What has gone wrong with Burn2 (June 2022)?

 So what has gone wrong with Burn2 culture and left it in its very sorry state as of this writing (June 2022)? 

To put it bluntly the big problem currently with Burn2 is mainly Micromanagement behaviors from some of the upper rings of power and also an air of "Anyone can be a lead BUT only certain people I really want to have power really are allowed to be lead". That is not spoken, but practiced by several leads.

 

Some of the root problems are inherent not only to Burn2 either but inherent problems growing in our society at large and just infecting every subculture. Through my recent participation I've noted what I'd refer to as incrowd/outcrowd polarization and mistrust seeping into burner culture as a whole due to the crazy polarization of culture in general.. I'm even seeing polarization in many furry groups I'm part of as both a participant and a leader. It's really getting serious but few really have a grasp on that it's happening or how to really correct the problems. I can't even say I have any good solutions but, at least  I'm  noticing the problems.

 

But getting back to Burn2. 

 

The fact of the matter is "anyone can lead" is a misnomer and we really need to stop saying that as it's excluding those who really could join in and contribute significantly. Everyone can participate. But those that wear the hats of leadership need to show and prove they understand it before just being handed the tiller and allowed to pilot the ship wherever they please. Continuing that metaphor; they need to know the navigation they need to learn how to feel the water, and they need to know the rudder limits.. without that we know mistakes could happen and the boat overturned or runaground leading to much anger and harm to all. So many in Lead positions say "radical inclusion" but know it's always tempered by "civic responsibility". 

 

How do we encourage growth of leadership but in a more controlled, responsible way?

That's a challenge that requires defined roles and a framework of apprenticeship and inclusion. That leads back to the other main problem that isn't being faced.. Micromanagement. As said, a few in Burn2 leadership positions have shown such tendencies; wanting to retain full control of what they do, not trusting anyone else to do their jobs the way "the job should be done". etc..  Burn2 culture and leadership has gotten complacent just letting micromanagement happen by key individuals just explaining it away as “nobody else wants to do or can do the job” Even worse, certain individuals of power are just allowed to overstep their bounds and unilaterally just decide what people can and can’t do with no accountability. I have been a victim of this. And it leaves me questioning if I should even continue to participate.

What does Burn2 need right now though?

Accountability to the community. The leadership of Burn2 needs to be accountable to their own rules. Instead what seems to be happening is talk of more rules and codes of conduct that will restrain bad practices. However, if the micromanagement and mentality of “This is MY burn. The rules only apply to the other people” continues, we will just end up with rules and codes managed to restrain others but not stop those in privileged positions to continue their bad behaviors. And it really won’t be the community's burn. It will continue to be just their burn that they allow you to participate in as long as you agree with them. 

 

So where are these insights coming from? 

As whatever is happening now at Burn2 is unclear and uncertain. And there is no mention if we will have any other chance of sharing further insight of our experience with burn2. I'm just going to include a partial recap of my personal experience and insight over recent years below. Names are mostly not mentioned aside from the lead that encouraged me to stick around and not leave Burn2.

 

First to give some background of who I am and my experience with Burn2:

In Second Life I’m known as  Zoren Manray. I've been a participant of Burn2 since before it was Burn2 having visited the virtual playa way back in the Burning Life days before 2010. I really didn’t pay much attention to the management though for quite a few years until 2018 when I first got involved as a greeter and then, as things progressed, I got involved with the Burn2 DPW when it was resurrected as a department in 2020. Later that year I was fortunate enough to not only get to lead the Man burn team in 2020 but also got to design “The Sheltered Man” an original version of the man as there was no official 2020 man design. In 2021 I applied to be the Second RC for Burn2 but was not chosen for that position. I continued with the Burn2 DPW to support events through 2021 and was Event Lead for the Virtual burn 2021 showcase event during burnweek in August. I then again burned “The Doorman” at both Virtual burn 2021 and Octoburn 2021. I've also built my own art camps at some of the quarterly events as well as Octoburn 2020 and 2021. And have attended many of the weekly planning meetings over the last couple years. So I am not a casual participant anymore, and yet due to events this past year I have been made to feel dismissed as insignificant.

 

My Icarus moment (flew too high and was shot down)?

 

A week before Burn2 Octoburn 2021, despite me still working with DPW to support the event through the man build, street signs, and general building support, I was removed without explanation from the Burn2 Access support staff role of which I've been part of for about 2 years. It made my job a bit more difficult having those permissions revoked, but it didn’t prevent me from doing what I needed to do as I still was allowed minimal access as a Camp builder. What annoys me most is this was done silently with no explanation.. This, to me at least, sent the message that someone with power does not trust or want me and others in the DPW to have such access anymore. If it was done in a more transparent way, sure I’d feel a bit hurt by the lack of trust, but at least it would have not been a “Hah! let him find out he’s been deauthorized”  in a somewhat backstab move. Well as a good support team member, I continued as “the show must go on.” 

 

After Octoburn, I still wondered who made the call to remove me from the support role and why. I messaged several other leads and one RC over time asking why I had my permissions revoked without notice. They all seemed to listen but the response in the long term was just silence.. No explanation and even a feeling of some wondering why I even had or if I even had support role powers to begin with. In December 2021 I had considered stepping away for awhile completely, but Herbie (DPW lead) convinced me otherwise. I still became a bit more distant and absent at times in response to being shown my place in the power structure. 

I still tried to make more contributions though. When proposals of a new logo for Burn2 happened I made some suggestions. Then the process was delayed in odd ways and unexplainably made biased towards submissions not fitting “some key person’s” vision. My designs made it through though and were liked by many just as much if not even more so then the old logo. I didn’t like my submission anymore though.. I thought it too singular as there were so many grand ideas from others that were dismissed. I proposed an amalgamation logo that incorporated aspects from several of the top voted submissions. I was told it seemed like a good idea and that more discussion on perhaps adopting it could be had… There was no discussion the idea of a new representative logo was dropped and buried several months ago and no interest to revisit it has been allowed since. 

I proposed theme concepts for upcoming 2022 quarterly events. Again things seemed to be set a bit biased against them and ultimately simpler themes were chosen. There were poster callouts for the events and I ended up being the only one who even bothered to submit posters.. They seemed begrudgingly chosen as they were “The only option”. I said I could even work with anyone who had ideas but didn’t have the skills to fully express them. Burnal equinox 2022 was still fun though. I was tasked with street signs, and other infrastructure. They turned out pretty neat, however despite many enjoying them there were messages at times that the layout and infrastructure was not to some of the other department leads preferences.. 

And then the unthinkable happened. The playa was CLOSED. Someone somewhere in the upper levels of Burn2 power had had enough of the growing disharmony in the leadership and decided to hit the nuclear option. Restricting anyone but Leads from even visiting the empty playa as some sort of punishment for the Leads dysfunction. Now I could have understood canceling any further events until leadership and roles were set straight. But allowing only dysfunctional leadership the only access to the Deep Hole region to have occasional meetings, that even the existence or progress of is not reported to the rest of the community just gives a middle finger to a whole bunch of the ten principles. It is the most non inclusive move done with a feeling of malice with no regard to Civic Responsibility or Communal Effort. This is not BURN culture! This is the Vindictive “This is mine F* you!” mentality that has infected the greater US culture. It’s shocking and saddening to see..

That's where we are at then. Supposedly there are talks going on.. Where they go, who knows. Will I return when they are over? I don’t know. 

In the meantime magic still happens elsewhere.

Those left behind have been meeting on a virtual beach for awhile, after that there will always be something else.. Home is not any one place, physical or virtual. It’s the place where family and friends are. It’s where you rest along the journey. Where stories are created and shared. While homes can sometimes burn or be lost, as long as there are still others out there that care and help the recovery, a new home can eventually be found and new stories and adventures made.

Thanks for listening,

Zoren Manray