2010 Transformus Planning Committee Meeting Minutes 

Wednesday 2/3/10  7 pm Eastern conference call

6 PC members attended (Armadillo, Kitty Love, Treat, Mark, Wintersun and sauce) along with DTR from the board.  PC-approved minutes compiled by sauce.

• Introductions by all PC members preceded a summary of last year's ticketing system and a brief history of our ticket, effigy and temple design contests.
  
• PC voted unanimously to open up ticket, temple and effigy designs to the community.  DTR stated this a board priority.  Communication is being drafted for review by all PC and board members.
  
• 2010 land agreement is being finalized between Deerfields and the board.
  
• All PC members will have an @transformus.com email address and we'll once again use the group distribution This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it for community communication.
  
• Lengthy discussion on how best to solicit 2010 Team Leads.  The idea of an application process was discussed.
  
• There will be a board/PC planning retreat held February 26-28 outside Charlotte, NC.  All PC members confirmed they can attend in-person.
• All PC and board members have been invited to the 2010 Burning Man Leadership Summit held in San Francisco on 3/4 - 3/7.
  
• PC bios are being drafted for website transparency, and PC meeting minutes will be posted at transformus.com after undergoing review by each attending member.

Wednesday 2/10/10 7 pm Eastern conference call

6 PC members attended (Armadillo, Treat, M.A.R.K, Momma Love, Wintersun, and sauce) along with Vespa and Wordplay from the board. PC-approved minutes compiled by sauce.

• The PC has agreed to move forward adhering to the concept of consensus, with the caveat that any member not party to a discussion will be able to reopen that discussion during the next meeting. Consensus is defined as everyone agreeing to a support single course of action. Individual members may have dissenting opinions, but all will work together to agree on a single course of action and stand behind that decision as a group. 
  
• All PC members have appropriate software to open MS Word and Excel attachments.
• PC bios are being drafted for website posting. Meeting minutes will continue to be posted at Transparency > Minutes > Planning Committee.
• Burning Man affiliation was discussed, including recent community feedback and the pros and cons of affiliation from individual PC and BOD member perspectives.
• Ticket, temple and effigy announcement has been crafted and input from the BOD and PC both incorporated.  Communication will be released upon signing of the 2010 landowner agreement.
• Temple and effigy will be selected by a joint committee of leadership and community members. Ticket design will once again be determined by community vote.
• Creativity Grants were discussed and strong leads are needed to run the program. The decision to disallow anyone with a conflict of interest to serve on the jury was made, as well as allowing PC members and Team Leads to apply this year.
• PC department oversight has been determined as follows: art department, Kitty Love; communications department, Armadillo and Momma Love; department of safety services, M.A.R.K. and Wintersun; with DPW covered by Treat and sauce.
• A large cabin has been secured for the 2/26 – 2/28 leadership retreat near Charlotte, NC. All PC members plan to arrive on Friday evening.
• Priorities for next week are crafting an announcement for team leads, effigy temple and ticket designs, and creativity grants.

Wednesday 2/17/10 7 pm Eastern conference call

6 PC members attended (Armadillo, Kitty Love, M.A.R.K, sauce, Treat, and Winter Sun) along with G8kpr from the board. PC-approved minutes compiled by sauce.

• The PC has agreed to move our meetings from Wednesdays to Mondays at 7 pm, and there was discussion of taking one week off per month to avoid volunteer burnout.
• PC will approve and/or revise minutes together at the start of each successive meeting. Minutes will be sent out prior to the meeting for review and attached to the weekly agenda.
• PC has decided not to elect officers for 2010. Individual members will continue to distribute meeting agendas, facilitate calls, and take minutes.
• Ticket, temple and effigy announcement is ready to be released upon signing of the 2010 landowner agreement.
• The Survival Guide is currently being revised for 2010.
• The website is being reviewed for ease of finding pertinent information.  The decision was made to add an updated 2010 contact message for the top of the volunteer page.
• The event dates will be confirmed upon landowner agreement, and the board is looking into April Town Hall at Deerfields.
  
• All 2009 team lead positions were reviewed and this is our group priority going forward.  Tentative timeline is to have the solicitation announcement ready shortly after the retreat.
  
• Facebook and other social networking sites will be used to solicit volunteers, team leads and grant applicants.
  
• Transformus' leadership group has declined an invitation to present a case study at the 2010 Burning Man Leadership Summit.
  
• Ticket purchasing mechanism, attendance cap, and team leads are primary subjects of the 2/26 - 2/28 Leadership Retreat.

Monday 2/22/10 7 pm Eastern conference call

7 PC members attended (Armadillo, Kitty Love, M.A.R.K, Momma Love, sauce, Treat, and Wintersun) along with Vespa from the board. PC-approved minutes compiled by sauce.

• The PC has agreed to keep our new 7 pm Monday timeslot indefinitely and skip the 3/1 meeting (the day after our retreat).
• PC approved 2.17 minutes with no edits.
• Ticket, temple and effigy announcement is ready to be released upon signing of the 2010 landowner agreement, as well as event dates.
• There was discussion of prioritizing Creativity Grant leads and Volunteer coordinator roles, and dividing up the scope of a single volunteer coordinator into a team of volunteer coordinators with clearly defined responsibilities.
• Ticket distribution, attendance cap, and team leads are primary subjects of the 2/26 – 2/28 retreat. Discussion on past ticket issues, current options, and scenarios were covered in preparation for weekend discussion.
• PC agreed to solicit community feedback prior to the retreat and provide transparency after.

Saturday 2/27/10 10:45 am to 7 pm Transformus Leadership Retreat

10 members attended in person. G8kpr, Wordplay, Vespa and DTR from the board, and Armadillo, Kitty Love, M.A.R.K, sauce, Treat, and Wintersun from the PC. BOD/PC-approved minutes compiled by sauce.

• DTR opened the meeting and facilitated for the 8 hour duration. PC members were thanked for their attendance and commitment.
• The board mission statement was reviewed, noting the documented scope of their effort being to facilitate the weekend event called Transformus.
• Separate duties of the board and planning committee were clarified and discussed.
• It was suggested the board and PC combine their weekly meetings in the future, in order to get everyone on the same page. Idea is under consideration.
• The 10 Burning Man principles which outline our movement were reviewed. Sauce mentioned that other burn communities have participants who incorrectly interpret these principles as a rule of law to be uniformly enforced. That is was not their intention; the principles are a loose framework to build individual burn communities out of.
• A great deal of time was spent reviewing each team lead position. Efficiencies were made and roles combined, as noted individually below.   
• Team leads will have an opportunity to approve their co-leads, which will be selected by the board and PC.
• A new lead was created called Effigy Burn Coordinator to oversee the two burn ceremonies and ensure a smooth ceremony cueing various teams via radio.
• Placement of art was discussed. Grant winners will be asked to provide three location choices, with placement determined ahead of time, so leadership can print a guide ahead of time noting the location of grant winners’ pieces.
• All flame effects must be placed on the burn field in order to be close to our fire suppression equipment.
• The board is allotting 15K to creativity this year: $13,000 to Creativity grants, $1,500 to the temple and $1,500 to the effigy.
• 2009 examples will be provided when soliciting the 2010 ticket, temple and effigy designs.
• There will be signage in 2010 for each grant winner, demarking it as a Creativity Grant recipient. Open for discussion is whether these signs will be uniform and distributed by the design lead or
• There was a discussion on how to make the Sunday temple ceremony more referent and introspective. Live music was discussed as an option. The important of education on this matter was stressed. 
• The stage lead and lack thereof was discussed. Options were discussed on how the lake stage could be better used, with the Pavilion Stage remaining a center camp headquarters. The lake stage is currently in ruins from winter weather.
• Transformus last year began paying $1,000 to use each stage at Deerfields (2,000 combined). It was noted that power needs to be available for each stage and the lake stage be reconstructed.
• How to open up and make the Pavilion Stage more inviting to others was discussed. A shift from work to community. Perhaps a large “welcome” sign should be made.
• There was discussion on how to get more census feedback. Perhaps send out the questionnaire after the event, to get feedback on that year.
• Multiple leads will be solicited for the gate team, splitting the workload.
• There needs to be education that anyone caught with nitrous will be immediately removed from the event.
• The scope of the volunteer coordinator role needs to be redefined, in order not to overburden the volunteer lead.
• The volunteer lead can help other team leads organize and print shift schedules for their teams.
• There was a discussion of creating fire-performance zones in each neighborhood.
• More volunteer rangers are needed.
• There was no sanctuary last year, the leadership feels this is important and a “must” for 2010.
• EMS volunteers are not to perform any major medical services, but refer them to a hospital for proper medical care.
• There will be no floating bars whatsoever going forward at Transformus because of the immense risks involved. 
• The information team will distribute a Who, What, When, Where guide with printing costs covered under that team budget.
• The City Planning and Theme Camp teams were combined.
• The Parking and Gate Teams were combined and moved under the DPW leadership umbrella.
• Department of Signage was moved under the Communications leadership umbrella.
• Department of Aquatic Transit and Mutant Vehicle teams were combined. 
• Leave No Trace must stay through Tuesday to ensure all trace of the event is gone.
• The Department of Human Waste team was done away with. Escort of the pump truck will be facilitated by those on radio at the time.
• Guidelines for receiving constructive criticism were reviewed.
• The leadership will work hard on collaborative responses to combative participants.
• Conflict resolution was discussed, in addition to steps for resolving conflict.
• Collaborative leadership best practices were discussed.
• There was a long discussion on Transformus’ Burning Man affiliation. Individual members shared their views. As a whole, the leadership sees this affiliation as a good thing, while questioning the method in which it’s removal originally took place. 
• The 2012 land contract was signed by the board and landowner on Friday 2.26. A discussion on why it to so long to sign the formal land agreement ensued. It was noted that the Deerfields property is a very, very bad shape after the harsh winter and fire in Yurtville.
• The land use fee has been increased 5 dollars per person for 2010, from $25 to $30 per participant. This is in addition to fees for the stage and road work.
• Tickets will be sold at 80.00 apiece. The 5 dollar increase is to cover additional land use fees, 15K in grants and outsourced ticket vending.    
• There are additional fees for road maintenance, which all of Deerfields events will pay going forward.
• We will once again be able to drive onto the property to drop off belongings prior to noon on Friday. After that time participants must stop at the cabins (fork in the road). Educating this point was stressed, and providing ways for participants to transfer their things are under consideration.
• The survival guide in under revision and will be distributed electronically with ticket purchase.
• Ticket sales are outsourced this year. Participants may purchase one or two tickets online, and will receive a barcode via email which will be scanned on their way into the event.
• Tickets will be sold online in three groups of 550 tickets each, separated by approximately two weeks in between each sale period.
• 1750 tickets will be sold total, with 100 reserved for critical infrastructure. Critical infrastructure tickets must be individually approved by the board and essential for event safety.
• Ticket sales will be in April and May, clearly announced ahead of time to all Transformus email lists and social networking sites.