When the Venue Kicked Everyone Out — and the Conversations Kept Going
By Troy Tyrell, WBN News Vancouver
📢 Subscription to WBN and being a Contributor is FREE! Click here to begin reading or writing with us!!!
WBN Digital
Vancouver's Fuckup Nights discovers that sometimes the best part of an event happens after the event is over
Most networking events have a predictable ending.
The speakers finish. The applause happens. Someone says, "We should definitely connect," while exchanging a business card that will probably disappear into a desk drawer sometime before breakfast.
Then everyone goes home.
Apparently, nobody gave that memo to the crowd at the latest Fuckup Nights Vancouver.
The July 30 event at Alexander College brought together entrepreneurs, business owners and professionals for an evening built around something most people usually try very hard to avoid talking about:
Failure.
And it worked.
Fuckup Nights Vancouver is part of a global movement designed to break the taboo surrounding professional failure by giving entrepreneurs and business leaders a place to talk openly about mistakes, setbacks and the lessons that came from them.
But according to what happened after the July event, Vancouver may have discovered an even better formula.
Nobody wanted to leave.
When the "Fuckup" Wasn't Getting People Out the Door
The presentations eventually came to an end.
The venue, however, apparently had other responsibilities.
Staff eventually had to kick people out.
Not because anyone had caused trouble.
Quite the opposite.
People simply didn't want the conversations to stop.
Groups gathered around the room talking about business, failures, ideas, opportunities and life. Speakers were still being asked questions that hadn't fit into their presentations. Introductions were being made. Stories were being exchanged.
And when the venue finally closed?
The networking moved outside.
Because apparently Vancouver entrepreneurs don't understand the concept of "event over."
The sidewalk became an unofficial second venue.
And that turned out to be one of the most important lessons of the night.
The magic wasn't necessarily happening on the stage. It was happening between people.
Three Speakers, Three Very Different Versions of Failure
The July event featured Dwayne Klassen, John Kirk and Earl Flormata, three speakers with very different entrepreneurial backgrounds and very different stories of what happens when things don't go according to plan.
Dwayne Klassen: When Success Gets Turned Upside Down
Dwayne Klassen, known as The Coach for Remarkable Men, brought a story of rebuilding after experiencing major personal and professional setbacks.
Klassen had built a successful career before a series of challenges forced him to reconsider what success actually meant. His experience eventually became the foundation for his work helping high-performing men deal with leadership, relationships, purpose and resilience.
His story represents one of the central ideas behind Fuckup Nights:
Sometimes losing what you thought you wanted forces you to figure out what you actually need.
John Kirk: 35+ Years of Learning the Hard Way
John Kirk brought more than three decades of entrepreneurial experience to the stage.
The founder of As Seen On TV Marketing and creator of the #GETGREAT philosophy, Kirk has built businesses across multiple industries and developed a reputation for energetic, straight-talking business advice.
Thirty-five-plus years in business means you've probably seen just about everything.
Good ideas.
Bad ideas.
Great ideas that turned into bad ideas.
And presumably at least a few ideas that should have been escorted from the building immediately.
That's precisely what makes the Fuckup Nights format so compelling: the lessons aren't coming from a textbook. They're coming from people who have actually been in the arena.
Earl Flormata and the Jellyfish Problem
Then there's Earl Flormata.
A Vancouver marketing strategist, entrepreneur and business growth consultant, Flormata has spent more than 15 years working across marketing, technology, sales and business development. He's also one of the people helping build the Vancouver Fuckup Nights community.
His July story apparently came with an unexpected supporting character:
A jellyfish.
Yes.
A jellyfish.
Somehow, attendees were reminded that a jellyfish can ruin your day from approximately half a world away.
And if that wasn't enough, another memorable observation from the evening boiled life down to a remarkably simple choice:
You have two choices: crispy or extra crispy.
It's ridiculous.
It's funny.
And somehow it also captures the spirit of Fuckup Nights perfectly.
Things don't always go according to plan.
Sometimes you get burned.
The question is what you do afterward.
From Fuckup Nights to FuN Unplugged
The organizers clearly noticed what happened after the July event.
Instead of simply returning with another traditional Fuckup Nights presentation, they've created something more intimate:
FuN Unplugged — The Stories Behind the Scars
The concept takes the best part of the July evening—the conversations—and puts them front and centre.
No big stage.
No pressure to perform.
No need to pretend everything worked perfectly.
Instead, FuN Unplugged is designed around honest stories, meaningful conversations and deeper connections.
The official Vancouver Fuckup Nights calendar lists FuN Unplugged for Tuesday, August 25, 2026, from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. at R&B Brewing | Ale & Pizza House.
The location is:
R&B Brewing | Ale & Pizza House
54 E 4th Avenue
Vancouver, BC
And if July is any indication, attendees may want to avoid making other plans immediately after 8:00 p.m.
Just in case the sidewalk gets booked again.
The Real Lesson
There's something refreshing about an event where nobody has to pretend they've got it all figured out.
Social media is full of perfect businesses, perfect bodies, perfect investments, perfect relationships and people who apparently have never made a bad decision in their entire lives.
Fuckup Nights offers something considerably more useful:
Reality.
People screw up.
Businesses fail.
Plans blow up.
Sometimes the thing that destroys your carefully constructed strategy is a bad decision.
Sometimes it's a market.
Sometimes it's a business partner.
And apparently, sometimes it's a jellyfish.
But failure isn't necessarily the end of the story.
Sometimes it's the beginning of the interesting part.
And judging by what happened in July, Vancouver's business community seems to have figured out that the best stories—and perhaps the best opportunities—can begin when someone finally admits:
"Yep. I fucked that up."
FuN Unplugged: The Stories Behind the Scars
Tuesday, August 25, 2026
6:00 PM – 8:00 PM
R&B Brewing | Ale & Pizza House
54 E 4th Avenue, Vancouver
If you missed the July event, this is an opportunity to experience the more intimate version.
If you were there in July?
Well, you already know what happened last time.
Bring a friend. Stay for the stories. And maybe don't assume 8:00 PM actually means everyone is going home at 8:00 PM.
Reserve your seat for FuN Unplugged on Eventbrite
By Troy Tyrell, Founder of Tsquared Personal Training
WBN Contributor | Community Builder | Mountain Biker | Advocate for Local Business & Fitness
📍 Google Business Profile – Tsquared Personal Training,
🔗 Connect on LinkedIn
📘 Follow on Facebook
📢 Subscription to WBN and being a Contributor is FREE! Click here to begin reading or writing with us!!!
WBN Digital
Tags:#Fuckup Nights #Vancouver Business #Entrepreneurship #Business Failure #Networking Vancouver #FuN Unplugged
Members Discussion