The (Un)official SaveBRC FAQ

Since Burning Man Project kicked off the Save Black Rock City campaign, seeking grassroots community support to get us back to Black Rock City, it’s been deja vu all over again. As has been the case forEVER:

  1. Burning Man Project does something.
  2. Burning Man Project is accused of nefarious intent, gross incompetence or worse, based on incorrect assumptions about how Burning Man Project’s business is conducted.
  3. What could otherwise have been a productive community conversation devolves into debunking and fact-checking whack-a-mole.

I worked for Burning Man Project for 13 years before I left (more on that below), so I have direct personal experience of this dynamic. But I have a better idea: let’s clear some things up, get on the same page, and then have the conversation. Here’s the deal though: you have to read this post. (It’s not too long, and it’s funny. You can do it.) Sound good? Good. 

I’ve got your Frequently Asked Questions right here:

Q: Who needs Burning Man Project to host a Burning Man event? You guys just put out porta-potties, right? 

A: Have you ever thrown a little kid’s birthday party at your house? You know, for like 10 kids and some parents? Some decorations, activities, a clown, sheet cake, party favors, first aid kit, the works? Seems simple on the face of it, but it’s a ton of planning, stress, ordering, buying, and running around town, and it sucks. Now imagine throwing that same party for 80,000 (also largely unpredictable) people. For a week. Oh, and your house is the surface of the moon. And your house is actively trying to kill your guests. Right, then…

I know this sounds crazy, but it turns out running an 80,000 person event in the middle of the most remote and inhospitable place in the world is a fairly complicated operation, involving long-term advance planning, subject matter experts across a variety of disciplines, and the commitment of a lot of money early in the annual process to lock in things like vendors, rentals (porta potties being just one of many), and (9 different local, state and federal) permits. These things don’t exactly fall out of trees perfectly where they need to land. Black Rock City requires a full-time year-round staff to pull off this annual minor miracle AND a robust seasonal staff as we get closer to the event.

So sure, you can certainly throw a small event that smells something like Burning Man — and if you do, great! Invite me! — without a large year-round operation to support it, but if you want Black Rock City? Well, that requires a monumental year-round lift.

Q: Black Rock City is just a week out of the year. What could you possibly be doing year-round that’s so important?

A: See the part above, about highly-complex, long-term advance planning? Right, that. That’s what it takes to produce an event the size, scale and sheer magnitude of Burning Man… you just can’t spend three months half-assing it and hope it’s going to work. We have 80,000 people going out to the desert, and as an organizing entity we’re essentially responsible for their health and safety (Radical Self-reliance or not, we need to be able to Medevac your ass to Reno when you bust your head open doing something stupid). So yeah, throughout the year, we’re doing all of the things you don’t care to know about (believe me, it’s a lot of spreadsheets) to make the sausage, preparing for you to come to the desert, lose your mind and go berzerker for a week. You’re welcome.

Other than that, we’re responding to a steady stream of requests to support what’s organically happening in the culture, providing facilitation, communication, educational resources, and opportunities for participation and connection, keeping the culture flowing in the community while BRC is dormant. That, and we shifted gears to accommodate our virtual community through culture-bearing platforms like Kindling, podcasts, BMIR programming, and the multiverses. With so much going on around Burning Man culture, there’s a lot to do.

Q: Why don’t you just lay off all those extraneous people from your bloated, overpaid staff?

A: Oh, we did. And it sucked. Because none of ‘em were extraneous, and they are all family. Burning Man Project’s highest earners (leadership, some of the founders, and executive team) took pay cuts, everybody’s stretched thin (#NonProfitLYFE), stressed by having to absorb their former coworkers’ roles, and leveling up to learn new roles. (Like, the team that normally facilitates year-round in person events is now working on digital events… stuff like that.) 

This isn’t an attempt to elicit your sympathy, by the way — everybody’s struggling everywhere, and we’re lucky to have jobs at all — these are just the facts you should know.

Oh, and let’s get clear on this point once and for all, please: our staff is not overpaid by any stretch. Believe it or not, Burning Man Project actually pays in the mid-range for salaries in the Bay Area, where the cost of living is ridiculously high. If you’re looking at those salaries from somewhere Not Bay Area (or NYC or LA), they’ll seem crazy high to you. But if you’re not living in the Bay Area, you’re likely not spending $14 on a sandwich, either (or $2,800 median rent on a 1BR apartment, for that matter). But we are. Welcome to life in the Bay Area! So yeah, our salaries are not anywhere close to out of line, considering we like to, y’know, eat and stuff. 

The other thing that can skew your perception is that only salaries for Burning Man Project’s top earners are published in public disclosures. Only a handful of high-level executives earn those salaries, and they are 100% reasonable, given the roles they play and responsibilities they carry — we frankly wouldn’t be able to retain the talent we need without paying what we do.

Fun Fact: I left Burning Man Project in 2016 because after having my second kid, I couldn’t afford to work there anymore. So let’s not talk about Burning Man Project staff being overpaid, shall we?

Q: Well, why don’t you move out of the Bay Area then, geniuses?

A: That’s a hard one for a number of reasons, including the fact that the great majority of our long-term staff (and their invaluable institutional knowledge) lives in the Bay Area, as do the world’s highest concentration of Burners. 

But we were lucky to get a deal on our headquarters’ office rent, which helped make it possible. In 2018, we opened a Reno office where 14 staff members now work, because it’s closer to the playa, with a large and dynamic Burner community, and the office space is cheaper. And we’ve now expedited the 3-5 year plan we were working on before COVID hit to support a more distributed work model, which helps us hire (and for people to move) outside the Bay Area.

We’re always looking for creative opportunities to save money — as Marian Goodell said, “everything is on the table.” 

Q: Why aren’t you transparent about your finances? What are you hiding? YOU’RE HIDING SOMETHING AREN’T YOU!?!

A: Not sure why’d you think that, because as a 501(c)3 nonprofit, we’re legally required to be transparent about our finances, or we lose our nonprofit status. (We’re so transparent, philanthropy.com called Burning Man Project one of the most transparent nonprofits going, so there.) Thing is, a lot of people don’t ever read that stuff, because it’s pretty damn boring (unless you’re really into weird event production and global cultural stewardship). Instead, they jump to conclusions based on their experiences with mainstream corporations who are looking to serve you only inasmuch as they can fleece you, and they paint us with that same brush. Which I get, but c’mon… do the research. 

So if you really want to know about Burning Man’s financial picture, read our Annual Reports and Form 990’s that we send to the government and publish every year, which lay it all out for you to see. You can also see Burning Man Project’s expenses and where your ticket money goes

NOTE: The latest financial information available is from 2018. The 2019 990 will be available toward the end of 2020 (it just takes that long for it all to play out).

So yeah, it’s all out there…  all we ask is that if you’re going to throw around accusations about how we do business (which, have at it), at least learn how we actually do business first? It’ll make for a much less fraught — and likely much shorter — conversation. 

Q: Wait, you idiots didn’t have a financial reserve in case of a rainy day?

A: Oh, we certainly did… $10M worth. And guess what? The last few months were one big fat rainy day. So our reserve was spent to carry us through the summer after we refunded people’s ticket money (huge appreciation to those who donated theirs!), depriving us of our normal annual revenue stream. And let’s all agree this is not a normal year. For anybody.

Also, we think it should actually give you some reassurance that Burning Man Project isn’t sitting on an exorbitant cash pile. That whole “no corporate sponsors” thing? No “pay-to-play?” Yeah, that’s real. It would be way more alarming if Burning Man Project somehow managed to amass bags of cash to simply ride out years of not holding the event. The reality is that ticket sales to Black Rock City are what keep the lights on. No BRC = No Lights On (without your help).  

Q: Fine. Sell Fly Ranch. Problem solved, right?

A: Sadly no. First off, selling Fly would literally take years, we’d take a huge loss on it, and the likely sale price would net us only a fraction of what we need to get through this. More importantly, we see Fly (as Larry did) as a core feature of Burning Man’s future, where we own a piece of land with a year-round creative incubator and arts center, where people can co-create and envision a better, more sustainable future together, year-round. Our back may be up against the wall, but we’re not ready to sacrifice that to survive.

Q: Why can’t Burning Man just continue on without Black Rock City? Who needs it?

A: There’s an argument for that, sure. Burning Man is a culture and a community… a global network and an idea. And while the diaspora is definitely making creative waves of their own with events and activities, that energy and inspiration originated from — and continues to emanate from — the crucible that is Black Rock City. Burning Man culture would certainly continue on without BRC, no doubt, but its potential would be seriously hamstrung without Black Rock City pumping out freshly-dusty, wide-eyed and inspired new Burners into the world. And we happen to think the world needs what comes out of Black Rock City now more than ever. Maybe you think differently, which is fine… just go out there and do something with what you learned at BRC, and make it awesome.

Q: With everything that’s going on in the world, how can you say with a straight face that Black Rock City is a priority right now?

A: When your daily news feed may as well be headlined “What Fresh Hell Today?”, it’s easy to succumb to nihilism and wonder why we’re doing anything at all, really. We’ve all double-checked our priorities this year, for sure. But I think there’s a stronger argument to be made for the connection, creative inspiration, collective action, participation, and innovation that happens in Black Rock City. I mean hell, we practically invented an entirely new sociocultural dynamic with Black Rock City. I don’t think it’s a stretch to say the lessons we (all of us, including new Burners) take from BRC are exactly the lessons we need to be taking out into the default world at this moment. Perhaps you think your money is better spent elsewhere? Definitely spend it elsewhere, that’s entirely up to you.

Q: Where do you get the gall to ask us for money, when you’re a multimillion dollar corporation and we can’t pay rent or put food on the table?

A: Absolutely get that. This pandemic has been like a wind-blown wildfire, wiping some folks out clean while sparing others, some of whom are thriving. Our community is made up of people across that spectrum, and in the spirit of Civic Responsibility and Communal Effort, this is one of those times we hope to see those blessed with resources support the greater whole. So no, we wouldn’t expect you to prioritize BRC over food on the table. And while it can certainly come off as tone-deaf to even be asking, we have to throw the net wide to find the folks lucky enough to be able to subsidize those who are struggling.

Also (and this is one of the most common misperceptions people have about Burning Man Project), we’re only technically a multi-million dollar company. While we normally bring in (roughly) $43M in ticket revenues every year, we’re a nonprofit, and the great majority of that money goes right back into funding the event (or that rainy day fund we were talking about). Nobody’s sitting on a big pile of cash and rolling around in diamond-encrusted limousines, guys. Here are the numbers, if you don’t believe me.

Q: Why don’t you just get all the plug-and-play billionaires to pony up and be done with it? 

A: We certainly could, and we’re having those conversations. At the same time, Burning Man was built by (wait for it…) participants like YOU. It’s always been YOUR event, which YOU co-created with your best and craziest friends. It’s not Disneyland, ready for you when you get there… you build it, and that’s one of the main reasons it’s as awesome as it is, and why it’s so awesome for YOU. We built it together from the beginning, we build it together today, and we should always build it together, even through times of crisis. 

So sure, somebody with deep pockets could probably dig the change out of their couch cushions and save our skin, and it would be a hell of a lot easier than running a crowdfunding campaign, believe me, but that would be a shameful betrayal of one of our core principles: Participation. So we’re reaching out grassroots style, and rallying the community to, once again, rebuild Black Rock City, as we hope — and expect — to for years to come.

About the author: Will Chase

Will Chase

Will Chase is Burning Man's former Minister of Propaganda, working on global communications strategy. He was the editor-in-chief for the Jackrabbit Speaks newsletter and the Burning Man Journal, and content manager for Burning Man’s web properties. He also oversaw the ePlaya BBS and Burning Man’s social media presence. Will first attended Burning Man in 2001. He volunteered as the Operations Manager for the ARTery (Black Rock City’s art HQ) and was on the Burning Man Art Council from 2003-2008. He was Web Team Project Manager and Webmaster from 2004 until he transitioned to the Communications Department in 2009.

148 Comments on “The (Un)official SaveBRC FAQ

  • Newsboi says:

    I’m so touched by this thoughtful (and snarky) FAQ. Thank you for setting the record straight while also inviting thoughtful dialogue. Keep on doing what you’re doing Burning Man! The world needs you more now than ever <3

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    • Deborah Castillero says:

      First, I had no idea people were complaining. Awesome answers to these deep rooted questions. Transparency with all the details, there you go. Can’t argue with the facts. A big thanks to everyone who works so hard to make Burning Man happen. I can’t even imagine what it’s like to organize such a massive event. PS – I’m making a donation tonight after reading this.

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      • Prophecy says:

        If you like facts…

        Google:
        If Burning Man Dies, Is There A Will?

        Or check out “my website”

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      • LetThemEatCake says:

        If you have a moment, please google (link or reference to this has been removed by the moderators thus far) “If Burning Man Dies, Is There A Will?”.

        This is a great summary of how many of us are feeling right now about BORG.

        Sorry, I’d put a link if the moderators didn’t keep removing it.

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  • kbot says:

    This is absolutely perfect. Thank you, Will.

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  • Than you for the honest and easy to understand answers I can share with all those noodninks who think BRC happens by magic. With some magic probably but it doesn’t just appear out of thin dust.

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  • John says:

    Will since it has become so hard to get tickets would it be possible for the first 15000 people to apply and pay 100 dollars up front on top of the ticket price and this would guarantee them a ticket. Problem solved

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    • Mr. Dum Bass says:

      soubds great. how out a VIP pass that allows you to get in the front of the line for any party/art car too?

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    • You're Not the Boss of Me says:

      Having never been to the event (due to ticket scarcity) I find myself reticent to kick in any donation for an event I’ve been excluded from. I totally understand the whole supply and demand thing but do feel that perhaps an incentive other than ‘community investment’ might be appropriate even if it means something as marginal as guaranteeing (1) ticket at full cost.

      Perhaps that might be incentive enough for more folks to step up to the plate.

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    • DanOmight says:

      I agree with and support the comments offered by “John” and the reply to it by “Mr Dum Bass”… from my Economist perspective this is a financial problem with a market-based solution that is very viable and appropriate. Beyond that it puts control over this “crisis” and it’s solutions back in to the collective hands of the BM/BRC management team. By selling patrons an opportunity to be exempt from the lottery system or providing “fast-track” vehicle passes, or any countless alternate valuable “services / products” options to potential “donors “ / attendees this financial short-fall can be resolved.
      Additionally there are loans available to businesses of all sorts. -In general, loan approval can be granted so long as there is sufficient evidence that the loan will be repaid. (Obviously a shortage In supply of tickets vs. an excess of demand for tickets year over year is pretty convincing to lenders / underwriters.)

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  • Jayboboy says:

    I’ve been attending on and off since 2006. I’ve only attended 3 out of the last 10 years due to ticket scarcity. Yes, I want the event to continue. But why would I ever contribute if there’s only a small chance I’ll ever get to attend again. I’ve physically and financially supported my local burner community and other worthwhile programs born out of the event. (Burners without Borders). This feels very different.

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    • Mauricio Niello says:

      I agree. I’ve been attending, participating, and creating art for many years until the lottery system was introduced. Since then, I haven’t been able to get tickets once. I could help but I won’t . Nothing has been done to stop scalpers getting tickets and I’m very resentful the organization hasn’t deal with this.

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  • Love this Will! Thank you. It ain’t easy building a city of magic on the moon!

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  • Paulski says:

    Unmm.. you said this post would be short. I feel like I got tricked.

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  • Turbo says:

    I love everything you’re doing. Thanks for the witty and concise faq. Your words made me giggle, provided me with some clarification, and gave me hope. I look forward to when we dance in the dust together once again!

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  • LetThemEatCake says:

    Wow, so many positive comments, is almost as if someone were curating this comment thread… luckily this article has convinced me that Borg is completely transparent and we’re just ungrateful children.

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    • Greg says:

      They’re not just transparent, they’re “so transparent, philanthropy.com called Burning Man Project one of the most transparent nonprofits going, so there.” In fact they’re the best ever. Nobody knows more about transparency than they do. Burning Man Project knows more about transparency than any organization on earth.

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      • Leroy says:

        They have evolved beyond transparent. They are so open about everything they do that the term, open, really needs to be redefined. Never has any organization been so enlightened and brilliant. Even their farts smell like roses, but better.

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    • The Hustler says:

      Some of us actually like Burning Man.

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    • Badger says:

      Hey Cake, why don’t you just admit – especially to those unfamiliar with your posting history – that you have and have had for years a a real fucking hard on with both the BORG and the event. One need only waste a little of their precious time by heading over to you Burners.Me website to get a taste of your petty little Burning Man ax to grind.

      You are and remain a certified dick.

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  • Jennifer Raiser says:

    Will, It is SO GOOD to see your name at the top of this document, and read why BMP is crowdfunding. There are no free burritos. But if we can bring BRC back, there will be joyfully gifted ones. And you know how to stir the pot of (human) beans like no other.

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  • Well said! The threads I see on FB, Reddit, etc. about BM this year remind me *so* much of the interactions I had when I was led the board of a local non-profit art gallery for a few years. People exhibit an astonishing degree of Dunning-Kruger confidence when it comes to the finances, planning, volunteer-wrangling, logistics, etc. that goes into even the *simplest* art exhibition. They also tend to be incredibly magnanimous donating time and money — provided it’s someone *else’s* time and money. Fortunately, the loudest voices then were also the minority, and I hope that’s the same situation here.

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    • LNM says:

      Seriously. There is always someone complaining about something, and usually those people have no interest in learning about what actually goes on behind the scenes, or putting in the hard work. Not to say burners don’t put in hard work when it comes to the event, but so many people don’t even understand what a nonprofit is and isn’t to start. They’re mad that BMorg didn’t have 50 million set aside for a rainy day but were SO upset with the 10 million they DID set aside. Even that was a fight and a result of “irresponsible leadership” while it was happening. There is no winning with these people. They’re angry that the BMorg staff won’t upend their lives to move to Reno. Seriously? Burning Man started in SF and the knowledge is there. The BMorg staff could easily work for other organizations, stay in their city, and make more money. Then we can all say goodbye to the burn as we know it. Oh, but so many people on Reddit said they could do it better, so I guess they’ll step up if BMorg doesn’t survive. Also, I was at Not Burning Man this year, it was just OK, so don’t let anyone tell you that BRC is replaceable. Go to 4th of Juplaya if you want a scaled back event, save BRC!

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  • Avni says:

    Why don’t you downsize? Have an event for 5k people instead of 80k, and cut down expenses. Take care only for the legal staff (permits) and let the people practice radical self reliance. BRC grew too big, and if you can’t survive it means it grew over its natural size.

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    • Will Chase says:

      While everything is on the table, and that would help some, it wouldn’t significantly reduce our costs. It’s like if you tossed out one of those kids at the birthday party … you don’t have to pay for his slice of cake, but you’re still paying to host the other 9 kids. You’d have to cut population a lot in order to realize significant savings. But, of course, when you cut population, you cut your revenues, soooo …

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      • Donnie Hoadley says:

        If you live in a 2 bedroom apartment, you are limited on the number of ‘kids’ that can be invited to the party. You don’t force the parents of those you invite to pay for dropping them off. You don’t charge the parents so their kids can see Chuckie the Clown, or swing at the pinata.
        You DO have a budget for the party, and if the things you WANT costs more than the amount allowed, it is dropped.
        My 1st year on the playa was with an overzealous theme camp right on the Esplanade. We literally worked the entire week maintaining, performing, and all of the things involved. I took a few hours off one night to wander around, leaving others to fill my vacancy. I learned that trying to cram too much into a paper bag, merely blows stuff out the bottom. I never got involved with another group that did not have a realistic vision and plan.
        You talk about ‘grassroot style’. So – either find another location, of DRASTICLY reduce the number of people allowed each year. BRC has grown by being injected with ego. More and Bigger in NOT ALWAYS BETTER.
        I won’t even start on your ego-centric decision to operate in one of the most expensive cities in the country. When companies relocate, some employees don’t go with them.

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    • Mansoon says:

      I don’t know how a worldwide catastrophe that hit nearly every NPO on the planet and might close a third of U.S. museums (and they have tons of physical assets to sell off) means you outgrew your natural size. A once-in-a-century hurricane nearly swamping a city might prompt you to make better preparations next time, but it doesn’t mean you were dumb, 5-6 years after you really got going well, financially, to only prepare for NEAR-catastrophes or should limit all coastal cities to a thousand people living in stone houses. This ainty the early 1800s anymore.
      And a small amount of people gathering somewhere is, in some sense, even MORE vulnerable than a bigger event, because it doesn’t attract and build a wide array of people and resources to help it in times of serious trouble.
      Also, BM’s grown to 80k through vision and natural evolution. You could have a million tickets up for sale, but the people who show up have grown as part of the natural interest level in the culture, and there’s been times where pop even went down because not enough people were interested.
      The whole idea of keeping it artificially small strikes me as kind of elitist and anti-Radical Inclusiveness. I’m an East Coaster, and can’t afford fly in and out, plus, rent and stock an RV or camper to survive if not a single other soul was there. I’m a tent camper and I need a ride in and out, some support, at least ice, while I’m there, and I’m happy to contribute to make it happen, but I wouldn’t have thousands of dollars to fly across country to mostly sit and watch a sunset. They have those where I live. To me, “keep it small so that few outside of here could or would ever want to come” seems like a “rich person” stance. “My life is set up in a way that I can do this. Why isn’t yours?” I’m poor enough that I probably won’t even have to pay taxes this year, but, to the toothless, formerly homeless, guy living in the basement, I’m richer than he ever expects to be.
      But there are people who can and do go out there co0mpletely self-sufficiently or in small groups. People who want it that way can and should do it that way, but, seems like they don’t want a modern Burning Man that also values Inclusiveness and Community and that has huge possibilities, but also huge costs. I’m no longer a toddler, and people who wish I could magically regress so they could pick me up and squeeze my cheeks are looking for a different person, because that’s not me anymore. And the Burn has moved beyond what it once was, also.

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      • Mansoon says:

        (And there’s a few typos in my last post, so please overlook them)
        Plus, I’ve looked at the annual report, and the idea you could move Burning Man wholesale to say, Nepal to save costs makes me put my hands in my heads in weary astonishment. It’s not like moving a sock factory (and then you’re moving American jobs. Ahem). The Met is located where it is in New York for a reason. You won’t get the same result and interest and culture if you move it to a canyon in West Virginia. And if you look at the way the costs are distributed, it’s not like moving BM will mean you can do the same thing but for only $20 a ticket.
        SF has a unique culture and mindset and artistic and talent base used to experimentation that made/makes the whole thing possible. Utah is a nice place with deserts, but lacking in appreciation for tens of thousandss of people gathering, being happily freaky, and it’s 10,000,000-to-1 against their state ad local officials and arts scene wanting ANYTHING to do with a place where someone barely-dressed being happily whipped in a cage on a main street is really only blocking your view of a scorpion car shooting fire, one of dozens you can see and many more you can’t, and Doctor Megavolt playing with electricity that looks like lightning while angels walk by on stilts.

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  • Butterfly says:

    Well written, delivered and received Will… as always. thank you. Miss you. And will co-create with all you lovely crazies again!

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  • nikkideee says:

    this was really painful to read. putting this kind of negativity out there is probably not called for right now. this might have been therapeutic for the author to read, but it really doesn’t do much for community building. i understand it is stressful times but, really, there are so many ways to get a message across and this is what you choose?

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    • Will Chase says:

      I’m sorry if it distressed you. These questions were pulled and paraphrased directly from comments on social media and elsewhere. I used them almost verbatim in order to hold a mirror to the tone of my audience’s questions, and answered in an equally snarky way to provide an engaging read (people don’t read; humor helps). Also, I will readily admit to being allergic to, and easily inflamed by fact-free arguments.

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    • LNM says:

      If you didn’t like this humorous and thoughtful response, you’re going to hate what you read elsewhere. Don’t go to Reddit!

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  • The Hustler says:

    I’ve always been sort of curious about the anti-Burning Man trolls (including one who runs a disinformation anti-Burning Man blog in one of the first comments). It appears that they make up information and then are upset when it isn’t true, or something.

    I think we’ll need Black Rock City more than ever — and hopefully develop a deeper appreciation for it — if we get through … everything.

    As for me personally, I knew three people who died of cancer, the last one in September being especially tough. Someone else I care about is undergoing treatment for cancer (she’ll be OK, it’s just a bit rough for now). I knew one guy who died of covid, I didn’t know him well, but it was still tough news. I know people who either have covid or are slowly recovering.

    Police (city, county, state, federal) are totally out of control here in Portland. We had the worst air quality in the world for a few days, at any given time something giant is on fire on the west coast.

    However, it’s not all doom and damnation; this year is testing us, showing us the cracks, the problems that perhaps not everyone saw. I think we can safely compare this year with the first time tickets sold out (2012?). Larry said something like scarcity jolted people out of complacency, no longer able to lounge in the warm embrace of complacency knowing a ticket is always within reach.

    Knowing a functioning and free society and thriving cultures — including Burning Man — are not a given thing that will always happen by magic, will hopefully be a chance to do better. Or not. Who knows?

    Burning Man is stupid.

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    • CanyonMan says:

      Well said. Money is replaceable. BRC, at least metaphorically, is not. The trolls should start their own community and build exactly what they are missing.

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    • Portland Citizen says:

      I hated seeing all those Portland police rioting and burning homes and businesses down. I thought it was strange how the Police lit fire to their own precinct with people still inside. The Police are out of control. They need to be banned.

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  • Orville Wrong says:

    Thank you for this. I’ve donated this year.

    One of the most FAQ my circles have been discussing is the percentage of ticket sales that go into producing BRC vs the (pre-Covid) mix of non-BRC cultural promotion activities. I made it about 40 pages into the Form 990 and decided that ratio isn’t going to be clearly disclosed in there, but an earlier post here cited 60% of ticket sales go to year-round cultural activities. Is that balance up for consideration? I think it affects my willingness to donate more.

    Also, while we wouldn’t want the org sitting on “bags of cash to simply ride out years of not holding the event,” can we now agree that planning for a reserve that can weather one year’s cancellation of BRC would be a worthy goal?

    Thank you for fighting for this, and it’s nice to see your name on a Journal post again!

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    • Will Chase says:

      Everything is on the table, and it’s safe to say BMP will make whatever budget reallocations are necessary to accommodate making BRC happen, while maintaining as much community cohesion and momentum as possible until then. Desperate times, desperate measures, and all that.

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  • Roger says:

    Good to have you trying to help, Will. Bad times for a lot of people and collective efforts that I love, Burning Man and the people I have dusty ties with from there, not being the least of the wounded.

    I hope we can save it; I hope there’s a plan to get to March and then, worst of all cases, to somehow make it to 2022…but if not, it was magnificent while we had it.

    Thanks for all you did, do, and will try to do—

    PS
    For what it’s worth—and it’s hard to say it because it will sound hard and it probably is—-if things have come to be this dire—then my vote (which I doesn’t really exist, I guess) is to save the event first and mourn letting go of the rest—the network, the travel, all of it. Because all of THAT came from the event—and, painfully and much delayed, it could come again. Or maybe grow into something new and survive a drought. But it’s a tough world if there’s no event, and if it’s not saved, then it will be hard to nurture and re-seed…

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  • Yolanda says:

    Trust us, guise. It costs 2.5 million dollars a month to make Burning Man happen. We do really important stuff. Give us some more money. We like money.

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  • FYerB says:

    I have a question about the finances and fundraising effort that I’m hoping someone from the org can answer. I don’t mean this to be presumptuous or accusatory, I’m just genuinely curious and think that the community would feel a lot better about donating if someone addressed this directly.

    The most recent 990 form shows a total expense for 2018 of $44M. The current sum of funds in the “How we have stayed afloat” section of the Save Burning Man info page is $42.7M, and there’s a goal to raise an additional $12M. I am confused about why $54.7M is needed to sustain the org during a year that BM is not happening, when $44M can sustain it for a year that BM does happen.

    Maybe I’m missing something obvious, but can someone enlighten us as to where that $54.7M number came from?

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    • Jamal says:

      >I have a question about the finances and fundraising
      That’s racist.

      Report comment

    • FYerB says:

      Thanks for your input Jamal. I would still love an answer to my question above, but I’d also like to add a couple points. 1) Anyone complaining about the snark in Will’s post, have you been to Burning Man? Did you take that type of attitude as personally in real life as you do on the internet? Calm down, it’s in good fun. 2) The top-level salaries are a non-issue, they could (and probably should) be twice as large. If you want competent people running the show, then you have to pay for it. Just because none of us (save Elon…) make as much as Marian doesn’t mean we need to get mad at her about it.

      Now, with that said, could someone at least point me in the right direction as to where that 54.7 million dollars is explained? Because previous year 990s are obviously irrelevant when it comes to 2020-2021…

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      • Mansoon says:

        Actually, if Marian makes $270k a year now, it looks to me like she made much less for years, based on a Propublica report. I’ve seen mid-level workers in he area say they make more, and many NPO CEO’s make more, and “The New York Times indicated that Musk made $2.3 billion in 2018.” Soooo, as a comparison, I’m laughing and shaking my head, but not WITH you

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  • Hollywood says:

    Tone deaf… which is dissapointing.
    And yet another post failing to acknoldge any missteps… not all criticism has been insane/ignorant accusations… so the the provided are straw men. There are many things between “multimillion dollar company swimming around in scrooge McDuckian piles of money” and “We did everything right… right away … and always have. We have made zero missteps… this is a
    ALL covids fault…so give us money… so we can keep doing it all perfectly.

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    • Will Chase says:

      Have you *read* the questions as they’ve been posed on social media? These are pretty much copied and pasted.

      And I never implied BMP does everything perfectly. We most certainly don’t. We’ve screwed up plenty over the years … imperfection is kind of to be expected when you’re running a city on the moon, nurturing a global cultural movement and whatnot.

      We’ll always make mistakes, I guarantee it. But I can also guarantee we’ll learn from them. (Usually.)

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      • Michele LeBelle says:

        Will, EVERY FREAKIN’ YEAR the ticket purchase system for participants has been incompetent, stressful and not fair. I don’t know if it’s because you have a shitty system for ticketing or the BORG simply cannot keep up with anti-bot systems that gobble up tickets and resell them as scalpers.
        I think with all the money the BORG has, they would come up with a fair and equitable system for ticket purchases.
        Otherwise, the almost $1,100 we pay for a car pass and two tickets is just like, oh goodie, we have access to porto-potties for 9 days!

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  • Rautamies says:

    First of all, I love Burning Man and I’ve been there 6 times. It’s obvious that organizing one is a colossal effort and that the latest pandemic places the organization in horrible situation. And let’s face it – it’s already mid October which means 2021 is simply not going happen. So, BM must set its sights to 2021.

    What I would personally want know what is $2 million / month going to after cutting the expenses. People are asking justified questions and there is no need to edit them in such snarky way Will did. It’s almost like saying if you question anything, you’re an idiot which is a rather arrogant way to address questions that are for the most part justified. Yes the organization boasts about being super transparent with their expenses, so why is it so hard to give a breakdown where $2 million / month is going when there will be no event. It would be great to get factual numbers instead of snarky response, avoiding the question.

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    • Will Chase says:

      I pulled and paraphrased these directly questions from social media comments and retained their basic construct so as to hold up a mirror to people’s tone, and met snark with snark in my replies, because you’re 100% more likely to read it that way.

      I didn’t dodge any question. I included links to the financial information you’re asking about, which I’m far from equipped to explain in detail, as I’m not an accountant (beLIEVE me).

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      • Rautsmies says:

        I see links to old financial information but not expenses after cuts. Would you mind posting a link to the breakdown? Thanks

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      • FDisNoise says:

        You’re asking for money NOW, and for the FUTURE – quit referencing now-old 1099 financials please.

        How many times do members of the COMMUNITY need to ask how you are CURRENTLY spending money?

        Deflection looks baaaad on you.

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    • Dusty says:

      Exactly! Nowhere in the 990s does it indicate what $2-3 million a month is still being spent on AFTER salary cuts, AFTER budget cuts, and without putting on the event. THAT is what baffles the community. We aren’t stupid, we know San Fran is expensive, but WTF? It’s not that expensive. Also, yes, we do know that producing a burn is complicated and requires year long effort – we’ve been helping produce it for 20+ years, remember? We’ve also been producing regionals for 20+ years. Assuming that anyone who wants some financial transparency must be an ignorant newbie is just insulting. Also, please stop holding up the 990s as a model of best practice financial transparency – they are not. They are the absolute bare minimum required by law. We’ve read them. We still have questions, and you still haven’t answered them.

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  • Hollywood says:

    … also justifying large salaries by saying “it’s expensive to live the Bay Area.” Falls pretty flat on the thousands of us that moved out of the bay area years ago because it’s been too expensive to operate there (as a family or a business) for many years now.

    I’m not the kind of person whos always telling people to “check thier privalage” but perhaps if you are passing around the cup… maybe don’t point out the cup is silver all the while about the high price of silver cups these days.

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    • Will Chase says:

      Let’s stipulate it’s a very different thing for an individual to move out of the Bay Area vs. moving an entire organization out of the Bay Area, especially one as culturally embedded in its home city as Burning Man is. Not impossible, but damn close.

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    • As someone who sees people move to my city (I’m in South Lake Tahoe) from the Bay Area on a pretty consistent basis, I’ve had a chance to talk to many of them on why they have moved and how. Not one was middle class status. They are all top earners who can afford to uproot themselves as single family dwellings….not entire organizations or businesses- which are still in the Bay Area.

      Will also mentioned that they have made some movement towards office space in Reno. Perhaps a bigger move will happen in the future. But it happens so slowly. Have you ever tried to move a whole business or operation? I have! It takes YEARS….

      Things seem so easy from the outside as in, “why don’t you just….” Until you realize what is involved.

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  • Fly says:

    Re: Fly Ranch
    “…a piece of land with a year-round creative incubator and arts center, where people can co-create and envision a better, more sustainable future together, year-round. Our back may be up against the wall, but we’re not ready to sacrifice that to survive.”

    Land that I financed every year through my ticket fees that I was not informed of in advance and never agreed to…and that I not allowed on.

    Sell Fly Ranch.

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    • Will Chase says:

      Fly was purchased using money raised from private donations, not Burning Man ticket revenues. And you can arrange for a visit (with all the COVID caveats).

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    • MICHAEL KENT MURPHY says:

      That was my first thought, move to reno

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    • Mansoon says:

      Fly, I don’t know what you’re talking about, but BM actually opened up the ranch to outside visitors for the first time in 20 years, according to what I could find. Maybe because of covid and right around Burn time, but, open otherwise.
      And maybe do some research on the land out there. Worth a lot to BM, but the last land prices I could find for the Gerlach area were $157 acre (, and some were discounted 50 percent.
      But, even at $157, if say, you were Amazon and you wanted to buy just 268 acres (the size of Fly Ranch, I believe) to stick a warehouse on — HOURS and HOURS from anywhere with even a cluster of 200 people –you could buy Fly, which, with improvements, would be $7mil at cost, maybe more. Or pay $42k for some scrubland the same size 2 minutes up the road. You don’t care about the artistic inspiration of a geyser, and in fact, it can be a liability for many businesses, because a geyser of spouting water and a high water table likely makes some of the land harder to utilize, less stable
      No matter what you buy land for, if you need to sell it for money, the question is, what can you sell it for? My home growing up was on land that was very valuable to us, on the edge of a small city in the South, at crucial crossroads for the area with room to play and grow a large garden on back 2/3rds of the acre. When we moved out, we tried renting it, but it was pretty worthless and selling it has gone nowhere for the last 18 years. And it’s practically Manhattan compared to Fly Ranch.
      Selling FR for a lot and quickly seems like a fantasy. And misses out on generations of good it could do for the BM Project and even the area itself.

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  • Thanks Will.

    I missed 2020 very much. I work very hard at Burning Man to produce art and now feel a little empty moving into fall. Even more so given the too many worsening crises facing planet Earth and most all who live here.

    Due to COVID-19 I’m concerned 2021 cannot happen and then the Burning Man Project will be forced to shutdown entirely impacting the lives of the employees even more.

    But, even if the worst case happens my guess is our community will come back together and reinvent Burning Man again when it’s safe to venture back to the Black Rock Desert.

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  • Mástarde says:

    My apologies if this sounds selfish but how many more fundraisers are we looking at till we can party on the desert again?

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  • Thank you so much Will!! This is on-point and I love the snark that is juuust the perfect amount of snark;)

    I have been making art for Burning Man for the last few years. Getting in the thick of things and seeing how everything is put together amazes me. The argument that we don’t need an organization to have Burning Man is completely and utterly moot in my opinion. It reminds me of things that seem to just come together magically…movies, weddings, events….and people think it is so easy to do because they are the lucky consumers of such things. Until the credits roll and they realize that, wow… it’s a bit more complicated than that! Or….they don’t and continue to live their selfish lives.

    Speaking of selfish lives, it is a very much so a part of the whole American cultural problem. “Comon’! Get your act together so I can party!” Or, “We don’t need you!!” mentality that has us pretty much screwed if we continue down that path….but that is besides the point….

    I have HUGE respect for the BM Project and what they put together. If it weren’t for that rainy day fund you mentioned, we wouldn’t even be able to have this conversation at all. Because there would have been nothing to save and everything to recreate from ground up.

    Cheers and Chin Up!!! It takes a village! Er….rather….a community of amazing Burners….

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  • Chuck U. Farley says:

    In better days, I would say it’s been a long time since I saw anyone put this much effort into missing the point. Sadly, this tone-deaf submission is true to form for Burning Man 2020. Why don’t you try re-reading your final paragraph, which illustrates that BRC is built by participants, who are full partners in the event and in BM’s culture, and then re-writing the rest of your article as if you really believe it?

    If you did, you might see that the question is not why you don’t sell some of your Gerlach properties, the question is why you have spent millions of dollars of ticket money to acquire unused properties that are, at this stage, little more than unseverable financial obligations. So why did you buy every property that has come up for sale in Gerlach in the last ten years when you had no clear use for those properties? Don’t whine about your mortgage, tell me why you have one. Why WE have one, since you’re asking me to pay it for you. How does it benefit your ticket holders to buy all these properties so you can have empty buildings in Gerlach? How does it benefit the Gerlach community for you to have those properties sitting empty instead of allowing some other entity to open businesses?

    The question is not how bad 2020 is. This year is happening to everyone, everywhere. We all know what it is. The question is: what was your plan for a season like this? In 2017 Burning Man was nearly canceled when the playa was flooded late into the summer. Remember? The event went through that year, and you had three years to refine your canceled-event plan. Did you? No, you used that time to dig an even deeper hole for the ticket holders to bail you out of when the event was, inevitably, threatened again by outside forces three years later.

    The question is not what your bloated SF staff is doing right now, the question is why you retained your bloated SF staff to crank our more and more half-conceived projects no one gives a fuck about. When did your ticket holders ask you to do that? Was it never? I suspect it was probably never. They certainly aren’t taking much of an interest now. Why would they pay for your unprompted foray into the tech world? Why are you entitled to their support, spending millions of their ticket dollars on your many and varied projects that are irrelevant to their interests? Who told you “like Facebook but for Burning Man” was such a great idea that you’ve seen no problem dumping millions into developing it, what? Six times now? And still no one cares.

    The question is not how much it costs to live in the Bay Area. No one needs you to live in the Bay Area. No one asked you to live in the Bay Area. What does it benefit the ticket holders for you to live in the most famously overpriced city in the world? The rest of us got out years ago.  Why are you still in SF? You’ve known for years that you would have to move eventually. Why do you still have years of leases left, and why haven’t you begun moving people out beyond the handful of middle managers whom you have relocated to Reno?

    How were you not ready for this, i.e. why were none of the lessons of 2017’s near miss used to reduce your exposure to an event cancelation? And before you say “covid came out of nowhere, no one was ready” take this moment to remind yourself that it wouldn’t necessarily have taken Covid-19 to get us here. It could have been the BLM becoming slightly more unreasonable. It could have been the State of Nevada with another special permit fee. It could have been 72 hours of hard rain. This was always going to happen, and you knew it, yet you were 0% ready. Why would we continue to invest in your leadership in light of this track record?

    The question is not whether you pay all your staff exorbitantly. We know you don’t. The question is: why do you pay upper management so lavishly when they have led so very poorly? Everyone knows Burning Man doesn’t pay their people what their neighbors earn in SF. That’s irrelevant. Why do you pay them so much more than they’re worth to the ticket holders? Your ticket holders don’t care if BM’s upper management can afford to live in nice parts of SF. They don’t care about BM’s upper management at all. They were only peripherally aware that BM’s management existed before this fiasco. Like the mighty T. rex, ticket holders can only see you when you’re fucking up.

    So the question is not why the crowd has suddenly turned on you. They haven’t. The reason you’re having trouble communicating with your base is that, surprise, they’re not your base. You’re speaking to burners as if you’re their prom kings and queens. You’re not. You’re their prom dance decorations subcommittee.  They tolerate your egotism because you make the necessary arrangements for the event to occur. They’re not loyal to you or your old-man story creation myths, and they double don’t care if you go down in flames. Someone will rise from the ashes and–unless you get your shit together in a hurry–it won’t be you. They will burn again. With you or without you. Everyone seems to know that but you. If you are at all interested in surviving, it’s time for you to start acting like you know it, too.

    2020 didn’t ruin you. You ruined yourselves. 2020 just thrust all the products of your decades-long mismanagement into view simultaneously. The question is not why you don’t do the right thing now. We all know you’re trying, but you’re not competent people. Burning Man has spent the last three decades accumulating one blunder after another. Now, at this critical moment, you have to answer for your mistakes to have a chance of survival. Are you ready to start listening, or are you going to continue lobbing yourself softball questions that don’t address your critics, trying to bullshit a crowd that can already see through you?

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    • Will Chase says:

      Wow, there’s so much to unpack here, Chuck, I can’t even. Some things you’re right about, most you’re not, some we’ll just have to agree to disagree about “woulda shoulda coulda” or what programs are/aren’t/shouldn’t be a priority. I just don’t have the time or energy to answer every line item … maybe someday we’ll meet around a burn barrel and a bottle, and we can really debate it all out.

      But for now — and I truly don’t mean this dismissively, I mean it as an honest suggestion — the bottom line is that if you truly feel that embittered about it, if you’re that angry about exactly how and why your money is being spent (not everybody’s on board with every aspect of this culture, and that’s fine), you should *definitely* spend your money elsewhere.

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      • Andrew Calo says:

        Oh fuck off. The standard “if you don’t like the Org. you don’t have to burn’ response? The Org. IS. NOT. BURNING. MAN.

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      • sparkle donkey says:

        radical inclusion = if you don’t like it the way we’re going to do it, spend your money elsewhere. Fuck off Will, this was the best a communications manager could do?

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    • Mansoon says:

      Yeesh. I’m with you, Will. I’ve been seeing this over and over. You give answers before he asks them but he STILL never reads what you wrote, doesn’t seem to realize the city’s unique culture and arts scene brings about something that would be seriously impossible if you suddenly relocated to, say, Somolia, seemingly has done no research on even how little that land is worth to anyone NOT BM or where the money actually came from (Hint; it’s the least valuable land I could find in the U.S. that wasn’t actually free), just goes off on a tirade, pretends to speak for a majority of others when we’re wondering “Hey, whaddya mean, ‘WE feel yaddayada?’ You got a mouse in your pocket? I’M … NOT … WITH … THIS …. DUDE.’ ”
      Doesn’t speak for ME or the thousands of others who are helping or want to. We in the rest of the crowd are slowing backing away from the guy who might need a vacation somewhere quiet. Somewhere ELSE. If I never burn with him, I’m fine with that. He can really go elsewhere, obsess over something else; there’s plenty of other transformational festivals or he can start his own

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  • Suzanne says:

    Thank you, Will. <3

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  • Playa Dub says:

    Sheesh, Farley! Take a chill pill…
    Time is money and the amount you spent on your comments could’ve but the BMORG back on track!

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  • Dr. Kegels says:

    Thank you, Will!

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  • Andrew Calo says:

    “if you’re not living in the Bay Area, you’re likely not spending $14 on a sandwich”

    Well, I think the problem is presented right there in that statement. The Org. living in their, quite frankly, irrelevant San Fran. bubble, largely insulated from the outside dramas of the rest of the community, and winging it carefree, based on the belief that the Community won’t let them die.

    People are talking about selling Fly Ranch, or moving out of San Fran, or selling tickets for next year, as if these things by themselves will somehow solve the problem of the Org., essentially, haemorrhaging 2 Million Dollars a month.

    It’s fucking simple. You have to live within your means. If there is no burn in 2021, your decisions right now are going to come back to royally kick you in the nads.

    There seems to be this belief that by the time they go and buy the ingredients and make that sandwich themselves, the monies saved will be less than what their time was worth making it. That’s some VIP BS right there.

    Nope. You’re feeding yourself in your own time, and regardless, y’all decided how much your time was worth. It is arse-backwards to declare that it is actually cheaper to buy your $14 sandwich then to make it yourself, based on your perception of your own self-wroth.

    To put it bluntly: you could have made the sandwiches yourselves and kept yourself fed for a month, but you’ve decided to risk going hungry after a week instead. Is it any wonder people jump to ridiculous conclusions and misread your every step when you seem oblivious of how you’re getting the core things wrong?

    You don’t exactly inspire trust with your $14 sandwiches when the rest of us are slaving away in the kitchen, is what I’m saying.

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  • Andrew Calo says:

    p.s. I donated. $23. Which is all I could donate. Happy to know two thirds of my donation bought you lunch.

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  • doug Stone says:

    Excellent job, Mr. Propaganda Minister! – You open (and continue in your comments) by kinda belittling anyone who asks important questions by using generalization. Then you pick and “paraphrase” questions in such a way as to make the questioner appear naïve and/or mean, and worded in such a way as to be knocked down in your answers with glittering generalities (“Straw Man”) all the while softly inserting presuppositions that “shifting gears” to become a digital “culture-bearing platform” is a pre-ordained necessity and not budget/programmatic justification (as opposed to, say, more belt-tightening). I think you know that the 990 and happy pie charts really don’t go into the level of detail/transparency to see where the ORG intends to or could make cuts.
    Finally, to dismiss burners who care deeply about BRC and suggest that they just go play somewhere else kind of sums up a bit of an attitude problem on y’alls part. We love BRC, and we want to love the BORG, too. Rather than being a bunch of whiners, we are the cacophonous creators of Black Rock City – your partners, for better or worse – not to be dismissed glibly.
    Minister of Propaganda, indeed!

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  • Dusk Rider says:

    Sorry Will, despite your stated attempt to address issues based on our real comments/concerns as found on social media, I’m afraid this feels like yet another whitewash. I felt that you cherry-picked some of the less controversial issues, and yes, a little snark is clever and refreshing, but not at the cost of transparency.
    While I sincerely appreciate all the time and energy you’ve dedicated to the org. and BRC, over the years, that doesn’t mean I can’t disagree with you.
    For example; why is it that the BMORG is fighting the BLM to prevent the release of the ticket pricing structure? How is that proprietary information? Sure sounds like the BMORG is “hiding” something there. Let’s not pretend that the BMORG is transparent when they are spending (our) money to defend their right to hide information from us, their ticket purchasing community.
    Also, why isn’t the BMORG telling us exactly what’s going on with BLM and the permit negotiations for 2021 and beyond. Clearly, all this fundraising is moot if BRC won’t be permitted, or if the permit requirements are too egregious and/or cost prohibitive. How can the BMORG expect us to feel good about sending them money, when there’s a real chance that they may not be able to negotiate a realistic permit with the agency that gets to say yes or no to BRC?
    I have another half a dozen issues like this I could bring up, but I’m just making the point that you haven’t done much to address two of the most important issues here which are trust and transparency.
    Before you give me your “Burning Man, Love it or Leave it”, line, please understand that most of those of us writing the hard-edged responses to your statements are doing so because we love BRC and want to be able to join our community in the dust once again.
    I appreciate your “unofficial” efforts to provide information and to answer questions, but, I hope you can appreciate my calling you to a higher standard of transparency and honesty as the stakes are high and the BMORG has consistently failed to answer some important questions.
    My suggestion: the BMORG should officially ask the community to send them the questions they’d like answers to, and then condense them down to the fifty most common questions, and then be 100% transparent in the process and answer the questions truthfully. That would take a little time, but it would go a long way to restore the confidence of those of us who have legitimate concerns.
    The bottom line? Speaking for myself, I believe we really want to get back to TTITD, but we need and want to have enough confidence and trust to be able to wholeheartedly support the organization that is key to our coming together to create our BRC home.

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  • Stinger says:

    The one I hear is “how do they expect us the seasonal paid workers (DPW) to give them money when we didn’t even make any money from them this year ourselves? WHAT money do I have to give?!?”

    I don’t think they expect anyone to give anything. That’s why they are asking *everybody*. If you really don’t have any money to give yourself, you should still promote saving Burning Man fundraisers because someone you know MAY be able to give. And then *when* Burning Man comes back, you can thank that someone for getting “your job” back. Me, I’m just going to donate a “couple hours worth” [of my 2019 DPW wage], in hopes that when they hire me back, if I work for at least an entire day, I’ll get “paid back”.

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    • Stinger again says:

      What the heck! It’s been *days* and not one single “high 5” nor snark comment on this?! I don’t write comments on the web to be ignored! I want attention!

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  • Lorelei says:

    Thank you, Will, for the FAQ. One question I have is what the contingency plan is for 2021 in relation to the pandemic. Is there something they have put out discussing the temporary changes they would make to Burning Man 2021 so that the event can happen? Such as requiring masks and/or hand sanitizing stations and/or quarantining staff and volunteers, etc. We make agreements with BM when we buy a ticket, so there are new agreements that could be made with Covid in mind. Curious what plan they have in mind. Since it is a city, and cities will have spent a year adjusting to the pandemic, it could be possible for BM 2021 to happen with modifications. Thoughts? Have you heard any contingency plans? Thank you!

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  • Neal Milch says:

    Fly Ranch is a couple thousand acres, with some infrastructure. It could support a camping event with say 100-200 people with safe Covid protocols, sanitation, food, etc. Say for 5 days. That would provide data and insight to support an event with 400-500 people. Which provides the basis to expand to, perhaps, 1000 campers? These events could be held bi- or tri-weekly, bringing funds into BMP. Then, depending how 2021 shakes out, the Burn might be staged as multiple 10-15,000 person events as permitting allows. Why not use Fly as the laboratory for developing a plan how to host Burning Man in 2021 in other than its usual high density format, which may not be feasible. There is time to do this in a staged, thoughtful manner.

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    • Mansoon says:

      Well, if you want comparable data, there were thousands of people out there for JuPlaya and UnBurningman. reports range from 2-3 thousands. Clearly, they know this was likely, because it’s listed in writing on their permit for other years as something likely to happen if the event is cancelled. No reports of clusters or any unusual transmission levels. But, on social media, I saw people INCENSED that an “elite” group might be invited out the Fly Ranch, even though the people there were mere dozens, mostly employees, but thousands were on the playa and anyone can go at any time. Even during the event, their permit only covers about 13 percent of the public playa land, so people can and do camp elsewhere during that period. Take some work, but nothing any good contact tracer team couldn’t do

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  • FDisNoise says:

    This whole post comes off as condescending, not snarky. It’s just another fluff piece by BMORG’s past (his words, not mine!) “Minister of Propaganda”.

    OY

    Fail….so much fail. So much disrespect.

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  • Frank Melnick says:

    Excellent writeup and info. Appreciate the straight talk except for this jewel ” We built it together from the beginning, we build it together today, and we should always build it together, even through times of crisis. ” As you know there are a ton of P & P camps and more and more every year. They are sucking up a LOT of tickets. Tickets that should go to long time burners who continue to actively BUILD BRC every year. They ARE NOT building the city and should be banned. They go against the stated principles. However they continue to proliferate and are tolerated by the BORG. When you actively ban them then I can start respecting the BORG again. Best wishes, JM

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    • Renegade says:

      As a noob with only 2 burns under my belt I have been more than a little puzzled by the proliferation of the plug and play camps. In my naïveté I actually believed in the principle of self reliance, which involves a lot more than writing a very large check.

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      • Mansoon says:

        I’m 12 burns in, and I’ve seen the Org work for a about the last 10 years to fight off the PNP camps. It’s a hard thing, because it’s not like the camps slip the Org a percentage, like they announce it. What if you pay your camp dues, but they happen to be high, and you ask your campmates to pick up some stuff for you because you’re traveling light? The idea that everyone always carried EEVERYTHING themselves and never even, say, asked a friend to tie their favorite chair to their truck because they couldn’t get it their in their car or something similar to even the first Burn is pretty laughable.
        They try to ID PNP camps, they ask people to report them, on and off-playa, they have an actual page for it, they ask the Rangers to ID them during patrols, they threaten to or actually do sue, they try to block them from getting tickets, they try to make sure registered camps get tickets for their core people early (part of the reason for the profiles), they became very strict with making sure all registered camps actually DO something to gift the community and even booted a big sound camp from a registered spot when they didn’t comply, they’ve even been sending census sweep teams out to “get to know” the camps (you can join in), which you really don’t need to do unless you’re trying to pick up this kind of thing, etc.
        Sure, anyone new wouldn’t really know, so I’ll just suggest some googling to back this up. Whenever I hear this criticism, I wonder, “Where YOU been all this time? Remember, “Haterade is just another kind of Kool Aid you can drink.”

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  • rNand says:

    Thank you for the informative, detailed, and well written post. I’m always surprised at the amount of vitriol this discussion elicits in the comments here, not to mention social media. My only guess is that hippies like me don’t like to believe that things cost money, and get angry whenever anyone tells us different.

    If it makes you feel any better, your post spurred me out of my procrastination to go support the community. so that’s one for the plus column, if you’re keep score :-)

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  • Sandy says:

    Hey Will – can you reply with a link to the article where philanthropy.com “called Burning Man Project one of the most transparent nonprofits going”. I can’t find that on their site. Thanks.

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  • Lolvo says:

    You skipped the FAQ where I keep asking why you continue to blow $5 million to ensure there are enough feds to hassle your attendees, instead of buying $5million worth of worthless land elsewhere, once, and then you own it. No cops, no hassle, no expense.

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    • Mansoon says:

      Can’t speak for anyone else, but I was going out 5-6 nights a week before all this, and you can ask any club owner or event promoter about the complete and utter fantasy of the idea that you can keep the cops out by throwing it on private land. They can always cite probable cause, make some excuse to be be there, pass some law, surveil from a distance with a drone, especially if you throw something that takes a month to prepare for and a month to clean up after and that functions as a temporary city. That’s why most places have cops, that at least drive by, come in and out during the night, on-duty or off, send in undercovers, have inspections, etc. And they would still hassle people on the way in and leaving, and can partner with other agencies, including the feds.
      Also, I’ve thought about them just moving it, but places like the playa seem fairly unique. I know they had to move it, I think to Fly Ranch land, for 2 years, and people who went told me it was a disaster. If you get land someplace else, you’d have to pull up bushes, bulldoze and level many square miles every year for the thousand art cars (almost literally that number) roaming around, so people don’t get bit by animals hiding in them, so people can put down tents without them getting ripped torn up by bushes or roots or stumble over 100 bushes walking home or get bitten by a snake or scorpion and THEN stumble over tent pegs, that the art is properly anchored. That’s a LOT of expense and your event medical bills will likely be through the roof. A lot of the other places like the playa within driving distance? Also are national parks on state or federal land. Seems to me. there’s a reason why they drove all the way from SF for this, rather than just picking a nice hillside an hour away from SF
      And, honestly, sometimes you need police. especially if you have many tens of thousands of people around. SOMEtimes. I know someone who went out to the playa 3 times this year in a few months, with just a few thousand people there, and she had to call the cops twice and she was far from alone in that. If the cops weren’t trying to fine or arrest their way to a budget windfall, just showing up when actually needed, it wouldn’t always be a bad thing to have them there, IMHO

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  • Some Seeing Eye says:

    Thanks, and congratulations on moving to Maker Faire, it is an ally of Burning Man.

    Social media is social media, and in real life, face to face, the community is a community. Of course, on social media, everyone has an opinion of how they would run any institution better.

    Internet culture proposes if the writer can think of a question, they are entitled to an answer. Real life does not work that way.

    The Burning Man organization has tens of years of internal data, and no doubt endless discussions of how to adapt and evolve the organization. The decisions are the result of being immersed over years in boring data and discussion of options to the point that the organizers have an intuitive understanding of it.

    My belief is that we as burners should be focused on the needs of our community, helping those in need around us, making art, creating camps, and becoming personally involved in our Regionals and or BWB.

    In real life.

    That’s a good reason to keep all the boring stuff internal to the organization, not a distraction to the participants. When we arrive in BRC, all that boring work creates a space for the unique experiences we have.

    Why should burners spend any time on the boring internals of the organization when instead they could be changing the world in real life or making art?

    It would be helpful to provide a reader-friendly view of the main, say 1 year and 5 year, objectives of the organization.

    Personally, I don’t think publicizing internal organization data is going to make a significant difference in donations.

    Burners can become involved in their regional if they want hands-on experience running a nonprofit. And they can become a volunteer in a department for a view into event internals. The summits, post vaccine, are also a good way to become involved.

    All of our social media talk and drama just feeds pageviews that don’t economically benefit Burning Man.

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  • Dusty says:

    Lame answer on the last one. I’m there early and see all those plug n play camps being setup with a fleet of matching RVs, ebikes, Segways… How the fuck do those pimps get early entry and real estate for a commercial operation?

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    • Mansoon says:

      Lame criticism on the last one. Because if you actually are there early, you know that anyone can do a landgrab in undesignated areas as long as they line up super early (and, if it’s your job), but all registered camps have a certain amount of tickets they can try to get in the DSG, but also some limited early entry passes, because what they’re building is so timeconsuming.
      I’ve been in camps where we have camp bikes bought by some and put out early, so segways, etc annoy me, but don’t surprise me. If you’re the kind of person who can support a giant soundcamp in a giant city, giving away scads of food and treats, helping fund the art, maybe you’re the kind of person whose dues would be higher than free-camping but you ALSO might pay so they buy or rent vehicles so you can get around easier. If you’re putting up a dance dome that costs $250K alone and requires heavy machinery, you might be able to chip in more for more than a bike and nothing’s wrong with that if you’re just covering costs (unless you’re a “poverty snob” who thinks anyone who doesn’t eat from a garbage can more than half the time should be dragged to their death behind El Pulpo Mecanico). You shouldn’t support an ass that’s running a business, but it’s a BIG place and not everyone can or will go under their own power.
      I’ve been on foot many burns and it’s no fun and even blisteringly stupid to walk from 6:30 and L around the city, to the Man and then the Temple, dance a dozen places, then walk all the way back, and you never even get to see MOST of the city or art. Can’t remember the last time I was out even near the trash fence. If some people ride Segways and it maybe frees up a few yellow bikes that might get snatched up otherwise, don’t hurt my feelings none. Just keep the speed down.
      And RVs are no indictment. People will often ride with friends who have an RV, chip in together, pick up rideshares in and out to cut costs and help other Burners, so it’s no sign you’re secretly Scrooge McDuck. In the camps I’ve been in, those are more the people who volunteer to or we choose to go in early anyway, because it’s easier for them to survive before the shade structures go up, Artica is open. It’s more practical and a matter of them having the time to come early. And, ironically, an RV might take up less space than 4 or 6 decent-sized Walmart tents. I’ve camped in their shadow and can tell.
      Also, the Org isn’t a combo of the NSA and Seal Team Six, wreaking lethal vengeance on PNP camps. They try their best, but if you have people hiding behind shell companies, different credit cards in different names, straw buyers, it can be hard to defend perfectly against. I met one straw buyer Just some kid from Africa living in France who was pulled into this by outside buyers, told he would be given access on a computer to try to win 2, and he could keep one if he did. He clearly had no idea of anything resembling “Burner code.” He just knew he was being given a shot at something that seemed like a dream. You can do a lot to fight back, but only so much when you’re facing worldwide operations who’ll use the innocent to mule for them and every solution you can think of has a drawback.
      Maybe they could do more with more personnel, but SOME people are already complaining loudly (ahem) at every chance that they have too many people already and they pay them too much. You don’t like it? It’s a participatory community with spots already open for you to help stop this. Otherwise, you talkin’ loud and sayin’ nothin’.
      I don’t hate on camp leaders or retired person or people with higher incomes who can afford to buy or rent an RV or camper if I can’t. I don’t hate on people who have more money than I do and less time to help around camp. If they come and participate and help make the community better, F* it. Come, and we’ll use their big money and my working hard to create something greater than we could alone.

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  • Rautamies says:

    The more I think about this, probably the best way to handle this situation would be for BM organization to declare bankruptcy. If cuts can’t be done past $2 million / month it’s better to shut down entirely and start fresh when the pandemic is guaranteed to be gone. 2021 is extremely unlikely to happen so it’s better to set sights to 2022 or possibly beyond that. Otherwise, between now and beginning of 2022 (when there’s ticket income again) the organization will bleed $30+ million with nothing to show and “we need $X million dollars to save BM” will become a monthly thing and people will get tired of it, and/or unable/willing to give more money. It’s definitely not something anyone wants to hear (including me), it’s just starting to look like it may be a hard, inevitable fact that’s looming around the corner. Plus it’s a chance to start fresh to reflect gender neutral requirements the society expects these days. Long live Flaming Person!

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    • sparkle donkey says:

      I think they’d rather keep raising money and fail at producing BRC anyway. They’ve shown to have minimal value of the money the community has given them over the years, why is that going to change now.

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  • Morgase says:

    As someone who has done events for years, including outdoor ones, WITH corporate sponsorship, I can attest that a) it needs A LOT of hands on deck and b) even with 10 mil you’d be shocked how fast that can go- and I’m talking events ranging from a couple hundred people to 40k people, which is still only half of BM. And god forbid you make cuts anywhere. If there aren’t the exact amount of porta potties people expect, and if they aren’t cleaned exactly as many times as each attendee wants them to be, it’s hell. Now apply that attitude toward every aspect of the event that is taken care of by the org. You only have to go look at how entitled people are to having the experience THEY deem they should be having by going to Yelp and seeing the people giving 1 star reviews to struggling small businesses right now because they are daring to follow pandemic rules. Personally after this year I feel like I need BRC more than ever, and I’m sure others do too. I do like the idea floated elsewhere in the comments that maybe donors could get first access to tickets next year, but I also don’t mind giving what I can to help make sure there’s something to return to at all. Hopefully this post helps clarify your position and like you said, ppl actually look into where the money goes and are more informed.

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  • Daniel Benny says:

    Thanks for this Will enjoyed reading it.

    My only unresolved questions is, and I know we aren’t there yet.

    When do you think we’ll have an idea if BRC 2021 is happening? And is the org going to be okay if there isn’t one? What would be a positive year for the community in liue of having a formal event next year (even in a world with another year of social distancing, oh god)

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  • Hilary Perchard says:

    I would really like to see a separation of the organizations activities
    – the event
    – fly ranch
    – the other cultural activities

    I love Burning man but the cross funding of different parts of the business make it hard to understand where monies are going. I love the event and don’t want that to end but don’t understand why that has to be muddled in with a piece of land that the founders fell in love with or the other cultural activities. If we could be sure that money going to one part of the project stayed in that part of the project it gets easier to donate to the parts of the org that we care about vs the extraneous pieces.

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  • Dusty says:

    If Marion truly cares about the project, then move HQ, staff and herself to Reno. If staff don’t want to move, then get new staff. Let the SF years be Larry’s legacy.

    Asking for money while maintaining your SF lifestyle is like rolling down the window of your limo and asking a destitute begger who’s holding a sign at a street corner for funds. Get real.

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    • Mansoon says:

      Well, that seems to ignore the fact they’re a nonprofit and, by literal DEFINITION of a 501(c)3 have taken donations for years and even early tickets were listed as “donations” AND most of the art is at least partially funded that way AND the unique culture that help bring the project about. Plus, the lives of the staff and the years and decades of experience and unique knowledge they bring, many participants and volunteer, the sources of funding and creation and even ties to donors (which they’ve had for may years now (SHOCKER! I mean, to you, maybe, so, if you want them to stop taking donations you’re going to need alternate sources of funding and a time machine).
      Oh, and the fact that the OP post says that SOME HAVE moved to Reno. And I know some live and work in Gerlach. Anyone not obsessed with their own narrow vision and no honest outlay of the negative consequences wouldn’t have to even ask questions already answered. Blindly and repeatedly trying to grind some kind of axe on a nonexistent stone doesn’t consider the fact that the reason arts NPOs don’t just move to rural Vietnam or the Mississippi Delta to cut costs is because it’s not like moving a factory that makes hangars, and even THAT sometimes doesn’t benefit from a move.
      That’s like asking anyone who has anything you DON’T to live exactly like you dictate, regardless of the actual consequences or losses, the terrible idea it is in the first place. I never knew Larry, so I’M not so arrogant I pretend to speak for the legacy of him, the other founders and people there at the beginning, and the hundreds of thousands of the rest worldwide, but my guess was that most of us want to make it better, not worse, and realize there’s very real consequences for every decision AND that something to be considered long-term doesn’t help in an emergency. That’s like YOU trying to ram the museum doors with your vehicle of bad ideas (anyone who thinks their salaries are “limo money” doesn’t know much about limos or is trying to use false, inflammatory language because the facts are NOT on their side), running people down and saying the museum shouldn’t be located there, anyway. And that’s the REAL real.

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  • Joseph Elwell says:

    I love everything about this post except this one part:
    “vendors, rentals (porta potties being just one of many), and (9 different local, state and federal) permits”

    Stop the vendors, plug and play camps are merely mimicking BMorg camps. Provide the porta potties, pay for the location and permits, ditch the vendors and let artists and camps be more self reliant.

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    • Mansoon says:

      In case there’s any general confusion , I think the “vendors” thing is more like having to rent portos, buildings and vehicles, even paying people who print and send out ticket packets and guidebooks, etc, (Companies who do this want contracts and to be paid most or all in advance. That ain’t gonna wait 6 months until the dust litterally settles and see IF you have enough left to pay them), walkie talkies that at one point cost $200k because the desert dust is so destructive, equipment for the art which includes heavy machinery, feeding staff and volunteers, a million other small things. Things to make living and working in a place that looks and acts like something you put in a sci-fi prison drama (“Even if you escape the guards, the surface of Planet Ultramax will STILL kill you” — grizzled old prison lifer) doable. Not like, “Vendors, as in the people who sell Coors Lite and dreamcatchers near the MTV VIP showers)

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      • JusTANOTHERdusTyBroad says:

        And don’t forget the fire & medical resources: vendors for equipment, supplies, vehicles (ambulances & fire engines, paramedic), retainer for having services provided by helicopter services for hospital transport. A LOT of people get injured and/or sick and that infrastructure costs a lot.

        And running electricity across the playa for communications, lighting and power for emergency services, lighting around center camp, etc. is not a small, or cheap undertaking. Lots of vendors are nearly invIsible.

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  • Victoriosa the Magnificent Cunt says:

    wow… well this has been a tremendous show of myopic self aggrandizement, not only by the former Goebbels of the Borg himself but by the profoundly sycophantic commentary. But then again, what can one expect when entering the land of the lollipop guild. I should have just not clicked the link… #regrets
    Good to see the kool-aid is still giving people heartburn… I can attest to that.

    The Borg is about as transparent as Karl the Fog… outdated 990s that apparently are too boring and complicated for your audience to understand. And that somehow take 2+ years to file?!?
    oh numbers oh my! Balance Sheets and P&Ls oh my! How could anyone really understand any of that? Let alone the machinations involved with any type of business model.

    Nevermind the man behind the curtain…

    And the damn board ain’t the board of Tesla, so can we please stop comparing how low their salaries are to the likes of Musk? You can’t compare one aspect of the non-profit to large corporations when it is convenient and then say oh well we aren’t a multi-million dollar corp when someone questions your poor business practices. Although both companies are severely over-valued in their own ways, so there’s that.
    Not to mention, the rest of the employees also lived in the Bay Area and no consideration was given to their cost of living when you were paying them 15/hr… I guess that is a sandwich an hour though.

    Non-profits and FOR-profits all fall under the same basic fundamentals of operations…P&Ls, Cash Flows, and Balance Sheets.
    A 501c3 is still a CORPORATION and functions as one. It just reinvests the profits into itself rather than distributing them to shareholders. But we wouldn’t want to bore people’s pretty lil heads with all that complicated businessy stuff with numbers – better make it really vague with colorful pie charts instead and tell them they wouldn’t understands what the adults are talking about. It worked for Ross Perot in the 90s… oh the 90s… let’s just go back to the 90s…it was all so much more authentic then lol…

    How fucking patronizingly patriarchal!
    Just show people the money or shut the fuck about it.

    #radicalselfentitlement
    #nextyearwasbetter… oh uhh yeah…about that…

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    • Mansoon says:

      Wow. You calling them “patronizingly patriarchal” would have some force if that wasn’t the entire tone of YOUR letter or you knew the slightest thing you were talking about. You don’t seem to know they’re following the most normal practices and are exactly on schedule for when 990s for NPOs are filed. They’re ALWAYS “following” for the year before and the Form 8868, Application for Automatic Extension of Time to File an Exempt Organization Return, period closes on Nov. 15 for the prior year, a fact that’s easy to look up. An NPO like BM actually needs the extension period because of all the income and outlay in the intervening months between the normal filling deadline. Filing earlier would clearly give you a very unclear picture. That piechart was clearly meant give an outlay normal operation expenses, but, even if you had up-to-the second numbers, you’d still need future expenses and incoming donations and training as a CPA in a very specialized field in the most uncertain environment EVER in this country. They’ve given you some updated info but people who believe in things sometimes just have to take a leap of faith, especially to keep a bold experiment going.
      They get a 100 percent rating for transparency on Charity Navigator, but what do impartial people who look at this stuff professionally all the time and have no stake in the outcome know compared to people who have a preset, ill-informed and dismissive agenda to complain and seem to be taking on multiple nicknames to make it seem like They are Legion? (Yes, your common linguistic patterns are showing, my dusty friend).
      But THEY must be the ones who are wrong, even though you speak disparagingly about them not giving balance sheet numbers, nevermind that there IS more detailed balance numbers on their annual report, whose PDF takes seconds to find. You know, for the Munchkins who actually LOOK. Honestly, to really know about what’s behind them, you have to know what the outlays and classifications mean, do a little research, have an open mind. Doesn’t seem likely, but what the Hell? Though, that’s what you expect from flying monkeys, dropping feces and never looking back. You show them the money, and they have no clue what it is it what it means and they pee on your head and expect you to think they’re raining knowledge.
      And, as far as knowledge goes, the Lollipop Guild? Ahem, they’re Munchkins, symbolically meant to represent the common people. So, by referring to them disparagingly, you are striking out at common people defending what they value, which is actually the most patronizing and elitist of insults. Always tells you a lot about their honesty and insight when a person does the very things they accuse others of.

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      • Mansoon says:

        Also (no surprise) there’s another giant hole in your argument (so many, I keep finding new ones. I honestly didn’t even know the one about the Munchkins BEFORE I looked at it. There’s just so many in these arguments that I figured this one was probably wrong, too), since nonprofits and for-profits ARE distinctly different . A small child and a large lion both eat, play, take a nap and a crap, but that doesn’t mean they are all that similar.
        This isn’t just my opinion, but the opinion of the accounting profession. And it’s not just in taking donations and mission statements, but a whole host of other ways. I was reminded of this by a sponsor on NPR, saying that they do accounting specifically for nonprofits. They have special educational courses for this and even conferences for nonprofits accounting, because thinking so ignores many facets of math and law and expectations. You can google MANY links on this, but here’s just one I found
        http://www.waldenu.edu/online-bachelors-programs/bs-in-accounting/resource/for-profit-vs-nonprofit-accounting-key-differences

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      • Rautamies says:

        I’d still like to see breakdown of expenses after cuts which seems to be a taboo. You could cut these:

        Contractors 12.1%
        Permits 9.3%
        Equipment rental 8.1%
        Office expenses (pens, stickers etc.) 6.9%
        Misc (feeding volunteer etc.) 5.8%
        Grants 5%
        Ticket sale expenses 5%
        Travel, conferences 2%

        and save 54.2% and this does NOT include any reduction to payroll. Get rid of half of staff/pay less and you get 70.5% of savings. Why can’t the ORG do better than 50% reduction? Yeah these documents get filed a year or 2 years late yadda yadda yadda but these are extraordinary circumstances and these numbers should be made public NOW. It’s simply not going to fly to ask for $1-2 million in donations every month moving forward, unless some tech mogul chips in. I see $1-1.2 million / month as somewhat justified monthly expense so it’s hard to understand where $2 million / month goes to.

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      • Mansoon says:

        You know, I get the feeling this is the SAME person, trying to appear to be DIFFERENT people to worm some completely unnecessary information out of the Org. Unnecessary if you want to HELP, that is.
        Completely necessary if you’re trying to poke at a million spots to find a hole, litigate everything to death, grind an axe to see if maybe they did something with mixed results in the past. Very weird to need THIS level of detail. It’d be like the BMOrg asking HIM for a donation and they want to see his paycheck, his tax return, all his bills, the money in his pocket and couch cushions right NOW, maybe he can sell his car or TV…
        Seems like mmmmaybe it’s the agents of or maybe that sheriff who wants to charge completely outrageous amounts for services that bear no relation to what BM wants or his outlay and cost (only gangsters want you to bribe them based on what YOU make rather that what THEY need to make). The one that makes about $300k for officers to NOT do anything 2/3rds of the time, mostly do things no one want them to do the other 1/3rds and makes about $2,000,000 of the estimated $6,000,000 the LEOs take in from the event (a best guess) and wants even MORE.
        Or maybe it’s that person behind Burners.me. I’ve read it from time to time, as I am a fan of honest criticism, but some of it appears to be either dishonest or an example of muddled thinking or simple lack of research (don’t be fooled by a blizzard of numbers, folks. Like I said above, it’s specialized for nonprofits and they even want you to take courses to get it right, just like you don’t want your dentist to do heart surgery just because he had SOME of the same courses in medical school).
        But that matters only a little. Take, for instance, this shortfall you’re talking about. There may be other methods they’re using to address this, but I noticed right away that they’re expecting to raise $5m in Annual Fund & Major Gifts and they raised $3M so far. That leaves $2m to come in, which I think is the shortfall asked about, and many disbursements from mutual funds come in late in the year, November or December, right at the time needed.
        Plus, people looking to donate like to do it around then, for the tax benefits. AND, there’s that early FOMO sale that can start in December.
        There’s no way it’s not a risk and and act of faith to donate, but that’s the way it always was, and always is, out in the desert. Giant pieces of art that say “BELIEVE” DON’T say, “Investigate to death in the time of the greatest uncertainty in about a century and act only once it’s too late. Ignore the lesson we’re all learning in the pandemic about people who want to wait until it’s too late for THEIR advantage, despite YOUR losses”
        Sure, that’d be tooooo ddaaaammm long, but it also ignores the idea of Gifting, Community, Participation, for people with no actual experience in THIS field to pursue an agenda of their own, as if a nonprofit only being somewhat able to resist a once-in-century pandemic shows that DREAM is something no one should fight for.
        If you vote, gift, make plans with friends or campmates or or even hope you’ll live to see the next Burn or just tomorrow, you’re always just going on faith. But acting as if there’s some nefarious, wasteful “Deep Burner State” conspiracy to … um, “protect jobs and the Org by buying pens and coffee creamer that cost too much?” tries to focus you on the faults of others, have you look at every pimple and blackhead and miss the face of the future entirely.

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      • put down the koolaid Mansoon, the org isn’t going to give you tickets

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      • Mansoon says:

        Ah, Sparkle Donkey, You’ve found me OUT!. A few comments on this page that point out how dumb someone else is being and directly mirror what I’ve said elsewhere and the Org will SURELY give me a barrelful of tickets for that! I mean, I’ve criticized them before and had a long career as a journalist with almost a constitutional duty fighting against idiots who nonsense speak with confidence, but THIS has me goose-stepping (though, on the playa, I’ll be dressed like an actual goose).
        NOW who’s been drinking something strong that’s clearly a terrible idea?

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  • Jay says:

    Thanks for this detailed and snippy letter! Loved the birthday party analogy! Planning a party for 80,000 in the desert with no infrastructure is monumental. Keep up the good (and transparent) work.

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  • Zombie says:

    Long live snark and Burning Man! BM has provided a setting and experience that has sent positive ripple effects thru my life over the years. So I’ll donate bc I am blessed to be able to.
    There’s a whole psychology to donating and non profits and one can throw all the Negative judgments to the org about its ask but in the end donating is not mandatory. It’s just an ask, so you don’t have to if you don’t want toooo!

    I’m also open to volunteer for admin work if the Org guys need it! I’m a seasoned ops manager with a non profit willing to support FO FREE. Email me!

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  • A Normal Nevadan says:

    My biggest issue with donating is why donate to an event that clearly doesn’t want me there any more. For the last 5 years, I have not been able to get a ticket via an official sale. And every time, the response is “it sucks to be you.” And they keep reducing the amount of general sales tickets each year– to a mere 20K for 2020 (before cancellation).

    This tells me, they don’t want us average folks. Year after year, the event caters more and more to the wealthier folks and the “in crowd.” To me, it’s very clear that the Borg values those people much more.

    That’s fine. Just don’t try to foist some sob story on me begging for my lowly cash, especially after 5 years of “sucks to be you, peon.”

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    • Mansoon says:

      What a well-reasoned and thoughtful objection — if you ignore math and reality. Nevadans have not only as good a chance as anyone else on the planet, they have BETTER chance than almost all others, since the local Paiutes get hundreds free and the Gerlach locals get free tickets also and benefit from much-needed extra work, local Org donations to the school and fire department and free solar power and Org cleanup of even the road after).
      Plus, volunteers and staff get thousands free tickets also and there is a very big Nevada community of Burners. Cali, the biggest source of staff and maybe volunteers, is about 13 times bigger in pop than Nevada, so people in Cali actually have a 13 times LOWER chance, ignoring the fact that they might be able to buy one from a fellow local who can’t go easier than someone driving driving from 12 hours away might.
      But IGNORE the hundreds free tickets to locals, hundreds to kids, thousands for 2nd-year volunteers, thousands half-price to the low-income (sound like regular folks to me, a guy who has to eat from a food bank to not be down to his last dime and never got a ticket in the reg or DSG sale since the first sellout but always managed to find one because I didn’t just complain about it. IF your complaint isn’t fake), AND the fact that there is a FOMO sale, DSG, General, OMG, STEP, Low-income sale, and regional Burner communities and camps that might know of extra tickets PLUS they try to raise the cap so there’s more available, you have something someone on the strongest medical grade sticky-icky would probably accept as a rational objection. ALL the thumbs up!
      (Psssst. aren’t you the same person from the other posts that also don’t make sense? C’mon, I won’t tell anyone. Big fan; lets me correct SOOO many crazy ideas. If not, then that’s some I’M wrong about.)

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      • A Normal Nevadan says:

        Nice shilling there Mansoon. ( Pssst– Nope, I haven’t posted here in ages, so I have no idea what you are going on about.)

        Anyways, my situation isn’t faked. There are many like us. We love Burning Man. We want to support the event, but we feel we are being hedged out and priced out.

        You mention “100s of free tickets to locals.” What tickets? What locals? I know of no one who has gotten such a thing. I am sure it happens, but I know vastly much more of us who can’t get in and are told, “Oh well, sucks to be you. Better get radically reliant and find a ticket some other way, or don’t go.”

        Now, after years of being told to be radically self reliant, they want handouts from us. See why there might be some friction or resentment here? Especially in the light where the elite and big plug ‘n play camps never seems to have such issues?

        You probably see this as hyperbole, but it is how many of us feel, and it is a common perception of the Borg. If this perception is wrong, the Borg has done nothing to dispel it. And it needs to be MEANINGFULLY addressed, for this is leading to a feeling that Burning Man is no longer an event that average folks can go to.

        Each year, there are more and more folks that want the event to go somewhere else, especially since they feel they are not wanted. In the past, this was mostly voiced by non-burners. But now I hear this from past burners as well, and the number of these jaded and dissenting voices are growing. I don’t think the Borg truly understands how bad the PR is for them here.

        I appreciate Will’s blog here as it tries to address some of these perceptions. But since it tows the Borg line via couched language, complete with corporate excuses– It fails to provide a compelling case as to why should us average folks donate to save Burning Man since it seems we can’t get in anyways?

        So, take this as a heads up. Forewarned is forearmed. Or continue with the snarky and condescending shilling that does nothing but solidify and justify feelings against the Borg and the event. The choice is yours, Mansoon.

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    • Mansoon says:

      Well, my choice is try to correct the obvious attempt at misinformation and trying to invalidate me personally rather get your facts straight (such an obvious trick. Whenever I see it, I’m almost immediately sure the person is trying to distract from being wrong). NO, I do not have a Kenyan Birth certificate, NO I do not “shill for the ORG.” Would be nice if I did, I could get money or other compensation for saying what I was going to say ANYWAY, instead of sticking up for what I see as the truth and sometimes they don’t hate it and other times I get rebuked here by them or even have my IP blocked on ePlaya. That’s a hell of a way to treat a shill.
      . See, unlike YOU, if you do a search for me, I show up all over Burner World for more than a decade now. Sometime people like it, sometimes they don’t, but, yeah, it’s the same name. Unlike you, where you say you HAD commented before, but Google says NOPE. Not under THIS name on THIS site. Just this 1 post. Unless it’s that same old trick of switching names to make it seem like the opinion of a few or some is the opinion of many.
      Google is an interesting site. You can use it to check out many things, such as my claim that here are tickets given to locals. I don’t live in the area and even I’VE known about it for a decade. Been a little jealous, really, though I wouldn’t want to live in the area for a mere ticket. .
      If you REALLY lived in the area and aren’t pretending, etc., to seem more credible, I’d expect you to know this. I think those tickets weren’t WILL Call for awhile, maybe not now, so the locals sometimes use them to generate some much-needed cash.an instant source of hundred of dollars (at face value) is something that’s NOT a secret and anyone with assess to Google can find out. Other ways around it, too, even if they are will call. Unless you dismiss it or misrepresent things to make the Org seem worse and yourself more virtuous.
      I mean, you say things like “why should us average folks donate to save Burning Man since it seems we can’t get in anyways”, which has me gobsmacked. I don’t think “radical inclusion” mean rich people should be shunned or praised, and I don’t ask for a tax return before talking to people. Doesn’t match observable facts at all.
      There’s plenty of dissent and had been since the beginning. John Law, one of the founders of the original incarnation has spoken out against it since he stopped coming 2 decades ago, Back when tickets were called “DONATIONS.” So, it seems like utter BS to pretend NOW, in a EMERGENCY, decades later, donations are “KRAZY,” though their whole structure is set up to take them and has been for years, a lot of the art is built with donations, so are art cars and some camps, and the whole place runs on a GIFTING ECONOMY, that also prizes Participation and Community, So, you see why that looks like 100 percent UTTER bullshit by someone either pretending to be ignorant or who has an “alternative facts” agenda.
      Maybe 90 percent of who I meet at the Burn are ordinary people. My camp leader at my last big camp was a construction worker who had been in prison for decades and the current is a mechanic. I’ve camped with pilots, frat bros, wedding Djs, people who now work at the U.N., poor students, artists, dancers, yoga instructors, housewives, real estate agents, scientists, store clerks, locksmiths, librarians, lawyers, retirees, cooks, office clerks, teachers, the list is pretty damn long.
      It’s also HIGHLY suspicious that the thousands of tickets half-price to low-income or given free to volunteers is something “someone local” doesn’t know about or try for. I’m across the country and have known about it for a decade. Anytime anyone with long experience seems to not know about other ways that could be cheaper, I think they can’t be that stupid a few years in, so they must be lying. The fact that you make no mention of other facts, and you whole tone seems to be the most snarky, condescending attempt to mislead I’ve see, from start to finish, then you play wounded for sympathy when confronted with facts. Dish it out, then pretend not to be able to take it.
      My choice? — since you brought it up — is to believe you are either misleading for your own agenda or you’re the REAL shill here.

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  • SC says:

    I admit I was kinda pissed when I received the first email. But I like this FAQ and the answers.
    What I’m still curious about is how close is the BMORG to reaching their high goal? What happens if it’s not reached and there is no BRC? I guess we’re just supposed to get out our wallets and have faith. But I remember the ticket fiasco and lottery system that was an epic failure. So it’s a little hard to donate money and have absolute faith in an organization that has fucked us over in the past.
    I think having a smaller event would be a disaster. And bring out the worst in burners who think their entitled to go to the event. Bad idea.
    Since covid I’ve drastically changed my lifestyle to live within my means and burning man is no longer on the list of priorities. I did donate my ticket though with no expectation that I’d be returning to BRC. So you’re welcome.

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  • Burner Tim says:

    I appreciate your well-thought and well-meaning post. However, I disagree with your unstated underlying presence that “for BM to be meaningful/impactful/etc. it must look like it has in recent years.” Wasn’t BM meaningful and impactful when it was closer to its roots? I’d argue that people would get more out of BM if it became less elaborate, less fancy, etc., and forced people to be more self-reliant, per its principles. BM is amazing the way it is, but it doesn’t need to be nearly this fancy/bit/extravagant to touch people’s lives. Thank you

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  • Tim says:

    Hey I’m down to donate a bit but I want to know that BMORG is not planning to build BRC for 2021 before doing so. I think it would be reckless given where the country is at pandemic-wise to start spending to ramp up for BRC 2021.

    Perhaps you can speak to this? From what I’ve read to date it feels like people are operating as if BRC 2021 will be a thing.

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  • roissy says:

    On the donation page, there is not an obvious way to remain anonymous…

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    • Mansoon says:

      Hey, it took me awhile to find it, too. I had to look at it in a browser in desktop mode and there’s a small checkbox under the bottom of one section

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  • Meg says:

    I too didn’t appreciate the first fundraising email I received as it felt like it was written by someone who had never been to Burning Man and tying the 10 principles to a multi-million dollar fundraising campaign seemed – well like a violation of the 10 principles. But I really appreciate your viewpoint here, Will. I have taken in all of the shared thoughts, here. I have some inkling of appreciation for the immensity and cost associated with event planning at this level – what it took to bring our little tea lounge multiplied by a gazillion and teaming with governmental agency rules, regulation and reporting – it is a massive, expensive endeavor. I have no doubt that the path forward for the org will be re-examined, reshaped and re- budgeted and maybe some of the grandiosity or at least that is how I describe the negative feeling that I have held will be toned down. At the end of the day, I cannot dispute that I have been transformed by my time at burning man. I had my heart cracked wide open from its jaded container in the default world each time I was on the playa – even when I thought it was too big, too commercial, too whatever. Today, we are in the midst of turbulent and challenging times – people are suffering, scared and the future feels so uncertain. To emerge from this time with a stronger and more open society, we need to come together, build new, innovative, things, laugh, to stop being so easily offended, accept, listen and lead with open hearts – do all the things that that the infrastructure of Black Rock City supports us in doing like nowhere else.

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  • Willy Nilly says:

    “Survival” …. It’s the keystone of TTITD (that thing in the desert) and I believe everyone, even the most organized P2P camps, are humbled by it’s inevitable arrival, which has to be dealt with no matter money/friends/weather/accident.

    I was thrilled when I heard about BMORG involved in setting up Regionals, me thinking that they understood TTITD was getting too big, making it survive too stressful for their lives, and it would eventually be time to let it go and let the Regionals have the chance to prosper. I didn’t understand that BMORG was actually on a “mission from God” (think Blues Brothers) to save the world thru seminars, TED talks, Fly Ranch, and spreading the gospel of 10 Principals.

    Why not just make survival of TTITD number one?
    Or, end TTITD and make everything else number one?

    BurningMan is just spread way too thin. Seems it’s writing on the wall that it can’t survive as is.

    I know there are always a dozen or so people who sleep in the ashes after the embers of the fallen Man have cooled down, but how many of the 80,000 participants feel that connection and will pony up $$$ for anything other then the actual event?

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    • Mansoon says:

      Another odd objection. To me, “Survival” isn’t the keystone (where’s the “Radical”, BTW?). it’s Gifting, Participation, Community. They seemed so closely tied together, to spring from the same impulse, to give birth to so many of the others, to have faith and “Believe.” The radical survival seems to be first more as a warning, more a result of the place where it’s held than something spread across the entire community, including regionals in green, peaceful valleys. First isn’t always “above all others”, or otherwise, “I am the Lord, thy God” would be above, “Thou shalt not kill.” If 1 went away, plenty of societies work just fine, or maybe even better, but most think it’s more important people don’t kill/
      I’ve been to one in Calgary, it was 100 percent a Burn. but survival wasn’t the main, or even 50th, concern. And regular survival is just preparing to survive, as you always would in need to in the Black Rock Desert, but “Radical survival,” seems to me to be larger, and seems to encompass the value of being willing to accept help from the community if you find yourself in trouble your honest efforts can’t get you out of. My ride ditches me, I, in order to survive, have to rely on others. I don’t try to walk me and all my stuff back to Reno.
      Speaking of regionals, when you say ” ….heard about BMORG involved in setting up Regionals, me thinking that they understood TTITD was getting too big,” that also seems to be some very weird attempt to create some BS to fit a preconceived agenda. For anyone who doesn’t know, The regionals have been around since about 97, so YOU might think it peaked when Bill Clinton was starting his second term, before the first temple and a year it wasn’t even in the Black Rock Desert, but the rest of us don’t try to bind children in chains in elementary school and demand they never grow up.
      And, when you say, “how many of the 80,000 participants feel that connection and will pony up $$$ for anything other then the actual event?” many donate every year and have for years, people volunteer to stay afterwards and help on the playa or clean up the road or work with Burners Without Borders or even BRC camps that raise money for non-playa causes, like the people in Gerlach. I’m happy that my contribution are for more than just some fun and partying, you can look at the donations page and see the number rise every day, I see many people on FB, etc. who feel the exact same way.
      You say, “Seems it’s writing on the wall that it can’t survive as is.” That seems an emotional reaction, not logical. Larger, more diverse things actually have more options, more built-in resiliencies, have more friends and fans to ask for help or (GOOD) ideas. I was just looking at Larry Harvey’s “Hay Bail,” speech today. Ran across it by accident. They needed to pay some bills and get back to the Black Rock Playa. SOME people weren’t happy they were “begging for money” THEN, in 1997, and some said it was too big, 23 years ago. I think that was John Law’s last. But others had faith and could and DID help.
      Disaster strikes EVERYTHING and everyone eventually, but that doesn’t mean the first air-breathing thing should have never crawled out of the sea and onto the beach, Baker or not. Sometimes, like I saw all the time in the desert, when everything’s perfect, you don’t value them as much.

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  • WeldingMomma says:

    “ADAPTATION IS THE KEY TO SURVIVAL”
    “BM PROJECT IS RIPE FOR A PARADIGM SHIFT”
    Hello Will and BMORG, I respect the efforts of BMORG requesting support by cash donations. Yes, we all know the importance of having sponsors, grants and donors. However, before this liberal starving artist (and 10 year BM Veteran) considers making a donation, I’d first like to learn that BMORG has plans to make massive alterations to how it will be further managed and is making plans to expand the opportunity for youth, families and less liberal types to attend the “Project”. BM often boasts how the event has transformed lives thousands who attend. I feel that if BMORG wants to survive as a non-profit, it needs to dramatically expand it’s mission of “enlightenment” and “inclusion” by making the BM Project more accessible to others. Like you said, “Everything is on the table!” One example of this possibility could be expanding the timeline or dates of the event so more than 120k can attend. NO, no, no, i do NOT suggest increasing the total number of participants (because every BM Veteran since 2010 agrees that “less is more”) but expand the timeline of the event…or better…split the event into TWO separate week-long events. Why not consider this? Other such festivals do this, think Coachella. I’m sure of all the geniuses you have on payroll (and the plethora of volunteer geniuses) that BMORG can devise a smart plan for two events. Be it two weeks back to back, or with two weeks in between (consider summer when no schools are in session). Traveling Carnivals do this almost year round. I know you’ll find many who would be supportive of such an idea. I’m sure Veteran Burners (5 yrs+) would beg to have one of those weeks all to themselves and have first week for noobs and families. No, I doubt you’ll need to build two “Man” or even two “Temples”in order to satisfy ticketholders. What about the Camps? Well, I’m sure plenty of artists would LOVE to have two schedules from which to choose. Whatever the case, the population of each week event should never exceed 60k. This would allow for a more enjoyable experience for attendees but more important each week will require less # porta-potties, less doctors, less cops, less staff, less volunteers, basically less of everything. You simply contract these people and services for either an entire month, or you arrange for two sets of staff and vendors. Might need to increase the management team (adding an “Assistant” to the heads). A 25% smaller footprint would be easier to manage as well. Think back to year 2007. I KNOW it would be more enjoyable (as a participant) to have enough time (in one week) to view ALL the art installations, music, art performances, camps, etc. If you don’t like that idea then consider two locations such as BRC and the other a more accessible location (near Las Vegas). Or move BM Project all together to a new (more accessible location). Either way,…LESS gets you MORE net in the end. If I worked at BMORG, I’d be digging into the old accounting records. Look at the years with the highest NET. I know your concerns… people will think holding two events is a greedy marketing scheme and that’s not what BM is about. But we must not forget the long term goal and well, times are tough right now. So…when the future existence of BM is on the line, it’s time to break tradition. Less we all forget, despite the philanthropic mission, that the Burning Man Project is and always will be a masssive fantastic frivolous FESTIVAL in the desert. With that in mind, we Veterans and future participants need first to keep our priorities in check. We WILL give…NOT if it hurts us but, only if we have enough to share and that will be a benefit to us (or others) in the future.
    Now….Where, How, or Which App does one make a donation to our future ticket?

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    • Mansoon says:

      So much is wrong with this that I hardly know where to begin. It seems like some of the others, with a lot of logical flaws, an elitist attitude that says that “it was better when they’re weren’t so many outsiders ruining what a few want to do (though they can and always could easily do it, right next door, even)” and pretending to speak for all Burners, especially other veterans. Using charged language to make barks assumptions, not knowing how a nonprofit differs from a for-profit and how “net” is a very different concept for each, even in a legal sense.
      I’m a vet, I guess, but there’s plenty twice my “Burn age” who seem fine and happy with meeting and befriending new people, as do I. Maybe the OP is yet another (sigh) “dusty disguise,” but let’s address this anyway.
      Burning Man and Coachella (and a traveling circus), are vastly different events in very different places and I’m not sure why ANY veteran would honestly, intellectually, think the same solutions apply after gaming it out.
      There ARE people in crazy outfits gathering together and entertaining things that sometimes involve music happening, and maybe some sun, but that’s literally about it. I’m not sure why anyone would think what works for one would work for the other (Coachella is two 3-day weekends, BTW, not two weeks, and the Burn is officially about 9.5 days, though, with prebuild and breakdown, you could be on-playa with a camp maybe 20 days, spend a couple weeks or months beforehand getting ready and a week or 2 afterwards cleaning stuff and putting it away, just speaking from experience).
      Horses and cars both carry people and things faster than otherwise, but applying one to the other is a “in name only” thing, and you don’t shoot your car for having a bad wheel and you don’t feed carrots to your VW Rabbit.
      And splitting things up, with all the permits, staff and volunteers, suppliers and equipment rentals, sunk costs in Gerlach, economies of scale, months of prep and cleanup, thousand camps registered and thousand unregistered and the art cars, a city that’s literally moved yearly to let the playa rest, rainy season that floods it entirely …man, I’d think through everything twice and look at data from Friends of Black Rock and alternate sites before suggesting such a thing. A vet Burner should def appreciate the value of putting the “do” in a “do-ocracy.”

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  • Nigel Sloppy says:

    First off, the tone of this post is just appalling. You, on behalf of the org, are asking for $1000s from artists and other weirdos who do NOT have loose $1000s kicking around, and you are in the same breath insulting the very real concerns said weirdos have been voicing. If you think this is going to lead to increased donations, you are deluded.

    There’s not enough time in my day to review all those concerns, but I’ll try and hit the most salient ones:

    1) Everyone at the org has taken a 20% or pay cut I’m told. Guess what? I’ve taken a 100% one and I think many others out here have taken such hits too. Please don’t think that 20% impresses.

    2) You wrote that the staff is “family”. That’s part of the problem! Out here, we’re getting laid-off and our gigs cancelled even though we are, or thought we were “family” to some other entity. Times are tough! You have to tell “family” that they have to be furloughed until there is definitely an event to plan, similar to what has happened to many of us.

    3) Out of 140 full-time employees at the org, only 40 have been laid off. I’m sorry, but this is NOT trimming down sufficiently to be begging.

    4) I DO know about bman’s rainy day fund. Too bad it was foolishly burned-through these last 6 months by keeping so much of the staff intact. Perhaps NOW there is an argument for a 100-person staff in order to plan bman 2021, but it was an example of the org’s gross incompetence that staff cuts weren’t made 6 months ago.

    5) Marian wrote that 60% of the expenditures are for the event. This was kind of a shock. WHAT has that other 40% been going towards? Could tickets have been 40% cheaper all these years? Another example of incompetence combined with selfish and/or pie-in-the-sky priorities. And these non-event expenditures have not been stopped! For example the Civic Engagement team is still funded.

    Look, I understand WHY the org doesn’t WANT to trim down. It’s built an effective (if bloated) staff through the years. It’s got a good thing going! Everyone’s friends got a cool job. There’s been money for Esalen retreats and international travel and lots of other fun stuff. And it is FINE to keep spending on such things when one is paying one’s own bills. But when one is begging for money, one has to give up one’s shiny toys, or at least some of them. I’m waiting to see much more sacrifice and much more sober thinking before I help out.

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  • You're Not the Boss of Me says:

    Are Burners Without Borders really a necessary part of the event or its original vision? Although their work is laudable I’d argue that cutting them out of the budget might be warranted if preserving the core of the event is paramount.

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    • Mansoon says:

      You know, they’re NOT part of the original vision, but, if I recall correctly: There WAS no original vision. Things have changed over the years from just being some people hanging out on a beach to trying to be a force for good and I applaud that. Almost NONE of what happens nowadays arguably was there at the start. Not all the art, regional events and the global Burner network, making sure camps interact and people gift each other, even things like mobility assistance camp for those who need help, or being good citizens, a statement of principles, the desert itself, NONE of that was really around originally, just maybe the holes to plant the seeds but not even the seeds themselves. Plus, not only are some drawn to the culture because of things like this, bet it helps reinforce 501(c)3 status and the core mission statement and some donors surely give because of this. It’s a good thing it helps spread Burner culture farther and further, IMHO, and it honestly makes it more about than just partying and setting things on fire. And doubt it costs a ton of money, the people involved are doing non-even duties and might have been fully funded before all this or maybe covered by part of the PPP loan. When I got laid off, I didn’t kill my Internet and sell my car as my first moves, because those things HELP more than they hurt. I’m sure those cuts are considered, but if that small a cut made the crucial difference, they prob wouldn’t be in trouble in the first place.

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    • Some Seeing Eye says:

      That’s a good question, Marian, the CEO, has revealed that BWB and Fly Ranch maintenance are about $100K/yr each. Cutting them is not going to make a difference.

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  • Amber ~ Lilburnerbae says:

    Should we make it back to BRC could having a virtual option be a things to people who either didn’t snag a ticket, are still not up for travel (dude to stupid rona) or just simply can’t afford the trek out! Having a virtual option MAY lessen then amount of people who actually go out and OR open up opportunity for more people to actually get a ticket who physically want to be ON PLAYA!

    Just a thought!

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  • She Blinded Me With Science says:

    Hello. I appreciate the time you have taken to write this post and for your commitment to the Org.

    Apropos of fundraising, I have a solution that I would like to share and get out in the open:

    Sell lifetime tickets.

    $5,000 each.

    Positioned as a donation from the “buyer”.

    Start with 2,000 tickets for sale, gets you to $10 million… perhaps in under 24 hours.

    Also, helps to instill long-term confidence in the viability of the Org. (or removes the fear of “donate or we die”…).

    Then figure out the rest.

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    • Mansoon says:

      Well, scientifically speaking, there’s a few problems with that idea. Not the least of which is they’ve tried it before. So, you’re about 23 years too late with your idea.
      I mean, I know it seems reasonable, but, I was immediately suspicious because “figure out the rest” is how people in change put the burden for unworkable ideas that eventually crash and burn (Witness: our lives currently) on other people but take the credit if other people pull off a miracle.
      I was googling around, and it seems these lifetime tickets always turn into a problem. Either for the organizations or the people. There’s just too many variables over years. Some people take organizations up on it, but they often have to change the conditions down the lines, which can screw the buyer. The Org was trying to negotiate a 10-year deal with the BLM to cut out all the craziness that was pushing prices to jump almost yearly before the plague, but who knows what things will be like in say, 50-70 years (Since the oldest Burner I know of was 99 and kids only need a ticket above 13 years old). Stability is great, but more time means more time for things to go wrong.
      With that much time, a lifetime ticket isn’t always not a reassurance. It reads as more of a desperation move. That’s what happened when the Org did it in 97. Some who camped that year said it alarmed them, more than reassured. They had to reassure people to have faith and only some people, as few dozen, as far as I can tell. DID do it. I camped with one. But it was not even a large portion of the people at the Burn that year, and that’s before there were tech billionaire Burners that could now be motivated to swoop in, cheat the system, snap up, say, 500. somehow.
      Because, this would be an incredibly bad deal for the Org. FOMO ticket exist to help offset costs for free and low-price tickets, get people with deep pockets to pay for others, let people who don’t want to worry about it carry more than their fair share. But, even at reg prices, a lifetime ticket would be outstripped in 10 years, much less 40-50. And the people who can afford this are likely those who would buy a FOMO ticket, worth 3 times as much.
      That jumps up the value of the ticket and the motivation for resellers to get their hands on one. A $500 dollar ticket tied to an ID might not be worth getting a good fake, but one bought for $200K (scalper prices?). A lot of the very wealthy could just get that and never have to bother with it again. Pass it to friends and family, etc. It would be an asset you could sell if you need money
      Tickets bought at those price can up the feeling of entitlement. My campmate who bough one at $500 certainly showed serious signs of this, though it might have been for additional reasons. But I did wonder whey she seemed so much that way, thought we should all kneel at her feet over every word. If she’s feeling that way after giving $500 20 years ago, imagine someone who gave $5k. Even if it’s 50 years from now, “Hey, I helped bail you out 5 decades ago! Better NEVER forget!” People already screamed because they thought there was some kind of Billionaires Bacchanal at Fly Ranch this year (weary eyeroll). What if you have longtime ticketholders who say, “I don’t care about the situation. you promised me a BURN! I’m part of the Sanctified Burners club!”
      And what happens if the Org reorganizes, etc.? They don’t HAVE to honor the deal from the previous organization; if they do, they’re just being nice. They DID do it from the 97 deal, but it might be unworkable with thousands. If they have a problem and they can’t keep their word, you have thousands more who have a legit gripe. Sometimes they have a problem with longtime burners and camps NOW. This could greatly magnify that.
      Also, because it’s a 501(c)3, any “quid pro quo” donation has to not only be reported and paperwork issued, but I’m petty sure a fair market value has to be set, because it’s deducted. You set a value of $5k for thousands of somethings that an IRS agent might think should be “$500-$1500 x 70 years” ($35,000 to $105K EACH, which, at the high end, should be something the Org should reasonably think they’ll net $210,000,000 for 2000 of), it not only should raise alarm bells, I’m not sure it wouldn’t trigger an audit, for buyer and seller.
      That’s a LOT to work out..

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  • Snyder says:

    I appreciate the (un)official FAQ. I donated earlier this month and appreciate all the work that goes into planning and preparing the event each and every year. Since ticket sales are your biggest source of revenue, have you thought about holding a limited FOMO ticket sale this year to get you over the hump and into next year?

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  • Anon says:

    Hey–there are a bunch of posts stuck in moderation queue because they contain links. How about approving them and letting them be released into the wild so that people can read them?

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  • Dana Stone says:

    Anybody who has really been paying attention knows that it takes lots of time, money, and expertise to produce Black Rock City. The question everybody has been asking is “How much, exactly?” and “How much less could it be done for?” If we are “citizens” of Black Rock City, and you want our money, don’t we deserve to ask some tough questions?

    It seems that the BMORG doesn’t want to go into that in any detail (and, no, the IRS 990s and pie charts are nowhere close to sufficient detail) while simultaneously expecting that burners – in addition to the hundreds of thousands of volunteer hours that make the event possible – will write checks to continue what is looking like an organization which may have real bloat – in terms of serious mission creep, as well as operations and management.

    – Mick Jagger had it right – You can’t always get what you want……

    The BMORG wants to (and is, despite pleas to us) spend lots of money and time on “shifting gears” , ramping up to become a “digital culture-bearing platform” (they are currently HIRING web people, while asking for “survival” donations).
    The BMORG wants to keep buying real estate.
    The BMORG wants expensive offices in Downtown San Francisco. Vs. Reno.
    The BMORG wants to produce an ever growing/commodified/bloated Black Rock City event which has a bus line, and airline for flying in VIPs and glitterati with massive staff and fuel sales, and a huge “OSS” division that just enables varying shades of Plug and Play and commodified non self-reliance… the list goes on.

    – But you might just get what we need.

    Most Burners just want a blank canvas upon which to create Black Rock City – lean, elegant, functional. That’s all.

    I submit that the basis for discussions should be the “Base Case Alternative”.

    This would be a painfully honest and detailed budget for how much would a stripped down BRC event actually cost – which is what most burners want, I think.

    The great question is whether the BORG has the courage and honesty to give us that breakdown.

    It’s obviously not what the BORG wants to do, or even perhaps all burners, but it is an essential BASIS for discussion – i.e.: What is the minimum budget / infrastructure/person hours needed to produce an amazing burn? – The minimum to do Layout, Roads, Gate, Perimeter, Center Camp, Man, Temple, Ranger, Medical, Arctica, Porta Potties, and Resto? So, no (or almost no) O.S.S. – If it’s in your camp or on the playa, you brought it with you. (Okay Okay, we get the containers with our stuff in them …..)
    No airport and related services except medical emergencies; less media mecca, less honoraria…… these things add up.
    – just a clear breakdown of the minimum it takes to layout the blank canvas upon which we burners can be trusted to paint

    This would also include person hours (paid/unpaid) to get it done. And an explanation of equipment ownership, use and maintenance costs and Gerlach area properties.

    Then, I submit, in the words of Mick Jagger “ if you try sometimes, you get what you need.”

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  • Mansoon says:

    This just seems like more of the same. More charged language intended to influence, not inform, asking about granular detail that is already included in general terms in the annual reports but no one NEEDs to know to decide about donations, or at all if you’re not running things (I’ve spent and bought a lot over the years, but, if you’re lending me money, you need some basic info about income and my costs, but don’t need to know I bought an extra honeybun in 1995 or thinking I should drink 20 ounces less soda a day instead of helping), trying to speak for the larger community instead of just yourself or a minority (Looks like a slight change in tactic). Asking questions that can’t possibly be fully answered beforehand (“what is the minimum budget / infrastructure/person hours needed to produce an amazing burn”? According to WHOSE standards? I think 2018 was 5 times more amazing than 2008, but it def cost more.).
    Plus, conditions change every hour on the playa and there’s a lot changes year to year, so the closer the amount you guess in detail, the more you could be wrong year to year. About as wrong as pretending a complete move to a whole other state with about 13x less people and even less money devoted to the arts is AT ALL smart for a nonprofit with decades of origin from the ground up elsewhere, with a more favorable nonprofit tax structure (suggest that to ANY arts nonprofit CEO. I DARE ya! Have oxygen ready for when they pass out for laughing. Don’t take the derisive pointing personally)” or that the OP post doesn’t say they DID some of that already. Some have moved, but it’s not good for everyone for many reasons. Not connected with the Org at all, but I’m supposed to be the best in my division this month at what I do but if you moved me to Reno or Gerlach so you could pay me LESS longterm, I certainly would quit and so might many others and my skills are not THAT unique. Some for the Org have VERY special knowledge and experience in a completely unique place. It’s not like replacing cashiers at a Costco in Chicago..
    I mean, I’ve looked at city budgets and there’s a ton of numbers that could be 100 times more involved with that level of theoretical detail and the question is: What USEFUL information do you need?. Most of this seems useless to those willing to think about Community, Participation and Gifting. Like the 31,000+, including myself, who have helped already. Things are changing and plans are uncertain, as you would normally expect with a worldwide pandemic and economic crash that NOT ONE can reliably tell you how it will play out for ANY business or org on the planet. But people NOT helping is gonna make it a lot harder.
    I’ve had many decades of looking at corrupt and bloated organizations and sometimes it’s true; sometimes it’s just someone with their own agenda who just WANTS it to be true to validate invalid concerns. Like that sheriff that has been harassing the Burner community for millions and wants to look at all the books to find ways to leech even more. Or even just people who think an organization that evolved because it HAD to and because it had a vision for a better future that would be more inclusive is somehow terrible because “It’s not like it was 20 years ago so it’s TERRIBLE!” You might be living in the “Pleased to meet you, hope you guessed my name” mode but what’s puzzling me is the nature of your game.. (Relax. I’m just taking the mick outta ya. ;) YES, that was intentional wordplay on both levels.

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  • Lux Aeterna says:

    Thanks, Will, for this and all you’ve done. We believe, and it will happen. If not in 2021, then in 22. But I’m preparing now. Best wishes to you, Marian, and all burners everywhere. See you in thedust.

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  • Lux Aeterna says:

    …btw, if you don’t want to donate to the org, consider donating to an artist or a project. The one I’m supporting (Prism of Possibilities) is fully funded, but I’m sure there are many others that could use help. A great way to learn about them is through some of the events on Kindling. Stay safe, hippies, and see you in 2021!

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  • victor says:

    what about your ignorance and not answering to any emails/ cases? 8 months have passed and so far no answer about my refund!!! shame on you

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