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Briefing: Applied AI Society Event Planning with OpenTeams

Purpose​

This briefing document provides the OpenTeams team with current status, venue options, timeline recommendations, and discussion points for our first Applied AI Society event. Please review during or before our meeting today.

Meeting Context​

Following Travis's commitment to support Applied AI Society, this meeting focuses on planning the first event and establishing operational support from OpenTeams team.

Venue Options Status​

Primary Options:​

  1. Capital Factory (Top Choice)

    • Status: Working connections to get approved for monthly free space - won't know until Dec 20ish
    • Benefit: Established tech venue, great location, wants more attendees for their ecosystem
    • Timeline: Awaiting approval

  2. Gauntlet AI HQ

    • Benefit: Recording infrastructure for talks (computer + in-person)
    • Connection: Could leverage existing relationship
    • Note: Already hosting Austin AI Alliance holiday party

  3. Antler VC HQ

    • Gary hasn't been but AITX cofounder who works there said he would be open to exploring hosting events there.

  4. Agent Trading Platform Founder's House

    • Status: Recently raised seed round, wants to get event house
    • Timeline: Dependent on their house acquisition
    • Benefit: More intimate, community-building atmosphere (He generally wants to sponsor AI events in Austin, with a couple thousand dollars)

  5. Decentralized AI Co-working Space

    • Status: Looking to host events
    • Benefit: AI-focused community alignment

  6. Grain and Berry Cafe (Downtown)

    • Connection: Founder is former IBM Watson founding PM
    • Benefit: Food creation capacity, technology-aligned owner
    • Previous Interest: Owner expressed interest months ago in co-hosting events
    • Consideration: Not perfect for events but has practical advantages

Event Format Vision: Applied AI Live​

Core Components:​

  1. Detailed Case Studies - End-to-end practitioner stories covering:

    • Client acquisition process
    • Project scoping methodology
    • Implementation journey
    • Post-project retainer arrangements
    • Lessons learned

  2. Live Architecture Sessions

    • Real business owner presents actual problem
    • Live whiteboarding of solution
    • Interactive Q&A with audience
    • Potential follow-up engagements

Key Principle:​

This all requires a lot of experimentation and a lot of patience. Setting realistic expectations for iterative development of the event series and community.

Updated Timeline Recommendation​

  • Target: Late January 2025 (around January 20th)
  • Rationale:
    • Allows people to fully settle back from holidays
    • Capital Factory approval expected after December 17th
    • More time for community building and event preparation
    • Avoids promoting during holiday season when attention is low
    • Provides ample time for follow-up meetings from recent connections
  • Near-term Activities:
    • Gary continue attending AI events weekly (when in town)
    • Participating in hackathon on December 12th
    • Building relationships within local community
  • Next Check-in: Propose Monday December 15th for an async update. And 22nd for another.

Austin AI Community Landscape​

Incomplete list of Active Groups to Engage:​

  • Hack AI - Monthly meetups at Capital Factory
  • Gauntlet AI Community - Strong existing relationship
  • ATX Builders - Kliment Minchev's group
  • Austin AI Alliance
  • Austin Deep Learning
  • Austin Python Meetup
  • AI Collective Austin
  • Organized AI

Community Engagement Strategy:​

  • Attend Austin AI Alliance holiday party (December 17th at Gauntlet AI HQ)
  • Position Applied AI Society as complementary, not competitive
  • Focus on unique niche: practical business applications
  • Cross-promote with existing communities
  • Gary go to a lot of events every week he's in town

Recent Validation (December 4th Supabase X DreamBase Meetup)​

Key Connections Made:​

  • Daniel Knight - Event planning expertise, willing to advise
  • Julien Charton - Volunteered as first featured speaker
  • Reid McCrabb - Potential event collaboration
  • Kliment Minchev - ATX Builders connection

Validated Concepts:​

  • Strong interest in live architecture format
  • Clear market need for applied AI guidance
  • Enthusiasm for practitioner-focused content

Austin Business Owner Association Landscape​

  • Need to do research - important

Proposed Budget Framework​

Estimated First Event Budget: $2,000​

  • Venue: $0 (targeting free venues)
  • Food/Drinks: Minimal or none (not making this the draw)
  • Audio/Visual Support: ~$500-800
    • Recording equipment setup
    • Technical support during event
  • Photography/Videography: ~$500-800
    • Event photographer
    • B-roll capture for future marketing
  • Registration Support: $0-200
    • Potentially OpenTeams staff support
    • Simple check-in system

Key Budget Philosophy:​

  • Focus on content quality over amenities
  • Attract attendees genuinely hungry for value, not free food/drinks
  • Invest in documentation for future marketing

Input Needed from OpenTeams Team​

Things to start talking about today and to get aligned on before end of the year:

  • Feedback on event format
  • Would we want NebariOS as visible sponsor?
  • What you want as sponsor?
  • Sponsorship of first 3 events to start? (Gary to provide proposal)
  • OpenTeams staff availability for event support
  • Marketing/promotion assistance
  • Technical infrastructure (recording, streaming - do we have a trusted vendor?)
  • Key performance indicators to track

Immediate Action Items (Through December)​

  1. Community Building (Now - Dec 20):

    • Continue attending weekly AI events
    • Participate in December 12th hackathon
    • Follow up with connections from Supabase meetup
    • Attend Austin AI Alliance holiday party (Dec 11)

  2. Venue (By Dec 20):

    • Wait for Capital Factory approval (after Dec 17)
    • Keep backup options warm

  3. Early January Actions:

    • Confirm speakers (Julien Charton, Rostam, others)
    • Identify business owner with compelling problem
    • Create event page and begin promotion
    • Finalize recording/photography arrangements
    • Confirm NebariOS sponsorship details

Long-term Vision Alignment​

Per Travis's vision, this first event is the beginning of a movement to:

  • Prevent "AI feudalism" through democratization
  • Create neutral ground outside vendor lock-in
  • Build local chapters with strong playbook
  • Eventually host major conference with speakers like Andrej Karpathy

Risk Mitigation​

  • Start small and iterate based on feedback
  • Don't over-promise on first event
  • Focus on quality connections over quantity
  • Be transparent about experimental nature
  • Document everything for playbook development

Meeting Objectives​

  1. Align on late January timeline (around Jan 20)
  2. Approve ~$2,000 budget for first event
  3. Clarify OpenTeams support (staff, promotion, technical)
  4. Gather team input on format and goals
  5. Establish next check-in for December 16th - and decide who should be on that call / how different people should be looped in in general to this