This Isn't a Venue. It's a Neighborhood.
Alex Hillman
Over the years, our community has often showed up strong as attendees, organizers, and presenters at cornerstone events hosted across the city. Events like Barcamp, Ignite Philly, and many others.
But if you rewind the clock to pre-2020 and asked us to host an event at one of our previous spaces, the answer was typically “thanks for thinking of us, but that’s not really what we do.”
There were a handful of exceptions, of course. Code for Philly has a long history of hosting their monthly hack nights, even in the before times. Before Philly Game Mechanics, Philly’s Global Game Jam was hosted by the local IGDA chapter in our space.
Most events we DID host had a few things in common:
- they were run by groups that we had long standing relationships with
- they were typically more workshop or “hands on” type experiences than an audience + presenter, let alone a social or mixer.
First Friday art shows and occasional member-run activities did happen in our space after hours.
But beyond that, many of our OWN events tended to happen elsewhere in the city. Often at bars and restaurants where we had personal connections with the owners and staff, like National Mechanics & Tattooed Mom’s, both of whom we owe so much gratitude for welcoming us over and over.
As early as 2008 I had written about Indy Hall as a clubhouse, and how all of these spaces fit together towards a common goal.
We’ve got clubhouses all over the city. Bars, restaurants, parks, apartments, offices. We’ve crashed conferences in other cities, together.
As new [people and groups] find themselves within the ever-improving community clubhouse framework, they have similar experiences.
Knowing you’ve got a clubhouse is important for setting goals and executing on them as a community.
Knowing you’ve got a clubhouse is important for moral support when things aren’t going quite like you planned.
Knowing you’ve got a clubhouse is important when you need that last little push to get your shit done.
Knowing you’ve got a clubhouse is important for putting things into perspective.
Knowing you’ve got a clubhouse is important when you need to just close your eyes and dream for a minute.
Putting the “club” back in clubhouse
Fast forward to 2023.
As we were settling into our new home, I started talking to the leaders and members of other communities and clubs.
A few were just starting to figure out how to return to in-person gatherings. Some new ones emerged too.
I found myself surrounded by fellow community builders doing the important work bringing people together. We were all rebuilding, in one sense or another.
In some cases Indy Hall was a few steps ahead of the learning curve, so we tried to help by sharing our lessons, our experiences, our relationships and connections.
Sharing our space might seem like the obvious next step.
But I was still cautious, for a good reason.
The Trouble With Being “Venue Coded”
Over the years, I’ve had plenty of friends who run venues of one sort or another. And we’ve worked with lots of coworking spaces that are quick to rent out their space to anyone who asks.
I’ve learned a lot from observing their success and struggles. Among the lessons I’ve learned is that people don’t just come to venues.
People use venues.
That word might seem subtle and innocuous, but it’s important.
One of our goals is that Indy Hall members – and by extension our community partners – don’t just “use” Indy Hall.
Our goal is that people call Indy Hall home.
Our north star for just about everything we do is creating a sense of belonging.
A sense of connection. A sense of ownership.
That’s a very different relationship than most people have with a venue.
Instead of a “space to use,” we see our Clubhouse as a tool for collaboration and co-creation. We prioritize relationships over transactions.
The Power of Co-creation
Whenever someone asks to host their event with us, my first questions aren’t so much about their event but about their community.
- Even if Indy Hall members don’t attend their event, would they be welcome if they wanted to?
- And if this event goes well, what kinds of other collaborations could it lead to?
We say no to a lot of requests that don’t pass these gates. But the ones who we say yes to, our hope is that hosting their event is just the beginning.
If I’ve learned anything over the last 20 years it’s that making things together is one of the most powerful ways to build the kind of connection and belonging that we aim for.
And now that more than a dozen communities including Indy Hall call our clubhouse home, we started thinking:
“How cool would it be if all of these communities hung out on the same day, instead of different days?”
And not just hung out…what if they actually made stuff together?
Making Stuff Together
Our very first Meetup Mashup Hackathon is a full day where people from 15+ local communities form teams, combine skills, and build something real together — all under one theme:
Good Neighbors.
We chose this theme very intentionally!
- It’s open to interpretation, while still being focused on ideas that could make Philly better
- It’s tech-agnostic. Your best ideas might be an app or website…but maybe it’s something else entirely!
- It reminds us why we’re coming together. To be good neighbors, regardless of where we gather.
Never been to a hackathon, or don’t write code?
All the more reason to come! We’re working hard to make this experience welcoming to beginners and people with a wide range of skills.
If you like making things, solving problems, and learning together, you’ll love this hackathon.
Among the things I love most about this idea is how enthusiastic all of our partner communities have been, including some that have never hosted an event with us before.
Some of these groups have been sharing our clubhouse for months or years without ever overlapping. This is the day they finally meet.
I hope you can join us for it.
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