Closing Notes from the Producers
Dear SOAK Community,
We hope that the decompression and integration of our time together in Tygh Valley is holding the magic of our community alive in your everyday life. Producers definitely feel that the amount of love, caring, and support in our SOAK community was not to scale with what we find in everyday life. In the past few weeks when we connect with folx who say “how was your SOAK” and as we write this closing letter, we remember the range of experiences we all had at SOAK. It’s in that range of magical moments, challenges faced, and lessons learned that our community develops year to year.
This year we tried new things like a new use of the land to have more parking opportunities and curating a celebration without fire. Just like any vibrant community we try, learn, and adjust. Community surveys, Burning Man Town Hall, and an ever growing leadership team bring the community voice into SOAK planning. If you have ideas on how SOAK could be different we encourage you to complete our follow up survey and consider joining the volunteer team. Change happens through connection, relationships, and in our Burner community through volunteer engagement.
Love Note from Squirtle
This was my last year as a Producer of SOAK. I wanted to say thank you, to all the humans who make SOAK what it is. Thank you to the theme camps who plan, create, and facilitate the creation of experiences as we walk the neighborhoods day and night. Thank you to the artists who dream, build, design, and vision the big and small pieces you find along the way. Thank you to volunteers who give their time, skills, and energy to bring the city to life. Thank you to the participants who came for the first time or tenth time to SOAK with open hearts and minds. I have always thought of my job at SOAK as just creating the stage for the unfolding of the community performance. Through many forms, spreadsheets, Slack channels, and emails a canvas is laid out. So if you saw me and said thank you for the great party, I would say, no thank you for bringing the party! And you are very welcome for the incredibly unsexy work of weaving together policies, people, and situations to make it all possible. Just as I joined the Production team in cable hands, I leave it in capable hands. Truly, a labor of love and honor to be a small part of this event.
Love Note from Mega
As a long time SOAK attendee, I was honored to be selected to help produce SOAK for the first time this year. I was so proud to see that our leadership team handled the challenges as they appeared, many with little time to respond, yet everything was done with an eye to our community values. You, as the community, made this SOAK amazing with more art than ever and creating the strong connection we all need and sometimes struggle to find outside of SOAK. I talked to one first-time participant this year and they said that they had never felt so accepted for who they were by so many people who they did not know. They said that they felt seen and welcomed and eventually with tears they explained “that they really needed that”. Let’s not lose what we do that makes this experience possible.
Looking to next year and beyond we really need your help to steer the community ship. We want to honor our customs and ceremonies that help us stay united but also adapt to things that we can not yet overcome. Your feedback is vital to this, not just for those of you with big opinions, but also those of you who don’t go out of your way to rock the boat. Whenever we ask, please tell us your thoughts so we are doing what we do for all of us.
Don’t be afraid to connect more strongly outside of SOAK. There are many opportunities online and off so stay engaged. If you can travel or are not in the Portland area, find a local burner meetup or another community group to connect with. If you are in Corvallis, come see me for one of the Burner events there.
I am looking forward to working with you all, together.
