Meeting was held at Watershed on Sunday, March 25th.

Attending:

deadletter b
Alan
Ang
Eric
Deb
Steve


This conversation was primarily focused on how to root hack the Sunday Fire Jam, which has become so regular and unregulated as to threaten it's own existence, and to potentially invite a backlash from the PFD against _all_ fire performers.


#1) Layout
#2) Human Management Issues
#3) Roles
#4) Materials Needs: The Kit
#5) This Sunday and Eight Sundays After


#1) Layout
The layout issues began with the following data points to either be accepted, changed or ignored:

a) Homeless are now numbering approximately 15 people, on the North side under the bridge. While it is likely that this homeless camp will be disrupted by police, within the next three months it is likely to be a constant presence.
b) The audience are now taking on a West presence.
c) the fuel station has been near the posts
d) audience are walking through the fire space without much concern
e) fuel dump is massive and unregulated
f) performers feel 'hemmed in' on all sides.

Solution:

a) Fuel dump moves to a chalked off, fire-safety'd area at the East side of the porto-potty. This is away from the homeless area
b) Caution tape directs people walking from the East entrance.
c) NO travel along the homeless side - that is theirs to keep.
d) Audience therefore walks along the parking lot side, only, and peformers can entrance into the peformance space and back with a decent and open travel
e) Redo the fuel dump to allow for a common bucket and for individuals to have their own private IF they need it.
f) The audience will then be from the East side of the porto-potties around to the benches. Drummers perhaps on the stone tiers?
g) Fire Safeties will be i) North next to one of the pillars, ii) near the East side of the port-o-potties, and iii) back towards the fuel dump


2) Human Management Issues
a) Audience will be corralled around, and a large no-man's land for fire-safety will be marked on the ground between the fire performer area and the audience. Approximately 8' wide demarcation.
b) caution tape at the north end and quick response for people trying to either walk along the pillars (who are not camping homeless) or through.
c) <b>embracing any who are there as potential allies was a big part of the conversation. Not framing it oppositionally.</b>
d) When a person comes up to peform, we'll ask "who is your safety?" and encourage them to draft a friend.
e) Rotate people through safety after they perform, with requests not orders
f) <b> Chalk a list on the ground. </b>
i) performer 1 | tools | safety 1 | performer 2 | tools | safety 2 |performer 3 | tools | safety 3

This provides the simple function of letting people know when they are up, who is coming next, and helping to grab someone to safety for them. Also, a person who WANTS to go alone could simply color in the spots next to them, otherwise encourages collegiality.


3) Roles
Ang and Ben have committed to doing the early shift for the next eight weeks. We'll show up at 6pm, and do all physical setup for the event. We'll be leaving at relatively early hours (9pmish) and the late crew will get us back the Kit.
Currently, Eric and Alan talked about being able to stay till late.

We'll be trying to take a 'passive safety' role on the event in general while drafting performers and their friends to take on fire safety shifts for each person who is actually up.

The late shift has an interesting role. In packing up the kit and taking away fire safety kit, will this begin to be a signal that the event is over? To make this true, the late crew would need to be willing to stay all the way through for a few weeks to set a precedent/imprint the end of the event as being congruent with the absence of the fire safety materials.

Roles during the evening to draft people into:
a) watching over the fuel dump
b) passive safety
c) active safeties
d) interfacing with people who attempt to cross caution tape or no-man's-land
e) police/fire liaison (designated, hopefully unused).

4) Material Needs: The Kit
a) 5 gallon bucket in which empty paint bucket for dipping (no overspill)
b) 5 gallon bucket for cooling burns
c) 2 gallons of water
d) orange cones
e) caution tape
f) fire extinguisher, water based
g) duct tape for the markings on the ground
h) a few glow sticks
i) white towels
j) black duvetyne
k) c7 handouts
l) fire safety zine
m) cds of some great fire performances we have... (do we still have all this? lost a lot of footage)

What have I forgotten?


5) This Sunday and the next eight sundays...

We'll be meeting at the Shed about 5:45 to get ready to go over there (Ang and I) if anyone wants to meet us here. Otherwise, meet us over under the bridge when you like. If some people could commit to being late late stayers, we'll probably have enough people/labor/talent for the first half of the evening.

We felt there was only going to be an effective transformation if we were consistent and thorough for a period of several months straight, and since the event seems to be happening every week, we figured we'd better do every week as well. So come on out and help us get this done!

Main conversations about this topic being held at tribes.tribe.net/pdxfirejam

deadletter b
deadletter (at) speakeasy (dot) net