​SF/SF Salon · Session 02 Resonating Stories: Sci-fi themes that matter right now

​Thanks for making Session 01 a great kickoff.

​We're back with a more structured evening, this time focused on the sci-fi themes that feel urgent right now and the stories we want to tell about them. Based on feedback from last session, we're also adding a shared reading component: we'll all read a short story from Bruce Sterling's Mirrorshades anthology: William Gibson's Gernback Continuum beforehand, and open with reactions. This short story is about a futuristic San Francisco!

​This time we may have food and bev too! Pending details.

​Schedule

• ​0:00–0:10 · Opening & Reading Reactions. Quick round-the-room reactions to the suggested reading. What stuck with us? What felt prescient? What felt dated? Keep it tight — everyone gets a minute.

• ​0:10–0:20 · Rapid-Fire: Resonating Themes. Grab some post-its — it's a quick writing session. Write down favorite sci-fi themes, tech themes, AI themes, and San Francisco themes. One idea per post-it. We'll stick them on the wall and see what patterns emerge. No overthinking — just gut reactions.

• ​0:20–0:25 · Story Spark: Pick Your Inspiration. Look at the wall of themes. Write down or select favorite ideas — the ones that spark something. What themes might inspire a story or world we'd want to write about? We're each building the seed of our own idea here.

• ​0:25–0:55 · Breakout: Story Workshop. We split into small groups. Each person shares the idea or story they're most inspired by from the previous exercise. Start developing individual stories — pitch concepts to the group, get feedback, riff on each other's worlds. The goal: select one or two ideas per group to really talk through and build out together.

• ​0:55–1:10 · Group Report-Back. Each breakout group shares their top story ideas with the full room. What concepts emerged? Which worlds got the group most excited?

• ​1:10+ · Open Social. Unstructured mingle time. Continue conversations, make connections, or head out — no awkwardness either way. The structured portion is done.

​More info on the website here.

​Looking Ahead

​In Session 3, we shift from shared themes to personal projects — what sci-fi ideas do we each want to work on? Start thinking now.