Author: squirtlette

Hello dearest SunBurners near and far,

We hope you are all doing well at the onset of this new year. There are not enough words for how much we’ve missed getting together, collaborating, just seeing your faces in the last year. Hard to believe it’s been that long to begin with. We’ve had our first board meeting of 2021, and the first topic of discussion was the feasibility of having our regional burn this year. In looking at the numbers comparatively, New Mexico’s current restrictions, and our state’s vaccination statistics, we have made the decision to cancel SunBurn this year as well. There are several factors that led us to this outcome, echoing the same sentiments as other regionals that have also already canceled. We would need to be planning now, solidifying contracts, getting tickets on sale, etc., and consensus was reached that it’s still just too soon to feel confident in planning any in-person gatherings safely. We are still of the mindset that planning something now goes against civic responsibility and communal effort. It has not changed that we are still all in this together.

We are, however, in early discussions about doing more virtually this year. Keep your eyes peeled for call-outs for ideas, participants, technical know-how, and such down the line.

Final two things, if you are able, you can register for the vaccine here: http://vaccinenm.org/ ; and if you are over the age of 65, you can receive assistance with registering online by calling 311. And here is information on mental health support and other COVID resources:

NM Crisis & Access Line (toll-free, 24/7/365): 855.662.7474

COVID-19 Resources & Links: http://www.nmcrisisline.com/covid-19-resources/(This page also has links to financial assistance, workforce/job assistance/unemployment, health insurance, seniors and disabled food access hotline, and tribal directed sources, along with current statewide and nationwide information.)

Hold tight, everyone. With the vaccines rolling out, we’re hopeful that we’ll soon see this downward turn. Everything is still very uncertain, though, so we need to remain steadfast in our taking care of each other.

With love and dusty hugs,
NMSPF90 LLC

In the last few weeks, especially the last three days, we have all been feeling and seeing the effects in some way of the spread of the novel coronavirus COVID-19 to the United States, as well as its sudden local outbreak in New Mexico. Following the enactment of Public Health Order 2020-004 by the New Mexico Department of Health on March 11th, NMSPF90 LLC has determined that our dedication to Civic Responsibility and Communal Effort requires that we postpone SunBurn 2020.

Just as we did in 2018 with our decision to move SunBurn from the Jemez location during a fire ban, we again have had to make a difficult decision for the protection of our community at large, both within our Burning Man circle as well as outside of it. At this time, the spread of COVID-19 is in active transmission phase, and we have no hard data as to when it will be socially responsible to gather again in large numbers. Whilst July is admittedly still quite a ways off, well past the current order’s expiration on April 9, it is not sensible for us to continue some event production processes such as opening art grants, putting tickets on sale that eventually might have to be refunded, signing contracts that would have to be reversed. A silver lining is that we have a little more time for more detailed planning for the event.

It is our intent to keep the community informed as we reach towards setting a reliable date appropriate to staging the event. At this moment, we are eyeing a weekend in early October; of course, this may be affected further by additional developments. We will be following the developments closely and will inform everyone at the earliest possible opportunity when we can move forward with our planning as well as the trigger dates when we will make a go/no go decisions.

In the meantime, we *have* chosen a theme – ILLUMINATE!  Implying the action of awakening or conscious knowledge, it is representative of our Burn culture of burning art. In consideration of where we are as an event and regional group,we bring the word to mind in the beholder; this is also a magical ceremony to help us find our path, to strengthen bonds with our community brothers and sisters who will be in volunteer & successor roles in the future, to help us use our wealth of knowledge and experience to properly guide our community through the coming rapid growth years.  And most of all, to light the way out of these strange, dark times in which we suddenly find ourselves.

“Create what sets your heart on fire and it will illuminate the path ahead” – Karma Voce

Keeping our community safe and informed is a top priority, so we are sharing recommendations on helping prevent the spread of infection below. In moments like these, we are reminded of so many previous challenges that the New Mexico Regional has faced in its history and the amazing response of the community in building and growing our event. We would like to extend our most heartfelt thanks for your support across the years. We are excited for the next point at which we can all gather and celebrate as a community, and we truly hope that all of you and your loved ones escape the effects of this pandemic. 

Remember to check in on each other. And wash your hands. We are all in this together.

In dust we trust,

NMSPF90 LLC
Sweeney, Napkin Math, Francesca, Luca, & Squirt

Helpful websites:
Center for Disease Control & Prevention
WHO advice for personal protection

Why You Must Act Now
Comprehensive statistical analysis of why social distancing is our best defense against this pandemic. 

https://staythefuckhome.com/
Social Media campaign to promote social distancing

After much anticipation, our after-burn report for SunBurn 2019 has been published! You can find it in the “Burn Reports” section of our website.

There are always many, many loose ends to tie up after the event, but this process was a bit elongated than anticipated this year, as we took on more civic projects than we have in the past. We utilized a portion of SunBurn’s ticket sales to build picnic tables for the Valle Vista Elementary School and to rebuild a stage for the Jefferson Middle School’s drama department, both in Albuquerque, in addition to donations to Burners Without Borders and two border crisis support organizations.

We’ve also contracted a third-party company to assist us with filing for not-for-profit/501c3 status. This would be a huge move and open a whole new world of doors and opportunity for us as an organization and community. More updates to come as we move through that process.

Happy almost-February, dusty friends!

The sun burns in 155 days!

We’re excited to announce that we have confirmed this year’s dates and location for SunBurn!

SunBurn 2020
Eaves Movie Ranch
July 2nd – July 5th

The theme has not yet been decided (see the most recent post before this), nor do we have ticketing information yet. First, we need to get our planning team (Event Council) organized. If you are interested in joining the Council, or if you want to get involved but in less of a lead capacity, or if you have any questions about SunBurn at all, we invite you to come to our winter Town Hall. This is when we start picking up  momentum with planning the event, filling department lead roles, sparking volunteer interest, and announcing more details, along with answering your questions about getting involved too.

Saturday February 1st, LivLab Studios
420 Haines Ave. NW, ABQ
Meet-and-greet 1:30pm
Meeting starts 2:00pm

A note on volunteerism and participation: As a 100% volunteer-driven event, SunBurn simply cannot and will not happen without participation. If you had a great time at SunBurn last year and want to have a hand in this year, or if you had a terrible time and want to make it better, or any number of other reasons to get involved, we need you! There are a variety of roles to fill and ways to contribute, to meet any level of interest and availability. 

The Event Council is compromised of key department leads and is responsible for planning, producing, and executing the SunBurn event. This is not yet a call-out for volunteers, which will come later, but we are looking for people interested in leading a department during planning. You will not be on your own, as we want to have at least two co-leads for each department.

You can register your interest here for now, or send an email to sunburn@nmsunburn.com, or we will be available to talk more at the Town Hall.

Hope to see you there!

The sun burns in 166 days!!

The wheels are juuuust starting to get to turning on SunBurn 2020! One of the first things we need is a theme. While a small Theme Team will ultimately make the final decision, you, the Community of any age, shape, or persuasion of any kind, are invited to share your ideas for this year’s theme.

Past themes have been based around the elements, or space, or perspective. So what would you like to see for this year? What is calling to you? Be as wild and creative as you want! A brief but thought-out explanation on why you chose this theme will be much appreciated in order to help the Theme Team with their decision.

https://forms.gle/LisrngJ72hLXeYYh6

Stay tuned for more info coming out soon on dates, art grants, and getting involved!

❤ )'( ❤

The wheels will be turning soon for SunBurn 2020! The board has been working quietly in the off-season to handle a few of the less-directly event-related things on our to-do list, one of which was to write up a Code of Conduct for our community. This living document was pieced together from other regionals’ as well as having taking our own community’s needs into consideration. Yes, it’s meaty and addresses some uncomfortable topics, but we wanted to be very clear on where we stand on some of these issues.

Please take some time time to read it thoroughly, and don’t hesitate to let us know if you have any questions. We can always be reached at llc@nmspf90.com.

https://nmsunburn.com/nmspf90-llc-code-of-conduct/

Nothing says SunBurn is getting really close than the final placement map release! Handful, your tireless Placement Lead has been thoughtfully figuring out where to put all of ya, and there is a lot more of y’all compared to last year! 

You can download the map in two sizes…
Fullsize map:
http://bit.ly/2KzktLN

Printable Letter Size Map:
http://bit.ly/2YgC2ni

SunBurn Pre-Event Set-Up Weekend: 6/29-6/30: There is still plenty to get done on site to get ready for SunBurn. We could really use additional help to finish out some final smaller projects, prepare for Art placement and help set the effigy for construction. 

If you can make it out this weekend please pre-register by filling out this signup form

Gate opens in 10 days!! Volunteer!!