🔊 🎊 🔊 Announcing MetaFilter Events 🔊 🎊 🔊 November 19, 2022 8:40 AM   Subscribe

The inaugural Metafilter Events is finally here! As one of the closing initiatives under our Metafilter Fundraising Drive, our online events series features presentations, workshops and discussions across a fascinating range of topics, themes and perspectives - from Mefites and friends-of-Mefites that have generously volunteered to speak and/or teach on these subjects. Tickets, bundled passes and gift cards are available now, and you can also sponsor fellow Mefites to attend paid events.

When we put out the call for Mefites to step forward with presentation ideas, we emphasized an openness to speakers from all backgrounds with knowledge, skills or experience to share - that also believe in fostering genuine, thoughtful discussion. People with deep expertise in their professional fields, a honed skill, or particular knowledge of a certain niche. People with perspectives not often heard, from underrepresented backgrounds or identities.
A steady flow of intriguing ideas and exciting proposals came through, representing the richness and range of Metafilter's content and collective knowledge (and nerd-ery) - well beyond what we'd imagined or hoped for. We're so grateful to each and every presenter/facilitator that has offered to be part of this, and we're excited to bring these events to you!

In putting together these presentations and workshops, we've been looking to build a live, online event version of what MetaFilter offers as a hub of insightful, kind and thought-provoking discussion. We're seeing that take shape as our program and list of speakers grow.

Beginning 22 November, we’ve assembled a lineup of incredible speakers and learning experiences for you. MetaFilter Events kicks off next week with over 30 events until the end of December, and more in the pipeline for January - February 2023.
Join us! We’re all in this together.


🔊 Can't make it for the event you want? We've got you covered.

We know life gets busy or unpredictable, and it's hard to find time to attend and watch everything you'd like when it all looks so interesting. Plus, when you're in a different timezone, it becomes even more challenging. But don't worry - we're here to help you get the most out of everything these amazing speakers and sessions have to offer.

Most of our events will be recorded, so if you have to miss your session for any reason, you can catch up on it at your convenience and won't miss a minute.

Not able to join live? Sign up anyway, if the session will be recorded - and we'll send you the recording after the event.


🔊 Ticket options for everyone

We're offering a mix of paid and free events, with options to buy bundled passes and gift cards. Mefites also have the opportunity to sponsor tickets for other Mefites to the paid events.
🎁 Bundled Passes & Gifts
Give the gift of a MetaFilter Events pass or single-event ticket!
Besides single-session tickets, we're also offering the option of getting bundled passes. Join all the sessions and workshops you want with our Half-Season Pass (aka the Special Snowflake Pass) or All-Season Pass (aka the Well-Seasoned Crouton Pass). All available session recordings included.
To purchase gift cards and gift passes, head on here to our gift card store.
Bundled passes are also directly available from our Eventbrite page, along with the single-session tickets (without the fancy virtual gift-card wrapping and send-to-a-friend delivery). Just click on the red button that says "Get tickets".

🎁 Sponsor a ticket for a random Mefite - or sign up for a randomly-sponsored ticket!
If you're a MeFite, you can sponsor tickets for other MeFites to the paid events. This is a great way to support events, speakers and themes you like while spreading some kindness and good vibes within our community.

You can sponsor tickets to an event of your choice for other Mefites through a quick checkout process at our gift store here - there will be instructions for how this works.
If you’d like to sign up for a chance to receive a randomly-sponsored ticket to an event of your choice, sign up here.

🔊 What's Happening - This Upcoming Week

Week 1 (Nov 22 - Nov 27)
Let’s make stuff. Learn how to build a business plan in an interactive workshop, and hear all about the promises, pitfalls, and future of using artificial intelligence to create text-to-image artwork.

Session recordings for Week 1's events will be available to all ticketholders - so don't worry if you're unavailable for these session times or located in another timezone.
📝 How To Build A Business Plan
22 November 2022 | 7:00 PM EST
Presented by Amina Omari

Whether you have an idea for a business, or you're already running a business you want to grow, this workshop is for you! You'll learn how to build a business plan that helps you maximize your chances of success. Run by Amina Omari - a seasoned consultant, business owner and business incubator founder - this workshop will cover both a one-page "lean" format and the traditional business plan requested by banks and investors.

Past participants in this workshop have used what they learned to start up, get loans, grow sales, and gain some peace of mind -- and you can, too!

This interactive workshop includes a presentation, some group exercises, templates and a resource list.

Recording will be available to all ticketholders.

About the Speaker
Amina Omari built her toolbox by running small retail/wholesale business for 15 years, and went on to found a business incubator for food manufacturers & processors. She has helped over a hundred businesses to plan and grow, and brings extensive experience in every aspect of business development.


👾 Introduction to AI "Text-to-Image" Artwork
22 November 2022 | 9:00 PM EST
Presented by Jeremy Osborn


Join Jeremy Osborn as he wades into the murky waters of one of the most controversial technological developments of 2022: using artificial intelligence to generate imagery. Jeremy will demonstrate how these generative AI platforms work, discuss the ethical concerns behind their creation, and attempt (and likely fail) to predict where it’s all headed.

Recording will be available to all ticketholders.

About the Speaker
Jeremy Osborn is a design educator based in Massachusetts. He is currently the Director of Learning of Aquent Gymnasium where he has produced numerous online courses for web designers, developers and marketing professionals.

🔊 More Upcoming Events

We have many more amazing speakers, and over 30 intriguing seminars, workshops and discussions for the coming weeks. Here’s a sneak preview:

Week 2 (Nov 28 - Dec 4)
Books and fiction week! Learn how book marketing and promotion works, understand horror fiction, and explore book history.

Week 3 (Dec 5 - Dec 11)
De-stress yourself before the holidays with creative workshops, learning about the science of wellbeing, a session on the gamification of everyday life with Metafilter’s own Adrian Hon, and a host of fascinating events around social justice, policy and research.

Week 4 (Dec 12 - Dec 18)
It's MetaFilter week! Meet the Steering Committee and the Global BIPOC Advisory Board, get to know jessamyn and the admin, tune in to the Metafilter Variety Show and finish up with Metafilter Trivia Night!
More details on speakers and presentation titles will be released soon.


🔊 FAQ

How do the events work?
After you register or purchase a ticket on Eventbrite, you will receive an email with a unique link and instructions to join the online event.

Will I be able to ask questions during the events?
Yes! There will be time for Q&A for each session. Some sessions also feature even more interactivity, breakout rooms and focused attention from the speaker, depending on the format.

How can I access the recordings?
Most of our events will have recordings available a week after the event, exclusively for ticketholders. Ticketholders will automatically have access to recordings through their personal Eventbrite area, and will also be sent email notifications when the recordings are made available.

I have more questions!
If you have more questions about MetaFilter Events, you can get in touch with us at metafilter.events@gmail.com

To stay updated on ticket deals and MetaFilter Events that interest you, sign up for our mailing list! (we promise not to spam - and you can unsubscribe at any time).

If you’re keen on presenting or sharing interesting topics or skills - let us know! It’s not too late to drop us a note, and we’d love to bring your perspective and insight to our online events, whether for the rest of this year or 2023.
posted by aielen to MetaFilter-Related at 8:40 AM (45 comments total) 22 users marked this as a favorite

I flagged one link as broken, but it looks like many links are broken.
posted by aniola at 8:56 AM on November 19, 2022


Readers - note that weeks 1-4 of this event do not align with weeks 1-4 of the fundraiser. They are different!
posted by aniola at 9:03 AM on November 19, 2022 [1 favorite]


Thanks for catching that aniola! The mods were able to fix the links (thank you taz!)
posted by aielen at 9:30 AM on November 19, 2022


Just sponsored a ticket, and looking forward to talking about gamification next month!
posted by adrianhon at 9:55 AM on November 19, 2022 [3 favorites]


Sponsored some tickets. Thanks for making that very easy to do!
posted by Gorgik at 10:00 AM on November 19, 2022 [1 favorite]


Wow wow, this is so well-organized! Great work! I'm really excited to watch these.
posted by Sparky Buttons at 10:33 AM on November 19, 2022 [1 favorite]


Will these be held over Zoom? It would be great if you guys have the captions enabled by default.
posted by Soliloquy at 1:09 PM on November 19, 2022


Wow. This is a lot!
posted by Ivan Fyodorovich at 3:00 PM on November 19, 2022 [1 favorite]


I'm a little confused about the gifting part. Can I gift a whole season or half season by using the same gift email as for a single event ticket? It's a little unclear so I want to make sure that if I do that I do it correctly.
posted by one4themoment at 3:21 PM on November 19, 2022 [1 favorite]


(Sorry I guess I mean sponsoring a whole or half season using the same email as the one in the sponsoring a single ticket choice)
posted by one4themoment at 3:28 PM on November 19, 2022


1) Is it possible to gift a ticket to a non-Mefite? I'm guessing that either is or isn't an EventBrite feature.

2) I have the impression that these sessions are open to (anyone with a ticket in) the public, including non-Mefites, but it would be nice to have that stated explicitly. Or refuted :)
posted by amtho at 3:33 PM on November 19, 2022 [4 favorites]


Thank you for the feedback!

Soliloquy:
Yes, the sessions will generally be held over Zoom, and captions have been enabled by default.

one4themoment:
Currently - for community ticket-sponsoring - we actually only have the option to sponsor single tickets for random Mefites, not whole season or half season passes. (I think we didn't anticipate that Mefites might be generous about sponsoring bundled passes to random Mefites, not just single tickets - and we also wanted to encourage Mefites requesting these sponsored tickets to be specific about the events they wanted to attend.) We can look into setting up this option.

amtho:
1) It's currently not possible to gift a single-session ticket to a specific non-Mefite through the gift card store, but we can look into setting that up there. Eventbrite does have a way to transfer single-session tickets you have purchased to someone else, although it may not be as visually appealing or smooth as the gift card user experience.

2) Yes - the sessions are open to anyone with a ticket / the public, including non-Mefites. We will clarify that in the Eventbrite listing information. Thank you for pointing that out!
posted by aielen at 4:34 PM on November 19, 2022 [2 favorites]


Are both of next week's events 1 hour long? I looked around a bit, but couldn't find anything about duration ...
posted by Metasyntactic at 5:26 PM on November 19, 2022


Metasyntactic:
The first event "How To Build A Business Plan" is 1.5 hours long.
The second event "Introduction to AI "Text-to-Image" Artwork" is 1 hour long.

(I'm sorry for the confusion! The information was entered in the Eventbrite backend but apparently isn't reflected in the listing. We will figure this out and fix it.)
posted by aielen at 5:39 PM on November 19, 2022


I am so excited for the writing ones, I cannot express it.
posted by mittens at 6:14 PM on November 19, 2022 [1 favorite]


This is amazing, thank you to the organizers!

There's something weird going on with the Eventbrite confirmation emails, though. The email I received says the event time is "Tuesday, November 22, 2022 at 7:00 PM - Tuesday, February 28, 2023 at 11:30 PM (ET)", even though it's a single event ticket. This makes the "Add to calendar" functionality not-super-useful too.
posted by vasi at 12:42 AM on November 20, 2022


Ten bucks makes these kind of a no-brainer, cost-wise.

This stretch of the calendar is always super busy for most people I know, so I like the option to replay later, too.
posted by wenestvedt at 6:39 AM on November 20, 2022 [3 favorites]


I signed up for the $50 bundle, and will decide if I want the presumed next $50 bundle after I know how many of these I actually watch! Worst case is all I'm getting for this money is giving it to MetaFilter, which already feels like a pretty good deal.
posted by aubilenon at 2:55 PM on November 20, 2022 [2 favorites]


Howdy!

I'm doing the "text-to-image AI" presentation on Tuesday and I hope you'll join me. I've been having fun putting it together and l promise you'll learn something new about the future of how AI will change our relationship with images, for better or worse. There will be audience interaction, a surprise prize for one deserving winner, and more gray areas to discuss than gray suits in Don Draper's closet.

I also want to take a moment to boost the organization and communication skills of ailen who initially contacted me for this and has been setting up the logistical aspects of everything wonderfully. Along with the work of the Steering Committee, the first year of MetaFilter Events appears to be in great hands, and I'm proud to be a part of it!
posted by jeremias at 4:36 PM on November 20, 2022 [12 favorites]


I just purchased a single event ticket for a non-mefite through the single ticket gift link, and just put in their email address as the recipient. It seemed like there was no issue, and they received the email confirmation. Was this not supposed to go through?
posted by monologish at 7:33 PM on November 20, 2022


monologish
You’re right, it works and the recipient should be able to use and redeem it.
This is a workaround for gifting single event tickets functionally, I think.
(The ticket was automatically listed in our community gifting pool list but we took it out manually (noticing the different email address). If any single session tickets are gifted to specific non-Mefites this way they should work fine - we’ll just need to make sure they’re not also recorded in the pool in our manual checks. We’ll still work on getting regular single-session ticket gifting available in the gift store though!)
posted by aielen at 8:15 PM on November 20, 2022


🔊🔊🔊 Kind Mefites have sponsored a bunch of tickets - so if you'd like to attend one of the upcoming events, sign up here! There's a pretty high chance you'll get a ticket to the event of your choice.
posted by tavegyl at 2:57 AM on November 21, 2022 [2 favorites]


Wow, this is very cool. Travel plans will keep me from joining in this week but I'm looking forward to sitting down and getting into this when I return.

Will these be posted on, say, FanFare so we can chat about events with each other?
posted by Nonsteroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drug at 2:44 PM on November 21, 2022 [5 favorites]


Nonsteroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drug:
That's a fantastic idea!! We will try to make that happen! I'm thinking maybe some could be posted on other subsites as well (depending on the content/format). We will try to see what is possible but I really love your idea.
posted by aielen at 4:35 PM on November 21, 2022 [1 favorite]


Also if anyone would like to spread the word on their own social media networks, here are some graphics you can use.
posted by aielen at 4:45 PM on November 21, 2022 [1 favorite]


Update on single-event gifting: the gift store now offers the option to gift single-event tickets to a specific person (whether Mefite or non-Mefite).

So now you can gift single event tickets specifically to whomever you have in mind (not a random Mefite) through a proper gift card option without having to workaround the community gifting pool.

Thank you to amtho and monologish for the feedback!
posted by aielen at 5:12 AM on November 22, 2022 [2 favorites]


Can we get the next 3 weeks of events info earlier? I'd really like to book in the dates for myself and to buy tickets (Yay!) for some non mefites, but we have tight calendars and need to books things in advance, especially with timezones.

I'm fine with just the title and date/time, and a big caveat of 'subject to change' - this is super cool, but the info needs to be out early.
posted by dorothyisunderwood at 7:09 AM on November 22, 2022 [6 favorites]


I just finished the first event and it was lovely! Thanks SC person, host, and all the other attendees!
posted by Meatbomb at 5:21 PM on November 22, 2022 [5 favorites]


Kitteh and I just attended the business plan creation Event and it was so good, folks! Exceptionally useful content, but delivered in a way that felt warm and friendly and supportive. No spoilers in case some here will be reviewing the recording. Top notch.
posted by Shepherd at 5:21 PM on November 22, 2022 [5 favorites]


Thank you jeremias and Amina, for presenting tonight (EST)! We couldn't have asked for a better start to the series.

Amina's workshop was both informative and practical, and communicated in a way that really addressed participants' needs. Participants were able to get specific advice and answers to their own questions, and I love how the general atmosphere felt so supportive and simultaneously insightful. The additional handouts and supplementary materials were also very useful - this workshop really gave participants a very well-rounded foundation for approaching business planning, sales and operations.

Jeremias' presentation was able to take participants through an overview of AI-generated artwork that had something for everyone: there was a lot to learn and think about both for those new to the topic, and those with more experience in this area. It was interesting, very well-explained, and especially thought-provoking, when participants started discussing the implications of this AI technology and what it could mean for copyright and artists. (The polls added a fun dimension to the presentation too!)

Thank you both for doing this, and for all your time and effort behind the scenes to help make this happen on schedule.
The sessions felt so Metafilter-y and interesting. I'm so glad we got to do this.
posted by aielen at 8:38 PM on November 22, 2022 [5 favorites]


dorothyisunderwood:

Here are some sessions we have for next week (Week 2) - this is still subject to change, and there are more to be added:

29 November (Tuesday)
11:00 AM - 11:45 AM EST - "How Picture Books Work"
7:00 PM - 7:30 PM EST - "The Ghost in the Bookstore: The Rise, Fall, and Rise of U.S. Horror Fiction"
8:00 PM - 8:30 PM EST - "Shakespeare Performance in the US"

1 December (Thursday)
2:30 PM - 3:30 PM EST - "Top 3 Book Marketing Mistakes Authors Make and How NOT to Make Them"
7:00 PM - 7:40 PM EST - "The Haunted Object" (Reading + Q&A)
8:15 PM - 9:15 PM EST - "Bourbon 101: The History of Bourbon and a Guided Tasting"

I hope this helps. We're trying to get more confirmed (and more information out) as soon as possible - I will continue to update here.
posted by aielen at 8:39 PM on November 22, 2022 [4 favorites]


I missed last night’s Introduction to AI "Text-to-Image" Artwork by Jeremy Osborn. How do I sign up for the recording when it’s available? The presentation’s Register Now link at EventBrite is inactive.
posted by cenoxo at 5:09 AM on November 23, 2022


cenoxo - did you already hold a ticket to the event, prior? The recording will be accessible to all ticketholders through their Eventbrite account, and they will be notified when the recording becomes available there (likely in a week or so).
posted by aielen at 6:05 AM on November 23, 2022


ailen & cenoxo -- I was just able to buy a ticket after-the-fact for the business plan event. I'm hoping that that works for getting access to the materials + recording.
posted by Metasyntactic at 12:06 PM on November 23, 2022


I’m still unclear on the process so I bought a ticket for “any” for a random mefi person but I wanted to do more than one but also didn’t want to repeat the process. If I purchase qty 5 does that mean I’m helping one person attend 5 events or 5 people 1 event each?

Also just want to repeat others who said that the first event was fantastic I really enjoyed it and am looking forward to watching the recording of the second since I’m old and go to bed early. Glad to see some of the upcoming ones being posted are earlier.
posted by one4themoment at 5:07 PM on November 23, 2022


( in hindsight that’s very us est of me... sorry about that working on it among many other things )
posted by one4themoment at 5:12 PM on November 23, 2022


one4themoment: If I purchase qty 5 does that mean I’m helping one person attend 5 events or 5 people 1 event each?

Both or either. The way it works is, we get a gift code for each sponsored ticket purchased. We then provide that gift code to a Mefite selected at random from our requests database. In theory, though not in practice, we could give all five to a single Mefite, but that's not how we're allocating them. Right now it's a manual task, as the numbers aren't high, but as and when the flow increases we'll look into improving the process.

edited to add: speaking as tavegyl from the Metafilter Steering Committee, working specifically on joining sponsored tickets to ticket requests
posted by tavegyl at 6:51 PM on November 23, 2022 [1 favorite]


another update: Tickets for some Week 2 events are going up on the Eventbrite page; it will continue to be updated with more tickets/events over today and tomorrow.

It is possible to purchase gift cards for some Week 2 events at the gift store.
People can also sponsor tickets for random Mefites to attend Week 2 events, and Mefites can also sign up for randomly-sponsored Week 2 event tickets.
posted by aielen at 7:10 PM on November 23, 2022


No, I didn’t buy a ticket before the AI Artwork event. Must you buy a pre-event ticket to view a Zoom recording of any event?
posted by cenoxo at 7:53 PM on November 23, 2022


I am quite willing to give a custom in-person version of my AI artwork presentation to anyone in the world, for the modest sum of a $5,000 donation to Metafilter. Included in the talk: I will make you pancakes with Vermont maple syrup and give you a 4x4 foot dye-sublimation print of a cat wedged inside a scanner.

(Alternatively: in the next few days, Aielen will be making the event/recording retroactively purchasable. Stay tuned here for details.)
posted by jeremias at 5:10 AM on November 24, 2022 [3 favorites]


I'm giving a cheeky talk about Shakespeare, how it's not for fancy people, why I love it, and the Astor Place Riots, along with a side of how and why to support local theater so . . . come on out!!
posted by Medieval Maven at 6:20 AM on November 24, 2022 [5 favorites]


If we missed the event we got a ticket for how do we get the recording/materials?
posted by Wretch729 at 8:29 AM on November 28, 2022


Wretch729 - the recording and materials will be available through your private Eventbrite area (accessible through your account - follow the link in your ticket confirmation email) soon. You'll be notified by email when they become available in that Eventbrite area.
posted by aielen at 9:38 AM on November 28, 2022


There is also a new MeTa up about Week 2 now, with more information on the week's schedule.
posted by aielen at 9:39 AM on November 28, 2022


Just wanted to chime in and say the business planning workshop was terrific!

It was exactly the information I needed, at the time when I needed it, as I prepare to hang my own shingle in 2023. Also, you know how delightful it is to witness someone doing something that they're very good at? Well Amina, as the presenter, clearly was in her element.

Thanks all for making this happen!
posted by quinoa at 5:52 PM on November 28, 2022 [4 favorites]


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