Gatherings
Rooms with real doors
Shows, studio nights, listening parties, critiques, suppers and workshops, hosted by members in the cities we are actually in. A seat is reserved, not requested, and if you cannot come you say so.
Why they matter
Everything else here is easier after you have stood in a room together
Members who have stood in a room together answer each other's calls, swap and introduce each other in a way strangers do not. It is not mysterious — you write differently to somebody whose kitchen you have stood in.
So gatherings are small and frequent rather than large and annual. Twelve people around a table beats two hundred people with name badges, every time.
The kinds
What members host
Studio nights
A member opens their studio, shows what is on the bench, and everybody argues about it politely.
Listening parties
A record played properly, start to finish, in a room, before anybody has an opinion online.
Critiques
Six people, six pieces, two hours, and rules about how the criticism is given.
Suppers
A long table, a set price, mixed crafts on purpose. The oldest thing we do.
Shows and openings
Members' shows, fairs and screenings, posted where the rest of the club will actually see them.
Workshops
One member teaching a thing they are good at to eight people who are not, for an afternoon.
Going to one
Reserve, come, or say you cannot
-
You see it listed
Every gathering is listed to members with its kind, the address, the date, the host, the dress code, and how many seats are taken. -
You reserve a seat
A seat is a commitment, not an expression of interest. When the room is full it is full, and the listing says so. -
You come
The host has your name. Some gatherings take a guest, and the listing says how many — your guest is your responsibility. -
Or you say you cannot
Plans change and nobody minds. Change your answer and the seat is free again, because the seat you did not use was somebody else's.
Hosting
Any member can host, and the door money is yours
If gatherings are one of the things you came for, you can put one on: a kind, a room, a date, a number of seats, a dress code, and whether guests are welcome. A show can point at your storefront. Phyrne takes nothing from a door — if there is one, say the price in the listing and collect it yourself.
The club keeps the list of who is coming, holds the room to the seats you set, and every member who comes has signed the same code of conduct as you.
Eleven people in my studio on a Tuesday, four of whom I now work with. I had lived two streets from a bookbinder for six years and found out at my own supper.
Questions about gatherings
Which cities?
Can I bring somebody who is not a member?
Does Phyrne take a cut of the door?
What if I have to cancel?
Stand in a room with eleven people who make things
It is the shortest route to everything else in the club, and the hardest part to fake online.