Enabling Creative Chaos

The Organization Behind the Burning Man Event

Katherine K. Chen

• Publisher: University of Chicago Press
• Year: 2009
• Print ISBN: 9780226102382, 9780226102375
• eBook ISBN: 9780226102399
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: Anthropology
• Index: Social Sciences

In the summer of 2008, nearly fifty thousand people traveled to Nevada's Black Rock Desert to participate in the countercultural arts event Burning Man. Founded on a commitment to expression and community, the annual weeklong festival presents unique challenges to its organizers. Over four years Katherine K. Chen regularly participated in organizing efforts to safely and successfully create a temporary community in the middle of the desert under the hot August sun.

Enabling Creative Chaos tracks how a small, underfunded group of organizers transformed into an unconventional corporation with a ten-million-dollar budget and two thousand volunteers. Over the years, Burning Man's organizers have experimented with different management models; learned how to recruit, motivate, and retain volunteers; and developed strategies to handle regulatory agencies and respond to media coverage. This remarkable evolution, Chen reveals, offers important lessons for managers in any organization, particularly in uncertain times.

Table of contents

• Contents
• List of Illustrations
• Preface
• Acknowledgments
• 1. Introduction: The Perils of Under- and Overorganizing
• 2. Context: The Development of the Burning Man Event and Organization
• 3. "Do-ocracy": Acting on Suggestions and Criticisms
• 4. "Radical Inclusion": Attracting and Placing Members
• 5. "No Spectators": Motivating Members to Contribute
• 6. "Immerse Yourself": Managing Relations in the Pursuit of Legitimacy
• 7. Conclusion: Sustaining Creative Chaos
• Appendix 1: Ethnography and Qualitative Research
• Appendix 2: Interview Protocols
• Notes
• Reference List
• Index