MISTY NICKLE

Organization Mission

Burning Flipside is a Texas regional art and music event inspired by Burning Man, facilitated by Austin Artistic Reconstruction, LLC. It is a place for radical self expression, an experiment in temporary community building, a gift economy, and leave-no-trace event. It is a place of acceptance, inclusiveness, and respect. The art, entertainment, departmental infrastructure, and even medical teams are created solely by participants.

The effigy is a wooden structure funded from event ticket sales and serves as the central icon for the current spirit of the community and participation. Anyone can volunteer to help, learn new skills, or put in a design proposal to lead the team. Leadership changes based on theme, proposal, and ability to lead a build team of volunteers & artists.

My Role

2017 - 2019
Creative Director, Project Manager, Volunteer Coordinator, Onsite Logistics, Budget Manager, Human Resources Manager, Communication Manager, and Asset Management.

Collaborating with my Co-Lead, we imagined and designed this massive project as the centerpiece for a local annual art event. Two years in a row, we were awarded a $10,000 budget and each piece involved some 30+ individual art pieces inside of the 3-story immersive installation. At least 75 volunteers touched this project, with a core revolving crew of around 20 artists & builders.

Problem Statements

The effigy Design and Fabrication Team (DaFT, as it’s lovingly referred) has some challenges unique to many of the other departments at Flipside. The effigy build begins months ahead in the Flipside warehouse, then dismantled and rebuilt onsite within 4-7 days.

1. Community inclusion in a group that builds big structures can often be difficult for new people, due to lack of experience, feeling of unwelcomeness in space, and lack of clear work, which deters many new community members from joining.

2. Demanding onsite timeline makes it difficult for crew to have a real schedule onsite, which leads to dropoff by some and overwork by many.

3. There is little-to-no infrastructure around historical methodologies, best-practices, and build techniques for the Lead to learn & grow, often stunting team’s ability to learn & grow.

4. There is no such thing as the DaFT core crew. Members fluctuate based on leadership, interest in project, and burnout from regional events, making availability & reliability of volunteers difficult.

Methodology

Insights & Solutions

Having participated with the effigy crew for 3 years, leading for 2 years, and following it up with only minor oversight this past year, I’ve had a well-rounded opportunity to see the challenges faced from multiple perspectives.

INSIGHT 1: ALL MEMBERS NEED TO FEEL APPRECIATED OR THEY WON’T COME BACK.

1. Our leadership involved a lot of personal communication.

2. For new volunteers, I ensured that people were greeted, got acquainted with the build-book, and had tasks as soon as they walked into the warehouse to build.

3. For artists experienced with the crew, I made sure they had a simple theme & timeline to incite excitement, ownership, & accountability for special projects.

4. I ensured crew had gatorade during warehouse build days and plenty of food, hydration, shade, and cooling tools during onsite build.

5. I asked for feedback about how things went, thanked individuals profusely for all their hard work at any opportunity, and hosted 2 after-parties for crew to celebrate their accomplishments.

Insight 2: SCOPE CREEP HAPPENS UNTIL THE THING BURNS.

1. People had new ideas until the very end and a big part of my job was sometimes having to say “No” to things that would drain budget or timeline.

2. Encouraging ideas was crucial to empowering the team. Before identifying something as out-of-scope, we first worked to understand the budget, timeline, and whether it was possible to accomplish an MVP of the idea — it often was.

3. Identifying all moving parts of the project and delegating leads to as many smaller pieces takes load of the Lead while empowering team members. Delegating small projects that aren’t as important if they come to fruition is a good way to keep crew interested, but Lead’s stress about completion low.

Insight 3: EVERY YEAR, THE LEAD & TEAM UNNECESSARILY RE-INVENT THE WHEEL ON BASIC INFRASTRUCTURE & TEAM CHALLENGES.

1. I documented everything. Starting with zero documentation meant that I had a wealth of knowledge to pass onto the next Lead.

2. Unfortunately/fortunately, since there is only 1 official Lead and they are often more fabrication-minded than organizationally-minded, even when there is documentation, the whole process can feel overwhelming and debilitating. This year, I worked to whittle down my documentation to bite size chunks.

3. Understanding the scope of the documentation challenge, I am working toward making our new wealth of knowledge more digestible, as well as proactively meeting up with individuals who are considering putting in submissions to lead the crew and ensuring they realize the importance of identifying Project Leads ahead of time.

4. Win! Very recently, a decision was made to establish a second role for the DaFT crew, focusing on all basic infrastructure, logistics, and ensuring legacy information is passed on. I have been asked to build this role.

Insight 4: THE CREW IS VIEWED BY OUTSIDERS AS A COHESIVE UNIT, WHICH MAKES EVEN THE MOST INVOLVED NEW MEMBERS NEVER FEEL LIKE THEY ARE PART OF THE GROUP WHEN THEY DON’T FEEL THAT PERCEIVED COMMUNITY.

1. Members fluctuate because of discrepancies in their perceptions of what it feels like to be considered “core” DaFT crew. I ensured that all members feel a sense of belonging & appreciation by thanking each rockstar volunteer publicly, including them on other projects, and continuing to reach out to them even after I no longer lead the crew.

Key Learnings

• Our builds were the 2 fastest in the event’s 20 year history! By keeping our designs inspiring but simple, creating & utilizing jigs for repeatable measurements, giving crew a more set onsite schedule to front-load volunteer hands, and, of course, having a project plan & timeline, we completed our builds with plenty of time for the community to enjoy them.

• The effigy crew’s experience during the entire build is just as important as the community’s experience of the finished project.

• A blank slate isn’t enough guidance for a budding artist. Always start with a general theme or feel, so they get excited about what they’re going to build, but don’t have “writer’s block.”

• Empowering individuals to take lead on mini-projects with established timelines both frees up leadership time and gives crew a sense of ownership & pride, improving moral and turnout.

• Jigs make everything more efficient. Do the few hours of work necessary to set them up for everyone, so you don’t waste literal days & weeks on inefficient build processes. Using jigs also serves to make an easy & empowering place for new individuals, who might be a little afraid of power tools, to learn & grow.

• It’s hard to make long-term changes within an organization when, by the very nature of the design, that organization changes every year.

Highlights

Testimonials