This is the second in a series of posts that recommend inspiring and practical books to help hosts and organizers create the show their communities need. Previous posts cover Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert and Jenny Odell’s How to Do Nothing.
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If there was a book club for open mic hosts and organizers, at least once a year I would insist beg pitch them on Priya Parker’s The Art of Gathering.
Parker is a master facilitator. She gathers people for ordinary parties, corporate retreats, race relations and conflict resolution, and much more. Bringing people together with intention is her thing.
No surprise, then, that every chapter in her book is full of glittering — and practical — gems for the insight-seeking host or organizer.
Sure, some tips require a little imagination — like adapting advice about invitations to your open mic write-up on, say, Meetup.
Others are so dead-on, I might have ‘em tattooed on my wrist…
Decide why you’re really gathering
Verbatim, this is the title of chapter 1. And if it sounds like a gimme, that’s Parker’s whole point.
It’s all too easy to whiff the first crucial step in creating an event and just default to our unexamined assumptions about the purpose of open mic. Which means missing the chance to think about what you, the organizer, want your show in your town to be about.
No one can tell you what that is, but here’s a few examples drawn from open mics in 37 states:
- Screening talent for weekend gigs at a music venue
- Filling a coffeeshop with customers on a weeknight
- Cementing the venue as a hub for the college creative scene
- Auditioning poets for the local slam team
- Giving high school students a protected space for self-expression
Each one is valid. Each asks for a different approach — format, rules, slot length, promotion, etc. that are purpose-fit to serve its raison d’être.
If you’re feeling stumped as to your real purpose, Parker’s offers a question to help:
What do you want to be different because of your open mic?
Do you want first-timers to feel at ease? To energize activists as a creative springboard? Help artists market their content, socials, or merch? Create a community of musicians who hang out afterwards to jam?
Don’t look to be everything to everyone. And don’t let the community decide for you. This is your event and your vision.
Make every detail count
A locked-in purpose gives you a yardstick for measuring every other choice that The Art of Gathering examines, from how you welcome people into the space to how you close the show.
Granted, the reality of open mic often means making do. Ideal venues in particular are tough to find. So while your show might work better in the backroom of a restaurant like the Red Dirt Home for Wayward Poets, what’s available might be more like Joe’s Grotto in Phoenix, leaving your performers to compete with pool tables and other ambient noise.
If that’s you, it only makes The Art of Gathering more valuable, because Parker calls out so many other levers you can pull to make your open mic the kind of awesome you’re angling for.
Don’t be a chill host
Every bit of Parker’s advice hinges on the belief that a gathering needs a host. And that said host needs to step into the role with both feet and eyes wide open.
To which I say, yes yes YES.
When you create an open mic, you pick up a torch. That torch is yours to carry. Yours with which to shine the light of shared purpose over every performer and audience member who participates — first-timers, regulars, and everything in between.
Great hosting isn’t about being mellow — or worse, nice. It’s closer to activism or least servant leadership. Your job is to see to it that the show lives up to its promises.
Now, not being nice doesn’t mean being rude or rigid or zero fun. Think of yourself as circus ringleader or head cheerleader keeping everyone in the game.
For an open mic that means establishing rules, setting up systems that support them, and playing enforcer when need be. So if, say, the list is thin and someone suggests that you loop back to the beginning and invite everyone to perform a second time, do not put this to an audience vote. This is your decision.
Check the time. Gauge the energy. Make the call and own it.
So much more…
There’s no way to summarize everything in The Art of Gathering that could help someone make an amazing open mic. You just gotta read it.
If you’ve got Spotify Premium, the audiobook is waiting for you. If you like physical books better, it’s probably in your library. If, like me, the need to underline and dog-ear pages burns within you like a Black Cat sparkler, AbeBooks has used copies for less than $5.
Whether you’ve been hosting for a decade or just getting your open mic going, this book is worth it…and then some.