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Applied AI Live

A gathering of live players in the applied AI economy, sharing field notes and pulling newcomers into the work.

What Is It?​

Applied AI Live is a recurring event format built around a simple idea: the people who are actually thriving in the applied AI economy are live players (Samo Burja's term for people who can do things they haven't done before). They are rapidly evolving their techniques, finding new opportunities, and building real knowledge through practice. Applied AI Live puts those people on stage.

The goal: create a Schelling point where live players share field notes with each other and with newcomers, democratizing what they're learning in real time. The practitioners who present aren't lecturing from a fixed playbook. They're reporting from the front lines of a field that changes every week. The audience doesn't just learn what's possible. They get pulled into the current.

The format is evolving. Early events featured live whiteboard architecture sessions (a business owner presents a problem, a practitioner architects a solution on the spot). That may continue in some form, but the core is becoming clearer with each event: practitioners sharing honest field notes, getting attendees up to speed on what's actually working, and co-shepherding each other through a landscape that moves fast.

Each event features some combination of:

  • Practitioner field notes: Real case studies, lessons learned, techniques that are working right now
  • Live problem-solving: Business owners present real problems, practitioners think through solutions together
  • Networking: Time for attendees to connect, compare notes, and find collaborators

This isn't a lecture series. It's a room full of people who are actively figuring this out, sharing what they know so everyone moves faster.

Who Should Attend?​

Four types of people:

TypeDescription
AI-Native Young PeoplePeople in their early 20s who use AI tools daily and want to apply that fluency professionally. Students, recent grads, career changers. You don't need to be a traditional coder.
Experienced PractitionersEngineers and practitioners who are already doing the work. Your experience is invaluable to the young people in the room, and you'll learn from their fresh perspective too.
Business OwnersPeople with real business problems who want to understand what's possible and find trustworthy help.
Tool BuildersTechnical leaders building platforms, frameworks, or infrastructure for applied AI. Looking for practitioner feedback.

Running an Applied AI Live Event​

This playbook is a work in progress. Component guides:

Available Now​

PlaybookDescription
Presenting at Applied AI LiveGuest presenter guide: case study talks and topic discussions
Live Architecture SessionFinding the right business owner and prepping the engineer
Finding a VenueSecuring a recurring partner space (aim for seated capacity slightly above expected attendance; slight crowding creates energy, but most people should be able to sit)
Finding a PhotographerSourcing affordable, reliable event photography
Recording an EventCapturing video on a budget
Case Study InterviewsInterviewing practitioners to create profiles
Generating FlyersBrand-consistent event flyers via Remotion
Writing Event DescriptionsCrafting event listing copy for Luma, Meetup, etc.
Event PromotionGetting the word out and filling the room
Speaker OutreachFinding and recruiting practitioners to present

Coming Soon​

PlaybookDescription
Day-of LogisticsRunning a smooth event
Post-Event Follow-upMaximizing value after the event ends

Master Checklist​

A high-level view of everything that goes into running an Applied AI Live event. Links point to detailed guides where available.

4+ Weeks Before​

3 Weeks Before​

2 Weeks Before​

  • Conduct pre-call with business owner
  • Write problem brief from pre-call. See Live Architecture Session
  • Send problem brief to engineer
  • Continue promoting and accepting RSVPs
  • (Optional) Schedule food delivery

1 Week Before​

  • Reconfirm with photographer and videographer
  • Pick up name tags if not delivered
  • (Optional) Confirm food delivery plan
  • Test full AV setup at the venue (speaker, mic, laptop, display). Do not skip this. Bring backup gear.
  • Reconfirm with all speakers

Day Of​

  • Send a hype video and/or reminder blast in the morning (see below)
  • Arrive early for setup
  • Set up registration table with laptop and name tags
  • (Optional) Confirm food delivery and arrange spread
  • Set computer to never sleep/hibernate
  • Test both mics
  • Charge portable speaker and queue up music playlist
  • Brief photographer and videographer
  • Start screen recording on the presentation laptop (see Audio/Visual)
  • Run the event (see Run of Show below)
  • Clean up and thank venue staff

The morning hype video: If your event is in the evening, record a quick video that morning. Post it to social and send it to RSVPs. Get people excited. Remind them this isn't a normal meetup. Cover what's happening, why it matters, and what they'll get out of attending. Bonus: film it at or near the venue. Show them where to park, which entrance to use, any logistical details that reduce friction. A personal video converts more RSVPs into actual attendees.

The day-of reminder blast: In addition to (or instead of) a video, send a written blast to your RSVP list the morning or midday of the event. Paint a picture of what attending means for them. At Applied AI Live #1, a blast went out at 11:29 AM with the subject line "For many of you, tonight is the night that changes everything" (a future-looking message that asked RSVPs to imagine looking back a year from now on all the clients, friendships, and partnerships that started that night). It closed with urgency without pressure: "If you can't make it tonight, that's okay, we're going to have more events. But I think you're going to want to be here for the launch." This likely contributed to the 40% show rate (above the typical ~35%). Make it personal, make it vivid, and send it early enough that people can adjust their evening plans.

After the Event​

  • Thank partners, speakers, and volunteers
  • Share photos and recording with attendees
  • Collect feedback
  • Update this playbook with lessons learned

Budget​

Applied AI Live events should be cheap to run. The goal is replicability. Any chapter should be able to host one without a huge budget.

Food is completely optional. A great first event needs good speakers, a venue, a working mic, name tags, and branded shirts for your team. Everything else is a nice-to-have. Don't let the extras slow you down or stop you from hosting.

Real costs from Applied AI Live #1 (~100 attendees):

CategoryActual Cost
Venue$0 (partner venue)
Food (Firehouse Subs, small platters)~$250
Videography + photography (one person)~$300
Branded shirts (10, for staff/volunteers/speakers)~$100–150
Printed flyers~$70
Name tags (Minuteman Press)~$50
Registration desk$0 (volunteers)
Total~$770–820

Budget roughly $1,000 for an Applied AI Live event. This assumes a free venue through partnerships, which is why partnerships are so important (see Building Partnerships). If you handle your own photos/video and skip food and name tags, you can run leaner. But don't skip the shirts.

The Human Cost​

Ideally, the organizer's time and any volunteer help (photography, registration, etc.) isn't "paid for" in the traditional sense. The value is intrinsic: these are people who genuinely want to network with this community. Running or helping with the event gives them access and credibility.

Find people who want to be there anyway. The photographer who's an aspiring applied AI practitioner. The volunteer who wants to meet business owners. That's the model.

On Sponsorship​

Sponsorship gives you more flexibility, but it's not a precedent you need to set. The beauty of keeping events cheap is that any chapter can run them without waiting for funding. Sponsorship is a nice-to-have, not a requirement.

The Applied AI Society is supported by founding sponsors OpenTeams and OT Incubator. Learn more about our founding sponsors.

Example Run of Show​

A typical 2-hour Applied AI Live event:

TimeSegment
5:30 PMDoors open. Networking. (Food out if providing it.)
6:00 PMWelcome + housekeeping (5 min)
6:05 PMSponsor remarks or short opener (10 min max)
6:15 PMPractitioner field notes: Case study with Q&A (30 min)
6:45 PMSecond segment: Another practitioner, live problem-solving session, or open discussion (30 min)
7:15 PMOpen networking
7:30 PMWrap

Adjust based on your speakers, venue, and what your community responds to. The format is evolving. The through-line is live players sharing real field notes. Protect time for that.

Key lesson from Live #2: don't open with a long technical presentation. The opening segment sets the energy for the whole event. If your first speaker runs long or isn't dynamic, the room deflates before the good stuff starts. Keep the opener short (10 min max) and high-energy. Save longer, deeper segments for after the audience is warmed up. If your strongest speaker is going second, that's fine, but make sure the first segment doesn't drain the room.

Prioritize live demos over abstract talk. Attendees want to see how things actually work. A practitioner showing their agent architecture in real time, walking through their actual workflow, or demoing a tool live is far more compelling than slides describing the same thing. When recruiting speakers, ask: "Can you show us, not just tell us?" The best Applied AI Live segments are the ones where the audience can see the work happening.

On speaker selection: You need at least one charismatic speaker per event, or a strong moderator who can carry the energy. You don't need both, but you can't have neither. If a speaker has deep expertise but isn't a dynamic presenter, pair them with a moderator who can ask sharp questions and keep the pace up.

Tip: Use auto-rotating animated slides during downtime and transitions (doors open, breaks, networking). This keeps the screen active with branding, sponsor info, or upcoming announcements instead of a static or blank display. It fills dead air visually and keeps energy in the room.

Audio/Visual​

Keep it simple, but battle-test everything before event day. Sound issues are the #1 complaint from attendees. A room full of excited people with no working mic kills the energy fast.

The basics:

  • A handheld mic or portable speaker so presenters can be heard
  • A screen or TV if someone is presenting slides (optional)
  • Whiteboard or large sticky notes for live architecture sessions

Many venues provide basic AV. Ask during your venue walkthrough.

Non-negotiable: test your full AV setup at the venue before event day. Don't discover problems during the event. Bring your speaker, mic, and laptop to the venue at least a day before and run through the setup end to end. If the venue provides AV, confirm it works with your equipment.

Bring backup gear. A second mic, a backup speaker, extra cables. When something fails mid-event (and eventually it will), you need a fallback that takes seconds to deploy, not minutes.

Lessons from Live #1 and #2:

  • Set your computer to never sleep/hibernate. At Live #1, the computer went to sleep mid-presentation. Change your power settings before the event starts.
  • Bring a backup mic. Only one of our two mics worked at Live #1. The workaround: the host spoke loudly without a mic so the guest could use the single working mic. It worked, but having a backup would have been better.
  • TV/display connectivity can be finicky. The TV required on/off cycling to connect to the laptop. Test this during setup, not during the event.
  • Sound system failure at Live #2. The primary speaker system didn't work, and a volunteer had to go buy a replacement mid-event. This is preventable. Test your audio setup at the venue beforehand.

If the room is small enough (under 30 people) and acoustics are good, you might not need a mic at all. But for larger groups or noisy spaces, make sure speakers can project.

Screen recording for post-production: Run screen recording software on the presentation laptop during all speaker segments. This gives your video editor a clean capture of exactly what was on screen, which they can overlay onto the camera footage in post. Without this, the audience sees a presenter pointing at a screen they can't read. One laptop for all presentations makes this simple: start recording before the first speaker, stop after the last one. Recommended tool: Screenflick (Mac, one-time purchase). OBS (free, cross-platform) also works.

For recording considerations, see the Recording an Event playbook.

Music​

Background music during networking windows (doors open, breaks, post-event) makes a huge difference. A quiet room feels awkward. Music sets the vibe and gives people permission to talk.

The setup:

  • A portable Bluetooth speaker, plugged in so it doesn't die
  • Volume low enough that people can talk without raising their voices
  • Kill the music when someone is on mic

What to play:

  • No lyrics. Instrumental, lo-fi, or ambient works best. Lyrics compete with conversation.
  • Chill but energetic. You want warm, social energy, not a library or a club.
  • Curated playlists beat random radio. Pick something ahead of time and let it run.

Recommended playlists:

Add "Charge portable speaker" and "Queue up music playlist" to your Day Of checklist.

Name Tags: Color-Coded by Role​

Name tags are important. At minimum, use simple blank adhesive name tags so people can write their name. This alone makes networking dramatically easier. Color-coded role tags are an upgrade, not a requirement.

The Upgrade: Color-Coded by Role​

If you want to go further, color-code name tags by attendee type. The goal is to help people find each other. A young AI native looking for experienced practitioners to learn from should be able to spot them across the room. A business owner looking for talent should know who to approach.

The Ideal​

Printed name tags with:

  • Role at the top: "AI Native," "Practitioner," "Business Owner," or "Tool Builder"
  • Event name at the bottom: "Applied AI Live"

This way people know who they're talking to and remember what event they met at.

The Easy, Cheap Version​

Four different colors of blank name tags. Assign one color per role. Announce the color coding at the start of the event.

ColorRole
🟡 YellowAI Native
🟠 OrangeExperienced Practitioner
🔵 BlueBusiness Owner
🟢 GreenTool Builder

(Pick whatever colors are available. Just be consistent.)

Where to Get Them​

Blank adhesive name tags come in multi-color packs. Check Amazon or any office supply store. A pack of 200 costs ~$10.

Custom Printing​

For custom name tags or sticker sheets, local print shops offer fast turnaround (often 2 days). Expect ~$90 for 72 custom stickers. Services like Sticker Mule work well for bulk orders. Minuteman Press is another reliable vendor for custom printing with locations nationwide.

At Applied AI Live #1, attendees called the custom name tags out as a highlight. They made the purpose of the event immediately legible. Don't underestimate this detail.

Custom printed name tags from Applied AI Live #1

Conversation starter stickers are a nice add-on. Small stickers people can add to their name tags like "Ask me what I'm building" or "Open to work" help break the ice.

Branded Shirts​

Don't skip this one. Branded shirts are one of the highest-ROI things you can do. Attendees walk in and immediately see an organized team. It signals that this isn't a casual hangout; it's a real event run by real people.

How to get them: Send any local print shop the AAS logo and ask for black shirts in a range of sizes. That's it. At Live #1, we ordered ~10 shirts for ~$100 (white text, orange gradient on black). Minimalistic and clean.

Order them 3+ weeks before your event to allow for printing and shipping. Keep the design simple. The brand should be recognizable but not loud.

The Applied AI Society branded shirt

Food & Drinks​

Optional

Food is not required. If your budget is tight or you're testing the waters with a first event, skip it. People come for the speakers and the community, not the sandwiches. You can always add food once you've proven the format works.

Keep it thrifty and replicable. The goal is programming valuable enough that people come for that, not fancy catering.

The Default: Subs or Pizza​

For a 5:30–7:30pm event, people will be hungry. Options:

OptionNotes
Jimmy John's subsCut into pieces. Include vegan options. ~$8–10 per sub.
Firehouse SubsProven at Live #1. ~$250 for a large group. Include veggie options. Substantial and crowd-pleasing.
PizzaClassic engineer event food. Cheap. Everyone knows what to expect.
Small bitesCheese, meats, vegetables, small sandwiches. More upscale but pricier.

Have food ready 25 minutes before doors open. Early arrivals set the social tone for the whole event. When people walk in to food already laid out, they start networking immediately instead of standing around waiting. Always include veggie options.

Firehouse Subs platters, the proven option

How Much?​

For free events, expect 50% of RSVPs to actually show up. If you have 100 RSVPs, plan food for 50.

Don't advertise it as a dinner event. Frame it as "light food provided" or first-come-first-serve.

Drinks​

  • Cases of bottled water (~$5–10)
  • Cups for people who prefer using a water fountain
  • No need for anything fancier unless the venue provides it

Registration​

Setup​

  • Laptop with Luma (or your registration platform) open
  • Name tags (blank or sorted by color/role)
  • One or two people at the desk

Flow​

  1. Attendee arrives
  2. Check them in on Luma
  3. Hand them a name tag
  4. Point them toward the networking area

Having an extroverted "connector" person near registration helps. Someone who can introduce newcomers to each other and break the ice.

Luma Calendar Submissions​

One of the most effective (and free) ways to get attendees is submitting your event to Luma Featured Calendars. These are curated community calendars that surface events to subscribers interested in specific topics or cities.

Why This Matters​

When you create an event on Luma, it lives on your personal page by default. Most people won't find it unless you share the link directly. But Luma also has a Discover page with Featured Calendars (topic-based like "AI" or "Tech") and Local Events (city-based like "Austin" or "San Francisco"). Getting your event listed on these calendars puts it in front of thousands of subscribers who are already looking for events like yours.

At Applied AI Live, we've seen real attendees come from Luma calendar discovery. OpenClaw Meetups, for example, appears as a Featured Calendar on Luma's Discover page. The Austin local calendar is another one worth targeting.

How to Submit​

  1. Go to lu.ma/discover and browse the Featured Calendars and Local Events sections
  2. Find calendars relevant to your event (AI, Tech, your city)
  3. Open the calendar page and look for a "Submit Event" option
  4. Fill in your event details and submit
  5. The calendar admin reviews your submission. If approved, your event appears on that calendar's public schedule

Which Calendars to Target​

Calendar TypeExamplesWhy
Topic calendarsAI, Tech, Open SourceReaches people interested in the subject matter
City calendarsAustin, San Francisco, New YorkReaches local attendees who are browsing for things to do
Community calendarsOpenClaw Meetups, Cursor Community, etc.Reaches aligned communities with overlapping interests

Tips​

  • Submit early. Do this 3+ weeks before your event. Calendar admins may take a few days to review submissions.
  • Write a strong event description. Calendar admins are curating quality. A well-written description with clear value proposition gets approved faster. See Writing Event Descriptions.
  • Submit to multiple calendars. Your event can appear on several calendars at once. Cast a wide net.
  • Subscribe to calendars yourself. Follow the calendars in your city and topic area. This helps you stay aware of what other organizers are doing and spot collaboration opportunities.

Cleanup​

Before you leave:

  • Collect leftover food (offer to attendees first)
  • Gather trash, dispose properly
  • Return furniture to original positions
  • Check for any personal items left behind
  • Thank venue staff

Most venues appreciate when you leave things cleaner than you found them. It helps with future partnerships.

Thanking Partners​

Gratitude is key. After an event, take time to thank the people who made it happen:

  • Venue hosts
  • Speakers and presenters
  • Volunteers who helped with registration, photos, or setup
  • Sponsors
  • Community partners who helped promote

A quick thank-you text is fine. A voice note is better. A heartfelt voice note ecard is memorable.

Tool recommendation: Blessout lets you send voice note ecards. Record a genuine thank-you, pick a visual, and send. Takes 2 minutes. Makes people feel appreciated.

Partnerships compound. The venue that felt thanked is more likely to host you again. The speaker who felt valued will refer other speakers. Small gestures build long-term relationships.

Past Events​

Applied AI Live #2, Austin, TX (February 2026) Hosted at Grain & Berry with AITX community. Featured Reid McCrabb and Jack Moffatt (Linkt, agentic GTM case study), Mahaveer Dharmchand (IBM Watson, enterprise AI perspective), and a guardrails panel with Stephanos Nicklow, Patrick Skinner, and Jack Moffatt on GRC for agentic systems. ~80 check-ins with a 36% show rate. The Linkt case study and OpenClaw guardrails panel were standout segments.

View event page →

Applied AI Live #1, Austin, TX (January 2026) Hosted at Antler VC with AITX community. Featured Travis Oliphant (creator of NumPy/SciPy, founder of OpenTeams) and Rostam Mahabadi (AITX x NVIDIA Hackathon grand prize winner). ~100 check-ins with a 40% show rate (above the typical ~35% for similar meetups). Debuted a custom Q&A platform with QR codes on every slide and AI moderation using the NumFOCUS code of conduct.

View event page →

Packed room at Applied AI Live #1, Antler VC Austin

Start a Chapter​

Want to run Applied AI Live in your city? See Starting a Chapter for the full guide on launching a chapter, what national provides, and what's expected of you.