Each year we hold a census after Burning Seed. It’s a great chance for us all to check the pulse of our community and its experience of Burning Seed: its highs, its lows and its general trends. Your answers inform the direction and future of Burning Seed, as well as our community.
2. Why we do it
• Engage and profile our community
• Seek feedback about event – refine, engage
• Understand the impact on participants
• Understand / support community
development
* More about Census process at the end of this
presentation
3. How we use it
• Promotion - Facebook, website and newsletter
• Analysis by Bubbles
• Reporting
– To Seed organisers at Summit for response
– Summary and response published (This!)
– Raw data shared on website with themes
– Feedback to team leads - Rangers, Greeters, Gate,
DPI, Communications
4. Your participation
• 600 responses (508 complete, 26 duplicates)
• Total of 574 participants = 17% attendees
• Voluntary, anonymous unless you added your
details
• Average time < 20mins – estimated 8mins
7. How we found out about Seed
• 73% word of mouth
• 15% Burning Man
• 10% Regional communities across the globe
• 8% Facebook
• 6% website
8. Burgin’ing Burners
• 43% had not attended Seed before
• 48% have attended local BMA events
– 85% Theme camp fundraisers
– 68% Decompression
– 22% Seed sessions, 26% Burning Beers
– 25% Pot Lucks, 15% Crafting
• 23% have been to Burning Man: 16% regionals
9. How we travelled to Seed
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70 69
26
0
3
0 0
6
I drove my car, RV, truck
Someone gave me a lift
Train
Aeroplane
Bike
I walked
Other-required
11. Burner families
• 267 responses
– 57% partners
– 16% children
– 9% siblings
– 6% ‘adopted’
– 5% cousins etc
– 3% parents
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
3
16
9
2
6 5 4
57
22
Parents
Children
Siblings
In laws
Adopted family
members
Aunts, uncles,
cousins
Further extended
Partner
Other
12. How we contributed
• 81% contributed, 18% sort of, 1% no, 5% other
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
23
76
31
47
22
8
22
Volunteered for a community crew
shift/role (Ranger, Greeter, Site Manager
etc)
Gifted something
Built something
Helped create a theme camp
Performed
13. Why we contributed
“Because I saw a need…”
“To add to the incredible community we are creating”
“Because I have the ability to, it's what the burn is about and I
really wanted to”
“Who knows? I must be mad, or a glutton for punishment.. I like
seeing wonder on peoples faces when they see our setup.”
14. Your feedback about Seed
How was it?
• 83% awesome, 13% fun
• 4% ok, 1% didn’t enjoy
Would you come again?
• 90% Yes!
• 8% maybe, 1% no
83
13
4 1
15. Your feedback about Seed
“ Wow! Shit got official!”
“ So impressed with the level of dedication and
commitment from the organisers and theme camps.
Truly spectacular.”
“Impressed. I somewhat knew I was in for something
special, but approached the event with cynical open
mind, and was proven right.”
16. Your feedback about Seed
“I've been to both Nevada and now Seed and I
preferred Seed. The size of the community was
awesome as you'd meet new people and usually
see most of those new friends the following day.
This is impossible in Nevada. The environment
was much easier to be in as there was shade and
it was a bunch of relaxed Aussies hanging out.”
17. How you rated…
Topic Rating
Consent communications Very positive
10 principles communications Great but need more
Ticket process Very positive
Gate and greeters Very positive
Toilets and sanitation Very positive
Noise levels Mixed response
Leave no Trace & MOOP Very positive
Health and Safety Very positive
Media processes Very positive
18. Some issues you raised
• Volunteering:
– Core crew burn out
– Community crew - understanding of commitment,
shift lengths
• ‘Quiet’ area not quiet enough?
• Gate and greeters process and queuing
• Education about principles
• Environmental factors
19. What you told us about them
“Being only my second burn, but with so many burgins this year,
I felt a little like I was trying to hold a space I still didn't quite
understand myself. But assuming I didn't fuck that up too much,
it was an intense, fantastic experience, which was exactly what I
was looking for.”
“My third burn. Increasing number of dicks who abuse the free
aspect and take no responsibility for self or crap they bring with
them. This is more evident with each burn. Sad really.”
20. What you told us about them
• “I was not expecting the music to be that loud or to be non-
stop for the whole time. Not having any possibility to escape it
even for a brief time made me feel as though I was going
insane.”
• “Excessively loud sound for too long drowning out other
opportunities.”
• “Whilst I don't mind music going all night. I feel that night
after night was really draining and over stimulating. A few
hours break to receive the sounds of the bush and a sense of
connective silence would have been good. Yes, I wore ear
plugs but some nights were too much.”
21. Crewing Seed
• 163 respondents volunteered:
– 61% beforehand
– 39% at event (63p)
• 232 respondents said it was:
– 212 awesome (137), good (75)
– 20 not too bad (11), average (7), terrible (2)
1 3 5
32
59
Terrible
Pretty
average
Not too
bad
Pretty
good
AWESOME
22. Your crew experience
“The most professional bunch of rag tag misfits eva! The care
factor and pride in which vols operated with was inspiring. The
genuine authentic honour that the displayed for having the
opportunity to perform their roles was a joy to witness. “
“great people involved, it was work, but good fun work!”
“Learnt so much and had fun doing it”
23. Your crew experience
“It was good to be part of an in crowd inside such a big crowd. A
sense of security which allowed for greater letting go”
“There is room for improvement in the structuring of shifts. We
are still growing, always things to improve on.”
““I think some of the shifts could be shorter, even though it was
great,2to 3hr shifts would be more practical”
25. Dealing with the issues you raised
• To ensure our core crew don’t burn out we have been
documenting processes, set up succession plans for key roles /
team leads and are ramping up recruitment. Want to join the
crew? - jointhecrew@burningseed.com
• We are refining the induction process for volunteers so those
who sign up to work onsite fully understand the commitment
they sign up for.
• We try to create a quiet area and have a sound policy but this
can be hard to enforce when well-meaning renegade
(unregistered) theme camps set up outside of allocated
areas. We’ll continue to do our best to create quieter areas
and will introduce a ‘Sanctuary’ to Seed in 2016.
26. Dealing with the issues you raised
• The line at Gate on Day 1 was longer than we anticipated. We
are going to widen the lanes and move greeters closer to the
Paddock to reduce the bottleneck but we need your help –
please make sure you print your tickets before leaving home.
• We had a lot of first timers this year. This makes education
even more important, but this is everyone’s job. At AfrikaBurn
there’s an 11th Principle: “Each one, teach one”. 43% of
Census respondents told us they heard about Seed through
word of mouth and 53% came with a theme camp. So when
you’re talking about Seed, and when bringing friends, make
sure to educate others about the Principles too.
27. Dealing with the issues
• We love that you care about our environment. We do our
best to ensure everyone Leaves No Trace (LNT) at Seed, but
it’s up to all of us to take care of our MOOP (Matter Out Of
Place). After Seed, our LNT team and MOOP Troupe scour the
site and prepare a map showing where they found MOOP.
This map is published online, affects Theme Camps grants and
is used by those who manage our Red Earth Ecology program
to help restore biodiversity onsite. Get involved! Promote LNT
at and before Seed, join the LNT team and MOOP Troupe by
emailing: jointhecrew@burningseed.com
29. How Seed affected you
“It is amazing to be in a place with such freedom to explore yourself,
your own limits, your passions, your interactions with others. You learn
so much about yourself and what you are capable of. And I am always
amazed and incredibly happy to see others finding themselves in new
ways as well.”
“I've made some great friends, had some interesting adventures and
accomplished quite a lot of awesome things all associated with Burning
Seed.”
“I think it consumes an inordinate amount of time for a 6 day camping
trip, but I choose to make it that way.. so no complaints.”
30. Burner communities beyond Seed
23
17
25
14
8
13
At least once a week
At least once a fortnight
At least once a month
At least every three months
At least every six months
Just once a year, around
Seed
31. Your advice for Burgins
“Just open your mind and your heart and your eyes and leave
your judgments at the gate.”
“Read, watch, engulf, learn - and that’s all before the event - the
more you learn the more you are prepared and the transition
from burgin to burner is easier.”
“To go with no expectations. Be prepared for anything. It will be
whatever it will be for you, it's definitely not another "festival”.
33. Room for improvement
• Consider new tool:
– Enter button skipped pages
– Display on various devices
• Questions:
– Refine format of new question
– Include demographics in ticket process to reduce
time
34. Opportunities
• We now have four years of data about our
community
• Preparing a poster for Centre Camp
• Larger community = more participation / data,
access to skills / bigger team
• Can inform social impact assessment
35. Thank you – from Bubbles
Thank you to everyone who participated. It’s an
honour and pleasure to hear your stories and
share your views with our community.
Notas del editor
Do you agree that this is the purpose of Census?
NB: All comments were provided anonymously
501 responded to the description question
63% employed
24% self-employed
14% Student
5% Unemployed
7% Other
436 responses – 231 or 53% came with a theme camp
14% came with family - 59p
73% came with friends
10% regional community
Really impressed with the infrastructure. Toilets were great! Even though size is 5% of burning man, Art & infrastructure is more like 15% of the big burn with hardly any of the snark!
It was sweet, communication was clear and concise.
The most professional bunch of rag tag misfits eva! The care factor and pride in which vols operated with was inspiring. The genuine authentic honour that the displayed for having the opportunity to perform their roles was a joy to witness.
great people involved, it was work, but good fun work!
Learnt so much and had fun doing it
It was good to be part of an in crowd inside such a big crowd. A sense of security which allowed for greater letting go
I forced myself out of my comfort zone by talking to people. Also got to use my talent of organising shit.
Gate was fairly fun but I'd probably only do one shift next year. Rangering was WAAY more enjoyable than expected and I look forward to getting more involved.
My pre burn crew didn't really need my help and sent me away twice. I was discouraged from helping them. I ended up building a theme camp with new friends instead. Greeting was awesome but I would have preferred to do only one shift. Felt I spent too much time at the gate
I think some of the shifts could be shorter, even though it was great,2to 3hr shifts would be more practical
Opportunity:
I feel like I could have been better help someplace else
we haven\'t put much into team/group formation, so it\'s everyone doing what they do for their own reasons and not much camaraderie
Many teething problems. More responsibility than I thought. Not enough help to perform my role
There is room for improvement in the structuring of shifts. We are still growing, always things to improve on.
It was mostly awesome, but with perhaps a little less support as a noob than I would have liked on my first shift. But really, mostly awesome.
the stockade was too full and the were factions. I have never seen that before. Too many people doing fuck all. Too many fluffies.
was a lot of work pre-event when I was also busy with other things
I wasn't able to give as much time as others as I'm a single parent with already too much on my plate
The only reason it wasn't AWESOME is that I would like to be involved with a building crew based in Sydney to learn more building stuff rather than doing as much administrative/event based stuff.
It was great getting to know the awesome people that build our city. I loved it and I don't want to camp anywhere but the stockade next year.
My friend and uI helped out with a few odd jobs in return for early entry. We finished up in the Stockade and was offered tea and coffee. However it didn't take long for my friend and I feel quite unwelcome by the fire. I suppose that is one small bad experience I didn't think of earlier.
I was there for just over a week before the event and wasn't prepared for how hard that crew parties. I am not a partier, at least not in that sense. So unfortunately I began the burn exhausted, pissed off and a bit alienated. I really had to work to shift my attitude once the burn started.
