Don't skank on carpet, and other Wildcat 2026 lessons
This year’s Wildcat was by almost all measures a smashing success based on preliminary feedback. Even with Cody breaking his foot skanking on carpet Friday night, attendees and organizers were frequently remarking how smoothly everything went and how much of a boon it was to have a venue not change at the last moment–shocking, I know.
I had some learnings to integrate and will be reflecting on them to carry them with me throughout the coming months but it reinforced a pattern I’ve noticed that I need to be careful with in guarding my energy and stress.
What the event was
As mentioned in a past entry, Wildcat is the yearly event that Cody and Ashley throw as a sort of art, music, and community focused bonanza weekend. I think the final tally is somewhere around 116 including volunteers and artists which is a truly impressive number for a small crack team of dedicated individuals.
This year was in Tomah and I was so glad the venue was the same. It was truly special feeling like a band was playing to you in what was a garage-turned-living room space.
What broke, and what it taught me
“The best-laid schemes of mice and men go oft awry…”
Despite the best intentions, a couple of my setup ideas were half-assed in hindsight. I tried to stand up a separate network for the audio and visual gear to plug into an NDI stream, and I had grand thoughts of mounting a projector — both ended up not working out and amounted to a bunch of wasted effort. The common thread: I was attempting them for real for the first time at the event, without the practiced experience under my belt to execute under pressure. Failing fast during prime time is a stressful way to learn. But personal learning and growth is part of what the event allows for, so I don’t feel like it was for nothing — next year, anything technical I want to run live gets proven at home first.
Don’t skank on carpet. This was Cody’s lesson to learn and I think works as funny shorthand for something nearly-impossible to do. On the garage floor we put carpet down with some intense tape to keep the corners down, but for the ska band that performed it was not conducive to moshing/dancing which Cody learned the hard way.
Front-loading the stress with the pre-planning objectives comes with real costs to enjoyment of the event itself. While I would have loved to be more present for the festivities while it was happening, the heat and the setup was so grueling I reached my limit quite early each night. Especially when facing the prospect of a hot early morning tent sun to bake in, I chose to turn in early lest I face the wrath of the hot ball in the sky.
The event succeeded; my ability to be present at it didn’t. That’s next year’s project.
What worked
Some of the scaffolding of some project management concepts helped keep things organized in the thick of things and allowed for multiple people to handle the check-in process — nobody slipped through without paying and the cash ended up where it should.
Utilizing a rented truck for everything instead of multiple loads for gear made it so everything was in the place it needed to for setup. It took a bit more front-loaded coordination and I think ensuring there is space for everything coming back is a challenge that will need mitigation in the future because the truck was a bit too full for comfort loading out that Sunday with nearly everyone else with possible car space already gone.
What I’d do differently
Focus on operational and planning things. I can help out but folks entrusted with their own plans are the blood of the event and I think my skills are removing roadblocks and staying on top of those goals. Not that I’m not allowed to have harebrained ideas, but I can learn while watching from 10 feet away too :).
My big takeaway
I was reading a bit on Third Places as written in The Great Good Place by Ray Oldenburg a bit prior to the event and a bit after. The author of the idea posited a few ideas that made them work:
- They’re neutral ground
- They’re social-status levelers
- Conversation is the main activity
- They’re accessible and low cost
- The mood is playful rather than serious
- There are regulars that set the tone but newcomers are welcome
I think all of those hold true for Wildcat and I think everyone needs to have someplace like it in their lives. Somewhere that can be a yearly meetup of familiar and foreign faces to experience new things or reminisce about the old things. Something to look forward to and look back on as the year’s grind gets particularly difficult.
I think Cody and Ashley recognize this, if maybe not explicitly, which is why they continue together and with the help of others to put on a crazy and stressful party each year.