The Board of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association (SFWA) is organizing a series of kaffeeklatsches this fall as outreach to the membership to discuss this year’s Nebula Awards and the new Recommended Reading List. We had our first last night and it went great.
Day Al-Mohamed, one of our newest Board Members, had started offering “office hours” for members to stop by with questions. But in our previous Board Meetings, she had commented that she wasn’t getting much attendance.
Upon reflection, I wondered if maybe “office hours” didn’t sound inviting enough and that maybe we could attract more interest by calling it a kaffeeklatsch and having two Board Members attend so that — even if no other members came, at least she wouldn’t have to sit there alone. She — and the rest of the Board — expressed enthusiasm.
I’m not sure I’d heard the word “kaffeeklatsch” before joining the science fiction community. The word refers to gossip over coffee. In the SFF community, a kaffeeklatsch is an small gathering typically centered around a particular author or personality where people can attend to engage in informal conversation. It’s more structured than simply meeting in a bar or hotel lobby and, as I understand it, was chosen as a term to avoid having the connotation of being associated with alcohol. SFWA also runs an annual silent auction where people can bid to participate in a kaffeeklatsch with prominent authors.
I’ve attended a few kaffeeklatsches, including a particularly memorable one with Neil Clarke. I have to admit that, personally, as an attendee, I tend to like structured events more than unstructured. I always worry about what will happen if nobody attends. Or — even worse — if almost nobody attends. What if I’m there by myself and have to carry on a whole conversation with someone! It’s enough to make me resort to Reverse Imposter Syndrome!
When I first attended my first Worldcon in Chicago, I was given the opportunity to do a “table talk” — that was effectively a kaffeeklatsch. Being new, I signed up for pretty much everything. When the time came, I found my table, among a bunch of others where people were having lively conversations. But nobody came to mine. Eventually, a friend walking by took pity. I didn’t make that mistake again.
We had our first one last night. I had a great time. Day and I were joined by M.L. Clark, the SFWA Communications & Marketing Coordinator) who had set up all the background resources for us, produced a great publicity piece, and came to the first one to make sure everything worked. There were a couple of minor bumps getting everything set up and running. But we got two members to stop by and we all had a nice discussion about SFWA and writing and publishing.
The next several kaffeeklatsches are already posted. We need to get the topics updated. And finish getting Board Members signed up and RSVPed. I also want to make a couple more adjustments to the back end to make it easier to me to support them, but I think we’ll be ready in plenty of time for the next one. I think these can be a great step toward having the board engage more directly with the membership.