An observation from attending Edmonton networking events has been slowly festering in me for a while and it peaked after participating in Pecha Kucha Night 7 (PKN7) last Thursday.
Don’t get me wrong. I love the social aspect of these events such as tweetups and various camps. However, does any concrete action or change happen in our community as a result? There has been fundraisers, which many have supported, myself included.
PKN7 was the first Pecha Kucha that I have attended. I thought the premise was to inspire ideas or to motivate the audience into action. The presentations were great and brought forth possibilities that can or may happen in Edmonton. I was disappointed to read only reviews of the presentations and no one stating what they really took away from the evening. I’m wondering after so many gatherings such as ChangeCamp, MediaCamp and PKN7 if there are any concrete changes or projects arising.
Understandably, we all lead busy lives. I am balancing a full-time job, parenting, obtaining my public relations diploma through part-time courses, two volunteer positions and personal projects (when I can get to them like this blog). But many of us take the time to attend these functions. We walk away with more contacts, knowledge and insight. How should we be funneling this information after the event?
Projects, community action and even ideas coming to fruition take a while to become reality. The problem is many of us become inspired after attending a conference, a meeting or a presentation. Then we let that idea fade away as quickly as it transpired in our mind. Procrastination is our own worst enemy and I’m guilty of it plenty of times.
There is talk of holding a second MediaCamp. But what is the goal besides connecting journalists, bloggers and public relations practitioners? And what is the intention or purpose of other similar events in our community, especially the social media community?
Awareness and showcasing our talent and projects is wonderful. What I’m hoping is for a domino effect. People attend an event, hear about a project or an issue, become inspired and then act. But they also have to create awareness to others that they are taking action and why.
Do we really want to be in a perpetual meeting? Or do we want concrete action or change to happen in our community?
So the next time that you attend Pecha Kucha Night, a social media event or a networking function and feel a flicker of inspiration – act on it. And let’s see what a difference you can make in our community. I know I’m going to try.
I learned last summer though that you have to talk before the action. If you barge through with your own ideas and don’t take time to communicate your plans and ideas and goals with your community, it’s impossible to grow it into something bigger and become the big thing you want it to be. When you leave that part out, it’s everyone’s loss if the vision was a solid one. Building community is a slow process…but it’s worth the fight and the frustration and the false starts.