Toronto bloggers Sean Ward and Casie Stewart translate their online reach into IRL events that blur the line between party and "tweet-up that you have to pay for."
Sean Ward is somewhat of an accidental internet someone. Casie Stewart’s life and work revolves around being an Internet someone. Over the next two weeks, the two will be hosting separate parties to (re)affirm the true impact of their web reach.
On Oct. 26, Ward’s HarthFest will hit 99 Sudbury. It’s the first-ever (official) after-party for the AndroidTO conference happening there on the same day. HarthFest is the pet project of the team at HarthTV, the experimental media wing of BNOTIONS, the firm hosting the second annual conference. Ward works for HarthTV, managing the studio and supervising the productions, and he’s also a partner in a few of the projects he’s brought in under the Harth banner, Wednesday’s Fest being one of them. But who is this guy?
Ward started out as a comic artist, gaining a small, cult-ish following from the photocopied comic books he started peddling direct-to-consumers on the street. But last Saturday night, I found myself GChat-ing with him about the party he’s dubbing as “the most colourful event of the year.” (Since Ward works in experimental media, I thought I’d level the playing field, since I’ve never conducted an interview through instant messaging—and partly because I’m reporting live from Winnipeg this week.) I discovered Ward through Twitter, and subsequently “met” him through his vlogs. It’s clear he’s passionate about what he does and conscious of the impact he wants to have on people. “First and foremost, I’m an entertainer,” he types to me. “Whether it’s from the stage or the printed page, it’s all about putting forward the best entertainment package.”
Now, as a part of the Harth team—and still working on his own projects and documenting them on his blog—Ward is set on creating an empire of so-called new-media stars. “The way I see it, there’s so much talent in this town that’s looking for a place to get discovered, and I see a lot of people trying to do live entertainment the same old way,” he tells me. “I want HarthTV to go down like a Second City or Upright Citizens’ Brigade kind of thing where it’s this launching pad for world-class talent.” The Fest has been in the works for about six months, but was conceived long before Ward’s arrival at the firm. “I was able to bring a lot of my experience and my network to it,” referring mainly to his 2,300-plus followers on Twitter, and his generally strong web audience. “Combine that with what was already in-house, and all of the pieces were in place for the first edition of HarthFest to be a major career milestone for a lot of people.”
HarthFest’s got a decent line-up—or something like that. Andy Milonakis will host and act as the guest of honour for the night. If you’re asking yourself, “Who the hell is Andy Milonakis?” you’re not alone. He’s dabbled in music, and was the star of a short-lived, self-titled MTV sketch comedy show. Milonakis doesn’t interest me at all, and I’m not sure why anyone would pay to party with him. But he’s really secondary to the whole thing. What’s more intriguing is the live entertainment: recent 2011 Indie Week winners Tiny Danza will act as the house band for the night, playing the songs that have catapulted them onto local ones-to-watch lists. (If this were 2010, they’d be one appearance on The Hills away from instant fame.)
But there’s more to Ward’s strategy. He’s enlisted old friend and fellow blogger Raymi the Minx to act as the head of The Harth Airlettes, a group of girls—dressed like Britney Spears in the “Toxic” video—that will greet guests in “the Harth Air departure lounge.” This, I can only assume, is the point at which you leave Toronto and enter Harth-land. Raymi, who needs little introduction, is one of Toronto’s hate-to-love/love-to-hate blogger queens with a global following and a few eerie copycats. “She’s a huge fan of Milonakis,” notes Ward. “And she and I have worked together on stuff before, so this was something we could collaborate on. She’s bringing a very special and important element to the whole affair.”
That in itself is a draw for some, and a source of promotion—an overall smart move on Ward’s part. And it seems to be paying off. “Each new thing has given [HarthFest] a new bump, but Raymi getting involved was definitely when the whole thing started blowing up.” And that makes sense, since Raymi adorns a version of the poster and promotes the crap out of her involvement. Aside from all this, there are also small touches Ward hopes will add to the appeal and entertainment: TALWST and Heavvy will do a little something, The Rollergettes will be skating around. And oh yeah, the whole show is live from a wrestling ring that the party will revolve around. (So long, ice sculptures.)
Next week, Casie Stewart—a twenty-something blogger queen who’s the yin to Raymi’s yang—is using her personal brand powers to host the ultra-private Canadian Club Speakeasy. It’s much like Ward’s HartFest, but smaller in scope, and surrounded by secrecy. There’s a handpicked guest list consisting of Toronto influentials, media and, yes, the many faces of Toronto’s, uh, Twitterati; it’s not open to the public. Unlike Ward, Stewart’s no stranger to hosting and promoting what you’d call “large-scale blowout” parties that have no trouble drawing a crowd. In May, Stewart hosted the Pepsi Throwback event with Keisha Chante, and a Puma party at the Burroughes (which was, in her words, “EPIC”). She’s been on the scene since social media’s infancy in Toronto, working with MTV and MuchMusic before going “freelance” as a consultant to brands and PR firms. Essentially, you can’t go anywhere or do anything “social”—even if you only have a Twitter handle you barely use—without knowing of or about Casie Stewart’s one-woman show.
It’s interesting to see the parallels between Ward’s and Stewart’s events, both based on the power of the internet and its sensations. Stewart’s Speakeasy isn’t an after-party though, it’s part of the promotional strategy behind HBO’s new season of Boardwalk Empire. She’s been hands-on from the start, using her own experiences and prowess to build an event that she hopes will reverberate through the city. “Canadian Club is the main drink in the show that’s themed around prohibition, hence [a] Speakeasy,” she writes to me on Skype. “Overall, it’s to raise brand awareness about new cocktails and have a good time.” Good times are what Stewart specializes in, and I’m curious to see how her pop-up contraband party will play out as the antithesis of Ward’s HarthFest.
What interests me even more is the use of local “internet celeb” girl brands like Raymi and Casie by companies as a way to promote their own brands. “Brands have always turned to personalities to promote products. I’ve spent a lifetime building my brand,” explains Stewart about the new applications of a time-tested strategy. “As for my personal brand, I’ve worked hard to build it my entire life, not just now that social media is around. My brand is trusted; I only do things I like, and things I’d do/drink/eat/wear whether it was work or not.”
And this, I suppose, are where the lines begin to blur between a tweet-up and a party—not in what we call things like this, but how they will eventually turn out. Stewart is quick to wryly dismiss my inferences. Even though she had a large part in originating tweet-ups in the city before “social media and Twitter blew up” (like her GenYTO and Twestival functions), she’s moving in different directions now. “This is not a tweet-up. I don’t want to host a tweet-up. I want to create fun experiences for people. If the party has a hashtag, that’s cool. I love hashtags. #hastageverything.” I can’t help but LOL IRL.
When I ask Ward the same thing, about HarthFest being a tweet-up you pay for, he remains neutral on the topic, a sign that he wants to avoid any sort of stigma surrounding it. “I would just say that the team has worked really hard to make this a special and fun evening,” he writes. “There’s going to be lots of surprises, and we hope to see everyone there.”
In many ways, it appears the evolution of the social-media star continues. And I’m just a little bit terrified of what this may mean for the future of our city’s social scene.
Tickets for HarthFest are $20, available online and at the door. You can also snag free tickets to Stewart’s Speakeasy through her blog sometime this week.
