SpeakEasy, December 19th

What is a SpeakEasy?

A SpeakEasy is the regular gathering of Friends of Flux over drinks and food to brainstorm ideas, give feedback, and share updates about our mutual work. SpeakEasy is somewhere between a Town Hall, a party, and a gathering of the knights of the round table.

Our first SpeakEasy on December 19th, 2010 followed our Flux Sunday, which we hope to make the normal pattern. We had 20 or so FOFs show up at Half Pint for drinks, food and conversation about what exactly Friends of Flux means.

A lot of what we talk about will remain internal to FOFdom, but we’ll share what we can. The main themes of SpeakEasy #1 were:

• We went though all of the rights and responsibilities, reaching greater clarity about what the 6 A’s mean.
• There was excitement over the new website, which will include a social media aspect for FOFs, which will have messaging, calendars, and discussion board. Matt Archambault has made great strides with this, but it’s not ready for beta testing quite yet.
• Is Friends of Flux even the right name? Some wanted something with a little more oomph (Flux Capacitors); others wanted something even simpler, like Friends (as in Members of Flux are just called Members); others suggested (jokingly?) it could be called Friends With Benefits. For now, we’re keeping FOFs knowing we may change the title.
• There was a strong interest in having better knowledge of artistic opportunities that were happening, especially casting.

There’s much to be done to make these meetings more impactful, but this was a good start, and with how it’s taken to get Friends of Flux off the ground and moving, the start was essential. Onto the next!