Space Adoption

re: indoor sleeping for folks who have no live in vehicle.

how to determine who can be where?

1 thing to consider is which spaces have furniture and space for theme camps/people who want to camp together, who are working on projects together, and where they are located on site.

another to consider is indoor spaces that don't have the room for theme camps, just furniture.

in general burn history, lottery systems have never gone great (BM ticket fiasco 2011, london decomm 2022 problems etc) and dont have the power to really maximise creativity and volunteering. I can follow up there about what kinds of systems BMP ops uses to create actual fairness.

This above is exactly what I was highlighting in that certain spaces I.e. the cottages arent really suitable for themed camps since they are full of furniture that cant really be moved around/out. So if they were reserved for sleeping the question would be how to offer them- as camps spaces to be adopted or as beds. I definitely had people contact me last year to be 'part of the camp' but cited it was because they didnt have a tent or anywhere to sleep so could they come into the cottage for a bed*

You've highlighted that lottery systems havent worked before so maybe theres another way to go about it.

Lots of thoughts but will formulate later - for now some info (to the best of my knowledge, for the booking made this year, also posted to trello):

List of spaces:

Camping field

4x yurts of varying sizes (described as two 4 person yurts, one 6 person, and one 2 person)

3x cottages of varying sizes (1x large, with c. 12 sleeping spaces and a central living room, 2x small with a total of c 10 sleeping spaces)

NOTE: for both yurts and cottages these are the number of spaces given by the site – air mattresses etc could fit a few more people in especially in the large house.

Tipi (welfare last year)

Roundhouse (previously main non-sleeping space)

Firepit (top of hill, only firepit we can light)

Field (top of hill) with platform (temple last year)

Kitchen (small and catering kitchens, with mini living room between) and dining marquee

Sauna and field in front of sauna

I thought the tipi worked really well as welfare last year- far enough away from the party to be more quiet, warm and private, but easy to access from both ends of site. great size as well.

I would like to make the large family yurt a nice cosy sex-positive space for chilling out and cuddling puddles. If anyone would like to help me make it happen just post up.

could treat yurts as communal spaces and bunkhouses as sleeping only. Then for the bunkhouses we have question on the membership form of - Would not having a bed make it hard for you to come? if yes then it goes to next question - do you have / could you borrow warm camping things? if no then third question - do you have access/ sleep needs?

The people who answer all three get dibs, then two questions answerd, then one

Could be worded differently buy thats idea. could have question of - are you happy sleeping in bunk or bunk room floor. @Ash @Victoria B have bunk room floor sleeping input?

Something I remember about the number of people sleeping in the various spaces, I think the numbers specified by the site was a fire safety issue (at least with the barn with the stove it was mentioned)

I would like to adopt the sauna area and create a chill out spa zone fairy lights cushions good tunes board games yeee

I’m down with a lottery system for beds. Buy a membership, throw your name in for a bed, lottery decides. Everyone equal.

I have always found the BL lottery works fine. Everyone is expected to participate and different kinds of participation are valued equally, so there’s no need to decide whether anyone deserves a membership more than anyone else.

However, I don’t need a bed, so perhaps that’s ‘easy for me to say’!

A lottery system could work if we designate certain spaces for sleeping, eg bunks, as Sam suggested. And camps can apply to adopt the remaining spaces (yurts Tippi roundhouse)

I'd love to use this new baby burn to trial out some new systems in the UK. The systems are not new, theyre systems that BMorg have used for many years to incentivise volunteering and ensure maximum infrastructure & experiences.

after seeing the levels of issues with decomm and nest this year, namely the burn out and exploitation of leads & volunteers, i am no longer convinced that the UK system can thrive on do-ocracy/equality systems of fairness the way that EU/Scandi burns maybe still can. I think the UK is moving more towards the american system where incentive systems are necessary- and kinder- to support those who work hardest to make burns happen with no compensation.

We had a really nice and simple experience last year, but other more complex/larger burns in the UK did not. It has become increasingly more difficult to staff teams with reliable volunteers who have incentive to show up and do their part. I think we have a good opportunity here to start thinking about applying more complex systems that will ensure people continuously show up volunteering to support burns in a meaningful way even as the financial crisis deepens and people get more squeezed and have to have stronger boundaries. Can elaborate further