Codes of Conduct & Conduct Committees

The 11th Principle: Consent is primarily an awareness and education effort. And, as we all know, principles are not rules. While we have shifted burn culture through the conversation around consent, the real teeth in protecting our communities comes from Codes of Conduct & Conduct Committees.

We’d really LOVE to hear from you if you implement a CoC or know of a burn that has a CoC or Conduct Committee that isn’t listed below. Also, if you have questions, comments, requests, or want to donate $$ for fliers and swag you need, send us an email! 11th.principle.consent -@- gmail.com

Note that it’s common for reports to increase after the implementation of a Consent Initiative, Code of Conduct, and/or Conduct Committee. It may seem like a bad thing, but it’s exactly the point and usually reduces once the community gets on board with enthusiastic consent culture. Just think, you’ll be giving some people a voice for the first time and saying “Yes, we take this seriously, we care, and we are going to do something about it” to your community. In general, pARTicipants report a greater feeling of safety because of an event’s prioritization of consent culture along with the implementation of a Code of Conduct and Conduct Committee.

We feel that, at minimum, every burn should have a Code of Conduct with defined way to report consent and conduct violations. Consent education is not enough.

Warning! Burns to be concerned about:

• Transformus CoC  does not mention racism nor harassment of humans. We wish they were living up to their writing “Protecting the Consensual Flame” — the Tfam Conduct Committee chose to leave a repeated cyberbully in leadership for Ignite. The 11th Principle: Consent was removed sometime in 2021 from the principles list and website, plus there is zero mention of consent in the survival guide for 2022.
• Flashpoint Artists Initiative / Alchemy  – Conduct Committee on indefinite hiatus as per October 2018 BOD minutes, please also see open letter from 2019.

Codes of Conduct that include Consent:

• Lakes of Fire
• Firefly Arts Collective
• Portal Burn
• Element 11
• Critical Northwest
• Constellation
• Midwest Burners
• Ignition Northwest
• Myschievia NTXB
• DC Burners
• KiwiBurn
• Freezer Burn
• To The Moon
• Microburn
• Burnt Oranges – PreHeat & Afterburn
• Barcelona Burning Bash
• Apogaea
• Moasic Experiment
• GVIAS –  Greater Vancouver Interactive Arts Society
• AZ Burners
• Reclaimation
• Hyperborea Experiential Art Team (HEAT)
• Radical Accountability Council (RAC) of Northwest “Burner” Community (Seattle area)
• FirePony Creative Society – Playa del Fuego & Constellation

Some Theme Camps, especially those at BRC, also implement their own Codes of Conduct, which is a great way to prioritize Consent!

• Chillits Code of Conduct & Anti-Harassment Policy
• Airpusher consent & safe spaces email 2016
• Also check out the 11th Principle Consent Theme Camp Liaison Guide from Transformus to get some ideas.

 Conduct Committees and Incident Response Forms:

• • • • Radical Accountability Council (RAC) of Northwest “Burner” Community (Seattle area)
      • Portal Burn
      • Burning Flipside
      • Firefly Arts Collective + Conduct committee policies
      • Lakes of Fire
      • Midwest Burner Member Disciplinary Procedure
      • KiwiBurn
      • Mosaic Experiment
      • Arizona Burners
      • GVIAS –  Greater Vancouver Interactive Arts Society
      • TouchBass – To The Moon
      • DC Burners has a Consent Committee that will deal with conduct reports. Their email is [email protected]

    Other Conduct Mentions:

    • Saguaro Man – About AZ Burners: http://www.saguaroman.net/about/
    • Apogaea Survival Guide – Getting Kicked Out (p. 22-23): http://apogaea.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/Survival-Guide-2016.pdf
    • Apogaea – Consent is Sexy, Consent is Serious https://apogaea.com/2016/07/08/consent-is-sexy-consent-is-serious/
    • HearthsoPhyre Survival Guide – Personal Boundaries: http://hearthsophyre.midwestburners.com/survival-guide/
    • Reclaimation Survival Guide – Consent: https://www.reclaimation.net/survival-guide.html
    • Gateway Survival Guide – Consent: http://gatewayburners.org/survival-guide/
    • Scorched Nuts Survival Guide – The Laws of the City: http://scorchednuts.com/survival-guide/
    • Wickerman – The 11th Principle Consent: http://wickermanburn.org/the-founding-principles/the-11th-principle-consent/
    • Burning Flipside Survival Guide – Personal Boundaries: https://www.burningflipside.com/event/survival-guide#580
    • Freezer Burn Survival Guide – Evictions: http://fzbtx.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/2017-survival-guide.pdf
    • Element 11 – Warning and Bans Policy: http://www.element11.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Warning-and-Bans-Policy-2018.pdf
    • Firefly – Warning and Ban Policy: https://www.fireflyartscollective.org/firefly/firefly-policies/conduct-committee-policies/warnings-and-bans/
    • To the Moon: https://www.tothemoonburn.com/general-guidelines

    Other Codes of Conduct:

    • Gigsville (humorous:) http://kevissimo.gigsville.org/coc.htm
    • BCAUS Chicago – Burlesque Community Against Unsafe Spaces: https://docs.google.com/document/d/13Gyt9T7lvb-4jGkDJ3ZpjY7J_7RgbaH_jnbOmEfVOs8/pub
    • Penguicon: http://2018.penguicon.org/about-penguicon/code-of-conduct/
    • NYC Safer Spaces (kink/play party community) has a CoC and a Restorative Justice committee (Corrective Methods):
    • http://nycsaferspaces.com/index.php/code-of-conduct/
    • http://nycsaferspaces.com/index.php/corrective-methods/