While attendance at the counter-culture Burning Man festival might add credibility to any edgy artist's bio, it's definitely not the sort of thing you'd put on your investment banker's resume under "Interests." Yet according to Portfolio, financiers and executives are turning Burning Man into the latest substitute for golf retreats and spa getaways. When one executive returns from a week or two on the playa, he says, "I'm a far better executive, in terms of innovation and creativity."Ahhh... now I understand the ad campaign for Rozerem. But let's put the sarcasm to the side for a moment and examine this, just like Portfolio does. After all, corporate retreats have long been held in locales where their participants are encouraged to turn off the mobile phones and Blackberries and the like and to connect with each other and their inner leader. What better place than Burning Man, where not only is wireless reception virtually nonexistent, but you can't even buy a candy bar (or a Wall Street Journal, or a stick of deodorant, or, well, anything). Commerce is banned altogether; you aren't allowed to even barter. Why not hold your retreat at such a disconnected locale?
Oh! Oh! I know this one. It's because Burning Man is seen as a haven for drugs and consequence-free sex (naturally, its proponents and organizers insist it's just about the art).
Without a doubt, many of its attendees spend the week or two in a drunk haze. This year, in an epic testament to weird, a performance artist famous for (among other things) hanging giant testicles from the man in 1997 burned the man early. He will be rebuilt so he can be burned, again.
Though Portfolio was able to find several hedge fund traders and executives to admit to going to Burning Man, few would do so without anonymity. And I have to agree: Burning Man is not the "conference" whose attendance will inspire confidence in your stakeholders. If you're going to be on the playa this year, don't tell the board.
[Photo of Burning Man 2002, John Linden]
Though Portfolio was able to find several hedge fund traders and executives to admit to going to Burning Man, few would do so without anonymity. And I have to agree: Burning Man is not the "conference" whose attendance will inspire confidence in your stakeholders. If you're going to be on the playa this year, don't tell the board.
[Photo of Burning Man 2002, John Linden]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
8-31-2007 @ 4:37PM
Jeff said...
I thought America was haven for drugs and consequence-free sex, or did Burning Man cure AIDS?