In early 2009, Signal Fire co-founders Amy Harwood and Ryan Pierce organized an informal dinner party of friends and colleagues to get feedback on an idea to start a group where artists and environmental activists came together in the wild. Initiatives had begun to test the ideas, but this dinner was a first attempt to get honest feedback from people. This commitment to hearing from people who could help shape Signal Fire into a better form was woven into the fabric of everything into the future.

In order to raise additional funds for our “testing” programs, SF had its first public event in June 2009, hosting a fundraiser yard sale in SE Portland that included donated outdoor equipment and art supplies from supporters. To let people know about the event, an email was sent with this subject line: “We only lost a few artists on our first trip, but now we can sell their stuff at the yard sale.” This began several years of provocative email subject lines.