Jane and Steve Cox are young, hip and urban. They became one of Vancouvers cultural power couples by being connected to lots of other people who are young and hip and urban, too.
So its not surprising that they founded this citys version of Pecha Kucha, an evening of dynamic speakers who share their knowledge, passion and connectedness with the hundreds of ticket-holders in the audience.
And yet if you miss Pecha Kucha the one on February 29 is already sold out you cant watch any of these speakers on YouTube. The evening isnt live-streamed on the internet either. The event is totally unplugged, a very deliberate decision and one which illustrates exactly how the Coxes got to know so many of the interesting people they invite on stage.
They believe there are times when being involved in your community means actually being part of whats going on, not only as a Twitter follower or Facebook friend. You have to be there. You have to be part of the moment, not a spectator on your computer or smart phone. You are the moment.
When someone says, Can I watch it from my sofa?, I say No, you have to come and experience it, Jane says. We dont want you to be able to take part in Pecha Kucha from your sofa.
Instead, they want you to be part of the entire experience jostling for a drink at the bar of the Vogue, bumping into friends, listening to the music, seeing the speaker walk on stage, listening to the audience laugh and applaud.
Its about getting it, Steve says. The people we get excited about are the people who are not followers.
Its a lesson they learned when one of their other bright ideas, Key to Vancouver, didnt take off. They wanted to unlock the best of Vancouvers culture by giving members special access to various events and organizations. The problem was that while many people say they want to get out and do things, they can be rather apathetic when it comes down to actually getting out and doing it.
Their good intentions get diverted by whatever turns up on TV or the internet that night.
You have an apathetic city and yet people complain its boring, Steve says.
Four hundred cities around the world host Pecha Kucha nights yet Vancouvers is one that generates the most buzz, in part because the Coxes force people to actually come to the event if they want to be a part of it.
This approach also illustrates why their business is called Cause + Affect. They want to understand what causes certain phenomena or feelings and then they want to affect change.
When you own your own brand, you make the rules, Steve says of one of the advantages of being entrepreneurial. He trained as an architect, Jane trained as an interior designer and yet when they put their two personalities together in both marriage and business, what emerged is a complex, intricate amalgam of their interests and knowledge.
Its hard to put your finger on just what Cause + Affect is. Design firm? Marketing guru? Brand maker? Style provocateur? Its everything and anything, a chameleon that adapts to the next assignment and becomes whatever the client needs.
North America is about specialization, Steve says. You hire eight people do do eight things. In Europe you hire one person to do eight things. Think of them as being European.
Theres no ceiling when you do what you love, Jane says. Something new could come to us tomorrow and change everything. You just dont know.
And yet Ive never thought Im doing what I love. Im just doing what I know. But I do think were unemployable now, she adds with a laugh. We cant fit inside someone elses description.
