Introducing our new DC Area Regional Contacts!

Beautiful People!

The DC Area Regional Contacts (Aaron Parness, Charles Planck & Darrell Duane, as well as Meta-Regional Jenn Richter) are honored to announce that JR Russ, aka Nexus, and Rachel Roa, aka Secret, are your new Regional Contacts (RCs) for the Washington DC region!

Thank you, Patty!

Before going any further we all wanted to offer our deepest thanks to Patty Simonton for her years of capable and dedicated service to the Washington, DC, region. Anyone who knows or has worked with Patty can imagine all the ways she has helped the RC team stay organized and focused on what we are here to do, offered her rich understanding of our region’s history, sought to create fairness, and many, many other things that only Patty’s way of being has created for all of us….with her signature deadpan humor and oddly enlightening snark to boot.

To be sure, there is no replacing Patty, which is always the sign of a well-selected Regional Contact. But our sadness to see her go is tempered by our gratitude for who she is, what she wants to focus her future energies on, and the incoming capabilities and personalities of Secret and JR. Thank you, thank you, thank you, Patty!

What exactly is a Regional Contact and how are they selected?

Over many years the role of Burning Man Regional Contact (and the selection process) has evolved and matured. And while responsibilities and selection criteria have become more clear, the recognition of uniqueness and originality in contribution and character has remained core to the position. RCs are not paid but still sign agreements (such as the Letter of Understanding and Regional Contact Leadership and Criteria Expectations) and are expected to be well versed in the Ten Principles.

Primarily, RCs are liaisons between the Burning Man organization and Burner regions all around the world. They are ambassadors and connectors, facilitators, and most of all, listeners. RCs are here to help newbies and veterans alike be who they are striving to be in our community and throughout our world. RCs are also characterized by their history of contribution to their local Burner community through a wide variety of participation and leadership. And just as there are no two Burners who fit a mold, neither are their two such RCs. JR and Secret are no exception.

We would like to note that the greater DC Region was blessed with no less than four possible candidates in this selection process. We want to offer our gratitude to Ann Vader and Vladimir Herrera for their commitment to our community and their interest and desire to expand their participation and contribution through the RC role. Our region is one of the largest and most diverse in the world. The array of candidates who applied were very much a reflection of this, and everyone had strengths that our region has and will continue to benefit greatly from.

What really made this RC selection process work = YOU!

We also want to offer our appreciation to you, the Greater DC Burner community for your involvement in this process. We asked for your help and support and you showed up big. You not only nominated the candidates but offered feedback that was instrumental in helping to support this process.

Overall, your feedback clearly showed us four things: 1) It confirmed for us that, by and large, the community is able to distinguish personal history and connection with objective perspectives versus real and unique strengths and areas for improvement. 2) It served as a reality check for the current and continuing RCs; namely, that our own individual perspectives were largely in line with what you said yourselves. This is really important to us as it tells us that we are in tune with you (at least on this matter; we know there is always room for improvement on others) and that with the results of decision, we heard you. 3) It demonstrated that as a community, we collectively agreed on the desire to bring in two RCs, not just one, to replace Patty. 4) It identified and ultimately selected who the two new RCs were going to be.

The entire process, while lengthy in nature, was intended to be transparent, thoughtful, accountable and fair, and was conducted in partnership and with feedback from the Global Network Team. The process required asking a lot of questions, listening, and providing sound and clear reasoning.

And now a little bit about our new Regional Contacts.

Rachel Roa, aka Secret,  has participated in Burning Man since 2011 with Lamplighters and attended many regional events over the years including Playa Del Fuego, Love Burn, Frostburn, and Constellation. She serves on the board and co-organizes Catharsis on the Mall. Secret brings to the team her focus on volunteer engagement experience, thoughtful approach to problem-solving and transparency. Secret has demonstrated her ability to manage difficult conversations and resolve conflicts among people, which may be a direct reflection of her professional HR experience. Her demeanor belies a seasoned and experienced professional who knows how to manage groups and individuals on how best to help them work together.

Secret brings great balance to the RC leadership in our community by demonstrating her positive, spirited side and ability to be a great listener. Her compassionate leadership style is a wonderful addition to the many voices in our community, and is passionate in continuing to explore the many ways we connect our community.

JR Russ, aka Nexus, is a Washington, DC, native who started Burning in 2013. He has demonstrated leadership in a variety of different local and regional capacities, performs an extensive amount of community organizing, and has a strong presence on Social Media.

JR obtained his Masters in Arts Management and is devoted to the District’s creative community. He is a board member of a dance organization and was formerly the board member of a storytelling one, as well as supports several local theaters. He is passionate about building community through the arts, and unpacking issues around diversity and equity. One way in which this has manifested has been through an ongoing storytelling project, providing DC Burners opportunities to tell true stories on stage throughout Washington. When asked, Burners in our community indicate they know JR through his many Social Media postings or events that bring people together around art and connection.  In many ways, JR has been acting the part of an RC for some time, to the point where many folks in our community already believed him to be in the role of an RC.

How do I contact a DC Regional Contact?

There are several open channels you always have available to you if you want to contact your Regional Contacts. We are here to serve you and the greater Burning Man community, to answer your questions, listen to your concerns, share and support your ideas, help connect you with Burning Man resources, you name it.

Primary Contact: washingtondc@burningman.org. This is the the fastest way to contact the DC Regional Contacts as a group. We all get every email to this address.

Otherwise, if you want to reach out to an individual RC/Meta, you can contact us at the following email addresses:

DC Area Regional Contacts:

Aaron Parnass (Mowgli) mowgli@burningman.org

Charles Planck charles.planck@burningman.org

Darrell Duane (Spacious) spacious@burningman.org

JR Russ (Nexus) nexus.dc@burningman.org

Rachel Roa (Secret)  rachel.roa@burningman.org

Meta Regional Contact:

Jennifer Richter (Preamble) jenn.richter@burningman.org

Where can I find DC-based Burner online resources?

DC Burner Portal and email lists: https://dcburners.org/

This is a real asset that doesn’t get the attention or use that it should. This is ironic because we are ALWAYS hearing “Wow, wouldn’t it be great if we had a DC area Burner calendar? Oh wait! How about a directory of area camps? And maybe events! Or a place where we can have our own repository of information, like what if I wanted to know about consent resources available to us? Maybe even how to find and contact all the area special groups?” Yes, this would all be pretty fantastic. Go ahead. Click the link. See what happens. When you register at this site you’re automatically added to our region’s discussion email list at dcburners@dcburners.org, and there are many other lists available to join.  Need tech support or have ideas about additional functionality for this site (maybe a photo album!!) or want to help improve the site?  Contact Darrell at spacious@burningman.org

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/dcburners/

This is probably the most popular way DC area Burners share information but not everyone is (or wants to be) on Facebook. Nevertheless there is always something being announced and the discussions are often lively. All of the DC RC’s are pretty active here.

DC Burners Meetup Page https://www.meetup.com/dcburners/

This is a pretty good place to find DC are Burner events, especially classes and Burning Man for Beginners events.

So what’s next?

We welcome Nexus and Secret to the DC RC crew and look forward to working together with you to continue the amazing achievements and collaborations that have only been expanding these last few years. We invite you to stop by a weekly happy hour or one of the many Burner organized events taking place all over our the DC Metro area and say hello to our new RCs.

We will be announcing the date for our annual Town Hall soon, and that will be a chance for us all to share what we are up to in person and put some faces to the names and announcement we all see flying around.

Until then, please do not hesitate to contact your RCs. We always look forward to hearing from you!

Mad Love!

Your DC RC and Meta-Regional Crew:

Aaron, Charles, Secret, Nexus, Darrell & Jenn