Minnesota. Home of some of the best companies and thinkers in the world, and also home to our ever-evolving sneaker scene. We’re a pretty open-minded group of people who are usually down to try new things and accept change as it comes.
However, I saw something this last week that bothered me. As everyone knows, the 5th installment of Studiiyo23‘s great event TCSAX (Twin City Sneaker Art Xchange) is coming up, and it’s in one of Minnesota’s biggest and most well-known venues, the Target Center.
You would think that the average Minnesota sneaker lover would be thrilled about this. With an event in a well-known spot like the Target Center, the scene is moving forwards and progressing just like we had all hoped it would be. However, some folks in a few of the local Facebook sneaker groups (all of which I’m a member of) seemed to have some complaints, and everything came to a head.
As soon as the event flyer was posted in the groups, salty-sounding “sneakerheads” began complaining about everything from the location to the supposed lack of promotion. Where there should have been much rejoicing, there was only a lot of whining, bitching, moaning, and self-righteous comments.
People who’d never thrown an event in their lives were suddenly Don King reincarnate, offering various strategies on how the event could and should be done differently instead of being happy about the news, which was outrageous. Instead of being stoked for a big local event, all local sneakerheads can do is complain in a passive-agressive fashion? Not good.
This is one of the big problems with the local scene. Lots and lots of people want to complain about everything instead of working to make the scene better. Bitching online about how something is going down doesn’t help the local scene. Showing up at events that are put on for the community by the community helps. Hanging out with your fellow sneakerheads helps. Proactively trying to make the community better helps.
So please, do your part to help push the scene forward. We’ve got a lot of great stores and a ton of great people here. Don’t waste your time moaning online when there are places to go and people to see. As the OG 40oz Van once said “It’s cool to @ someone online, but it’s a lot cooler to dap them up in person”. Get off the computer, get out in the real world, and make the rounds. Be the change that you want to see.
-RDwyer
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