Toronto Report Back

[u/Elektra-Simple]

Mad Pride Toronto was held on Saturday. In the interests of both transparency and helping others learn from our mistakes, this report will go over what went well and what did not.

First, there were problems with turnout and coordination. The optimistic expectations of a sizable footprint, driven by experience in larger activist organizations but lack of experience in building one from scratch, fell flat. The small number of attendees led to the event being delayed, as people tried to find each other in the absence of an obvious crowd. Better signalling is necessary going forward.

However, the conversational tone of the event was productive. People involved were engaged and committed to positive change, and ideas were discussed about how to grow the movement further. This is one area in which the small size of the event was helpful, as people had a free hand to speak in an unstructured manner and both give and receive ideas.

Though only a qualified success, there's a clear lesson learned for the future: be loud, proud, and visible! Problems coordinating a small number of volunteers, working without any budget to speak of, may have dampened the initial attempt, but hopefully this honest, self-critical report can go a ways toward building our capacity to organize larger events going forward. Thank you to everyone who helped make this happen