After the first gathering of the SFSF Salon, we collected feedback from participants. Here's what they said — and what it means for the sessions ahead.
Participants described the event as energizing, intellectually rich, and full of surprises.
The small size and discussion format were widely praised.
The diversity of backgrounds was repeatedly mentioned as a core strength. People valued learning about each attendee's work and perspective.
There is strong interest in the salon becoming a nucleus for a larger science fiction community in San Francisco.
Some attendees are looking for collaboration opportunities and a place to develop their ideas.
The most common feedback was the need for slightly more structure. Long open discussion sometimes allowed a few voices to dominate.
Multiple people asked for a clearer separation between the structured portion and open social time.
Several attendees suggested splitting the evening into two phases:
A book-club style component was suggested — shared reading or watching material beforehand.
Breakout groups were generally appreciated, though opinions varied.
Some people suggested planning topics ahead of time — vote on topics and dedicate future sessions to the selected themes.
Multiple participants encouraged evolving the salon beyond discussion into creative collaboration.
Sessions where participants create something together.
Sessions where people present works-in-progress and receive feedback.
Dedicated sessions helping a specific storyteller develop their project.
Multiple participants proposed ideas for how future sessions could be structured. Here's what people envisioned:
Ian also suggested some areas of focus for the salon's broader mission:
"Finding storytellers and getting them to SF."
"Funding new sci-fi projects."
"Influencing current stories in production."
Several people expressed curiosity about the long-term goal of the salon.
Turning the group into a testing ground for science fiction ideas and prototypes.
Building connections between storytellers, technologists, and investors.
Supporting new science-fiction projects and funding pathways.
Influencing stories currently in development.
Venue and group size received strong positive feedback.
Experimenting with venues tied to themes — for example, selecting venues that match a topic like biotechnology or futurism.
Based on your feedback, here's the plan for the next sessions.
We'll have a short story to read before the session. Come prepared to speak briefly about it in the first 10 minutes — what resonated, what surprised you, what it got wrong.
Sci-fi themes that we think are important to cover in this moment. What stories are resonating right now? What's missing from the conversation?
We'll break into small groups and talk about sci-fi ideas we would personally like to work on. This is where creation begins.
Participants consistently emphasized that the group already has the right ingredients.
THE SFSF SALON
BIWEEKLY · BAY AREA · 2026
MACHINE CINEMA