A Lesson In Communication of Essential Information

[jcliff]

While trying to navigate through the shit-storm of reactions to BMorg's "psuedo-announcement" of the new ticketing plan, I'm left wondering if they anticipated the severity of the storm. I realize they were looking for feedback, but were they fully cognizant of the worry and anxiety their rough outline has caused for so many people? I think my biggest problem with the "lottery bomb" announcement is that I don't understand the new system and I have to sit and wait for clarifying information. I'm also left to wonder how well the organizers of the new plan understand how it's going to shake out. It seems like we've been asked to wait for a bit until they have a chance to figure out which way the wind is blowing.

An organization that is entrusted in managing a community as large as ours can't just offer a snapshot of a major restructuring and then step back to gauge the reaction. By only offering a skeleton of a plan, with the promise of full details later, BMorg has created a state of anxiety and fear amongst the participants that make Burning Man what it is. We're not spectators buying tickets to see a show. I truly hope that when I do finally get the full scope of what we're dealing with, I'll feel better about it. Right now, I feel that regardless of my best efforts, I don't understand what I'm dealing with and I feel a total loss of control in securing my participation in Burning Man.

As we continue to get bigger and more mainstream, BMorg is going to have to clarify its own plan and then communicate that plan in digestible, clear and concise announcements that we can act upon. "Stayed Tuned for Further Updates" obviously doesn't work for this community.

[Canoe]

Yup.
Agree.

But, how to get feedback from the BM community at large (instead of asking a selected - and how selected? - portion), and BEFORE implementing it, even as a test run for pre-sales: announce an overview of a proposed plan and gather the feedback.

Between a rock and a hard place.

[DancingGlitta]

Wow Not sure if Burning Man is what I perceived it to be....

Only Been twice. Looking forward to going again.

But I have to say with all the f**ked upness.......................................
Regional's are looking better & Better & better & Better & BETTER all the time!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
We Had a Wonderful Local gathering this year.
Not nearly as Big or Neon as the Nevada event
Our Community pulled a gathering together in about a month!!!
What may have been viewed as lacking in big & neon by some was made up in
SPIRIT
that brought us all together!!!

Why DO you go to Burning Man????

DancingGlitta

[theCryptofishist]

To hang out with dust-etched cynics. I hear the regionals are filled with hippies.

[theCryptofishist]

Did I go too far again?

[trilobyte]

I believe it's a "damned if you do, damned if you don't" situation. On one hand, if the BMOrg had waited until they had absolutely every bit of info together before letting anybody know anything, there would have been a massive outcry of "why didn't you give us some kind of heads-up or tell us about this sooner?" I'm not sure if they were giving folks an advance notice following the internal decisions approving the new plan, or if there was some other factor forcing their hand into making an announcement without many concrete details. Perhaps that will be addressed in the upcoming FAQ.

Quite a few folks within BMHQ and within the community have been pitching in to try and get things finalized and ready for release soon, stay tuned.

[jkisha]

Well, I just decided not to go this year.
Now, I don't have to be concerned about the lottery at all anymore.
But, when the lottery does come out and I buy my ticket, if I win I'll just be surprised and change my plans again!
Problem solved.

[lemur]

Well, I just decided not to go this year.

doing yer part to keep the gate lines shorter...

[unjonharley]

Well, I just decided not to go this year.
Now, I don't have to be concerned about the lottery at all anymore.
But, when the lottery does come out and I buy my ticket, if I win I'll just be surprised and change my plans again!
Problem solved.

The old wash women trick..(would you believe)

[FIGJAM]

I believe it's a "damned if you do, damned if you don't" situation. On one hand, if the BMOrg had waited until they had absolutely every bit of info together before letting anybody know anything, there would have been a massive outcry of "why didn't you give us some kind of heads-up or tell us about this sooner?" I'm not sure if they were giving folks an advance notice following the internal decisions approving the new plan, or if there was some other factor forcing their hand into making an announcement without many concrete details. Perhaps that will be addressed in the upcoming FAQ.

Quite a few folks within BMHQ and within the community have been pitching in to try and get things finalized and ready for release soon, stay tuned.

It may have saved us the second round of sniveling that will take place as soon as the FAQ hits.

[jkisha]

Well, I just decided not to go this year.

doing yer part to keep the gate lines shorter...

Yup.

But don't take that out of context.

[theCryptofishist]

It may have saved us the second round of sniveling that will take place as soon as the FAQ hits.

[MyDearFriend]

Why DO you go to Burning Man????

To hang out with dust-etched cynics.

That's the second-best thing about eplaya, actually, but I feel like I've been getting hammered here lately.

I'm hoping that this...

Quite a few folks within BMHQ and within the community have been pitching in to try and get things finalized and ready for release soon, stay tuned.

..."manifests" in a timely fashion; what are the odds for another "get this the fuck off my desk before the weekend" late Friday announcement?

[junglesmacks]

[britzbitz]

There really is no easy way to roll out a massive change to a large community.

The population of the festival I work for is a mere 10k, and it's a bitch to implement any major changes that effect people in even the most minute way. And, even with massive FB campaigning (that includes myself answering almost every question people leave for our organization on our page), detailed FAQs on our website and a blog, you still get whiners at the gate that "didn't know" about the new system for whatever reason.

As bad as people are whining now, I anticipate that it's going to be even worse (or on par), right around the time tickets normally go on sale, and people expecting to purchase their tix "the way they always have" realize that they're not registered for the lottery, and there's this whole new thing going on. There will be stragglers that didn't get the memo. And they'll be angry. And vocal about it.

Whatever. I guess that gives those who are already tuned in the upperhand in the lottery - perhaps the more prepared people will still have the advantage after all.

And the whiners who aren't paying attention yet? Figure your shit out. I will not feel bad for you when it's January and you haven't registered.

Bring on the FAQ.

[curiousgnate]

If they wanted to change the ticketing process AND ask for what we think about it, they should annoce that a year in advance, and let us all hash it out together. by year in advance i mean if they want to change it they should say so when tickets go on sale this year. and have the changes happen next year. frankly the only thing they need to change is the wervers they use for the ticketing process. first come first served is the most legitimate way of keeping things fair. quite frankly they don't care about scalpers. so this is just in reaction to the previous god knows how many years of first day ticket sales nightmares. and probably a way to make some more money! what i would love to know is the details on the new contract with the blm. what is the new pop. cap? if it is 55,0000 there will be no problems getting tickets! and how long is the contract they have with the current ticketing agency? is that why they can't change? because they really suck!

[clerkkent]

It is definitely a lesson in how NOT to roll out a project or initiative. I've been in environments where projects were rolled out that really had no thought or answers behind them, other than the philosophy "That's what we're going to do, deal with it" . Rather than have preemptive and proactive answers upfront, the strategy was to answer questions and clarify procedures as they came about, thus diffusing the backlash through the 5 layers of grief. By the time the affected organizations were burnt out from asking questions and trying to bargain, they were one step into acceptance.

[alt12]

This has been my primary complaint all along. Quite frankly I still don't think the details are fully fleshed out because I still have questions not addressed in the FAQ regarding how many ticket tiers each individual my select.

This is practically a Harvard Business School lesson in how not role-out a major change. I agree with the comment that if they truly had wanted feedback they would have announced this months in advance and solicited ideas. Instead they announce it two weeks in advance and say "details to come" creating a tremendous shit-storm... Its obvious to me that they could give a shit.

[jcliff]

I had to go back and check, but I did remember correctly, "And YOU, JRS subscriber, will be the first to receive information and get a chance to register!" I didn't get a JRS that ticket info had been posted. I found the link posted by trilobyte on eplaya this morning.

[VultureChow]

I had to go back and check, but I did remember correctly, "And YOU, JRS subscriber, will be the first to receive information and get a chance to register!" I didn't get a JRS that ticket info had been posted. I found the link posted by trilobyte on eplaya this morning.

My JRS came in at 12:07pm EST. So yes, eplaya beat JRS this time.

[Canoe]

My JRS came in at 12:07pm EST. So yes, eplaya beat JRS this time.

Maybe the JRS email server runs on the same server that handled tickets... ;D