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Welcome to Stuff I Learned Yesterday. My name is Darrell Darnell, I once stole a package of trading cards from Walmart, and I believe if you are learning, you aren’t living. In today’s episode of Stuff I Learned Yesterday I share what I learned from the Golden Spiral Media meet up at Dragon Con 2015.
Today’s fun fact: On this day, September 21, 1866, H.G. Wells was born. Can you imagine a world without the works of H.G. Wells? In case you aren’t aware, H.G. Wells gave us literary works such as, The Time Machine, The Island of Doctor Moreau, The Invisible Man, The War of the Worlds, The Shape of Things to Come, and The First Men on the Moon. His works have had immeasurable influence on authors, TV & film directors, video game creators, artists, and sci-fi fans for over 100 years.
What I leaned yesterday.
In case you couldn’t tell from last Monday’s episode that I recorded with my son, I had a great time at Dragon Con earlier this month. Colby and I arrived in Atlanta on a Thursday afternoon, and were highly anticipating the Golden Spiral Media meet up later that night. The evening did not disappoint. Colby and I had a great time hanging out with Doug, Barb, Bonita, Kome, Nathaniel, Jess, Kevin, Emilee, Brian, Martin, Chip, Sara, Brooke, Sherri, Linda, Melissa, and Jodey.
It’s always fun when I get to see this group of people. Keep in mind that when I say “this group of people” I mean “a group of Golden Spiral Media people.” Some of the people at the meet up were people I had meet before, some of them were people I was meeting for the first time in person. But each time I meet someone from the GSM community for the first time in person, it’s as if I’m meeting an old friend. For example, I had never met Kome, Jess, Sherri, Martin, or Jodey in person before that night, but that didn’t matter. There’s a cool familiarity that is already in place because they’ve been listening to one of our podcasts for a while and/or they’ve been a feedback contributor. Even an awkward conversationalist like me can feel at ease.
Later in the week we were joined by Mike, Kathleen, DonnaKatniss, and Zeppelin Driver as icing on the cake!
These people are like family to me. Each time I get to meet one of the GSM listeners in person, it’s a wonderful experience. Many of you listening are like family to me as well. As you’ve shared your lives with me and the other listeners via the Friday Forum or our Facebook Group, I’ve come to know you and care for you more deeply. This love and care for listeners is not new to me. I’ve experienced it in a variety of ways since I started podcasting in 2008. However, a couple of things happened at this year’s meet up that caught me off guard. I’ll tell you about one of them today, and the other will come next week.
At one point during the night, as I was talking with my Person of Interest co-host Doug Payton, Yogabon came up to me and and handed me a bag. She told me that I could open up the bag whenever I wanted and that there was no rush. So I kept talking to Doug and even forgot about the bag for a while. Eventually I did remember and took a look inside. It was dark inside the restaurant, so when I first looked inside the bag it was hard to make out the contents. It was about 10 inches across and it was round. I stared at it longer but couldn’t figure it out. So I reached inside and pulled out the object. It was a huge, 4lb tub of Redvines! Not only does Walter Bishop love Redvines, but I do too! I cried out with joy and surprise as I realized what it was!
Bonita looked over to me with a big smile on her face and everyone else was smiling too. But then I noticed something else in the bag…an envelope. The outside of the envelope had blue and red writing symbolizing the two universes in Fringe. Inside was a custom made card with the Fringe butterfly glyph and the phase, “Real is just a matter of perception.” The inside of the card was filled with words of encouragement from the amazing group of people gathered around the table. They said things like:
- “Glad to have found GSM in both this universe and the alt universe.”
- “Thanks for providing us such a wonderful base for this community. It has been so much fun to be a part of and to maintain these friendships.”
- “Thanks for creating this awesome community.”
- “The Fringe Podcast has changed my life. I have made so many great friends and had so many fun experiences because of your idea. Keep it going.”
- “I perceive you as a friend and inspiration. Thank you for all you do.”
- “It’s the Fringeships that are the best!”
GSM is unique and creative- giving opportunities to likely friends in unlikely places. Thanks for your commitment! We love you.”
I was stunned. Those sneaky people that I love so much had managed to pass a card around the table and write these amazing things right under my nose. I had no clue any of it was going on.
As we wrapped up the evening we gathered together for a group photo. Then before anyone could step away, Bonita took the opportunity to make a toast…to me. She pulled out a poem that she had written to express her love she has for me, the GSM community, and the relationships she had made through the community. I was at a loss for words. I don’t even recall what I said. I was so stunned and moved by the love and appreciation that had been show to me throughout the entire evening.
Here’s what I learned.
The Fringe Podcast and Golden Spiral Media has never been about me. As you know from listening to this podcast, we have a remarkable community of people here at GSM. When we decided to start The Fringe Podcast in the summer of 2008, we had no idea what we were doing. We had no dreams of creating a community that would heap such praise upon us, we had no dreams of interviewing celebrities, we didn’t even have dreams of starting a second podcast. We literally thought it would be cool to do a podcast about an upcoming TV show called Fringe.
However, it was apparent from almost the beginning that something special was happening. The feedback from listeners started pouring in and we loved it. Better yet, we valued it. We have always felt like many of the best ideas come from listeners and including the voice of listeners adds tremendous value to what we do. Our live shows, Random Thoughts From Canadia, and many other pieces of what we’ve done have come as a direct result of listening to you!
I’ve learned that life is a journey. All we can do is take one step at a time. We may have an idea of what we want to do or where we want to go, but that is most certainly not what will actually happen.
I’ve learned that you can’t script the best stuff. If I would have had the foresight to sit down and script out what a best-case scenario would be when we started The Fringe Podcast, I would have sold myself short. Over the years I’ve had the chance to meet listeners in San Diego, Las Vegas, Dallas, Atlanta, Chicago, Oklahoma City, Honolulu, and Seattle. When someone asks me what my favorite part of being a podcaster is, I always tell them it’s getting to spend time with listeners. It’s better and more rewarding than anything I could have ever imagined.
The truth is, the life of a TV show podcaster is difficult. When the TV network decides to cancel the TV show, they are cancelling our podcast as well. However, no TV network has the power to cancel relationships. Relationships can withstand challenges much bigger than a TV show cancellation. Relationships can grow even stronger through the cancellation of a TV show. Relationships are not enslaved by time and space.
And that’s what I’ve learned. Whether we’ve ever had the chance to meet in person or not, I want you to know that I appreciate you and I value you. My life is better, richer, fuller, and more joyous because of you.
I’m Darrell Darnell and this has been stuff I learned yesterday.
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