So, following Brocks posts, I feel a strong need to clarify the role of vending at Dreamtime as well as the interactions that he and I had. I would normally want to address this sort of thing with direct communication in private, which I attempted to do for hours with Brock, but I feel the need to address it here in public as he is referencing his experience and interactions with me in his posts.

I am actually amazed that he was willing to speak about the bad taste that he was left with after the event without directly addressing the issue the two of us spent a great deal of time on during the event.

The bad taste was mutual, but my experience was that Brock broke his word and the rules and undermined the event, and that the dreamtime staff were very clear upfront and before the event and very, perhaps too much so, kind and linient with him.

We have articulated a great deal about vending at Dreamtime in the past -

The aim, similar to burningman in this particular case, is to create a gift economy that supports authentic human interaction instead of the typical commercialization that has happened to most of our interactions in western culture.

If you read the vending page on the website, it reads and read for the 07 event:

Please Note: VENDING OR BARTERING (Trade Circles) WILL NOT BE ALLOWED IN ANY FORM outside of designated areas which have not received previous permission to be in the event. Violating this will lead to eviction from the event. For more about this, click here.

If you click here, it takes you to this link, and this is what you get:

************

Sponsorships/Commerce/Gift Economy and
Maintaining the Integrity of the Vision

Dreamtime has expressed our common values: creativity, art, learning and education, ecological sustainability and our legacy to future generations, personal change and development, community and positive community building, and more.

Just to be clear, we want to promote authentic human interaction outside of money exchange.

In order to preserve the spirit of gifting, our community seeks to create social environments that support participation, transformation, creative expression, collaboration, networking, and community and de-emphasize commerce. We stand ready to protect our culture from exploitation. We resist the substitution of consumption for participatory experience or deeper, authentic interaction.

We are not advocating needless consumption, as this runs counter to the community and sustainability values that we hold. Our community is *not* inspired by events that focus on booths and vending, and are plastered with the soda symbols.

However, we live in a culture that includes commerce and the exchange of money (and many people are not about to move to a communal space and/or live in a cashless society or use alternative currencies - although these are interesting alternatives). We want the decommodification of our interactions, art and community. Yet if we are to fully express our inspirations through the event, in this culture, this includes supporting commerce that IS supporting art, healing, sustainability, activism, social change, and community. For we depend on commerce for all of the goods and services in our lives, including those at events like these.

Living in a world integrally tied to commerce we cannot ignore this aspect of our lives. We need to choose how we can approach it in a way that will support our common values. This means supporting commerce that IS supporting art, healing, sustainability, activism, social change, and community.

This is about walking the talk.

On a basic level outside of the event, we can choose to support those businesses that support the principals we share that inspire the event (basic consumer responsibility), and to educate others. This may mean choosing to purchase recycled lumber for an art project, buying organic foods, trying mate instead of coffee, investing in green companies, or choosing alternative fuels.

"Inside" the event, furthering these principals may include workshops on solar power, sustainable houses, community building, cohousing, healing and personal transformation,etc. And it may also tastefully include information about those groups, organizations and companies that support our common principals in a manner that is in line with the rest of our common values. And, there seems to be good reason to allow these companies to in turn support our values and support our community in a manner that does not detract from our experience, interactions, goals and principles.

What we ultimately need are criteria for supporting our common values, whether it comes to sponsorships or otherwise. The only sorts of businesses and organizations that we can invite to create a presence at the event include those with a common set of values, namely a commitment to social change, environmental stewardship, healthy living, personal development, sustainability, and community.

PLEASE NOTE THAT VENDING OR TRADING OUTSIDE OF DESIGNATED AREAS OF THE EVENT IS ABSOLUTELY PROHIBITED, AND WILL WARRANT EVICTION FROM THE EVENT. RANGERS WILL BE CIRCULATING THE EVENT TO ENSURE THIS IS RESPECTED.

We strive to include conscious, socially and environmentally responsible commerce in a manner that in no way detracts from the authentic human exchange, culture, values and beauty of Dreamtime. Please help us protect the powerful and transformational experience of our participants. If you are interested in vending something at the event, please apply.

****************

Brock spoke with me before the event and asked if he could vend in the mate bar - the fundraiser for the event. I told him very clearly that he could not. He and Zoe also confirmed with me that they spoke and had clear communication that he was NOT allowed to vend in the mate bar.

Going against this clear communication and his word, Brock came, and started vending in the mate bar. Denying that he was vending but only ¨showing his jewewlry off¨at first, he then escalated to selling his own lemonade inside the mate bar tent - in direct competition with the Dreamtime fundraiser and mate bar. No other vendor is allowed to sell drinks at the event in competition to the mate bar, let alone sell them INSIDE the mate bar (or in front). Brock has big balls for trying this. Bigger for getting upset at us when we shut him down. We told him that normally we would kick him out of the event, but as long as he didnt come back in the mate bar and didnt do any more vending we would not kick him out. He showed up selling rocks in the mate bar again on monday and had the audacity to argue that he should be allowed to.

Let me come back to the part where he was told in no uncertain terms that he was not allowed to vend in the event by multiple staff members including me. He was given the option to vend inside the vending area but did not act on it. Let me come back to the part where he first lied that he was not vending, then sold both drinks and rocks and jewelry inside the mate bar. Let me repeat the part that the website clearly states that any pirate vendors will be removed from the event.

Let me state clearly here that Brocks actions directly undermined the financial stability of the event, used up precious staff time and resources to deal with, and completely broke his word and integrity.

Anything else is window dressing.

So he is pissed and in his words ¨has a bad taste in his mouth¨ because we enforced the clearly stated and directly communicated rules, stopping him from further undermining the financial stability of the event.

I would actually appreciate an apology, Brock.

And Ill offer a thanks - you taught me a lot about my boundaries, how to deal with people that break the rules, and the need for clearer organizational systems around rule enforcement and ejection.

Ill fully subscribe to the ¨love the person hate the actions¨approach on this one, but if this is how Brock consistently shows up, Im not interested in further interaction. I invite you, Brock, to start showing up with more integrity, more respect, and more understanding. I am in full support of you getting your needs met - but not at my direct expense!

This is a learning experience, this lifetime, for all of us. We are all called to show up and do the best we can in each moment. And to take responsibility for our actions instead of being victims. You are not a victim. You created the situation - the results were actually much gentler that you could have reasonably expected.

In a broader sense, Id like to be clear also that I am certainly open to feedback around vending - we allowed vending this year for the first time as a direct result of all of the requests for it after the 06 event. And we have certainly received feedback on both sides - some want a free for all, some want zip. Those of us that have taken on the large financial and energetic responsibilty for the organization are trying to strike a balance and watch out for the participants, upholding the values and the financial health of the organization.


So, once again in love and clarity:

Please Note: VENDING OR BARTERING (Trade Circles) WILL NOT BE ALLOWED IN ANY FORM outside of designated areas which have not received previous permission to be in the event. Violating this will lead to eviction from the event.

And with all due respect, we mean it.