Connor Magill
NY-Based Producer & Editor | 15+ Years in Broadcast, Digital & Experiential
Burning Man & Project Management
Through organizing large-scale productions at Burning Man and other festivals, leadership and project management are familiar skills that coincide with all else I bring to a team setting.
Burning Man & Love Burn
Burning Man means many things to many people and I'm no different. I could write pages about its influence on my identity, character, and work ethic. For brevity, I'll focus on how its experiences translate into who I am professionally and how its lessons have shaped what I bring to a team setting.
I came in with curiosity, and soon after my first impression, I was eager to be more of a contributor than just a consumer. Within a year, I supported the leadership of Butt Disco - a New York-based camp with offerings rooted in playfulness - and within two years, I was in its driver's seat executing its footprint at Love Burn - a Miami-based event.
After four years in this position, I've had the privilege of growing Butt Disco from a moderately sized entity into something enormous. I am proud of the footprint it now occupies as one of the heavy-hitter destinations for thousands who enjoy it year after year.
Project Management
A skillset in project management emerged through this experience. I’ve found I’m most confident and comfortable in a leadership role managing a team. I've grown Butt Disco to encompass 20 different focused areas and each year I assemble a team to execute on each area's nuanced specifics.
With a $30K budget, we provide a space for up to 80 people to survive and thrive as well as host extensive programming operating at most hours of the day and night. All this is done while managing interpersonal connections and dealing with several personalities that either hinder or help the process.
The human element of this has taught me that past experiences can always inform how to approach new projects but every new group necessitates a malleability and a willingness to modify processes.
Art
In addition to managing all its moving parts, I've let my inner-artist shine by contributing something silly to our camp's arsenal of art each year.
The project most relevant to the rest of my website would be the Butt Montage—a two-plus-hour editing feat of nearly 2,400 clips from pop culture, showcasing exactly what its name implies.
Transferability
I’m thankful for the lessons and skills I’ve gained from this position. Initially pursued out of eagerness and for the sake of having fun, I did not expect the degree of growth in leadership and ability to bring community together.
Admittedly, it's not the easiest thing to openly discuss silliness on the same platform I'm trying to be employed from. However, the skills I've collected through this hobby are worth delving into as they are translatable to other settings requiring project management and coordination.