#gogoCA Day 7: Hello Saskatoon!

October 1, 2013 · IGG

Prairies on prairies on prairies!

Next up on our tour comes Saskatoon, which greeted us with some gorgeous views from the sky. Read on for highlights from the “Paris of the Prairies,” including stories from the campaigners behind Modo: Ember’s End (Comic) and The New Rockstar Philosophy Book (Writing), and highlights from our packed meetup with Community Futures Saskatchewan, the Wilson Centre, and Saskatoon Young Professionals and Entrepreneurs!

See, the mountains don't have all the fun... — See, the mountains don’t have all the fun…

sask2 — You know you’re in the prairies when…

sask3 — Saskatoon, the “Paris of the Prairies”

MODO: EMBER’S END

First stop of the day was Saskatoon writers’ hotspot Prairie Ink Cafe, where we met up with famed Saskatoon writer Arthur Slade. Inspired by the bestselling series The Hunchback Assignments, Arthur launched an Indiegogo campaign to bring Modo: Ember’s End – a stand-alone, steampunk-infused graphic novel set in the Wild West – to life. We got a sneak preview of 70-80 page full-colour graphic novel, and learned more from Arthur in his element (literally – his picture is on the wall of the cafe with Saskatchewan literary legends!).

Why was your campaign important for your community?
The project was helpful in showing how crowdfunding can be used to create graphic novels and other stories. Before the campaign, we just had a very basic idea that we wanted to write a story about Modo. There was no script and only a few pages of sample artwork. Now, the script is complete, and the graphic novel is nearly half way to being finished.

Most surprising campaign moment?
When my high school English teacher bought a copy.

What do you love about Saskatoon?
Saskatoon is both a beautiful city to look at (all the bridges and wonderful river pathways) but it is also a treasure trove of various cultures and cultural activity. We do love our arts. And our Roughriders. It’s completely possible to love both.

Best thing your Indiegogo campaign made happen?

NEW ROCKSTAR PHILOSOPHY BOOK

Continuing our tour of Canada’s coolest cafes, we met up with Matt Voyno at Two Twenty in downtown Saskatoon. Voyno and his partner-in-crime Hoover had been fielding demands for a physical version of their popular New Rockstar Philosophy e-book for years. They teamed up with Indie Ink, a local community publisher, and with the support of an even bigger group of enthusiastic individuals, launched an Indiegogo campaign. We got our hands on the Indiegogo-powered book, and learned some secrets to rockstar-dom.

Where were you at before your campaign?
We were 4 years into an exciting music book journey that had already taken us around the world, but we were $10,000 short of paying the designer and printer for our physical books.

Where are you now?
We’ve finally got all our books out and our rewards to our fans. It’s been a great process and we learned a lot. Since the printing funded by fans we’ve given workshops, seminars, and in the works is a webinar series.

Biggest fear before launching the campaign?
Simply pressing “Publish” on the campaign is a big fear. There are always so many things to consider, but nothing is ever perfect and you learn a lot more in the game then on the sidelines.

Best thing your Indiegogo campaign made happen?

WRAP-UP

Thanks to our Saskatoon entrepreneur supporters extraordinaire – with Community Futures Saskatchewan, the Wilson Centre, and Saskatoon Young Professionals and Entrepreneurs – we had a packed house at our Saskatoon meetup. We shared some tips from our latest e-book, Ten Myths of Crowdfunding. Consensus? Solid turnout. Even better pizza. Thanks Saskatoon!