THE NIGHT ACADEMY is a gathering where nightlife creators from across the world meet over seven days from May 22nd to May 27 2023, to exchange skills, knowledge and creativity. Collaborative and hands-on by nature it is always hosted by a local community and venue. This year it will be in Stockholm at Blivande with the mission to open up dialogue about the current state of nightlife and related legislation in Sweden. The initiative hopes to connect enough stakeholders to start a Stockholm Club Commission to match other European cities. The Night Academy is run in collaboration with Julian (Sisyphos, Berlin) and the German night life conference “Stadt Nach Acht”.
The program consists of multiple open call master classes, a nightlife conference (SAD- Stockholm After Dark) and last but not least a one day electronic music festival.
Master Classes
The Master classes are held by professionals for fellow professionals as spaces for peer to peer learning including participants in different stages of their professional development. I believe this part of the Night Academy is the most interesting to the ECHN network. The community management Master Class “Herding Cats & Nightowls - Community management in nightlife” especially has more spots, as it is not equipment dependent, like the Metal/Art and Sound Production Masterclass. Therefore I would like to focus on this Class if it is possible to promote through your channels.
The class will be 4 days long and have a primary focus each day.
1. Decision making
2. Communication
3. Conflict
4. Self-Development
Decision Making
On our first day, we get to know each other and the projects and collectives we are part of. Through exercises, we identify expectations and motivations in the group. In the afternoon, we jump straight into alternative theories of structuring collectives beyond simple hierarchical structures. This is followed by a general overview on possibilities and practises around collaborative decision making.
Communication
On day two, we talk about developing efficient and transparent communication strategies for our collectives focusing on real life examples in the group. We tackle the difficult question of value and its relationship to money introducing terms such as affective commons and talk about activated responses around the sensitive topic of money and how to show up with presence and understanding. Lastly, we will look at alternative forms of ownership.
Conflict
The third day is dedicated to relationships in collectives. We talk about conflicts, what goes well and what doesn’t, taking participants own examples to design a conflict strategy and system for their collective. Highlighting the key to conflict prevention, normalization and transformation. In the afternoon, we will talk about interpersonal differences, universal values and possible conflict triggers including trauma induced behaviour, neurodivergence and polarization.
Development
In our last day together, we will focus on the importance of ourselves as individuals and our relationship to our collectives and work. We will clarify through models the difference between competency and capacity given that project exhaustion and burn-out are overarchingly common amongst community managers and social nodes. Then, we will explore how community driven-spaces and businesses contribute to local well-being.
Find more information here.
