Dearest Burner Community,
Perhaps you’ve seen the announcements made by other regionals over the past month; thus, ours is not entirely unexpected. Sadly, we must also announce that Burn in the Forest 2021 has been cancelled. While BC’s progress looked encouraging, especially with vaccinations rolling out over the next few months, we concluded that holding the event is sadly not possible without significant risk to the community or to GVIAS as a society.
What about next year?
We are very fortunate as a society to find ourselves in a stable financial position, and work is currently underway to roll forward our contract with Snug Lake to 2022. We also hope that a first post-pandemic event might even be possible in the late fall of 2021 or winter of 2022!
We are so thankful for the strength of our community and we encourage you to hold onto your dreams, plans, art projects and theme camp ideas for one more year!
And in the meantime?
While we patiently wait for conditions to change so that we may safely gather as a community again, there are a number of ways you can stay connected and contribute:
Art!
Right now, you can share your thoughts to help steer the Art Grants Committee, whose mission is to support art and community. Please share your thoughts in this survey before March 12.
Our AGM is coming up soon – Save the Date!
GVIAS will hold its Annual General Meeting via Zoom on April 6, 2021 at 6:30 pm. Only GVIAS members may attend, so sign up to become a GVIAS member now! https://gvias.org/gvias-membership/
All GVIAS members will receive a pre-registration link in the week of March 30, 2021. **You must pre-register in advance to attend the AGM** Should a member wish to propose any addition to the agenda, please send the request to [email protected] no later than March 23, 2021. GVIAS also continues to invite ideas for community-building events to bring us together online. Have an idea? Email us at [email protected]!
New GVIAS Board Members Needed!
Are you interested in giving back? Stewarding our community into the future? Being behind the scenes for all the things? Building an even stronger foundation for our community? The GVIAS Board of Directors is looking for dedicated individuals to fill a minimum of 3 vacant positions! If you are interested in joining the board of directors, the easiest way to apply is to fill out an application via our new Leadership Survey for the GVIAS Board of Directors. Alternatively, you may send your written expression of interest to [email protected] – more information is also available at https://gvias.org/nominations/.
All applications or expressions of interest must be received no later than March 23, 2021 for your name to be added to the AGM election list. Please note you must be a member of GVIAS to be elected as a director of the society.
What the Board of Directors does:
- responsible for GVIAS’ financial and legal obligations, and sound management as a non-profit society
- responsible for planning the long-term development and growth of GVIAS
- works with, and delegates authority to GVIAS’ standing committees
- approves capital expenditures and operating budgets
Director Responsibilities:
- elected as members-at-large; serve in at least one board role
- attend monthly meetings (2-3 hrs), plus some additional meetings/events
- respond to emails and group messages in a timely manner
- attend annual working retreat to plan for the upcoming year (1 day)
- adhere to the confidentiality and privacy agreement, and code of conduct
- serve a minimum of 2-year term
Testimonial From our Outgoing President:
“I’m approaching the end of my second two-year term on the GVIAS Board, and it’s been a great experience! I loved falling into the Burning Man community, and it’s felt really good to be able to give back to it, in a meaningful way.
Being on the Board allows one to observe and assist all aspects of our Society that “supports activities that serve the Vancouver Burning Man community”; Events, Recruitment, Community Building, Policy, Banking and Insurance (Woo! haha). Being on the Board is a place where you can very much make use of your existing skill sets, but also be as challenged as you want to learn new ones, while working collaboratively with 7 other people doing the same.
I will look back fondly at my time on the Board, and I look forward to watching the Society continue to grow and mature in the years to come.”
-Adrian – President, GVIAS Board of Directors
Thank you for your leadership, Adrian!
Stay safe everyone!
Your GVIAS Board (Adrian, Corey, Squirrel, Tyler, Monica, Brianna, Deb and Jennie)
We acknowledge that our society is registered on the unceded territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and Sel̓íl̓witulh (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations.