- Hold an event at the same time, on a new piece of land.
- Hold an event at a different (later) time, on a new piece of land.
- Cancel Apogaea for this year.
Department leads provided feedback on the three scenarios:Brie (ticketing) stated that if tickets need to be refunded that everyone (including discounted or reserved tickets or tickets re-sold on Ladder) would be eligible for a full refund, including fees. However due to the complexity of the task, after the board reaches a decision it will take Brie at least a week to put the plan into action.Mark (land search lead) described his process and criteria in searching for new land and described a couple options. Some prospective landowners were even in attendance at the meeting. Anyone with leads on land for Apogaea was asked to email [email protected]. Before a new piece of land can be approved leaders from Apo need to meet with local permit and fire/LEO officials to determine of holding an event like ours is feasible in that particular county. Also major department heads (gate, BAMF, DPW, placement) would all need to visit the land for evaluation.
Most other departments weighed in about the challenges of location and/or time of the event. Some departments such as Rangers and DPW rely heavily on participants who travel from around the country and thus rescheduling an event 21 days out would be extremely problematic for their departments. Other departments such as BAMF (medical/fire) have already begun to hemorrhage volunteers and even if the event were held on the same date, fear they wouldn’t be able to provide a safe environment.
Trying to reschedule the event for later in the year has its own challenges since many from DPW are at other events later in the year, while other departments simply need a full year to develop new plans for a new piece of land.Many mission-critical department leads believe that trying to relocate an event only 21 days away would seriously compromise the health and safety of participants and that Apogaea should be cancelled for 2015. (This is the opinion of some department leads, the board has not voted on this yet.)
Grandpa from CATS (art committee) stated that all money ($55,000) has been distributed to artists and spent. The contract artists sign stipulates a date, not location, so unless Apo is held on the same dates the contracts are moot. Multiple people in attendance expressed a desire for granted artwork to be shared with the community through other forums and at future events, and CATS fully intends to help facilitate that.
While many in the room expressed disappointment at the potential cancellation of Apogaea, several large theme camps had representatives in the room. Many theme camps have already begun work on contingency plans for local events this summer including the Fucking Unicorns and Wardrobe Malfunction. The board also realizes in the spirit of the original Cacophony Society community members will likely organize alternative events possibly in Denver or the mountains.
The board made a motion to cancel Apogaea 2015. Two board members (Perez and Izzy) were not in attendance so after some discussion the board decided to table the motion until Perez and Izzy could be brought into the discussion over the next few days. Tomorrow (Monday) several board members (Mariah and Sharon) as well as some department leads will be evaluating a piece of land in Eastern Colorado as a possible “playa miracle.” In the meantime President Moss asked department leads to email him their official positions on the three scenarios for consideration as well.After five hours the meeting concluded with the board stating they would reach a decision in the near future.