no offence but i dont know what is this article doing on hackernews. looks like a diary entry at best.
Please have a look at the Hacker News guidelines https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
If You Build It, They Will Come
11–20 of 228 posts
Re: If You Build It, They Will Come
#12Re: If You Build It, They Will Come
#13This makes me realize I should show my appreciation to organizers more. It’s easy to take events for granted.
Re: If You Build It, They Will Come
#14This makes me realize I should show my appreciation to organizers more. It’s easy to take events for granted.
Well, at least the organizers that care. There's definitely a class of grifter organizers that view events as an opportunity to profit from high entry fees and low production quality / relying on volunteers.
Re: If You Build It, They Will Come
#15In 2026:
- If you build it (and it doesn't take off) then they won't come.
- If you build it (and it does takes off) they will come and compete with you to build their own.
Re: If You Build It, They Will Come
#16> Lots of people have a sort of consumer attitude towards their communities, where they take everything for granted. I saw things this way when I was young. A social scene is an automatic feature of the world that appears on its own, like a wild blueberry bush. It starts sprouting parties and dinners and conferences and reading groups as naturally as the bush sprouts berries.
I feel like this generally applies a lot in life, and most people generally sees themselves as passive consumers when it comes to most things. You can just do things, even if people look at you weird or say your weird, even in public, and nothing really changes when they say/think those things about you. Just enjoy life as much as you can, in the way you wish, without harming others.
Re: If You Build It, They Will Come
#17“I’ve come to believe that part of today’s problem of social alienation is a problem of too many free riders.” I started planning street festivals a few years ago. It’s now a lucrative and growing business for me. The demand for events at all scales vastly outstrips supply, and I think growing social isolation is part of the reason. The free riders might seem like a problem to someone who just wants there to be event…
Would love to hear more about the impetus for your festivals, the festivals, and the process to get there.
Re: If You Build It, They Will Come
#18“I’ve come to believe that part of today’s problem of social alienation is a problem of too many free riders.” I started planning street festivals a few years ago. It’s now a lucrative and growing business for me. The demand for events at all scales vastly outstrips supply, and I think growing social isolation is part of the reason. The free riders might seem like a problem to someone who just wants there to be event…
What kind of street festivals are we talking about?
Re: If You Build It, They Will Come
#19This makes me realize I should show my appreciation to organizers more. It’s easy to take events for granted.
During my grad school years, back when the world was less competitive, I organized a LOT of events. I liked giving to the community, I had space to do it, and my needs were taken care of.
Nowadays I feel like anything I do either needs to be either (a) getting me closer to opportunities to build a living or wealth OR (b) individual recharging time.
When my poke bowl costs $24 (yes, it actually did), and my job application acceptance rate has cratered from ~100% to 10% over the past 10 years, I don't really have space to give to the community for free anymore.
Re: If You Build It, They Will Come
#20no offence but i dont know what is this article doing on hackernews. looks like a diary entry at best.
I'm right there with you, pal. The quality and focus of this site has declined significantly. More often than not these days I regret opening the site at all.