I shouldn’t be telling you this. Pinky swear we’ll keep this between us. I attended Pop-Up Magazine and I’m going to tell you about it.
Pop-Up fans have a near Fight Club– reverence for ‘the world’s first live magazine.’ Issue 5 was held in San Francisco on Wednesday, November 9th at the Davies Symphony Hall — the event’s largest venue to date and it sold out in less than two hours — and brought together some of the country’s quirkiest and groundbreaking writers, musicians, an inventor, an environmentalist, a photo documentarian and even a deep sea diver to share their stories for one night only.
There is no event photography, video or transcription. Every issue is completely unique.
Even the ‘contributors’ were not announced until the day before the event. There are no theme or presentation requirements. There was poetry, PowerPoint and a classical trio.
For me, the common thread was adventure and the personal challenge to remember.
So many of us have conditioned ourselves to share and (if we’re very honest) remember through Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and more. For people to willingly give up this precious documentation for an event makes Pop-Up incredibly special and refreshing.
From my vantage point in the ‘nose-bleed’ section I didn’t see the glow of a contraband smartphone even once after the magazine went ‘live.’
How many of us have gone to concerts and readings where people limit their experience to the tiny screen on their phone in an effort to capture and prove they were there? You have to wonder why they don’t save their money and watch it on YouTube.
We have incredible tools at our fingertips and in our pockets to share our experiences but there’s power in an event that requires you to just be present to experience it too.
Melinda