Here are the candidate statements for the BurnT OUT IAS board of directors:

Becky Belton

Hello community!

I have been a part of the Toronto BurnT community for about 5 years now, and I’ve got to say, it has been an absolutely wonderful revelation that a group of such loving, creative, and hard-working people exist in our city. It was completely out of my realm of past experiences, and I’m delighted to have the privilege of running for a spot on YOUR board of directors for Burnt OUT. I think my positive energy and my desire to ‘do all the things!!’ are a perfect fit for the organization.

I have been involved in several art projects over the past few years…the CORE project, Super Street Fire, the M00seman effigy build. I assist in planning and organizing many community oriented events such as Bunnarchy, Brides of March, and Urban Golf. I have also just proudly signed on as the Arts Curator for this year’s M00seman, and hope to help you blow each other’s minds with awesome art!

I suppose that’s what appeals to me about being a member of the board as well – having the opportunity to facilitate mind blowing, interactive, community based art. I would like to see MORE people involved in art projects in our community, not just the same people each time. I would love to see some sort of art exchange program with other Burn groups in surrounding areas (Montreal, Detroit, etc.). Mostly though, I want to make the BurnT community a place where people are comfortable submitting ideas for funding, whether they have any past experience or not. I want people to feel inspired, and realise that we, as an organization are here to help YOU realise your artistic visions.

Thanks for reading, folks. I’ll see ya soon.

Chriztopher North

Chriztopher North is the kind of burner who has playa dust under his skin — from his first burn in 1999 to the 9 burns and countless local activities he’s been in, Burning Man culture is a big part of his life and world view. Within the Toronto Burning Man scene, he’s hosted workshops, coordinated fire performances, and been a team member creating art instillation. His other volunteer cred comes from helping to run the non-profit New Model Circus Army, and being a Volunteer Coordinator with Burners with Borders in Peru. He’s also a current student of Gestalt psychotherapy, which helps dealing with any humans, especially those as audacious as the Burner community. Oh, and he sometimes works as a Producer/Editor in TV News and runs political campaigns as expressions of creativity and strategy. It helps keep things interesting.

His main reason for running is to engage in a conversation about how to create and maintain a vibrant, healthy community within Burning Man Toronto. The focus includes economic and volunteering sustainability, but also the interpersonal connections and conflicts that can make or break a healthy community. He believes that together we can make a better Burning Man community right here at home.

Franklin Call

Since a very early age I was always tinkering with tools, building go-karts, tree forts and toys. Like many people, the default world suppressed and dictated the direction of one’s thinking for many years. One night in August 2006 while searching the web for yoga with the masters, I stumbled upon an art festival in Nevada. 10 days later I was doing downward dog with the Heebee Geebee Healers, sipping martinis while exchanging erotic stories at Mohammed’s Mini Martini and Erotica Camp and eve attending the GCBEC. That week long playa experience opened my eyes to new world of possibilities, untapped energies and creative inspiration.

The 10 principles of Burning Man resonated with me. For me, Radical Self Expression has appeared in many forms; from designing and gifting over a thousand pendants at Burning Man and regional events; the Belgium Waffle entrance at the 2010 Decomp; soup can art work for taBURNak; temples for MooseMan 2011 and 2012; a mini effigy for our recent Decomp. I have been an enthusiastic participant in various communal projects, and have been an integral team member of the Heart Machine and Humber Bridge Sculptures projects and contributing member of The Lost Penguin and Mutant Mo’s themed camps at Burning Man. Outside of the burner community, I have organized an annual neighborhood BBQ and Kids activities for the last 7 years that has grown to over 150 participants.

My experiences and participation not just within the Burner Community, but also a successful entrepreneur would serve the Board and community well. I believe BurnT is more than just our MooseMan or Decomp events, we can bring more Art to share not just within our community, but also in Toronto. Priya and I have agreed to work together to bring “More Art and Less Drama” to BurnT.

Jen Polyzotis

Since the inception of the Toronto Burning Man Community in 2002, Jen Polyzotis aka Lil’Jen has been involved with decompression and regional event planning, marketing and public relations as well as community outreach with events like the annual Newbie Picnic. She was one of the original organizers of the inaugural Mooseman regional event at Hart House Farm in May 2002, as well as the first decompression event at The Blue Moon in the same year. Her community outreach efforts have garnered outstanding growth over the course of her 11 year involvement and whether she is responding to emails from new burners or talking about the Burning Man community to unenlightened individuals, Jen aims to inform and engage at every opportunity.

In 2008 Jen took on the role of Regional Contact, acting as liaison between BMHQ in San Francisco and the global regional and Toronto communities, working to share knowledge about projects, grants and events in an effort to foster growth in the region. Her work with other regional events like Lakes of Fire, where she volunteered with the planning, art placement and LNT teams, has expanded her breadth of knowledge about community growth, engagement and event management considerably.

Jen’s organizational and event management skills have also been improved through her time serving on the TEDxToronto programming team for the past three years. She has been responsible for selecting, coaching and managing high profile speakers and performers such as George Roter of Engineers Without Borders, Ariel Garten of InteraXon and The Lemon Bucket Orkestra. Jen’s work with Greenest City, a food security not-for-profit in Parkdale has further strengthened her role as a community animator, where she teaches youth about sustainable agriculture in cities.

Through her position as a board member for BurnT, Jen aims to continue growing the community by reviewing the current volunteer recruitment structure and amending the process to help reinvigorate and retain volunteer team leads and staff, making it an enjoyable and sustainable experience, while facilitating knowledge transfer. The goal for this is to have a strong, dedicated team of volunteers who have ownership over our main events, providing better foresight into event planning and increasing attendance among regional communities in Canada and the U.S

Jennifer Rock

Hi there. I’m Jennifer Rock, but more commonly known is these woods as JRock. Several years ago I experienced a moment that changed my life. I was recently out of a 30 year marriage and lost, until someone introduced me to the Toronto Burning Man community. I will never forget attending my first event, a Decomp 5 years ago. The moment I walked through the halls and into the room I felt at ease and comfortable with everything I saw, and some of it was jawdropping.

Since that time, I’ve become much more active in the Toronto Burning Man community attending Santarchy, Urban Golf, Brides of March, town hall meetings, Mooseman, Decomps, Naturopolis, and other random events that are arranged by burners. I burned my first time in 2010 and again in 2012. Everything changed since then.
I was part of the team which put together BurnT’s first entity. It’s time for me to give more and as such I have decided to run for our Board of Director’s. My professional background is in a world where I am responsible for the management of an office supporting over 1000 people, creating complex reports for funding to the Ministry of Education, maintaining finances and inventory. I receive great joy when I see what tomorrow is bringing by way of our youth.
My unprofessional background has been as a mother and wife(ex) Yeah, through that role I learned how to negotiate with angry children, run a home and organize events.
My desire for the Toronto BurnT community is to aid in the growth of our community, and to do this with respect and honour with my fellow Board Members as well as every single burner, new, old, and the curious. I want this to be a warm welcoming Board. I look forward to putting my best into a great team that will be our completely new board… Cory MacDonald is still there but he’s new s well… to the parent role! Way to go papa.
I’m JRock. See you all soon.

Laura Weller

I have enjoyed being a part of the Toronto burner community for the past 13 years, and I would like the opportunity to continue contributing as a board member. I have been to the playa 14 times, as well as attending many of our local events and burner events in other regions over the past decade. I have been a Burning Man Regional Contact for Toronto for over 7 years, and have enjoyed the many opportunities and challenges of the RC role.

Spending the last two years as a board member and President has been awesome, and I’m proud of the work the current board has done to get us to this point. Working through the process of things like the creation of our bylaws and our first AGM has been a great learning experience. If elected I want to help streamline our events management process, and I look forward to having the chance to work with some new people who can bring fresh ideas, skills, and knowledge to the team.

Thanks for your consideration.

Martin Jay Sneath

I have been burning since 2001. Anna and I were the cutest virgins, knowing no one except Deuce and learning so much.

I have been back every year since. The second year I appointed myself roof nazi of the cat bus. My other volunteer gigs include rangering and earth guardian work around the hot springs.
I am very happy that the entity which we call Burnt exists. It allows us to plan and execute parties and reduce the exposure to liability of the conspirators if something goes horribly sideways.
I think that, for now, the entity should continue planning and executing parties. We are getting better at it, but the execution might be a little smoother. We are starting to encourage more art, which I think is a good thing.
A real shout out to the current and past board members, they have done an excellent job of creating bylaws and keeping our parties running.

Mike Everson

Hi there, my name is Mike! You can usually find me at Site 3, working on an installation in someone’s yard or maybe just shareinga pint at Burner Drinks Night. For those of you I haven’t met, I first joined BurnT when I showed up to a town hall meeting at Site 3 and was welcomed with open arms. From the first time I set foot into this community I’ve been treated like a dear friend, and over time I’ve come to think of us as a family. I’ve been continually amazed by the things we as Toronto burners have accomplished, and the creativity, dedication and perserverence I see in you on a daily basis is truly inspiring. Like any family we have our differences and our conflicts, but I believe we overcome these things and become stronger for it.

I’m running for the BurnT board of directors because I’m interested in taking a more active role in keeping this community strong, involved, and energetic. I’ve been a part of a few different projects and events within BurnT – I helped build Super Street Fire, I was involved with the 2012 CORE project, I was the art curator for the 2012 Decomp, and now I’m working on Charcade/Riskee Ball and co-leading the Totenkitten theme camp. These experiences mean a lot to me because I get to work with the people I’ve come to know and love to give back to everyone who has done so much for me.

Over the next 2 years I’d like remind the global burner community how creative, spirited and active Toronto burners can be by handling a lot of the Big Picture issues, making it easier for YOU to do what you do! I have a lot of experience in student politics and running events, and I believe many of those acquired skills (communication, organization, time management and jumping through hoops!) apply to this position. As a member of the BurnT board of directors I’ll be in a much better position to help you, the community, to build, create and showcase your incredible talent and most of all, help everyone remember that we are a family.

If you have any questions or you’d just like to chat, feel free to contact me anytime! You can email me at everson [dot] mike [at] gmail [dot] com, or usually find me at either Site 3 or Burner Drink Nights. Thanks for your time folks!

Priya Sarin (aka Sparkplug)

I first joined this community in 2001 and went to my first Burn in 2002. Since then, I’ve been to the playa 8 times and many other regional events around North America. In Toronto, I’ve been involved in organizing events like Santarchy, Bunnarchy, Brides of March and Urban Golf; I’ve worked on big art projects (ie the Heart Machine); and I’ve stage managed or been performance lead for several of our past decomps. Once upon a time I also led community yoga classes on saturday to whomever showed up.

I decided to run for the Board of BurnT because I think of this community as my family and it is important to me. I’ve watched our community grow and change over the last decade. We are making more art, throwing bigger parties and having more babies than ever before;) But, I believe that the community is presently facing a couple of significant challenges (i.e. fragmentation and stagnation). I have some ideas about how to bring us back together and hopefully spark positive energy and creativity. I want to hear more about your ideas too and understand what would draw you back into being more involved. My vision of BurnT includes:
· More art and collaboration;

· More civic engagement (like beach clean up and bwb style projects); and

· Building a regional that brings out all of Toronto’s burners/would-be burners and becomes a destination for burners in other states and provinces.

Burnery goodness aside, I also have some valuable skills to bring to a Board: I’m a lawyer (who works almost exclusively for non-profits), I have a finance degree, and I’ve sat on the board of three other non-profit organizations. I have spent a fair bit of time talking to some of the other candidates for the BurnT Board about our ideas (Franklin, Martin, North and..and..and..) and we are pretty excited about what we think we could accomplish.

Rhonda Loubert

I have been an active member of the Toronto burner community since shortly after attending my first Burning Man in 2002. I am a five time Burner. I’ve had the very best and very worst times of my life out there in the desert – overall, it has been a momentous learning and growing experience – one that has changed my life immeasurably. It’s part of the rich and full life I endeavor to live.

Between 2003 and 2006, I helped organize and led a number of Decompression parties and regional events – all of which ended up in the black. I initiated and hosted (along with my former partner) “Burner bi-weekly drinkies” from 2003 to 2008 or so. I was greeter/door/gate lead for numerous events (let me tell you about my 12 hour gate shift back in 2006…). I was the informal treasurer of our group back when we didn’t have a bank account. I have been an administrator of the BurnT Google group since 2005.

Beyond BM – I work at NOW Magazine. I am also a certified gemmologist, a yoga enthusiast, a hiker as well as a committed city walker, a martini connoisseur, a bocce and euchre aficionado. As of late I have been volunteering with Harvest Festival building structures. I’m a hell of a grommeter, it turns out.

What can I bring to a position on the Board of Directors?

I am a trustworthy, no-nonsense person who finishes what she starts. I am a manager, a diplomat, an instigator, and a big believer in stepping up and DOING. I’m a big fan of collaboration, and I always stand up to bullies.

What are my core beliefs?

I believe that it is our responsibility to bring the Burning Man ethic and aesthetic to where we live and not saving all or most of our creative efforts for “the big show”.
My favourite of the 10 principles is radical self-reliance. We build it, we burn it, we clean it up, and we do it again.
I think promoting and supporting our community’s art is fundamental. Art is our legacy.
Thank you for your consideration.

Seth Hardy

I am an event organizer, a community non-profit administrator, and an artist that works with fire and electronics.

At home, I’m a co-founder of Site 3 coLaboratory, a community workshop space focusing on the intersection of art and technology. We’ve offered public use of our tools and space every Thursday, for free, for almost three years. I’ve been on the organization team for three Decompression events, including being the event lead in early 2011.

On playa I camp with Totenkitten, volunteer with the Black Rock Rangers, and play with large-scale fire art. I’m one of the instigators behind Site 3 Fire Arts, responsible for bringing Super Street Fire and the Charcade to represent Toronto at Burning Man as honorarium installations. I’ve also been a contributor to other community art projects: I was the fire safety lead for the Toronto CORE project, and built the underlying control systems for The Heart Machine and Flux and Fire.

I’ve been involved with the BurnT entity since its formation: I was one of the founding directors and served on the board for the first elected term. Over this time, I helped form the entity’s mission statement, bylaws, operational procedures, and became very familiar with the details of what we have to do to enable community members run successful events with no personal risk.

As I’m very familiar with the operations of our entity, as well as the requirements of community event organization and non-profit administration, I’d like to continue the work we’ve started. I want to make sure that our community has access to resources to help make our events happen, as well as support to encourage more art at home, at regionals, and on playa.