SC meeting notes

Video Chat 2/1/2024
Present: Issa, Sara, Candice, Hairball, Joshua.
Not present: Justin, kids Dylan and Quinn

Camp name: Spoon Commune (taken from the “spoon theory” idea)

Camp roles:

• TCO – Issa Waters – erosissa@gmail.com or reach me on FB messenger
• Infrastructure/power – Joshua
• Living room decor & signs – Sara
• Kitchen Bitch/Chow Cow/Snack Slut – Candice (name pending lol)
• Moop Troop – Dylan

Camp focus:

Making life easier for people, including all burners through our public offerings, camp members through disability and neurodivergent awareness in how we organize ourselves, and unhoused neighbors in Knoxville/Atlanta by helping burners help us collect useful stuff to distribute

Placement:

Our placement request will be that we are central to the “main area” and close to the effigy field. We acknowledge that this can be undesirable for people with sensory concerns. This choice is to prioritize people with mobility concerns, allowing them to experience as much of the burn as possible without having to venture very far from camp.

Camp values:

• Kids are welcome; all public camp happenings are family-friendly. We do have a broad burner-centric, queer-centric, kink-friendly understanding of “family-friendly.” Ask for more details. Expect to hear lots of cursing at all times. 😉
• Spoonies are prioritized in our camp. A spoonie is anyone who experiences a chronic illness that impacts their energy and often their movement. Non-spoonies also welcome if we have the space/capacity. If you’re not a spoonie, adopt a couple of spoonies and help keep them fed/watered/warm/cool/rested.
• Joining Spoon Commune does not negate Radical Self-Reliance. We are aimed at making your burn life easier, but you are still responsible for anything you NEED to be safe and comfortable. Keep in mind that shit happens – the generator might break, food might spoil, the weather might change. Prepare yourself with Radical Self-Reliance in mind, and then let us be those extras that make things a little smoother for you.
• Everyone pitches in. We have many different kinds of jobs/roles to work with everyone’s abilities and comfort levels. With disability/neurodivergence in mind, we try our best not to require anyone to show up in a particular way at a particular time. We try to keep our public and internal offerings the type where the labor is “front loaded” and then runs smoothly without needing to staff specific shifts.

Camp dues:

• Sliding scale of $20-$50 requested.
• No one is turned away for lack of money or required to work more in place of money.
• We also need lots of stuff, and we keep an updated list of what we’re looking for so people can help thrift, scrounge, and craft stuff we need.

Current stuff needs:

• Spoons – literal spoons. We’re going to do a big spoon-based art installation, maybe. Or maybe just host giant games of Spoons.
• Couch cushions, futon mattresses, fluffy comforters – these are hard to come by cheaply, so it helps if everyone is on the lookout for them. They don’t have to be pretty; we can re-cover them.
• Quilts – we’re going with a quilted theme for our comfy living room area
• Flip Flop Forgot Shop inventory – see Flip Flop section

Public Facing Offerings

• Flip Flop Forgot Shop – this is a “general store” of items that people are likely to have forgotten to pack. This was a huge hit at Alchemy 23 and our entire inventory was cleared out. Keep an eye out for deals for restocking these items so we don’t spend a fortune, and then closer to the event we’ll buy what we need to fill it out. Types of things we will carry:
  • Small tools like sharpies, safety pins, lighters, tape, clips, zipties, scissors. 
  • Bags – plastic bags, ziploc bags, cloth bags
  • Lights – flashlights, fairy lights
  • First aid – pepto, bite relief, benadryl, medical wrap
  • Comfort stuff – cooling towels, mylar blankets, small fans
  • Body care – baby wipes, deodorant, dry shampoo, toothpaste, Qtips, tampons, ear plugs, lip balm, hand sanitizer, shaving cream
  • Clothes – rain ponchos, socks, bandanas
  • Fun stuff – deck of cards, notecards, shot glasses
• Gear Garage – a specific station/area for repairing camping gear. Will need to collect tools for this
• Cozy living room (needs a rhyming or alliterative name) – a 20’x20’ inviting, comfortable place to hang out. May provide non-alcoholic drinks and snacks. Will include fans for TTM and possibly heaters for Alchemy. We’ve discussed that we do want to make walls for this space to increase the coziness. Discussed the “conversation pit” layout idea. Will need to make playa furniture.
• Gear Collection – will collect broken gear that we can repair or use for parts and stuff people just don’t want to take home that we can redistribute to unhoused folks back home. Will need signs to advertise this so it’s top of mind for people at the end of the event, and we may make a separate station on the road out for Sunday/Monday.

Internal Amenities

• Private accessible porto-potty – 100% absolutely ONLY for camp members. If it’s too busy, spoonies get priority access. This is pending per price and coordination with event logistics.
• Private golf cart taxi. The taxi does not go out and stay out. It lives at camp and is driven by pre-approved camp members. People who want a ride can grab a taxi driver and be dropped off somewhere, and then the taxi comes right back. If we have cell signal we may be able to coordinate for return pickups.
• Battery and generator power for phones, fans, music, lights, medical – how much power we can provide will depend on how many members we have
• Food – we will NOT be doing coordinated/scheduled meals. We have discussed having a “24/7 charcuterie board” which we might house inside a cooler that would enable camp members to scrounge for a snack at any time without requiring that anyone cook at specific times or expect food at specific times.
• Food – we probably will coordinate on a camp kitchen so everyone doesn’t have to bring all the tools/equipment