3 Lessons from Baby's First Salon

I took this dress off a mannequin at the thrift store because it was created for me, obviously.

Today was the day. Baby's First Salon.

What is a Salon? A Salon is a chance for an exchange of ideas. Historically, Salons were where thinkers and philosophers would gather and discuss the news of the day or new ideas. They were popular in 1700-1800s France and again in the 1920s and are coming around again.

For me, the idea of hosting a Salon appealed to my need to build community and to connect with people face to face. I know so many interesting folks with amazing brains I just want to crawl inside of - this feels like a good place to start.

My insomnia ADHD Google-spree produced a few good pieces. The Salon Host is a blog devoted to hosting salons of a variety of kinds and offer tips and how tos and posts on related topics. They write about the Human Moat, their term for the interconnectedness of community and of relationships and trust that are built from repeatedly showing up.

Once I completed my information gathering, it was on. This kind of event was exactly what I and so many others need. Intentional unplugged time around interesting people having interesting conversations. People are fascinating - the conclusions we come to and how we get there, along with the lived history that informs those conclusions particularly. Even if you think you're not interesting I assure you, you are.

Background information provided, here's 3 things I learned today.

1. Prompt not needed.

To get the conversation going I offered a prompt. PowerPoint Presentation! Who doesn't love a PowerPoint? Do a PowerPoint 10-15 minutes long on something new and exciting that's happening. Something you read about or heard a podcast on and said "Whoa that's pretty cool!" or that reinforced the idea that we are truly living in the future.

Sounds fun! I was excited to do one and see other folks'. I figured it would be a great way to spark conversation and I read about Silphium and wanted to tell everyone.

Unfortunately, I did not do one. No one did one.

That's not true, one person did one. I am very proud of her and thankful that she did not object when we pivoted. Instead, we wrote discussion topics on slips that were folded and put in a basket and pulled at random. This worked so well and involved no prep or tech to malfunction. The slips we didn't get to are still in the basket for the next session. Speaking of ...

2. Don't wait so long between sessions.

Going into this session I had the next planned already and wrote it on the board with the agenda of today. I'd read to do so to keep the momentum going and so folks left knowing when they were coming back - a great idea for any community or reoccurring event. I figured every other month. Keep it loose. Keep it easy. I have plans the second Sunday of July already (Plant Walk - you're coming, right??) so we'll hang out again in August. Halfway through this event I didn't want to wait until August to do it again. To build community and trust you need that face to face time. The discussions that will build over time with trust can't wait two months between. So while we're waiting until August this time, future Salons are monthly on the Second Sunday.

3. Keep an eye on the time.

Better yet, assign a timekeeper. My son hung out with us for a time. He didn't talk (much) but he didn't need to. I believe that even when kids don't participate in the ways we expect or want them to just being in the room is important. They'll soak some stuff up just through osmosis.

However! One thing i could've done was ask him to keep an eye on the time. Around 3 hours is great for start to finish with time for mingling and chatter, time for discussion, time to wrap up. Maybe a time limit on topics if necessary but aiming for 2-3 should probably be a safe bet.

Agenda. I need more colors!

I'm excited for the next one in August. I was kinda nervous about today just unsure of how it would go. It was fun and affirming and I learned and got good hugs. ♥️