Kiwiburn 2007 Afterburn Report
June 15, 2007
1. Introduction by Regional Rep, Mark Stirling, aka Yonderman
This year's Kiwiburn was hugely successful. Though similar
or even slightly less in numbers than the previous two Kiwiburns,
I would say it was the best Kiwiburn yet. It was truly burning
man and everyone was there because it was burning man. Burning
Man in NZ has just taken a huge step forward. I felt similar
euphoria at this event to what I felt at the very first Kiwiburn
where I realised that NZ'ers would "get" burning
man and could therefore start the building of a community.
Now we have that and more, and it's only going to get better.
It's also a very secure feeling to know that we don't have
to go to the playa to find our community. It's here. While
I wasn't able to attend the May 2007 Regionals Summit in San
Francisco due to costs (financially I only manage to visit
the office when I am on a worktrip) and conflicting demands
on my time, I was able to provide the BMORG and regionals
with enthusiastic emails and pics from this and earlier Kiwiburns
(some were being aired on their slide show during the summit).
Actiongrl and Maid Marian are pretty keen to come out to attend
our event! They said they might have come this year if they
hadn't been organising the Summit. Big wow!!
2. Organization by Kathy "KuriousKat" Guidi
Kiwiburn 2007 would not have happened without the dedication
and vision of a small handful of Wellington and Auckland based
folks. When the decision was made in June 2006 to move Kiwiburn
to the north island (the hub of the burner community), several
people stepped up to the plate to bring the vision to fruition.
These merry band of burners served on the 2006-07 Kiwiburn
Executive Committee (excom). In addition to wearing their
'excom' hats and overseeing countless mundane administrative
tasks, they served in many other capacities without which
Kiwiburn would not have been possible. In brief, your excom
consisted of:
Wendy "Dr. Windy" Allison: Wendy served in many
capacities too numerous to mention. Her primary 'jobs' were
as co-creator of the magnificent Temple, Health & Safety
Officer (a thankless job), Environmental Safety and Farmer
liaison, and bringer of shiny & glowy things to all.
Myles "Firebrat" White: Myles was the visionary
and creator of The Man, a five meter tall movable installation
that exceeded everyone's expectations. He also served as the
Wellington theme camp regional contact and was part of the
theme camp placement and site planning committee.
Mark "Yonderman" Stirling: A veteran Burning Man
and Kiwiburn burner and the man who had the vision to bring
Burning Man to New Zealand, Mark serves as the official regional
representative and liaison to the Burning Man organization
(BMORG) and also serves as our excom elder, bringing years
of sage experience and advice to the group.
Jessica "Strawberry Cheesecake Rabbit" Lunsford:
A long-time burner and visionary, Jess and her partner Alan
designed and ran the greeter "Mutation Station"
which was no small endeavor and brought us the Smokes-n-Jokes
hookah tent. Jess also helped organize events at Center Camp.
Polly "Mistress Polly" Lind: Polly served as the
ExCom Secretary/Committee Wrangler keeping everyone on track
and on task throughout the year. She was also the other co-creator
of the beautiful Temple and served as the First Aid Liaison
to the Event Medics team. Polly's also known for 'putting
that kettle on' and ran the relaxing afternoon tea party and
social.
Allyn "Chewtoy" York: Allyn had the dubious task
of serving as the ExCom accountant and financial guru and
was often the 'voice of reason' when spending was due to get
out of control. Always game for a boogie or a rodeo, you could
find Allyn wandering Kiwiburn in any number of outlandish
and fabulous outfits!
Chris "Kiwi" Hankins: Relatively new to Kiwiburn,
but not to Burning Man, Kiwi joined the team only a few months
before the event and immediately stepped in to fill many important
roles. In addition to overseeing the Ministry of Public Works
(MPW) team, Kiwi became our liaison to all things bureaucratic
(Destination Taupo, Taupo District Council for permits, the
Volunteer Fire Brigade, King Country Power Company, the portable toilet
company and more) and was the festival on-site manager. You
often found Kiwi near the shed, overseeing and providing the
necessary tools and advice for many people's art project.
Always keen, always smiling, and almost always with a glass
of Chardonnay!
Cass Edwards: Hailing all the way from Oz, but a lover of
New Zealand, Cass donated countless hours of her time to bring
the Kiwiburn website to life. She was also one of the co-creators
of The Green Fairy camp, designer of many of the 'kiwiburn
man' flags, and will be forever remembered as The Gymkhana
mistress, spearheading an afternoon of raucous laughter by
allowing her pony Dobbin to be ridden by the masses.
Sam Hankins: Our youngest member of the team, Sam served
as assistant website updater; the Auckland theme camp regional
contact; and was part of the JAFAB camp bringing us the amazing
Skytower art installation and The Thunderdome.
Shelley Watson: A Burning Man burner, Shelley was our marketing
materials (business cards, posters, website graphics) designer
extroadinnaire! She also co-created The Cookie Tree and edible
art installation. Yum!
- Show quoted text -
Kyla Dresden: A last minute emergency prevented Kyla from
attending Kiwiburn this year, but Kyla was there in spirit.
She served as the theme camp, art installation, and center
camp liaison.
Bruce Scanlon: A long-standing Burning Man burner, Bruce
was often a good sounding board and advice giver in many of
the complex excom discussions. He served as the south island
theme camp regional rep and was also co-creator of The Green
Fairy camp and maker of the delicious green goodness.
3. Financials by Kathy "KuriousKat" Guidi and Allyn
"Chewtoy" York
We did very well with our financials this year. Most of our
income came from prepaid ticket sales purchased either via
the Kiwiburn website or through the Real Groovey retail outlets
in Auckland and Wellington. The majority of tickets were sold
at the $40 level. Approximately 145 burners attended the event.
A significant sum came from Destination Taupo (DT). Kiwi
connected with DT's Events Marketing Manager, Warwick Hall,
several months before Kiwiburn and explained the Kiwiburn
festival concept to him. Warwick really got behind us and
showed his enthusiasm by committing $2000 to the event. This
was great news as the team was a bit concerned about mounting
expenses. Nearer to the event, as the KB team were juggling
additional unexpected expenses, Warwick stepped in again and
assisted us with additional funds to put towards various council
rental fees, grass cutting, and sound equipment rentals. KB
sends a big thank you out to Destination Taupo and to Warwick!
On the expense side of things, our largest expense was for
the Event Medics, our first aid safety team who were on-site
24x7 for the event. Site fees (council rental and grass cutting
of paddocks) cost us $1490. The renting of the main marquee
and the sound equipment for center camp cost us a hefty $1975
- in hindsight, this proved to be an expensive commitment
for center camp and we aim to reduce this cost significantly
for 2008.
INCOME:
$ 3,910 Online ticket sales (after PayPal fees)
$ 1,350 Real Groovy (Auckland)
$ 200 Real Groovy (Wellington)
$ 627 Gate Sales
$ 4,340 Contribution from Destination Lake Taupo
----------
$10,427
EXPENSES:
$ 2,500 Event Medics
$ 900 Council Rental Fees
$ 590 Grass cutting
$ 1,175 Sound System Rental
$ 500 Marquee Rental
$ 300 Marquee Permit
$ 366 Insurance
$ 339 Printing (cards)
$ 253 Printing (tickets)
$ 100 Power
$ 544 Toilets (Port-a-loo Rentals)
$ 630 Art Installation Supplies (Lumber, spray paint, wire,
crimper, etc)
$ 267 EcoCrop Mat (temple materials)
$ 172 Glow Sticks
$ 117 Walkie-Talkies
$ 37 Solar Lights
--------------
$ 8,790
After expenses, we netted a nifty sum of $1,638 which will
be our seed money for Kiwiburn 2008!
4. Environment
Kiwiburn is a leave no trace (LNT) event. Everything that
is brought in must be taken out. This is one of the guiding
principles of our event. We had a general recycling area and
collected glass, paper, and plastic recycling which we were
able to bring to the Mangakino recycling center. Overall,
participants did a great job of leaving the paddocks tidy
which made the Ministry of Public Works (MPW) team job much
easier!
5. Art & Theme Camps by Kathy "KuriousKat" Guidi
We had a lot of stellar art and theme camps this year. What
made it especially meaningful were the connections made -
with only 145 participants, one got to really know everyone
over the course of the event.
We had a man, a temple, a labyrinth, a sky tower, a kiwi,
a center camp with a huge sound system, a greeter station,
a bar, a dance camp, a chill space, some fire spinners, body
painters, a thunderdome teepee and some art. Random things
by random people.
But these random people were not so random. We came together
as strangers and formed a community with all our creative
ideas and left as friends.
That was Myles' man, a giant flaming, dancing structure;
Polly and Wendy's designed temple in which just about everyone
at Kiwiburn helped to build, then repair when the winds took
at it, then tear down and carried over to the man to burn;
Pearl's labyrinth, which was lit on fire and everyone walked
through in a state of happiness and joy; the JAFAB's sky tower,
built over the course of many days and assisted by the paid
medical staff who helped out whenever they could cuz they
were digging our vibe; Sebastian's kiwi - Sebastian, who said
'hey Kiwiburn can't be Kiwiburn unless there's a kiwi to burn',
and to which Bruce replied, 'so make one', and he did over
the course of several days with the help of Cory and Jane
and many others; everyone's center camp in which newly 'outed'
dj's took to the stage and helped us get our dance groove
on; Jess and Alan's greeter station, where every person arriving
at the event was welcomed with a smile and shiny sparkles
or a paddle or two; The Green Fairy bar run by me, Bruce,
and Cass, which lit up every night and which brought green-goodness
to all; Pink Moa dance camp run by gregarious Jonathan and
sweet Sam and which almost got taken out by the downpour;
Roy and Alfred's chill space where one could drop by and cozy
up on the pillows and take in an artsy movie; the very groovy
fire spinners, many of whom I met briefly but can't quite
remember their names except for Fireman Sam - they busted
out every night and dazzled us all; Evs and Richard who set
up a body painting tent and created some beautiful temporary
human art; Josie and Carl and Sam's bamboo Thunderdome complete
with bright lights and heavy metal sounds backdropping to
the cacophony of laughter as we watched friends battle it
out with big duct-taped covered foam bats; Gadjit and Skat's
Echo Chamber: simple but brilliantly synergistic with the
great natural beauty on site; and Shelley and Abbie's cookie
tree.
For more on the art and theme camps, see Kathy's Kiwiburn
blogpost (http://www.kathysgetaways.com/212/kiwiburn07/)
and Wendy's post about the Temple (
http://tatjna.livejournal.com/338217.html)
Next year is going to be better than ever, so get your creative
juices flowing! Join the theme camp discussion forums (http://www.kiwiburn.com/forum/
) and think about registering your camp (http://www.kiwiburn.com/themereg.html
) or art installation (http://www.kiwiburn.com/installreg.html
) now!
6. Communications & Technology
We worked hard this year to update our communications channels
to the community. The website was born (http://www.kiwiburn.com/index.html
); and the forums created (http://www.kiwiburn.com/forum/).
General discussion of Kiwiburn can still take place on Tribe
( http://kiwiburn.tribe.net/?_click_path=Application%5Btribe%5D.Tribe%5Be41ba930-9aaa-4575-85c1-948ba550efa5%5D)
7. Health & Safety by Wendy "Dr. Windy" Allison
Safety plans. I would like to categorically state that as
H&S officer, I was disappointed in the response to the
request for H&S plans prior to the event. We need to have
these on hand (our own one covers general event stuff but
each camp should have one too). Quote here: "As the festival
grows, safety will become a much bigger issue for us to deal
with and it's important that participants acknowledge and
address safety issues prior to the event or they may not be
able to proceed with their theme camp."
Yeah, I mean it. I did some on-the-spot safety inspections,
most people were good but the odd one needed things like fire
extinguishers, which we provided. People were very cooperative
and for the most part, well prepared. However, with numbers
increasing and camps becoming more elaborate, the H&S
officer can not be responsible for demonstrating safety to
council officials through paperwork. Camps must be responsible
for their own. This year, the Health and Safety officer will
be contacting all registered theme camps personally to address
this, as there was some confusion over what was required.
Our first aid service was provided by Event Medics (http://www.eventmedics.co.nz/).
We had one dislocated shoulder and a few bumps and scrapes.
Overall, there were no camp/art/activity related injuries,
and this demonstrates that this year's burn was a success,
safety wise.
We were impressed and pleased with the response from the
Mangakino Volunteer Fire Service who turned out with their
pumps and a friendly crew to attend the burns. They remained
in the background, ready to assist if anything got out of
hand, but did not interfere in our burns at all. In fact,
getting into the spirit of things, they allowed us to cover
them with glowsticks and many of them completed the walk of
the fire labyrinth with us.
Some of them even stayed to party with us once the burn was
considered safe to leave. We would like to thank these wonderful
people for their help and support, and are looking forward
to working with them again next year.
8. Future Vision by Bruce Scanlon
Kiwiburn 2007 showed us that we could recreate the Burning
Man culture here in New Zealand. Our goal now is to spread
the culture as far and as wide as possible without diluting
it by trying to do it too fast.
We have big hopes for Kiwiburn 2008. We expect participant
numbers to double or triple, and have put an absolute limit
of 500 on 2008 attendance; long term we think the site could
accommodate somewhere in the low thousands. For 2008 we opted
again to keep the festival at three days, though there is
a lot of support for extending it to five days in the future.
We are currently registering as an incorporated society in
order to better manage our expanding festival and expand our
ability to interface effectively with the "default reality."
With support from Destination Taupo and Taupo District Council
we will be at the same site, Whakamaru Domain for the next
three years.
We're investigating the possibility of doing water art projects.
We hear talk of some art vehicles in the works and the forums
show that there are lots of new theme camp projects in the
works for next year.
Only 231 days till the event!
