Meeting Reports and Updates for a proposed  “BC Decompression”

Event: BC Decompression
Date: October 12, 2013
Location: Lower Mainland
Time: All Day
Criteria for Decompression: Download
Proposal for Collaboration: TBA
Proposed Budget: TBA

For 2013 we have asked our community to work with us in developing an event for 2013, while also developing a framework for planning 1-2 years ahead of us. With venues being in high demand, some of the best locations will need to be booked months or years in advance. Our hope moving forward is that we can establish an inclusive process that works well with our community, while respecting the needs of Burning Man in regards to the use of the name “Decompression” and this annual event we wish to call “BC Decompression”.

Heading into the 2013 process, we will consider our previous proposal, and look for ways to develop this event as a collaborative and creative Arts Event accessible to the public, and inclusive of families and the general public.

• We will ask for cooperation from Burning Man in regards to the Decompression Criteria.
• We will extend an invitation to GVIAS, asking for input on how they would like to collaborate.
• We will ask Burning Man to evolve our relationship with them, and how we involve a Regional Contact.
• We will invite our community at large to participate in the process.
• We will book a venue as early as possible.
• We will ramp up to regular meeting.
• We will seek collaboration with Artists.
• We will have all permits and insurance in place well in advance of the event.

Meeting announcements and reporst for “BC Decompression 2013″ will be posted to this thread.

Location: Zawa
Date: Sunday, Oct 14
Time: 5:00pm

Agenda

• Canceling the 2012 proposal
• Burn BC & GVIAS
• Interface with more groups
• 2013 and beyond

Report

Our last meeting for the 2012 concept was a nice one. We were invited to feel comfortable venting, and let the meeting digress into pockets of general discussion, and open communication. Everyone was supportive and understanding that being part of a community sometimes involves difficult discussions about “politics & drama” that we don’t feel comfortable with. We then talked about moving forward and planing for the next few years.

• Canceling the 2012 proposal
  There was another initiative that was pushed to create an event in Squamish. We had invited collaboration from the two people who had signed a contract with the venue. They had not been made aware of the Burn BC initiative and expressed regret that they’d not known sooner, or they might have been interested in a collaboration.
  Resolve: We have decided to cancel our 2012 event, rather then create division or undermine the other event.

• Burn BC & GVIAS
  Burn BC was very interested in proposing a collaboration with GVIAS. We felt that sharing in the risk & reward of the event would be a nice gesture. The concept was proposed to GVIAS, and we were waiting on word from one of the 3 Venues we’d selected before submitting a budget concept.
  Resolve: GVIAS was very supportive and very receptive to our proposal and were willing to our ideas for partnership and collaboration. We look forward to fostering more projects that can collaborate with GVIAS.

• Interface with more groups
  One of the misperception about Burning Man around Vancouver, is that there is Burning Man has an official organization representing it’s interests. Burning Man does not create official organizations. We have groups of people who gather together in mutual respect and offer community outlets, but these are personal initiatives and should in no way be considered “governing bodies” or “representing the community”. Our Community is much wider and far more diverse then any one group, and we want to see Burn BC forge positive collaborative relationships with the wider community. We want to see “BC Decompression” offer an open door, and a helping hand that encourages more groups to be involved without feeling “governed”
  Resolve: As we solidify plans over the next year we will work to interface with more groups, and individuals around our collaborative events.

• 2013 and beyond
  As we wind down this years event plans we want to move into the next year with some milestones and plans that we can work on now. Some of these plans involve supporting the Cacophony Society, and working on the overall direction of the Burn BC project.
  Resolve: Over the next few months we will reorganize the Burn BC project and set down plans for 2013 and the 2013 “BC Decompression”.

Location: Zawa
Date: Sunday, Sept 30
Time: 5:00pm

Agenda

(It’s not a typo, much of what we will discuss is an extension of our last meeting)

• Burning Man Criteria for a Decompression
• Name Use “Format” (updates)
• Previous proposals to BM
• Liquor License
• Venue Decision
• Burn BC & GVIAS
• Interface with more groups
• Roles, Leads, Areas of responsibility

Report

Our meeting was opened by Gypsy Rose with a sweet rendition of “Hallelujah” on the Ukelele. The sun set, and we enjoyed some drinks, and some good discussion.

• Burning Man Criteria for a Decompression
  Early in the process, there were some inconsistencies being presented to us about the criteria that Burning Man is looking for in a Decompression.
  Resolve: Steve Raspa has sent us an unedited document containing the criteria that we will use to organize “Decompression”, a link to the document has been posted on our site: Download PDF
  .
• Name Use “Format” (updates)
  There were some discussions about format of the name of the event, we had wanted to just call it “Burning Man Decompression”. After some discussions with Steve Raspa, we learned that they usually call it “[location] Decompression”.
  Resolve: We are moving forward with the name “BC Decompression” (as the working name and until the formal proposal has been sent), and have updated the website to reflect this.
  .
• Previous proposals to BM
  We would like to see former successful applications to BM around name use.
  Resolve: This Agenda was skipped, to be revisited later.
  .
• Liquor License
  To better gage time constraints and budget, we asked the BCLB for clarification on this.
  Resolve: The License costs $100, outdoor liquor can be arranged and must end by 10pm (unless an exception is applied for), for attendance over 500 a safety plan must be submitted, for an addition $100, and can take 4 weeks to complete.
  .
• Venue Decision
  We are looking for an ideal location for this event. We want it to be an indoor/outdoor venue with good capacity. Compromise Venues can be located. There are some good leads.
  Resolve: We are waiting to hear back from a few locations, we plan to lock down a venue at the next meeting.
  .
• Burn BC & GVIAS
  Burn BC would like to see a collaboration with this event, and would like to invite GVIAS to participate. On Sunday Burn BC met with a member of GVIAS to discuss what kind of proposals to put forward.
  Resolve: A Proposal will be submitted to GVIAS inviting their collaboration.
  .
• Interface with more groups
  We would like to see this collaboration be inclusive to more then just a few groups, we would like to see involvement from people who participate in this culture, but may not have access to the Desert.
  Resolve: We will continue seeking out people to participate.
  .
• Roles, Leads, Areas of responsibility
  We would like to form a process by which individuals take lead responsibility for aspects of the event. Preliminary Discussion suggested some areas of responsibility, and attendees at the meeting expressed what capacity they would like to volunteer for.
  Resolve: As the venue get’s locked down, we will begin to form Roles around needs.
  .

Location: Zawa
Date: Sunday, Sept 23
Time: 5:00pm

Agenda

• Liquor License
• Venue Decision
• Burn BC & GVIAS
• Interface with more groups
• Tickets
• Roles, Leads, Areas of responsibility
• Yvonne, Amanda, and Far’s Hair

Report

We enjoyed a very nice meeting. Gypsy Mermaid opened our meeting with a beautiful song on her new Ukelele-Banjo, and we enjoyed some lighthearted fantasy brainstorming.  If anyone has a full scale volcano we can borrow, it would come in handy for our human sacrifice of Little Woo to the mighty rainbow unicorn. (Tangent)

We made short work of the agenda finishing by 6pm by staying focused, and offering excellent discussion over food and drink.

• Liquor License
  There were questions about special event permits to serve alcohol. The options are $25 for a private event with no door sales, or $100 for a public event that let’s people show up at the door. Both would involve submitting a security plan to local law enforcement, when attendance is over 500.
  Resolve: We have decided to pursue the public permit, as we have time to submit the application and have it approved.
  .
• Venue Decision
  In the last week a few more venue options have come to our attention. Some of these meet our needs better then existing options.
  Resolve: We have decided to delay a venue decision while we find out more information about these other potential location.
  .
• Burn BC & GVIAS
  We would like to see Burn BC and GVIAS work together to serve this community event.
  Resolve: There have been some discussions this week. Burn BC is waiting for specific information about what GVIAS would like to see in a proposal before submitting one.
  .
• Interface with more groups
  At our last meeting, we were told that there may be one or two other groups interested in creating a “Burning Man Decompression” the RC did not tell us who they are, but we would like to invite them into this process. We would also like to reach out to more groups in our community to make them feel welcome in this process.
  Resolve: Everyone has agreed to reach out to any groups or individuals they know who might be interested in participating. We look forward to seeing them at future meeting.
  .
• Tickets
  We had some discussion around ticket prices, subsidized tickets, and gifted tickets. GVIAS does not “comp” tickets, Burn BC likes to offer this option to struggling artists, and members of the community who live in ways that don’t create high income.
  Resolve: Burn BC is offering to pay for “gift tickets” out of it’s share of the cost/revenue, we will also set up the ticketing system with an additional “Donate to subsidized tickets” option in the online ticket system
  .
• Roles, Leads, Areas of responsibility
  As we move forward, we will begin to delegate areas of responsibility for the event, and location.
  Resolve: Our meeting flowed very well, and this agenda item was skipped for the next meeting.
  .
• Yvonne, Amanda, and Far’s Hair
  There was some discussion about Yvonne, Amanda, and Far’s Hair.
  Resolve: Far was unavailable, her cell phone needed to be stored in Rice to dry it out, Yvonne had a nice streak of red in her bangs, and Amanda refused to change her hair, but we all agreed the three of them look fabulous.

Location: Zawa
Date: Saturday, Sept 15th
Time: 4:30pm

Agenda

• Venues Scouted so far.
• Using an independent and qualified bookkeeping agency.
• Potential GVIAS & Burn BC Collaboration.
• Permission from the Burning Man Project to use TM “Decompression”
• Working with the Regional Contacts.
• Other groups.

Report

• Venues Scouted so far.
  Several Venues were discussed, most are either booked solid, too expensive, or too small. One venue stood out as an ideal location.
  Resolve: We will spend one more week looking for any other locations before making a decision.
  .
• Using an independent and qualified bookkeeping agency.
  We would like to keep the books clear and open using GAAP (Generally Accepted Accounting Principles)
  Resolve: We will shop around for a bookkeeper. No one objects.
  .
• Potential GVIAS & Burn BC Collaboration.
  Burn BC would like to work with GVIAS. It looks like there is potential to make it work.
  Resolve: Burn BC and GVIAS will have private discussion to figure out a collaborative framework.
  .
• Permission from the Burning Man Project to use TM “Decompression”
  Permission is needed to use the name “Decompression” in the event name.
  Resolve: Permission has been requested, there is a process to follow. If there is a hitch with the name use, then another name will be used instead and the process will be initiated this year, in anticipation for 2013 and beyond.
  .
• Working with the Regional Contacts.
  To use the name “BC Decompression” an RC needs to be involved and certain criteria met.
  Resolve: An RC will work with this collaboration to assist in the process.
  .
• Other Groups
  Micheal Gove has suggested there are two other groups who have expressed interest in creating a “Burning Man Decompression. Resolve: He will contact them and extend our invitation to them. We are waiting to hear from these groups and would like to invite them into the process.