Refresh Events

Refresh Events encourages collaborative partnerships, fosters education at all skill levels and creates networking opportunities within Toronto's digital media industry.

Lessons Learned from Sci-Fi Writers

Monday, September 28th, 2009 | By: Elaine Chen

In my wayward youth I spent a lot of time with sci-fi and fantasy writers. Like most communities, the sci-fi writing community is very supportive of newcomers. But there is a certain type of newbie for which writers have no patience: those paranoid about having their ideas stolen.

Never mind that ideas are a dime a dozen, and that if you give a hundred people the same idea, each one will execute it differently. The fact is that there is no competition. A reader who buys Writer A’s epic fantasy novel with the dragon on the cover will also buy Writer B’s epic fantasy novel with the dragon on the cover. They don’t have to choose. Fans of a certain genre will happily consume anything that comes their way.

What does this have to do with Refresh Events?

There are a lot of organizations out there who also do what we do – line up interesting people and encourage connections in the local interactive and social media industry. As in the writing community, anyone who thinks that this is competition for dollars and eyeballs is a fool. The same folks who show up at Refresh Events also patronize SproutUp, Third Tuesday, DemoCamp, Ignite Toronto, Mobile Monday, Mesh, CaseCamp…and the list goes on. We love our speaking events in Toronto. (I believe it was Margaret Atwood who said that if a Canadian ever came across a fork in the road with two signs, “Heaven” and “Panel Discussion on Heaven”, they’d choose the panel discussion.)

The organization huddled in a corner clutching its Big Idea, muttering “my precioussss” and eyeing everyone with suspicion… Well, you’ve seen the movie. Gollum’s paranoia controlled and ruined his life.

So it’s not The Other Guy’s fault you’re not getting more sales, more bums in your seats. He’s not stealing your audience, because you have the same audience and they’ll support you both if they can. Just as writing a great novel will ensure people will read it, holding a great event will ensure people will show up.

To close, I’d like to put this question out to the community: How can we work TOGETHER to create better events, engage people into conversations, while nurturing the creation and growth of new and existing communities?

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Category: Opinion | Tagged with ,

  • DemoCamp http://democamp.com/ not dot-ca.

    I said it a long time ago, it's the derivatives that matter most. It what comes from the connections - be it more events, deeper discussions, new companies, funding, a better place to live, work and play. It's not the events themselves but what they enable. Engaging discourse. Software to help improve transit. Conversations by no politicians about improving government.

    Why are we still talking about this? What I'd prefer to see is a discussion of what you think needs to improve at each of the events? What is missing? What works great? What could be made better? What are the best, cheapest, friendliest venues? Who are the A/V providers? How do you build a robust, secure network for attendees on the cheap?
  • You've hit the nail on the head here, David. This is EXACTLY what I would love to do, and I want to create an event that discusses and implements these ideas, with an open and honest conversation with all community leaders and organizers.

    That's what needs to be done before we can do anything else.

    (Updated the link as well - thanks for the clarification, David.)
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