A guest post from our reader A Balanced Perspective, updating his post earlier this year.
The BMOrg Cash Out of 2010-2017, $35-$47 Million, an Updated Estimate
by A Balanced Perspective
I penned The Great BMOrg Cash Out of 2010 to 2016 – $28 Million to $45 Million, Est post in May. This post is an updated estimate of the BMOrg’s cash out based on knowledge gained in the prior few months.
Despite numerous requests to prove anything incorrect within the original post, no person proved anything incorrect, except I didn’t include the cash from images and trademarks licensing revenue streams; I was naive in the belief of California 501(c)3 laws requiring disclosure of the BMOrg’s large conflicts of interest; DPW labourers are employees, not contractors as I believed, but the cash they were paid is not sufficient to change the estimate; and the other Burning Man Project (the Project) board members were elected for terms of two years, not one year. I penned the post upon this rubbish solely from a belief in fair play, a belief of the awesome Burning Man community, and all awesome Burners whom contribute to throwing the incredible crowd sourced parties, must be treated, by the BMOrg, in a fair manner.
In the manner of the prior estimate, this estimate is based upon simple maths on their statements, their numbers, and their corporate records.
Click on the numerous links for the supporting statements, numbers, and corporate records. Might any person might prove any number or statement to be incorrect, please do so within the comments on this site.
Please disclose if you have signed any contract to be a representative of the BMOrg, or if you are a member of their social media crew. I’m much obliged, Elizabeth, for editing my draft, and to a brace of our brilliant mates for their assistance towards an improved understanding of the financial maneuvers.
A summary of their $35 million to $47 million cash out, mostly tax free, capitalistic cash out, based on simple maths on their afterburn reports, the Scribe’s brilliant SFBG reporting, Decommodification Incorporated and Clarification of Decommodification posts by burnersxxx, on their corporate records, and Larry Harvey’s statements.
Background and Organizational Summary
Black Rock City LLC (BRC LLC) was incorporated in 1999 with Larry Harvey, Marian Goodell, William Roger Peterson, Crimson Rose Elliot Peterson, Michael Danger Ranger Mikel, and Harley Dubois as owners. They are permanent Project board members, per the Project’s bylaws. Marian is the Project’s CEO and/or President, Larry is the Project’s Executive Director, William Roger Peterson as the Project’s Director of Nevada Relations and Special Projects, and Harley Dubois is the Project’s Transition Manager and Black Rock City Manager. I refer to these six as the BMOrg within this post, in due of they are in near total control over their for-profit and non-profit corporate entities. Their precise salaries and positions upon the Project may be obtained by viewing and copying the minutes of the Project board meetings, physically available to any person venturing to their Alabama Street headquarters, as per CA 501(c)3 law and page 36 of the Project’s bylaws.
At the conclusion of 2013, they donated the BRC LLC, which does business as Burning Man, and manages the Burning Man event, to the 501(c)3 non-profit Project, and thus obtained a huge tax deduction in return. The BRC LLC is presently a for-profit subsidiary corporation of the 501(c)3 Project, all profits from the Burning Man event flow up onto the Project’s ledger.
The Great BMOrg Cash Out of 2010 to 2017
2010:
a) Over $4 million of salary. Payroll increased from $2.8 million in 2009 to $7.2 million in 2010, with solely 30 salary employees, temporary salary labourers (DPW), and the six LLC owners to pay as Senior Staff. The contract labourers were paid solely $231,783, and legal and consultants were paid $1,468,000. In 2009, the contract labourers were paid $161,000, thus the increase of payroll isn’t DPW being switched from contract labourers to payroll, it’s a legitimate $4.4 million increase year over year. Thus, unless the salaried employees were paid, on average, over $90,000 each, or the pay of DPW labourers increased far over $500,000, the six prior BRC LLC owners took over $4 million of payroll towards their pockets. Kudos to Woody for providing a spreadsheet clearly illustrating the huge increase of their salaries from 2009 to 2010.
2011:
a) $4 million of salary from $7.1 million of payroll
2012:
a) $4 million of salary from $7.8 million of payroll
b) $100,000 from licence of images. Decommodification LLC, their pass-through royalties company, was formed in November 2010. The BMOrg, previously through their BRC LLC, has been taking 10% of the revenue from licensing of images since 2002. It is believed the 10% levy, a site fee, or a percenage of profits is now going to their for-profit licensing royalties company, Decommodification LLC.
2013:
a) Over $3 million of salary from $7.0 million of payroll.
b) $300,000 from licence of images, primarily from Spark: A Burning Man Story, to their Decommodification LLC. I’m not of the ability to estimate a value upon their income from their Youtube channel, their Ignite! site, print, or upon other potential sources of image licence revenues, thus, I didn’t include other potential revenues in this estimate.
c) $1,000,000 from the licence of their Burning Man(TM) name and trademarks )'(, paid to their Decommodification LLC. The Burning Man(TM) name, and other trademarks, were previously transferred from their BRC LLC to their Decommodification LLC. The BMOrg stated $4.5 million was paid to the BLM, but the BLM, upon being queried, stated they received $3.5 million. Since the original afterburn line was “BLM and other usage fees, and in due of their false statement, I’m estimating the missing $1 million was a usage fee for licensing the Burning Man(TM) name and trademarks. The BMOrg is encouraged to inform us, and the Reno Gazette Journal, where’s the missing $1 million?
d) End of 2013, $1 million to $4 million of cash and properties. They donated their BRC LLC to the 501(c)3 non-profit Project, gifting the event back to the community, as was repeated throughout Spark, though first the BRC LLC was likely stripped of cash towards their pockets, and property towards Black Rock City Properties LLC, of unknown ownership. The cash was likely not a large amount, most profits from prior burns were apparently taken as salaries and trademark licence levies. We won’t know the amount of cash stripped from the BRC LLC ledger prior to the donation, despite Larry stating otherwise, we’ll only know, sometime in 2016, the cash remaining on the ledger post the donation.
They obtained brilliant advice on this donation. They are already taking most of the cash profits from seven years of the Burning Man(TM) event towards their pockets, so how might they gain even more cash? Their donation of the BRC LLC towards the 501(c)3 Project results in their cash out being mostly tax free, perhaps a tax deduction of $30 million to $45 million, 1x or 1.5x sales, due to the future revenues of the BRC LLC from the Burning Man(TM) event, and comparable valuations from purchases of EDM rave festivals. Perchance, they deferred salary from prior years to 2013, terming it a loan, and obtained the benefit of gaining more cash tax free.
2014:
a) $4 million to $6 million from 2014 ticket sales, held in reserve, or held in escrow, for the purchase of the Burning Man(TM) name and trademarks from their Decommodification LLC in early 2017. That’s when Larry states they will be paid for their value, that’s when they will officially cash out. I estimated $4 million of each year of 2014, 2015, and 2016, in due of that was their, by simple maths upon their numbers, prior salary, it would be unreasonable to estimate a smaller number. The $6 million high estimate is due to the Burning Man event revenues increasing from $12 million in 2009, the year prior to their salaries were first increased to over $4 million, to nearly $30 million in 2014. Thus, $6 million is not an unreasonable estimate. This results in a total payment of $12 million to $18 million for the Burning Man(TM) name, logo )$( and other trademarks in early 2017.
The BRC LLC places the cash in reserve, or escrow, each year, but it’s not a completed deal. The value of the Burning Man(TM) trademarks increased since the price might have been set in 2011, and the acceptance of this amount is subject to a vote by the six former BRC LLC owners, though their vote does have to be unanimous to not accept the cash. Financial maneuvers might also occur, perchance donating Decommodification LLC to the 501(c)3 Project for additional tax deductions, after the assets of Decommodification LLC are stripped away to yet another LLC, in the same manner as the BRC LLC was donated to the Project, after the trademarks and other assets were stripped towards their Decommodification LLC.
Mandatory conditions were attached upon the donation of the BRC LLC to the Project, as is the usual for large donations, and some of the conditions are reflected within the Project bylaws, updated at the time of the donation. Burners have not been informed of these conditions, and the plan, might be something Burners don’t expect at all.
b) 500,000 to $1 million in salaries. They are entitled to reasonable salaries for their positions on the 501(c)3 Project. As stated prior, their precise positions and salaries are available on the Project board meetings minutes.
c) $1 million for licence of the Burning Man(TM) trademarks. The $1 million amount in 2013, perchance was decided during the middle of 2013, thus the licence levy might be higher than $1 million for the complete year of 2014.
d) $500,000 to $800,000 for licence of images of Burning Man, primarily from Spark: A Burning Man Story, distributed on Netflix, Showtime, and other channels. The ticket terms state the licensing of images at Burning Man, i.e., images of the art, mutant vehicles, theme camps, and Burners, is controlled by the BRC LLC, and Decommodification LLC. There is no rationale their for-profit Decommodification LLC is within the ticket terms, other than to take licensing revenues towards their pockets.
Thus, by this simple estimate based upon their numbers and their statements, in 2014 Where Your Ticket Money Goes is $85 to $130 of each ticket is directed towards their pockets, in place of towards awesome Burners throwing this crowd sourced party.
2015:
a) $4 million to $6 million from 2015 ticket sales, held in reserve, or held in escrow, for the purchase of the Burning Man(TM) name and other trademarks from their Decommodification LLC in early 2017.
b) $500,000 to $1 million in reasonable salaries.
c) $1 million for licence of the Burning Man(TM) trademarks, paid to their Decommodification LLC.
d) $400,000 to $800,000 for licence of images of Burning Man, paid to their Decommodification LLC.
2016:
a) $4 million to $6 million from 2016 ticket sales, held in reserve, or held in escrow, for the purchase of the Burning Man(TM) name and trademarks from their Decommodification LLC in early 2017,
b) $500,000 to $1 million in reasonable salaries.
c) $1 million for licence of the Burning Man(TM) trademarks, paid to their Decommodification LLC.
d) $400,000 to $800,000 for licence of images of Burning Man, paid to their Decommodification LLC.
Early 2017:
As penned within this estimate, the Burning Man Project, or its BRC LLC subsidiary, is scheduled to purchase the trademarks from Decommodification LLC, including the Burning Man(TM) name, )$( logo, and additional trademarks, such as Decompression(TM) and Decommodification(TM). That’s when they’ll be paid for their value.
Thus, $35 million to $47 million of cash is directed towards minting them, mostly tax free. Upon averages, each of the six former BRC LLC owners will pocket as much cash as was commissioned by them for all the art, including the temples, in the entire history of Burning Man, which is less than $7 million, per the afterburn reports.
IF ANY PERSON MIGHT PROVE ANY OF THIS ESTIMATE TO BE INCORRECT, PLEASE DO SO IN THE COMMENTS BELOW ON THIS SITE. I would be very much obliged, towards obtaining improved information upon their seven year cash out.
Not a shabby capitalistic pocketing for a bottom up crowd sourced party that awesome Burners have thrown for two decades upon our theme camps, mutant vehicles, art projects, and the labours of thousands of Burner volunteers.
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Opinion – A Fair Manner Forward
The BMOrg must:
a) Disclose the details of their cash out to numerous people whom donate cash, art, and volunteer labour to the 501(c)3 Project. The BMOrg must also disclose their large conflicts of interest to thousands of donors gifting art, volunteer labour, mutant vehicles, sound camps, theme camps, and others providing entertainment to ticket buyers. Tickets sold by Black Rock City LLC, dba Burning Man, a subsidiary corporation of the Project, is the primary source of cash going into the pockets of the six people controlling these corporations. They are firmly in control of the Project, and most are also on the BRC LLC board. I believe it dishonourable of them to hide, from donors, the cash directed to their pockets through bureaucratic processes, misdirections and omissions, and false statements, while remaining firmly in control. I’m of the opinion they must act in the manner people believe a 501(c)3, licensed by the State of California, and receiving donations, must act.
b) Disclose the mandatory conditions attached to the donation of the BRC LLC to the Project. Burning Man states, “Over time, however, it is likely that the event will evolve in ways that support the efforts of the non-profit in more distinct ways than are currently apparent or even yet explored“. It is fair for Burners to know, and have great input, into the 100 year plan.
c) Place independent Burners, whom truly represent the awesome Burning Man community, on the Project Board, in place of your mates, fund managers and corporate executives.
d) Distribute most tickets through the awesome Burning Man communities, in place of over the Internet. Rebuild the Burner community in this manner. If people desire tickets, they might obtain tickets by making connections within the Burner community by contributing to the bottom up crowd sourced parties. Permit volunteers to purchase several tickets for their mates. Gift several thousand tickets to mutant vehicle owners, sound camps, theme camps providing entertainment, and artists, whom contribute mightedly towards throwing the crowd sourced party on the playa. Permit them to sell the tickets, at listed price, to their campers and others to defray the costs of their incredible gifts to the community, and of providing entertainment to the BMOrg’s ticket buyers.
e) Negotiate a fair contract with the awesome artists, collectively. Fair is not divide and conquer, nor reimbursing artists solely 30% to 40% of their costs, solely $12 of each $380 or $650 ticket sold to Safari Camps.
f) Pay those whom labour, for more than a brace of weeks, a fair wage. Might you pay an additional 100 awesome DPW arses an hourly wage of $15 for two months, it is $500,000, solely $8 of each $380 or $650 Safari Camp ticket. Add in another $4 per ticket for raising the wages paid towards the DPW to a fair value.
‘ABalancedPerspective’
[Update 12/1/14 2:49pm]
Within this estimate, I estimated for 2010, over $4 million of salaries were paid towards the six prior BRC LLC owners, in due of the payroll rising from $2.8 million in 2009, to $7.2 million within 2010, with solely 30 salary employees, as Larry stated to the sfpublicpress.
The BMOrg, upon their new burningman.org website, states they, at present, have 70 employees or contractors labouring for the Burning Man Project. Except, the estimate of their cashout for 2014 to 2017 does not have anything, in the least, to do in regards of the number of employees or contractors at the present time. Their cashout, of 2014 to 2017, is payment for their Burning Man(TM) trademarks in early 2017, licence of their Burning Man(TM) trademarks each year, licence payments, from others, for images of Burning Man, and salaries in due of their positions upon the Burning Man Project. All above, except salaries, by appearance, are in due of contracts penned prior to 2014.
Please view the post, above, for this information, with payment towards them, of an estimated $85 to $130 of each ticket sold for the 2014, 2015, and 2016 burns
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Please read the annual reports for detailed information about the money.
Oh, we do. https://burners.me/2016/11/25/analysis-burning-man-project-2015-financials/
Update Summary
The BMOrg released their 990 for 2013, and this estimate must change from $35 to $47 million to somewhere in the mid-twenty million dollar range. The trademark licence levy each year is $75,000, it is not $1 million, thus the estimate will lower by $3 million. While it does not change the estimate numbers, the tax deduction for the donation of the BRC LLC, dba Burning Man, was solely $7.4 million, not $30 to $45 million. The estimate was correct upon the BMOrg donated the BRC LLC to the Project for near to zero dollars of cash.
The big change was not in due of the 990 released for 2013, but, it is in due of comments by Larry Harvey and Danger Ranger. It is the price, by appearances, to be paid for the Burning Man(TM) trademarks. I am of the belief the present contract for the trademarks is for near to $1 million for each of the six BMOrg members, $6 million in total, I had priorly estimated $12 million to $18 million. The transfer of the trademarks is changed to 2018, and, perchance, it will include a very big tax deduction in the place of solely cash to be paid.
The estimate of $4 million each year of 2010, 2011, 2012, and 2013 remains valid, for a total of $16 million. But, the BMOrg has hidden the cash directed towards their pockets of these years, so we will know little real information upon their cash out, thus, this is solely an estimate. In 2016 the 990 for 2014 will be released, which might provide light in regards of the profits of the BRC LLC, and the cash remaining upon the ledger at the donation of the BRC LLC to the Project. I do not know the rationale as to why the BMOrg hides the information from donors, they might have answered our queries near to one year ago when the queries were presented towards them.
Update
The BMOrg’s donation of the BRC LLC to the Burning Man Project, and the process the BMOrg utilized is very honourable. The Burning Man’s Nonprofit Financial Information Released, and the 990 form of 2013, are a first step towards ‘a well-lighted suite of rooms’. Larry, Marian, Danger Ranger, Harley, Will, and Crimson deserve our immense gratitude upon their donation. But, there is much more information required for ‘a well-lighted suite of rooms’.
I must apologise for parts of the cash out posts and my other comments. While I was correct in regards of what occurred, of that they donated the BRC LLC to the Project for near to $0, I was very wrong in regards to the tax deduction from their donation of the BRC LLC, dba Burning Man, to the Project at the end of 2013. I estimated the tax deduction in due of the donation was $30 or $45 million, utilizing a market value method of valuation of 1x or 1.5x of sales, but they utilized the cost method of valuation, of assets upon the ledger minus the liabilities, resulting in solely $7.4 million of deductions upon tax levies. I do not understand the rationale of why the profitable $30 million revenue stream was valued at solely $0, but, it is very honourable of the BMOrg to donate the BRC LLC to the Project for such a low deduction upon tax levies.
I estimated $1 million for 2014, 2015, and 2016 for licence of the Burning Man(TM) name and trademarks in due of the missing $1 million they wrongly stated, in ‘Where Does Your Ticket Money Go’, they paid towards the BLM as a usage fee within 2013, but they will licence the name and trademarks to the Project for solely $75,000 each year. I apologise for being wrong in this manner, what the BMOrg did in donating the BRC LLC to the Project, and taking solely $75,000 each year for the licence of the trademarks, is very honourable.
In addendum, by appearance, they will solely take near to $1 million each, if even that, and, perchance, a very big tax deduction for the other part, as payment for the Burning Man(TM) trademarks within 2018, which is very honourable. I estimated they would take $2 million each for the trademarks, with a high number of $3 million each, I was wrong in this estimate. I based this estimate upon the continuation of their estimated pocketing of $4 million each year of 2010, 2011, 2012, and 2013, based upon the difference in the afterburn reports from the payroll number and what employees, by simple maths, were in actuality paid. This results in an estimated $16 million take towards their pockets, in total, from 2010 to 2013, which remains a valid estimate, whether they took this as salaries, or as distributions of retained earnings, prior to their honourable donation of the BRC LLC to the Project. Might any person desire to dispute this, tell us where is the missing $4 million of payroll, when they stated towards us payroll increased from $2.8 million in 2009, to $7.2 million in 2010, with solely 30 employees to pay, and contractors being on a different line in the ledger, and paying little towards temporary labourers.
This lowers my estimate of their cash out, from near to $40 million, to within the mid-twenty million dollar range, from 2010 until 2018, I apologise. But, we are not of the knowledge of the amount of cash they took towards their pockets prior to their honourable donation of the BRC LLC to the Project, they do not desire to tell us, thus, this is solely an estimate.
I do not understand the rationale as to why the BMOrg delayed 10 months in disclosing the information we have been requesting upon their cashout. It would have been easy peasy for them to state this the prior March (or May, or July, or September, or November) when queries upon payments towards them, and towards their Decommodification LLC, were presented. I might understand of them stonewalling any query upon how much cash they took towards their pockets prior to their honourable donation of the BRC LLC to the Project, but I do not understand the rationale as to why they did not answer the queries upon the donation and upon the years after the donation. The first step in proper public relations is to get in front of an issue, of which, they did not do. Two simple paragraphs were all that might be required, with the statement of that it was preliminary and unaudited.
My desire is, now that their honourable donation of the BRC LLC to the Project is complete, and ticket sales were increased from $13 million in 2010, to $30.5 million in 2015, and their cash out is near to completed, is that they might cover all costs of the awesome artists (of which, they do not plan to do within 2015), present to the artists a fair contract, pay all DPW a very fair wage, and provide full transparency, this spring, as to where the ticket money in actuality went within 2014, and is planned to go in 2015, in the place of stating towards the artists, and towards DPW labourers, of that ‘we do not have the cash to pay you’. In addendum, support the mutant vehicle owners, sound camps, and other camps providing entertainment, by gifting them several thousand free tickets to the event, this is solely fair.
The Burning Man Project is a 501(c)3 taking donations, my belief is they owe the donors of art, labour, cash, and stock, to the Project, and to the profitable subsidiary corporation of which they have near to total control, much more information as to where the money did go, and as to where the money is to go, in addendum to their conflicts of interests, purposed towards the DONORS being of the ablility to make an informed decision as to whether they might desire to make their donation of their art, labour, cash, or stock.
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The BMOrg posted the Burning Man’s Nonprofit Financial Information Released on their blog, and the 990 form of 2013 on their website. I, and one of my mates, are reading the documents, and I must make a correction and apology on several items within the estimate, my estimate was way too big in regards of their tax deduction, and too big on their licence of the Burning Man(TM) trademarks. Prior of that, a first impression upon these documents.
The donation of the BRC LLC to the Burning Man Project, and the process they utilized, by appearance, is very honourable, and is, in the most part, as one person stated, it is above board. The Burning Man’s Nonprofit Financial Information Released, and the 990 form of 2013, are a very honourable first step towards ‘a well lighted suite of rooms’.
My estimate was very wrong in regards of their tax deduction in due of the donation of the BRC LLC to the Burning Man Project. I estimated a market value, of the BRC LLC, of 1 times, or 1.5 times sales, thus a tax levy deduction of $30 million to $45 million in due of $30 million of ticket sales, which might be a very conservative estimate in comparison towards other festivals sold within the prior few years. But, in terms utilized by the 990 form, the BRC LLC donation was based upon a ‘cost method of valuation’, as stated on the Schedule D (form 990) 2013, thus, the BRC LLC was valued solely at $7,390,000. I do not know the rationale as to why the ‘cost method of valuation’ in place of the ‘end-of-year market value method of valuation’ was utilized.
I estimated a usage fee upon the licence of the Burning Man(TM) trademarks, owned by Decommodification LLC, of $1 million of each year in due of the wrong information on their ‘Where Does Your Ticket Money Go’, which states, within 2013, $4.5 million was paid to the BLM as a usage fee, but the BLM states they were paid solely $3.5 million, thus, I estimated of the missing $1 million as a usage fee upon the Burning Man(TM) trademarks. The BMOrg states the Burning Man Project is to pay solely $75,000 each year for the licence of the Burning Man(TM) trademarks, they are not to pay $1 million.
I was incorrect in the belief of the BRC LLC was likely stripped of cash prior to the donation of the BRC LLC to the BMP. The 2013 Federal Supplemental Information Page 1 of the 990 states ‘substantial cash reserves’ of the BRC LLC were included within the donation of the BRC LLC to the BMP. In addendum, ‘ownership of BRC’s wholly owned subsidiary BRC Holdings, LLC, which owns Nevada real estate related to production of the Burning Man event’ was donated to the BMP, perchance, the DPW work ranch.
I do not know the rationale as to why the BMOrg delayed 10 months in disclosing this information. It would have been easy peasy for them to state this the prior March when queries upon payments towards them, and towards their Decommodification LLC, were presented. The first step in proper public relations is to get ahead of an issue, of which, they did not do.
What remains hidden is the payments, towards them, for purchase of the Burning Man(TM) trademarks, and other IP, at present planned for 2018. The ‘well-lighted suite of rooms’, and the proper disclosure towards donors, must include this information. On April 1, 2011, Larry Harvey presented a speech, of which, the prior SFBG newspaper reported In about three years, depending on how the new nonprofit forms up, the LLC will turn over management of Burning Man, while holding onto control of the logos and trademarks for another three years after that, Harvey said. And that’s when the six board members will officially cash out. and ‘which is why they plan on waiting three years to turn control of the event over to the new nonprofit, the Burning Man Project, and another three years after that until they liquidate their ownership of the name and associated trademarks and are paid for their value.’
In addendum, a change occurred in regards of the payments towards them for purchase of the Burning Man(TM) trademarks. Even within March of 2014, upon the transition of the BRC LLC to the Burning Man Project, Larry Harvey stated ‘This too will be transferred to the non-profit in three years time, unless the partners elect “not” to do so…’, but this is, at present, delayed to 2018. What occurred? Did the terms of the payments also change? Might any changes have occurred, this must be on the minutes of the BMP board meetings.
By appearance, Larry, Marian, and the other prior owners of the BRC LLC, made a deal with the other BMP board members to remain in near total control of the Burning Man event by being on the board of the BRC LLC subsidiary corporation, no independent directors are upon the BRC LLC board.
Thank you for the update. Knowledge is power.
It has been three months since this updated cash out estimate post was penned, and this cash out estimate remains valid. The BMOrg provided two responses in regards of their cash out, and both of their responses contain false statements, or in other terms, lies. I do not desire to use that term, but that is what is occurring. One response was by Danger Ranger in early December, and the other response was their Where Does My Ticket Money Go? document posted in support of their 2015 ticket prices. In addendum, I might have been a tad high on the estimate of their revenues from their licence of images of Burning Man(TM). I will discuss each of these items in comments below. As usual, it is desired for the BMOrg to provide transparency as to their cash out towards the awesome Burner community, and towards donors of cash, stock, labour, and art, it would be honourable of them might they do so.
The BMOrg posted again the ‘Where Does My Ticket Money Go?‘ in support of their 2015 ticket prices. The sole changes to the document, in difference from this document posted within 2014 August, are changing the $380 ticket cost and $40 vehicle pass cost of 2014, to the $390 and the $50 of 2015, while the document intentionally hides, from donors of art, cash, stock, labour, and entertainment towards their tickets buyers, hides the cash, from the ticket money, that goes towards the large cash out paid towards the six of them, whom are on the 501(c)3 Burning Man Project board, and with some in firm executive control of the Project and of the Burning Man event. Might a lawyer state to us how in bloody hell might actively hiding large amounts of cash directed towards themselves be legal within California 501(c)3 law?
a) Within this document is ‘The space we use is managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and our 2013 fees to them totaled $4,522,952.’ No, the BLM, upon being queried, stated they received $3.5 million, not $4.5 million. Where is the missing $1 million? I estimated this was a licence levy for usage of the Burning Man(TM) name and trademarks paid towards their for profit Decommodification LLC in due of the afterburn ledger item was ‘BLM and other usage fees‘ and in due of this lie. I do not desire to term it a lie, but knowingly repeating false information is a lie.
In addendum, in support of the missing $1 million being a licence levy paid towards their Decommodification LLC, the 2014 ticket terms state ‘I acknowledge that the name “Burning Man” is a trademark owned by Decommodification LLC and licensed to BRC, and that BRC LLC has been given the sole right to license and enforce that trademark, and that all of Burning Man’s logos, trademarks or other intellectual property are owned by Decommodification LLC and licensed to BRC, …’ For those whom do not understand licensing, the purpose of licensing is that the user of the licence pays cash towards the owner of the IP that is licenced, this is the manner of which many industries operate, as broadcast, movies, photography, software, patents, recording companies, and other industries, operate. If the BMOrg desires to dispute this, the BMOrg might officially state that their Decommodification LLC does not receive payments for the licence of these items, I will most gladly revise this estimate might they officially do so, accuracy is the goal.
b) The ‘Where Does My Ticket Money Go’ document is intentionally misleading, a main cost from the ticket prices is their estimated large cash out. While the document does state ‘These are just some of the specific needs that your ticket money covers’, the title ‘Where Does My Ticket Money Go?’, and, within the document ‘… and we’d like to let you know where your ticket money goes’ directly implies of the large costs of the event will be stated within the document, but, their large cash out is not stated. The term, in common usage, for this is lie of omission.
Danger Ranger posted, in early December, on Facebook and repeated in numerous places, a post upon the Commodification camp controversy in which he also lied about burnersxxx, view the Names post for discussion, and Danger Ranger states –
‘The transition of Burning Man from tontine to non-profit organization has taken more that six years. Thru all of this, no one in the organization is getting rich off of Burning Man. That will become apparent after the numbers for the non-profit are published. It’s been a very complex process with many moving pieces, some of them not quite in place. The sole purpose of Decommodification LLC is to protect the Burning Man name …’
‘Thru all of this, no one in the organization is getting rich off of Burning Man.’ So, define rich. A person might be of the belief of $35 million to $47 million, in the main part free of tax levies, divided among 6 people, is not rich. Might this be the manner of his statement?
‘That will become apparent after the numbers for the non-profit are published.’ It is, at present, 2015, and the 990 form of the 501(c)3 Project non-profit for 2013 are not, as of yet, published. The 2013 numbers will tell us little, the BRC LLC, doing business as Burning Man, did not become a subsidiary company of the Project prior to the beginning of 2014, thus, the 2013 form is useless in this manner. The 990 form of the Project, for 2014, might tell us a tad bit more, but not much, but this form will not be published for yet another year. Or, the BMOrg, perchance, might provide the desired transparency towards donors. I trust that any numbers published, upon the 2014 year, prior to the 990 form of 2014 being published in 2016, will state their reasonable salaries upon the Project, licence levies for the Burning Man(TM) trademarks paid by the BRC LLC subsidiary corporation, and the amount of cash to be paid to their Decommodification LLC, in two years time, for the purchase of the Burning Man(TM) trademarks and other IP, and other payments which might not be included within this estimate. I will be most glad to update this estimate when any numbers are published, accuracy is the goal.
‘The sole purpose of Decommodification LLC is to protect the Burning Man name …’
Rubbish, this is a false statement. It is well documented that the primary purpose of their for profit Decommodification LLC is to hold the Burning Man(TM) name, and other trademarks, and other IP, for purchase by the Project, or by the BRC LLC subsidiary, in two years time. It is also estimated that Decommodification LLC receives licence payments for the usage of these trademarks and other IP. In addendum, Decommodification LLC might receive payments for licence of images of Burning Man.
In addendum, what happened to Danger Ranger? By appearances, he has not returned to Facebook, and he appears to have dropped off the earth.
should have been no problem for him to just change his Facebook profile to “Michael Mikel”…unless there is some other issue involved.
Payments for Licence of Images at Burning Man
Little is known, in regards of this, other than the ticket terms, the terms of the prior contract with the artists, and reporting within the prior SFBG newspaper. The contract with the artists is, at present, being revised. It would be honourable of the BMOrg to state, towards the awesome artists whom are donating much, the image licence levies paid towards the BRC LLC, and, by appearance, paid towards their for profit Decommodification LLC, and share the levies with the artists.
Might the BMOrg desire to dispute licence levies are paid towards their Decommodification LLC, they might officially state that no image licence levies are paid towards their Decommodification LLC for 2015, or for 2014, in addendum to officially stating of no licence levies, or profits, from Spark: A Burning Man Story, are paid towards their Decommodification LLC or towards prior owners of the BRC LLC, in addendum to officially stating the Project, or the BRC LLC, will pay no payments for buying control of the images or the image licence revenues, from their Decommodification LLC, within the big cash out of the next two years. I will be most glad to update this estimate might this be officially stated, accuracy is important. Prior of this being officially stated, this estimate remains valid*, based upon prior information.
The updated contract with the artists, was due within December, but, by appearance, it remains within negotiations. It might be desired that the artists obtain a fair contract, with credit for the art being obtained by the artists and their mates, as opposed to credit being taken by Burning Man(TM), and by the photographers taking photos of their art. In addendum, it might be desired all costs of the artists will be paid from the $30.5 million of ticket revenues of the BRC LLC, in place of solely 30 per cent or 40 per cent of their costs, solely $13 of each ticket, the artists might share in the image licence levies, and much more.
This estimate remains valid, with a few updates upon this estimate. The image licence revenue of 2013 might be high, the $300,000 might be revised to $100,000. Much of the licence revenues, or profits, from Spark: A Burning Man Story, might be directed towards prior owners of the BRC LLC, in place of towards their Decommodification LLC. Within the image licence revenues of 2014, I stated ‘There is no rationale their for-profit Decommodification LLC is within the ticket terms, other than to take licensing revenues towards their pockets.’ This statement might be updated towards ‘While their might be other rationales their for-profit Decommodification LLC is within the ticket terms, by appearance, the primary reason their Decommodification LLC is within the ticket terms is to take licensing revenues, upon their trademarks, and upon images of Burning Man, towards their pockets’. In addendum, in due of Danger Ranger stating Decommodification LLC will end in 2017 upon their cash out occurring, might part of the payments of their cash out, be a large payment for control of the images and for the licensing revenues upon the images? I estimated the cash in reserve for the payments were $4 million to $6 million of each year of 2014, 2015, and 2016, might payments for the images, and other IP, be the extra $2 milllion of each year? As usual, it would be honourable of the BMOrg to provide transparency of the cash directed towards them, towards donors of cash, stock, labour, and art.
Maid Marian gave a talk today: TedX Bay Area 2014. In it, she revealed that the non-profit now has a $30 million budget, employs 80 staff, and has tens of thousands of volunteers. The theme was “Balance”, her segment starts at 11:20 http://new.livestream.com/accounts/50006/events/3634208/videos/70519944
Thanks. 70 are currently on the website, some of them are contractors, and, I think some are part time. The 80 might include part time events staff people. They seem to want to downplay that Black Rock City LLC, a subsidiary to the Burning Man Project, puts on Burning Man. There’s some serious stuff going down with the Project BOD, I hope it results in leadership that gives the awesome Burner community the respect they deserve, the artists, DPW, transparency, ticket distribution through the community, bottoms up control over many facets in a communal meritocracy manner, and so much more.
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In due of the Burning Man website changing from burningman.com, to burningman.org, and numerous pages removed from the website, links within this post were broken. Below, within the replies to this comment, in replacement, I will copy links towards the prior burningman.com pages saved within the Internet Archives.
The link to the afterburn reports containing payroll numbers of 2002 to 2013.
This is a good one, the new website states Larry is President of the Burning Man Project. The prior website, last week, stated Larry was solely the Executive Director. I am curious towards the length of time of they attempted to hide that Larry is President of the Project. Larry, in addendum, is Chief Philosophy Officer, leading the Philosophical Committee of the Project, whom has powers, as ‘… is an Executive Committee and executes the authority of the Board’ in addendum to ‘… The Philosophy Committee may initiate proposals for new projects, programs, and ventures …’, stated within the bylaws of the Project. Whom might have been of the belief a ‘Philosophy Committee’ might have such powers? Larry has paid brilliant lawyers for their labours.
The new website, in addendum, as was known by other manners, states Marian is Chief Executive Officer of the Burning Man Project, and Will Peterson is the Chairman of the Board of the Burning Man Project.
Not a single “Emeriti” from before Marian joined. Almost all from the 2000’s. Despite their attempts to paint this party as “historical”, it seems like the first decade of their history is irrelevant…before BMOrg, there was no Burning Man.
I suspect there is a corporate NPD process where those that are predisposed to NPD stay or join, while those more healthy leave or stay away. The heart of Burning Man was established before the 2000’s, so most of those that shaped it, like most burners, would be repulsed by the NPD behavior. I wonder when the playa artist contracts, the most explicit and undeniable NPD behavior, became so onerous. I would bet that is was coincident with the “NPD takeover” of the BOrg.
Also Chip Conley has wiped all references to AirBnB (and Esalen) from his board profile. I guess he doesn’t need it there, when he can just talk to Fortune whenever he wants to promote his role as co-founder of Burning Man’s Board.
Like the Ursula K. Le Guin book, we should now call this “The Lathe of Burners.me.” We now control what the BOrg does and does not put on their web site. If we complain, they remove it. Pretty powerful. Wonder if we can get them to dance.
Perhaps they will remove Commodification Camps and Vehicle Passes now. I’m not holding my breath…
Links, of the Internet Archive, continued.
Larry Harvey’s statements, from the BMOrg blog post upon their announcement of the transition to a non profit, and his statements upon Decommodification LLC. In addendum, comments state the Black Rock City LLC, dba Burning Man, is a for profit subsidiary corporation of the Burning Man Project.
burnersxxx, much obliged, for you, updating links within this post to point towards the new burningman.org website.
2010: a) Over $4 million of salary.
Payroll increased from $2.8 million in 2009 to $7.2 million in 2010 In addendum, the payments to contract labourers are within this link.
The six former LLC owners paid themselves as Senior Staff in due of the Senior Staff is the members of the Burning Man BRC LLC board, and others.
2011: a) $4 million of salary from $7.1 million of payroll
2012: a) $4 million of salary from $7.8 million of payroll. In this estimate, I estimated their salaries remained at $4 million, in despite of the payroll was raised from $7.1 million to to $7.8 million, in due of more people upon the payroll.
2013: a) Over $3 million of salary from $7.0 million of payroll. I solely estimated $3 million as to the salaries of the six former BRC LLC owners, in place of the $4 million of prior years, in due of the payroll number reducing from $7.8 million, within 2012, to $7.0 million, within 2013.
2013: c) $1,000,000 from the licence of their Burning Man(TM) name and trademarks )$(
Burning Man stated $4.5 million was paid to the BLM, which is a false statement, in due of the BLM, upon being queried, stated 2013 fees to them totaled $3.5 million.
In addendum, the prior ‘Where Your Ticket Money Goes’ page upon the burningman.com website, which states of the $4.5 million was paid to the BLM, is linked, within this post, within ‘Opinion – A Fair Manner Forward’, as ‘misdirections and omissions’.
2014: d) $500,000 to $800,000 for licence of images of Burning Man, primarily from Spark: A Burning Man Story, … The ticket terms state the licensing of images at Burning Man, i.e., images of the art, mutant vehicles, theme camps, and Burners, is controlled by the BRC LLC, and Decommodification LLC. There is no rationale their for-profit Decommodification LLC is within the ticket terms, other than to take licensing revenues towards their pockets.
2014: Thus, by this simple estimate based upon their numbers and their statements, in 2014 Where Your Ticket Money Goes is $85 to $130 of each ticket is directed towards their pockets, in place of towards awesome Burners throwing this crowd sourced party.
Update 2014/12/01 – upon viewing the ticket terms again, the statement ‘… or other intellectual property is owned by Decommodification LLC …’, by appearance, means Decommodification LLC takes the licence levies, towards their pockets, from all prior images of BRC LLC, in addendum to licence levies from images of 2014. Perchance, within the mandatory conditions upon their donation of the BRC LLC, the Burning Man event, to the Project, all images of Burning Man within 2014, and in the future, are the property of Decommodification LLC, of which, it is an awesome revenue stream. Which means, Larry, and his mates, whom own Decommodification LLC, thus have the rights to licence and monetize the images of Burning Man, of prior, of the present, and of the future, for forever.
thanks, I’ve updated the post. Let me know if I got them all and then I can delete the comments here.
Much obliged, but, you did not need to do so!
There are some to be updated, and some links are a 404, prior to deleting the comments here. I will put them in the comments below this comment.
2010: ‘$7.2 million in 2010’, and ‘contract labourers’ –
https://web.archive.org/web/20141006213328/http://afterburn.burningman.com/10/financial_chart.html
Bylaws –
burningman.org/network/about-us/public-documents
– within the ‘Background and organizational summary’
– within 2014 – Mandatory conditions
– within ‘Opinion – a fair manner forward’ the ‘bureaucratic processes’
Within ‘Background and organizational summary’ the ‘Executive Director’ link-
https://web.archive.org/web/20141006021506/http://burningman.com/whatisburningman/people/1_harvey_bio.html
I am done with feedback upon the links. Much obliged!
The link to the bylaws were the difficult links. Might the BMOrg change the bylaws,
I will comment with the link to the Internet Archives of –
https://web.archive.org/web/20140712170346/http://www.burningmanproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/BurningManProjectBylaws.pdf
Delete all, including these comments. Might any additional comments be deleted, it is easy peasy to re-comment.
Within this estimate, I estimated for 2010, over $4 million of salaries were paid towards the six prior BRC LLC owners, in due of the payroll rising from $2.8 million in 2009, to $7.2 million within 2010, with solely 30 salary employees, as Larry stated to the sfpublicpress.
The BMOrg, upon their new burningman.org website, states they, at present, have 70 employees or contractors labouring for the Burning Man Project. Except, the estimate of their cashout for 2014 to 2017 does not have anything, in the least, to do in regards of the number of employees or contractors at the present time. Their cashout, of 2014 to 2017, is payment for their Burning Man(TM) trademarks in early 2017, licence of their Burning Man(TM) trademarks each year, licence payments, from others, for images of Burning Man, and salaries in due of their positions upon the Burning Man Project. All above, except salaries, by appearance, are in due of contracts penned prior to 2014.
Please view the post, above, for this information, with payment towards them, of an estimated $85 to $130 of each ticket sold for the 2014, 2015, and 2016 burns.
This whole Burning Man setup reminds me of the movie “Leap of Faith”, where a fraudulent faith healer uses all the tricks in the book to con the people attending his traveling tent revival shows. Steve Martin stars as a preacher who has conned so many people in so many ways that he hardly knows when he’s conning himself; it even includes some great quotes that could apply to the the Burn:
“People pay their money, and they leave with a few laughs, a few tears, some great music, and maybe a little more hope than they walked in with. Where’s the harm in that?”
“I run a show here. It’s a lot of smoke and noise and it’s strictly for the suckers. I’ve been pulling one kind of scam or another since I was your age, and if there’s one thing I know it’s how to spot the genuine article because that’s what you’ve got to watch out for. Not the cops, you can always get around the cops. But the one thing you can never, ever get around is the genuine article”
“A twelve-gauge, double-barreled, grenade-launcher of LOVE! ”
All I know is that many of the Burners I have met seemed so lost and tend to embrace the Burning Man community in a dogmatic and similar way that others embrace their religion; and this makes people vulnerable and ripe for the fleecing.
While the creators of Burning Man have a right to profit from their creation, they don’t have a right to do it on false pretenses or by emotionally and spiritually manipulating those that are coming to this community believing it is something else. I truly hope this is not the case.
“While the creators of Burning Man have a right to profit from their creation, they don’t have a right to do it on false pretenses or by emotionally and spiritually manipulating those that are coming to this community believing it is something else.”
Best summary I have heard of my view.
well said…and also, this is not something that needs to be exported around the globe to “save the world”. Let’s make our culture right, and then spread it. If Burning Man IS Silicon Valley, then the Burning Man Project needs to be an Ambassador for Silicon Valley that we can all be proud to be a part of.
I’m gonna watch that movie, hopefully it’s on Netflix.
I’m sorry, but how can anyone understand this post? really incoherent.
I had no problems understanding it. The important thing is the numbers, not the words.
Might Facebook have an IT issue, or might the BMOrg, or a member of their crew, have this post deleted from the burners.me Facebook site? As of yet, the sole response of their crew, upon this post, was Larry’s mate commenting in regards towards meth sales.
Again, this estimate is based upon simple maths upon their statements, reported within the SFBG newspaper and within their blog, their numbers, reported within their afterburn reports, and their corporate records. CLICK on the NUMEROUS LINKS for the supporting statements, numbers, and corporate records. Might any person might prove ANY number or ANY statement to be incorrect, please do so within the comments on this site.
I don’t think it’s been deleted, but I just re-posted it to Facebook anyway.
weird, I just scrolled through the page and it didn’t show up, it’s definitely in the Insights post list though. 39000 views with a 7% engagement rate.
Still no response from the bmORG?! This proves that all these maths are correct and probably low. The amount of white powders we’re talking about is only the tip of the iceberg, I think it would be a safe bet that they are shipping their special brand of white powder threw-out the entire “regional network,” all funded by all of our giftings; the “regionals” true purpose. Mr. Fring was just small potatoes and onion rings! In hindsight, it was clearly soon after ’96 that these guys broke bad. Someone should make a TV show out of this scandal, except for that it already jumped that shark… I vote Henry Winkler to play LH, the white powder kingpin.
You think Larry gets a cut of all the drugs sold at Burning Man, and throughout the Regional Network? There’s no question that there is a MASSIVE amount of drugs being done at Burning Man, so someone’s profiting. Please tell us more, you sound like you were in a position to know…
I’m afraid to say that the problem is much deeper than simply the drinking of cool-aid. This talcum like white powder, that we so naively, literally roll around in, known in code as “Playa”, has mind altering effects that none of us that have been lured out to that place, and unwittingly snorted by the shit-ton, have turned us into zombie like mutants that only exist to throw our resources over to our masters, the almighty bORG-a-tron. Hail bORG-a-tron!
“we’re a self-service cult…wash your own brain” – Larry Harvey
“What we do literally is we take peoples’ sense of reality, and we break it apart. Burning Man is a transformation engine. It has hardware and it has software. You can adjust it and tweak it, and we’ve done that. We take people out to this vast, dry place – nowhere, very harsh conditions – and it strips away their luggage. The things that they had brought with them, the idea of who they thought they were. And it puts them in a community setting where they have to connect with each other. It puts them in this place where anything is possible. In doing so, it breaks the old reality, and it enables them to realize that you can create your own reality, you can do anything.” – Michael Mikel
“There will be, in the next generation or so, a pharmacological method of making people love their servitude, and producing dictatorship without tears, so to speak, producing a kind of painless concentration camp for entire societies, so that people will in fact have their liberties taken away from them, but will rather enjoy it, because they will be distracted from any desire to rebel by propaganda or brainwashing, or brainwashing enhanced by pharmacological methods. And this seems to be the final revolution” – Aldous Huxley (in San Francisco)
“You will be assimilated, resistance is futile!”
~The bORG
“The ideal tyranny is that which is ignorantly self-administered by its victims. The most perfect slaves are, therefore, those which blissfully and unawaredly enslave themselves”. – Dresden James
The San Francisco Bay Guardian newspaper ceased business today, in despite of sfscribe’s labours as editor of the paper. Links, within my post, to the SFBG, of quotes by Marian, Larry, and of Steve Brown, the director of Spark, in SFBG newspaper articles by Scribe, were broken. I will supply links, from other sites, in the comments below.
Here is a link to Scribe’s blog, copying many of the brilliant articles on Burning Man he penned in the SFBG newspaper.
2013 d) huge tax deduction. They donated their BRC LLC to the 501(c)3 non-profit Project, gifting the event back to the community, as was repeated throughout Spark,
2014: a) $4 million to $6 million from 2014 ticket sales, held in reserve, or held in escrow, for the purchase of the Burning Man(TM) name and trademarks from their Decommodification LLC in early 2017. That’s when Larry states they will be paid for their value, that’s when they will officially cash out.
In addendum, the same link was within my post, Early 2017 ‘That’s when they’ll be paid for their value’
that’s when they will officially cash out.
2013: d) End of 2013, $1 million to $4 million of cash and properties. The cash was likely not a large amount, most profits from prior burns were apparently taken as salaries and trademark licence levies. We won’t know the amount of cash stripped from the BRC LLC ledger prior to the donation,
I was not able to locate the SFBG newspaper article, by Scribe, upon the web. The quote, of Marian, within this article, was
“UPDATE: Goodell confirmed our basic understanding of this transition, confirming that the transparency in the LLC’s finances and the payouts its six board members received won’t be disclosed to the public. “There’s no need to go back, everything is going forward from January 2014,” she said in response to our question about fiscal transparency after telling us, “At the end of 2014, the financials for the 501(c)3 are revealed, and any attaching subsidiary finances.”‘
Except of if the Burning Man Project continues their past practise of releasing their 990 form, towards Guidestar, solely when they are required to do so, 9 months post their filing of tax papers. Which, for the important 2014 financials, will then be released within 2016 January, or 2016 April. It is, at present, 2014 October, and they have not, as of yet, released their 2013 form towards Guidestar. The 2014 form, perchance, might contain the line ‘contributions from BRC LLC’, in the place of ‘any attaching subsidiary finances’, in due of that is all the information they might be required to state. Much obliged, to brilliant mates, and to burnersxxx, for a better understanding of this.
Looking forward to seeing the 2013 990’s. Like you say, it could be a while – and a long time until we see the “real”, 2014 ones for the combined BRC LLC/BMP/BRAF entity.
Larry Harvey said this when we exposed Decommodification LLC for what it is at the beginning of March 2014:
“It has been asked if we intend to reveal the financial records of Black Rock City LLC. The answer is yes; that too will happen at about the same time as the Burning Man Project reveals its information—these two entities will then become a clean well-lighted suite of rooms thrown open for inspection. But I cannot guaranty that even this amount of disclosure will satisfy everyone. Even then, I suppose that some will look for skeletons in closets, or search for sliding walls that might conceal a dungeon….
So let me make one last comment regarding Decommodification LLC, which is viewed by some as a sort of sinister outbuilding that is separate from both the event organization and the Burning Man Project. My fellow founders and I are the sole members of this entity whose chief property is the name “Burning Man”. This too will be transferred to the non-profit in three years time, unless the partners elect “not” to do so…
I suppose that, when this veritable elephant of information is made public, there will be those who grasp its tail, others who will seize its ears, and still others who will locate a mole on its butt (and then perhaps suspect that the entire creature is cancerous).
This certainly will be a lot to digest, and we plan to develop a very extensive Q & A document that will help interpret it.”
http://blog.burningman.com/2014/03/news/burning-man-transitions-to-non-profit-organization/#comment-278425
“Coming soon”. This Q & A document sure must be extensive.
Also this earlier comment from Larry, directed at Nomad Traveler:
“The Burning Man Project will most certainly release this information. In fact, as has been pointed out elsewhere, it is required to do so by law. It will also make the details of this transaction publicly available, including the salaries of the founders that it employs (I would never have consented to this move if I’d thought disclosing my salary would create a scandal). We will not do this now, but wait until later this year when the transition is complete. It must withstand inspection by California state attorney’s office, and there are still many complex operational details to work out.
From start to end it has taken us four entire years to create the Burning Man Project, and so I don’t think it’s too much to ask our critics to wait a little while longer to learn more about this new phase of its career. When that time arrives, however, a bright shining light will illuminate what we have done in thorough detail. Though critics such as Nomad may call this “smoke and mirrors”, it’s really more like nuts and bolts. In the meantime, I suggest that he is not quite like Toto, who pulls the curtain away from the fraudulent wizard, but more like less precocious canines who bark in the dark.”
http://blog.burningman.com/2014/03/news/burning-man-transitions-to-non-profit-organization/#comment-277809
How long is “a little while”? It sure looks more like smoke and mirrors than nuts and bolts to me. 7 months worth of nuts and bolts? That’s just nutty. What sort of accounting are they running over there? $6.6 million on lawyers and accountants between 2009-2013, plus 2014, you’d think after 6 years they might have been able to produce a set of books that would stand up to scrutiny by the California state attorney’s office.
Apparently I have to come here to read what Larry LLC has to say about me. Arf.
Actually, ABP is pulling the curtain. I am just defending my pack of burners and what we have created now that the guy who posed as the leader is now selling us out.
That BOrg blog link is great, particularly to see Tanya Everywhere commenting. She is a sharp lady, in the NYC Burner crowd, and even weighed in on the GratitudeNYC ripoff discussions on FB. Go Tanya!!!
“This certainly will be a lot to digest, and we plan to develop a very extensive Q & A document that will help interpret it.”
and
“The Burning Man Project will most certainly release this information. In fact, as has been pointed out elsewhere, it is required to do so by law. It will also make the details of this transaction publicly available, including the salaries of the founders that it employs (I would never have consented to this move if I’d thought disclosing my salary would create a scandal). We will not do this now, but wait until later this year when the transition is complete. It must withstand inspection by California state attorney’s office, and there are still many complex operational details to work out.”
The salaries of the founders are available, but, in regards towards the other statements by Larry, the California state attorney’s office must have approved of their bylaws, but without requiring of their large conflicts of interests, in detail, being disclosed towards numerous donors of art, cash, and labour, and entertainment towards ticket buyers, of the BRC LLC subsidiary corporation of the Project, and towards the Burning Man Project. This makes their misdirections, omissions, and false statements within ‘Where the Ticket Money Goes’ yet more revolting. The Burning Man Project board must require of this transparency, towards donors, to occur within 2014.
What we need is a CA Burner lawyer to pursue this with the California state attorney’s office. My primary concern is that the BOrg disease might spread to other CA non-profits, making them all suspect.
until we see the IRS filings for the non-profits, there’s no evidence of wrong-doing. I’m just suspicious about why it’s taking so long to present this “clean, well-lighted suite of rooms” or “cancerous butt mole” that Larry told us about in March.
“until we see the IRS filings for the non-profits…” I would like for the CA Attorney General to call them on this now so they have to revise their filing for the good of CA. That would be better than a class-action lawsuit, with the CA non-profits as the plantiffs. That would be better than the bad press and all that Burner money going to lawyers on each side. However, I suspect that the BOrg payments to THEIR lawyers are part of the whole cancerous mole. This has put Larry LLC into a nifty new SF cadre that a landscaper would otherwise only read about in the newspapers. Unfortunately, it is a cadre that most Burners would avoid. …You know, like Commodification Camps…
“This too will be transferred to the non-profit in three years time, unless the partners elect “not” to do so…” Barking in the dark, because I heard something out there threatening my burner pack. I think it is a vampire.
The SFBG site became on the web again, it is not known for the amount of time it may remain.
2012: b) The BMOrg, previously through their BRC LLC, has been taking 10% of the revenue from licensing of images since 2002. It is believed the 10% levy, a site fee, or a percentage of profits is now going to their for-profit licensing royalties company, Decommodification LLC.
Within the article, on Spark: A Burning Man Story, by SFBG Scribe:
When I asked Brown about whether he paid the LLC for access and the right to use footage they filmed on the playa — something I know it has demanded of other film and photo projects — Brown paused for almost a full minute before admitting he did.
“We saw it as location fees. We’re making an investment, they’re making an investment,” he said, refusing to provide details of the agreement. “The arrangement we had with Burning Man is similar to the arrangements anyone else has had out there.”
Goodell said the LLC’s standard agreement calls for all filmmakers to either pay a set site fee or a percentage of the profits.
It’s vague language – I suspect Decommodification get points on the movie and its soundtrack. They may have got paid cash for the location fees as well. If it was a pure cash transaction, then what would be the “investment” BMOrg was making?
It is very vague language. The producer was on the Project Board, mates of Larry and Marian, Decommodification might have invested part of the production cost of the film, for a higher per cent of the cash profits, but, I attempted to include solely 10 or 15 per cent of revenues, beyond the $160,000 production cost, within this conservative estimate post.
It’s hard to imagine they wrote a check to the producers, who then wrote a check back to them for location fees. The movie does seem like it was commissioned by BMOrg as a promotional tool, and they considered it an investment that would be repaid from future revenues. Do these revenues go to BMP, or Decommodification? I think it’s the latter.
I did not include, within the post, of any levies the regional parties will pay towards Decommodification LLC, through sending cash remaining upon the ledger towards the Burning Man Project, for the licence of the Burning Man(TM) name, in due of Burners stating to me I am incorrect on this, but here is the quote, from Marian, stating the regionals will pay a licence levy:
That means BRC LLC, but not Decommodification LLC, which is not a subsidiary to the nonprofit. Goodell said the decision hasn’t yet been made how much to pay in licensing fees, although the nonprofit has an exclusive licensing arrangement “and can set the amounts for others to use it,” such as the network on regional events that Burning Man has spawned.
great find, thanks. I have confirmation from 2 of the largest regionals, Midburn and Afrikaburn, that they haven’t been asked to pay royalties yet.
Did you count all the meth income as well. They better watch out for Heisenberg! Come on bmORG, fess up to how much white powder you put up your noses. If anyone can prove they do not snort tons of that purest white shit in all of NV, we would love to hear your corrections. All of our calculations are based on how many years and days they’ve been throwing this so called art fest, actual drug fest, hooking untold birgens to roll around in this white crack for a life of total addiction to fund their lavish island estates where they entertain the google apple safari sparkle ponies Inc. — their real purpose for stealing this event from Dr. Dre.
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Larry and company are essentially crowd-sourcing their wealth accumulation. and each year, the crowd willing to do so increases, and is willing to give even more.
It’s the “Sharing Economy” – we share, they profit. We’re saving the world!
They came up with a good idea, and are making a killing on it.
And with the misdirection of a magician, or a matador, most burners follow the BOrg rhetoric rather than the facts.
These numbers match the research that I have done – thanks for linking to sources. I too dont have an issue with Larry having a comfortable retirement, but to secretly have such a huge payout for an event created by the people… “radical obfuscation” is not right, and many burners agree.
Much obliged, again, Woody, for your spreadsheet and comment. It is much labour to link to the sources supporting the numbers and statements within the estimate, people solely must click on the links.
Do you love TTITD???? Who the fuck cares if they make money? I love burning man! Dr. Dre got his with Beats. You’re missing the google and apple conspiracy and quite frankly your blog is full of negativity always. Please bring back the shroom and STFU!!!
I love how it used to be, before all this started. It’s gone downhill since 2010, did you ever attend before then?
I agree the Founders should be able to make money, I’ve said that from the start. But I disagree that deception in the name of “non-profit” is good for the community.
I have nothing to do with the Shroom. Bring it back yourself, if you care so much.
What’s the Apple conspiracy? I think we’ve covered the Google one a lot.
So far, we’ve written 1273 posts. 113 of them are in the “Dark Path – Complaints Department” category – what you call negative. That leaves 1160 posts that aren’t critical, just over 91%. Oh, you didn’t notice there are 10x as many posts that are positive? Wonder why that is…
Much obliged, burnersxxx. I did not desire to pen the prior estimate, and, I did not desire to pen this update upon the prior estimate. The Burner community is awesome, as is the event on the playa, all whom contribute towards these crowd sourced parties, as is DPW, Gate, BRC Rangers, Rampart, owners of mutant vehicles, sound camps, theme camps providing entertainment, and artists. The Burners throwing Decompression in The City are awesome, and, deserving of our gratitude. Near to all are awesome.
This estimate, upon the cash out of the BMOrg, is based upon, and is supported upon, their numbers, their statements, and their corporate records. Click upon the numerous links to view the supporting numbers, statements, and corporate records. It is not speculation, click upon the links.
People might believe of whatever they might desire to believe, but, I would be much obliged if any might prove any number or statement, within this estimate, incorrect. Might any suggest of the manner of which the awesome Burner community, whom have thrown the awesome crowd sourced parties for the prior brace of decades, might be treated in a more fair of a manner, state it, in addendum, within these comments.
How do you know that the BOrg is reporting numbers in base 10? Could be in base 12. Just say’n….
Heck’s a decimal