Flipside 2020 has been cancelled.
burningflipside.com/announcements/flipside-20...Posted Mar 31, 2020, 3:37 PM UTC
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burningflipside.com
Nice way to handle the refund option. The main thing is there needs to be a transparent sharing of what they have spent the money on so far.
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Generally speaking, AAR is very transparent,(before all this) monthly open to the community meetings, they were at weekly events, etc. You can easily ask them questions. If someone is involved, that answer is easy, probably around 6-8k has already been spent on what this years effigy would have been, there is rent on the warehouse, general upkeep of various tools, radios, etc. Who knows what deals they have already made and lost deposits on because of this, Land agreements, cart rentals, there is a fuck ton that goes with organizing a burn, even a small 2900 person one. The Financials are and have been up on their website.
These people are selfless because they are not being paid, they are out money as well because everyone buys a ticket. During the event, they are on 1 24 hour shift and if something goes down, they are in the meetings even if it was their day off. They give up their Flipside, so everyone else can have their Flipside. I know that cancellation wasn't an easy one, nor is it fun to have to figure out all those questions that people will have. Its the 1st time they have had to cancel the event, and they are really doing their best.
I dont mean to get all defensive but i know these people, ive worked with them for a while. I understand that this is a stressful time, it is for the organizers as well, trying to navigate through territory that hasn't happened for most of these events before. I see a ton of people demanding this or that (not saying that you are specifically) without a regard that some of these people its their life. The AAR of Flipside do the work that I would not want to do. I dont want to do a meeting every week, dealing the the county, talking to the lawyer, figuring out insurance every damn year, sometimes doing a 2nd lead position (like update the website on the regular, or code a new volunteer recruitment system) & then pretty much work the entire event.
I think they are doing a bang up job & will do things in the best interest of the community.
I think a solid portion of the community is not going to ask for refunds because of what we get here in Austin. A warehouse with tools to borrow or space to use as long as there is a schedule spot open. I refused a refund because of all of that. That and, this type of thing can kill a burn. Especially a small one, there are 5 people on our LLC, think of 2 of them said "fuck this noise, this is too much bullshit to deal with" & quit, that would put the other 3 through the ringer, unless they have replacements, less hands = even more work, which means... maybe they decide to not do it anymore. Not saying that is probable, but the chances are not 0.
Sheesh, sorry to rant there. Have a good day :)
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If that's a rant, there is no apology required. That's for the detail from how a true community regional handled it.
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Hehe no problem. No accusations or implications in my comment. Just observing that transparency is important.
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100% with you on that!
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Sad :( but this is a responsible call.
I am impressed by the elegant way they explain their financial situation, and what the consequences of the cancellation are. Also, how nice and fair to let ticket holders choose if they actually want a refund or not.
The thorough FAQ is very much worth reading as it covers a lot of details in clear answers. It is almost as if they look at the common questions in r/BurningMan and answered them :)
Such a good idea to have a virtual town hall meeting to answer other questions. Good management and open communication.
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In my experience and how i have viewed how flipside operates, a lot of what they do is based on what burning man does or has done in the past and built on it. They seem to have seen the errors BM has done and tried their own way to avoid them. Im very certain they looked at what was going on with BM and tried to avoid it
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they've made some decisions over the years that i disagree with (can't really get into them, it's been a couple years now) but recently it seems like they've been doing just that - and building upon what the borg has not.
i really liked that they gave people the option to refund or not.
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I think its most regionals rotate leadership a ton. It's draining to get a regional going year after year. I did it twice and I was worn out from always being on the land every weekend, etc.
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Thats the fun thing to me, when i started going to Flipside the LLC were 5 people, within 3 years, still 5 people, but 4 of them are rotated off. Now the LLC are different from then. Thats kind of the point, so when someone says "the LLC did such n such back in 09 or '11 and they suck" (which is a conversation i have had) they dont know what they are talking about because the board has fully rotated atleast 2x and maybe even 3x since then. The history with flipside is fun but goddamn sometimes people cant get over some shit that happened 15 years ago.
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I think Myschevia finally went the same way too. The LLC members are all new.
It’s been a few years since I’ve been and was looking at 2020, but I guess 2021 it is. :)
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sounds like alchemy leadership too
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Nowhere in Spain was cancelled too, they do a partial refund and they published most of the numbers.
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Good thing http://isflipsidecanceled.com/ got updated
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Grace under pressure.
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A Hemingway code hero! (and I thought I’d never use that knowledge in real life!)
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Flipside did it right. A tight community...
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Whoever is in charge of this needs to be put in charge of BMORGs PR. A clear and decisive message with reasonable options and an honest management of expectations.