What should the role of fluffers be (and perhaps not be) during build and strike?
This thread is carried over from a Facebook discussion, and I’ve tried my best to capture the main points (but I'm only human).
There is a second thread about feeding build, strike and fluffing crew - please make your comments on the relevant thread (I had high hopes of putting together the second thread this evening but this took me ages so will come back to it tomorrow/friday if someone else doesn't)
Best hopes
(taken from facebook thread - feel free to add your hopes)
- That fluffers/fnuggers efforts are recognised as equal to other build and strike crew members.
- That fluffers/fnuggers support strike team to achieve the goal of packing up site within the timeframe set by the site owner.
- All crew members' wellbeing is considered and people aren't left totally burnt out at the end of build and/or strike.
Roles of fluffers
1. Offering supportive conversations / interactions
Alison commented on the wellbeing of the build and strike teams:
“Unfortunately strike is probably the most stressful part of the burn”
Claire has shared that her role in fluffing / fnugging has been:
"cheering you on, hugging you and listening to your stress." Jamie affirmed that she has found Claire's conversations "therapeutic af"
Anna De Buiscuit shared that she has participated in strike by:
“spen[ding] the day counselling numerous members who were struggling emotionally and psychologically with various issues they were struggling with.” And that she feels this is an “invisible service”.
She also share that she “spent the night before strike looking after a Burner who was so drunk he was not safe to be left alone.”
Alison and Claire agree that offering supportive interactions can lead to better decision making and is supportive to the wellbeing of build and strike crew.
Alison also shared that “while a gulp of water, a snack and a 5minute shoulder rub are much appreciated by the strike team at appropriate moments, this is different from taking hours off to have deep and meaningful conversations. Strike leaders aren't despots, and you'll find they are great at making sure their crew is looked after, but there is a job to be done. Fluffing is there to help make it happen. It's a matter of judgement and two-way communication (as much the responsibility of fluffing lead as strike lead!)”
Alison suggests that “sit-down heart to heart conversations should be done outside working time where reasonably possible.”
Claire says:
I think most people are sensible enough to realise that when people are halfway up a tree it's not productive to entice them down with Apple pie and the promise of a free hour of counselling.
Alison says
“Sometimes the best thing a fluffer can do is to remove themselves and as much MOOP as possible, and transfer themselves back to London to help with getting things into storage. There's always time to provide the shoulder to cry on when the job is done."
Claire asked / commented:
“Who is having all these hour long conversations? 😂 Honestly, I'm just wondering?
I walked around for hours both days bringing food and hugs and listening to what was needed so I could ask other people and make sure it happened. But that took five or ten minutes at the most other wise I would have been knackered and never gotten around.
Claire explained that longer conversations happened more in the evenings:
In the evening around the fire there were longer conversations sure, people talking about things that hadn't arrived, things that had arrived but weren't working.
2. Rehydrating and feeding people who are building and striking [note this is separate to conversation around feeding fluffing team which is in a separate thread]
e.g.
Gulps of water and a snack (Alison)
3. Aligning with strike team aims
Alison says:
“we only have access to the glade for a very short period of time, we have very high standards when it comes to Leave No Trace, and we need to make sure the owner is happy. The logistics challenge of getting everything off site back to storage in proper order is huge. The strikers who organise all this do an amazing job of dealing with the stress after building for weeks and burning their hearts out, but strike is a matter of getting the job done in the immediacy.”
Alison also said:
“Fluffing must be incorporated into the same goals as strike - ie to get everything done ASAP. And if someone is about to pack up the kitchen, of course they get a meal. It's always good for fluffers to check in with strike lead as to what they think the fluffing requirements will be for the day. “
4. Generally offering a helping hand when needed
e.g.
Holding a flashlight, helping to put up tents, helping Desanka to prep food / wash up, organise food donations, moop sweeping, helping to get other people on site to help with build/strike tasks.
How the role is perceived compared to other build/strike team members
Claire explained that not everyone can do the lifting and carrying etc. - "The amount of effort put in is not just determined by how much you give, but by how much of what you had available in the first place was given."
Loz said:
"Absolutely not everyone is starting from the same baseline of personal reserves - or has the same length of tether."
Hilda said: "At Nowhere, fluffers are an integral part of the build team, and therefore part of build and fed. I'm guessing this was the intention at Nest too, but got lost in translation perhaps." [note build/strike food related comments in another thread]
Alison shared her reflections:
"As a former fluffing lead (and still a regular fluffer) I'm with you on the importance of fluffing and the vital part they play during build and strike.
Paul shared:
“ As for cantina food and 'workers' at Nowhere it ultimately doesn't matter what work you're doing, as long as you are doing something for the event (Fried and want to be alone? Here do inventory checks. Don't know anybody? Go fluff, you'll meet EVERYONE and they'll be glad to see you. Have a hankering to get hot and dirty? Here's a rebar pounder, fix the fence.)”
Other reflections on what has happened in the past:
Alison shared –
“I know that, in the past, there was a communication breakdown where some of the Strike team decided to relax at the beach when the short-handed crew were frantically taking everything down - including the beach-goers tents - to meet the owner's deadline, and that really wasn't fair.”
"the point is, does the fluffing that's being provided effectively contribute to the quick completion of strike? If someone is giving food and moral support to someone else, is it happening while chilling for hours or are people talking while also eg packing up the kitchen or doing an inventory? Or after people have stopped for the night?
But if the strike lead feels the fluffing is preventing them from doing their job effectively, then they are perfectly entitled to let fluffers know how much on-site support they can expect. Including meals, and, let's face it, Exeter services are only 20 minutes drive away.
Yes, it's important to manage stress, and fluffers are brilliant for this.
[Other reflections shared regarding feeding fluffing crew will be in separate thread to keep discussions focused]
Suggestions for ways forward:
Claire and Anna suggest having badges or something similar to identify fluffers.
Will Rogers shared: Nowhere is/was making an attempt to re name 'build' to 'setup' because there was a misconception that only people physically building are participating in setting up of the event, which is 100% not true. (suggestion agreed with by Amanda, Lauren, Nathan and Lexy). Although Lachlan shared that he feels the issue is also much more complicated than this suggestion alone.
Awareness for the need for emotional wellbeing support during strike (raised by Anna, Clare, Bess) - but maybe this should be disentangled from efficiency maximising fluffing and taken on by those who are called to do so in communication with other relevant orgs (strike co-ordination, welfare, fluffing)
Claire McAllen Fri 7 Jun 2019 1:13PM
Lauren this is an amazing consolidation, written in a clear and logical way reflecting everyone's points equally.
Thank you so much and well done for all the effort you put in.
Claire McAllen Fri 7 Jun 2019 1:23PM
I refer to helping out as fluffing. I do not like the word fnugging. Does it make any difference which word we use? Does it mark us out as who is really fluffing and who isn't?
Similarly writing 'self appointed' what connotations are being meant by that please.
All volunteers are self appointed, unless we have started giving out roles.
Chris and I both spoke to Jemma many times at the burn and she was well aware that we came to fluff.
She was also aware of the reasons we came late in the day to it.
It has been pointed out to me on Facebook that as a less able person I could choose to do roles in the background, computer based roles.
I would like to put it to you that I am frankly sick of being stuck in some role that able bodied people think is more suitable for me, not to mention the fact that no one actually asked me if I had the skills to do them.
At 50 years old i never learned computing at school and I have never had a job that required learning the skills so I am currently doing my best to learn them as quickly as possible.
However that said, I don't want to be stuck in a corner doing a job determined by others to be within my limitations and out of able bodied people's way.
If it was that I wanted to be a manual worker and I clearly didn't have the ability, or I was holding people back or causing a safety issue then I would understand the point that as I am with my disabilities this may not seem the best choice for me but I believe I do have a vital role that is with in my capabilities as a person with a disability.
Most roles at burns are self appointed, the whole ethos is 'see a need and fix it' .
With there being no welfare before or after strike there is a need.
Working within the roles of others to be of most use is also clearly important.
Deleted User Sun 9 Jun 2019 7:48AM
Org appointed roles (the roles themselves. Not the people), mean those roles can then have budget allocated to them from ticket sales so they can do their thing.
Self appointed roles, won't get budget.
E.g., due to budget, there's often no sense in 50 people doing a role that requires only 2. Budget is also both monetary and a cost on organisational management time.
Adrian Godwin Sat 8 Jun 2019 11:28AM
I've seen this word fnugging.
I have no idea what it means, or even how it's derived. Etymology seems to be about 25% fnarr and 75% hugging which would make it some sort of lecherous grabbing, but that doesn't seem to fit the context.
Could someone explain ?
Deleted User Sat 8 Jun 2019 11:29AM
Fnugging is Danish for Fluffing. The lead fnugger at the time Ali, liked it, I liked that it was different to fluffing (as is the practical offering). Thats pretty much how we started to use it.
Deleted User Sun 9 Jun 2019 7:44AM
Fluffing got removed as a term from Burning Man Org teams a few years ago, partly due to the word being linked to sexual connotations in the porn industry. To make it more inclusive.
Gate, perimeter and exodus use the term "Life support". Rangers use "Echelon". No idea what other departments use, as those are the two I volunteer with.
Adrian Godwin Mon 10 Jun 2019 5:56AM
That's terribly sad. Especially as it probably DOES derive from the porn, or at least the film industry. I thought the whole disgusting process of revising names to euphemisms in case someone took offence had died a well-deserved death outside of the mire of false virtue signalling
However, if it's still something people do, and despite being off-topic, I'd like to raise a strong objection to the term 'accessible' on the grounds that :
- It's a euphemism. Just another way to say ghetto. Offensive.
- It's a mind-numbingly stupid choice of word implying that everything else is inaccessible, which is far from true, even if you qualify it as disabled-accessible.
- It doesn't solve anything, just creates new communication problems. See 1.
- Just because it's in common use in the world doesn't make it good.
Note that I'm in no way objecting to the provision of services to help people with disabilities to be included in events. I made use of them myself this year and appreciated them hugely. It's just the illogical and unhelpful word that I hate. If you're a person that thinks using it is somehow a positive step for everyone, you're factually wrong. If you're using it because it's today's default description without thinking why, you're part of the problem.
Graeme McGregor Tue 18 Jun 2019 3:35PM
I understood that "accessible" is not only used in reference to disabled people, but also to accessibility for a range of other groups of people: people on low-incomes, people on the autistic spectrum, people with mental health problems, people of colour, and so on. It's a recognition that there are barriers to entry for different people and that those make the event less accessible to some people.
Out of interest, though, what term or terms would you prefer were used?
Adrian Godwin Wed 19 Jun 2019 8:57AM
Tricky question. I prefer a term that isn't a keyword or euphemism but is descriptive and understandable without knowing the secret.
So when someone asks me where I'm camping, I don't want to say 'in the accessible camping area'. Because, duh, it's all accessible to some degree or there wouldn't be anyone there.
I'm perfectly happy calling it the disabled camping area. Even though that's wrong too, because it's not the camping area that's disabled. At least it's meaningful and descriptive. If some people find that offensive, I'd like to hear why before trying to think put a new name , but all too often these alternatives are proposed by people who aren't actually affected and have no right to an opinion. I understand it's called 'virtue signalling' these days instead of 'politically correct' but that doesn't make it acceptable.
I would love to hear from other affected campers.
xavier dubruille · Fri 7 Jun 2019 10:53AM
just my two pence for the discussion : for the people who know me, i am a terible victim/target for the fluffing team (yeah i said it i prefer the term fluffing, it s more fun in the mouth!!) i refuse good food/sun cream/other delicacy, i m able to steal all the cookies in the meantime but i am a person focused on work,work,work; i can also have some issue when i see people slacking when a lot are overburned but i usually keep them to myself because i also understand soem people are not crazy enough to do what i can do or skillful but everybody got their own asset.
I had quite a good talk with someone on strike who explain to me the talk on the backstage about improving the well being of some volunteer which to be clearly honest i was blind, but like i say, strike is my shit to make sure it happens on time, some other people were really keen on it too (the kig, jackie, paul and me were overseeing all the process and it goes quite smoothly this year).
I concur also that strike is hard, you don treally have the reward of the event after but you have even more pressure to do it on time (because one day more on site can have repercussion on all the event) we got some bad apple in the last years and some miscomprehension /quiproquo but the idea of uniform would be a plus to understand that if some are not here lifting or wandering around, i s because they do stuff on the background which should sometimes stay in the background BUT as a striker, i would encourage to extend the fluffers role when Fluff is not a primordial emrgency as flying volunteer for simple tasks like grabbing some tools, or be a +1 when people are struggling in their limit of their ability of course and responsability.
there is a saying in the bar world "if you have nothing to do, you re doing a terrible job" it is also true in strike especially the first two days