to create a clear, actionable vision that addresses our current challenges, sets a course for where we are going, and can inform potential changes to placement and other policies in the future.

Here’s where you come in!

We need your input and thoughts. If you have ever lived in Black Rock City, we want to hear from you! A vision for residential Black Rock City won’t go anywhere unless that vision is conceived collaboratively by camps and participants — the groups of people who will create the Black Rock Cities of the future. Whatever we come up with won’t be realized unless it’s guided and supported by the Burning Man community at large.