Starter Kit. Idea 373 of 500. Cluster 18
A book club and speaker series abroad that puts Sri Lankan authors and founders in front of Sri Lankans overseas
The mechanism, from the book
1.5 million people abroad who know how rich countries work, and who send home money and little else.
The first step
Book a room in a Sri Lankan community centre for one evening and invite a Sri Lankan author or founder to speak by video, with tickets sold in advance at a small price. Promote it through the mailing lists of two Sri Lankan associations abroad. If the room fills and people ask when the next one is, you have a series, and the ticket sales tell you the price.
- Who pays first
- Sri Lankan professionals abroad who want to hear directly from people building things at home, and will buy a ticket for an evening with them.
- What leaves today
- Sri Lankan authors and founders are rarely heard by the Sri Lankans abroad who could buy, invest or mentor; a series builds that audience and the proof.
Ask first
- Department of Cultural Affairs. Ask whether support exists for promoting Sri Lankan authors abroad.
Check before you spend
The venue's terms, the speaker's agreement on fees and recording, and permission before selling any author's books at the event.
Find out these three numbers
- How many tickets sell in advance?
- What ticket price fills the room?
- How many people ask when the next evening is?
A comparison from the book
Sri Lankans abroad, given a job. Chapter Seventeen
"Introduce a retailer. Host a tasting in London or Toronto or Melbourne."
Hosting evenings abroad is one of the precise roles that work; put a founder in front of the room.
The test
Does it keep value that now leaves the island, or build the proof that lets somebody else do so?
From the appendix of Why Not Sri Lanka? by Dr Maheshika Halbeisen. The idea and the mechanism are the book's; this kit was written for the site.