The current state of the Science Festival Alliance
Over the years I've noticed a general pattern for new festival organizers. The first year organizing a festival is adrenaline fueled. The second year organizing a festival is driven by the desire to doggedly fix all the mistakes of the first one. It isn't until the third, fourth, or fifth that a festival organizer can start to notice the larger implications of what they've done, and begin really working toward the bigger strategic opportunities that the festival opens up.
Maybe organizing the Science Festival Alliance is a little like that too, just with a longer wavelength. With 15 years under my belt, I'll spare us all a listing of the comparable stages for the Alliance. But the point here is that even after all those twists and turns, and with all the amazing stories to tell, it feels like this Alliance thing could--with a little luck--finally be about to hit its stride.
Strangely, it is also true that it has never been in a state of greater disrepair. The pandemic was rough. Although about two-thirds of member festivals emerged ready to return to activity, more than two-thirds of the individual points of contact for those festivals left their posts between 2020 and the end of 2022. I'm proud of how many moved on to senior positions elsewhere, but when those individuals left they took with them the interpersonal relationships that made the Alliance such a vibrant network. As festivals came back to life in 2023, they did so with less resources than before, and with personnel that had no personal history with the Alliance. Still, as we took stock of things (calling every person individually, heavily subsidizing an in-person working meeting, etc.) it became clear that the initial rationale for an Alliance was as relevant as ever:
Live, in-person events make unique contributions to the relationship between science and society, and
a collegial community of practice is essential for helping event organizers make the most of these distinct strengths.
There was and is enthusiasm for this work. And there are eager volunteers. There is also great interest in making the next evolution more welcoming to those working in different event formats, and to those with a more "community-first" than "science-first" perspective. So we got very busy, and in February of 2024 launched science.events, with a membership for individuals working with any event format. And in June of 2024 we relaunched the Science Festival Summit in earnest, with a sun-splashed meeting in Los Angeles.
All of this involved individuals associated with festivals that were members of the Science Festival Alliance. But the Science Festival Alliance itself, as a thriving network and a strong brand and a dynamic website, got none of the attention. So, yes, those aspects of the Alliance are in disrepair. But at the same time, all of this work surrounding the Alliance now gives it the room and clearance it needed to evolve if we want it to: The massively collaborative festival format that most Alliance members use has distinct strengths and strategic opportunities that other event formats don't. (And vice-versa, not trying to start something here). We're past adrenaline and fixing mistakes, and we're finally in a position to be clear-eyed about this. What powerful things can we do together if we focus on sharing resources around those distinct strengths? How many of us want to work together collaboratively in this way? And can we get a little lucky in finding the right way to fund that collaboration that takes us to that next step?
