[Open discussion] On popularity, organic growth, virgins, and inclusivity
I would like to start an open discussion inviting everybody with an opinion on the topic to make theirs heard.
Why? Because I am interested if I am alone with my perception and I wonder what other people think. I am particularly interested in the opinions of people who have observed the growth of other burn events (e.g. borderland) - are there parallels? Also, I think that direct impressions after the event might help KORG 2022 to make informed decisions.
So: What are your impressions on the development and public reception of Kiez Burn?
My personal impression is that Kiez Burn is gaining in popularity. This year I overheard people talking about Kiez Burn on the floors of H13, Knüppel, and other locations. We even got the 'look, there is a significant event'-treatment by the police! :O
I think we cannot act as if we were not an event around Berlin. This means that we offer a 5 day event for a 80 euro price tag (+ very attractive 'burner' tag) when around us there are events where one weekend costs 200 (excl. drinks and food and travel). Sure, they have the bigger line up - but I get the impression that bigger names from Berlin and around the world will join camps and make Kiez Burn more popular in the future.
We had a big percentage of virgins, as it seems. And while the party mood and also the general behavior seemed to be top game this year (with almost no incidents etc.) and the event ran like a smooth sailing ship... there were some aspects that were also very un-burnery, most noticeably the MOOP situation. Maybe I am also unfair when I blame certain issues on virgins...
I wonder if a return to more directed tickets / a cap on free campers and educational approaches for virigins may help with organic and healthy growth?
Vlad Fri 27 Aug 2021 5:21AM
Impressive art is expensive, 100 euro is nothing in current reality - meaning sure it could be a lot of money for someone, but it won't get you far if you want to do something especially on a short time frame.
Kitt Wed 25 Aug 2021 12:06PM
Hiya, while some of this is interesting, I am kind of opposed to the replicating ticket situation... while I think established theme camps specifically could almost always use more directed ticket access (this IMO drives participation and co-creation) this would only drive the burn to become culturally more monolithic and same-same... I think we should ponder how to increase the diversity of burners... and I think that takes education and events away from the core burn. I would also not know how to implement this replicating ticket situation. People cannot be entirely self reliant if they rely on a 'who they know' situation to get a ticket.
Kris Wed 25 Aug 2021 12:38PM
If you want to improve diversity through sales you'd have to do some sort of affirmative action, staying with first come first served obviously won't improve that. I'd very much support such initiatives, but it's not related to this.
Also note that I said an allotment, not every ticket.
Kitt · Thu 26 Aug 2021 6:05PM
I am thumbs down on lottery, have 2 or more rounds of planned sales that committed people need to plan to get. (Then perhaps use the STEP system like Nowhere so that people can be offered any refunded tickets down a waiting list.) Going to a burn (IMO) shouldn't be a game of chance, and shouldn't feel exclusive in that way, it should yield results for people who plan and who are committed.
(This is not necessarily the same for other burner events or even other burns, but lotteries don't help with KB's principles of community or inclusion in my opinion... I personally prefer the sales + waiting list approach, but know this might be a hassle/transition to manage.)