Burning Man Founder and Chief Transition Officer, Harley K. Dubois, spoke at the 2014 Conference of The Feast in Brooklyn, New York. The speakers in 2014 were asked to address building new skills, offering and receiving each other’s new perspectives, and supporting projects and innovators in realizing the future together.
The mission of The Feast is to connect makers, doers and innovators around shared vision and to work together to transform each other, communities and the world.
Harley began her talk (which you can watch online) by asking how many attendees had been to Burning Man, and if they had not, had they heard of it. Lots of hands went up in the audience.
In her presentation, Harley referenced the image of Black Rock City, and how the horseshoe shape of the City centers around the Man as a constant reminder to be present and participate. And she explored the 10 Principles and how they infuse themselves into daily life in Black Rock City and beyond.
Harley noted that most of the attendees were at the conference because of a shared desire to make the world a better place — when you met someone in the hall, you could assume you have this mission in common.
That should ideally be the case at Burning Man as well. The 10 Principles are the same kind of shared context, making it easier for Burners to trust each other’s intentions and strike up an interesting relationship. And in their various, sometimes counter-intuitive ways, they’re also all about improving the world.
