I saw an instragram reel this morning which perfectly captured the difference between ‘hosting events’ and community development. And it’s really got me thinking and reflecting so much that I might even revisit how I describe in print the core of what we do.
I think this comes back to the core design of why we’ve made the decisions around our Feasting nights.
If you think about it, most events want something from you – a ticket, a purchase, they want you to follow them on social media and to tag and repost the content boosting online social capital. Or personal ego. Or both? We just want to build ‘authentic’ (yeah I know, that word can be problematic…argh!) connection in person AT our event and hopefully encourage people to form ongoing connections in the wider witchy world, without us as intermediaries. Go forth and flourish!
I reckon there is a core difference between the transactional event model, and the relational one. Even when there is expertise in the room the goal is connection and sharing, not commercial gain or boosting someone’s ego. We don’t muck in and do a tonne of ‘work’ for glory (there is none) but we do this because we enjoy it, we like sharing a good feast with folks who enjoy the same.
So here are us answering a few questions which might uncover some info about why we do what we do
Q&A that might explain why we do what we do
Why didn’t you just cater the event and charge for it?
Because asking people to bring some food to share is an invitation to contribute, not an obligation attached to a ticket price. And in this cost-of-living fucking shit show, it’s a bit more accessible. We’d have to charge an arm and a leg per person (think $60-90ph) to cover a reasonably edible feast that covers all dietary requirements. The moment you charge for it, we become a service provider and you become a customer. And yeah, nah, that dynamic kinda sucks for community building. If you wanna build a business, that’s on point.
This is community reciprocity. You bring something, we bring something, and between all of us we build something none of us could have made alone. Huzzah!
So how is this actually community building?
We’re open about how we do what we do, not as a brand, not as a business, but as folks who’ve been doing this for a while and want to share what we’ve learned along the way. We’re not gatekeeping knowledge behind one-off payments or ongoing membership fees on pay-tree-on. You don’t buy your way in. There’s no ‘us’ to be let into.
So that’s it? It’s that simple?
Yah, pretty much.
Remember – if you think that engaging in community is important, then perhaps you’ll find alignment in our values and what we’re doing here. There are a few other blog posts we’ve written in the past on these topics if you want to read more Seeking and Finding in a Capitalist World and Community Engagement is Free
Wanna join us? If you want to attend the Midwinter Fest on Sat 27th June in Western Sydney- it might show ‘sold out’ but join the waitlist and if tickets become available later in the week, you’ll be offered one immediately.
Ticket holders – if you have a ticket and can no longer attend, please release your ticket so someone else can attend 😀
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