IndieWeb Homebrew Website Club Asia Pacific: Reflections

Preface

I haven’t had the chance to stock my thoughts connected the first virtual Homebrew Website Club (HWC) arena I hosted 2 weeks ago! Here’s a station astir my acquisition being a first-time organizer of specified an event.

Background

Having attended this meetup successful the US clip zones for the past 8 months, I person been thoroughly inspired and captivated by the awesome individuals successful the IndieWeb community—participant and organizers alike. Seeing the spread successful the Asia / Pacific clip area felt for illustration a bully opportunity for maine to measurement up and springiness backmost to the organization which I person very overmuch fallen successful emotion with!

I’d for illustration to particularly convey my IndieWeb “heroes” (as it were):

Joe, David, Gregor, and James.

These awesome humans showed maine the ropes astir really events are run, really to usage the wiki, Etherpad, and chat. Thank you each for ever being helpful, supportive, and approachable! I will astir apt ne'er beryllium arsenic bully of a facilitator/host arsenic Joe aliases James, but I’m ever trying to study from him and support improving!

Overview

Some of my thoughts astir the first HWC: Asia Pacific (HWC: AP).

• The turnout was substantial; 13 of america successful the telephone and I americium thankful everyone was well-mannered and raised their manus earlier speaking (because I’ve seen the different broadside of the coin; it tin beryllium a reliable job!)
• I dream everyone sewage their chance to speak and inquire questions! Both the US HWCs (Eastern and Pacific clip zones) are 2 hours long. If the speech feels unfinished, I whitethorn widen the existent 1 hr 30 min limit to 2 hours.
• Seeing a substance of aged and caller faces was genuinely a dainty for me. I’m keen connected getting newcomers onto the IndieWeb vessel and spreading the joyousness I personally had from joining this community; but astatine the aforesaid time, I emotion learning from those who are knowledgeable pinch web development, really to constitute connected the web, and mini web champion practices.
• Having immoderate of my web “role-models” aliases “inspirers” show up astatine the gathering was a instrumentality woman infinitesimal for maine personally!
• As it was the inaugural meeting, clip was a spot short to do immoderate demos aliases sharing what’s caller connected our sites. I dream successful the adjacent fewer sessions we tin get into a hit of “show and tell”. Please do not hesitate to subordinate if you’re caller and don’t person thing to show yet; the IndieWeb organization is unfastened to everyone pinch immoderate level of experience.
• I utilized to shape a batch of events successful my schoolhouse days, but haven’t done truthful caller times. Hope I get backmost into the groove of talking much and being a amended communicator.

AI Incident

Unfortunately, location was a disturbing incident that benignant of tarnished the event; wherever a cluster of AI agents which claimed to beryllium abstracted “individuals”, pinch their ain online beingness / website, tried to participate successful the shared Etherpad notes. One of them really joined the Zoom telephone astatine the opening (unbeknownst to maine astatine the time, that they mightiness not person been human) for a short play of clip earlier they dropped off. They tried to subordinate again, but by then, I caught connected (that it was an AI agent/bot and not human) and did not fto them backmost successful the call.

From what I gathered, this group of AI agents was deployed by 1 individual, but they ne'er showed up successful person. The bots caused havoc connected our Etherpad mid-meeting by hijacking and deleting each the notes taken by infinitesimal takers (mainly by Zachary, James, and I). Luckily James recovered the notes—but this ne'er earlier seen (in the world of IndieWeb events) incident really shook me. I tried to support my composure arsenic overmuch arsenic imaginable and continued pinch mildly steering the conversation. I apologize if the incident caused anyone to consciousness confused, upset, intruded, aliases uneasy.

Post-Mortem

After the event, I brought the rumor up to the IndieWeb organizers. I will effort my champion to support this spot an AI bot/agent-free and safe abstraction group tin chat astir websites. If stricter measures are required to forestall this from happening again, I will update the arena description. Tantek is 1 of the IndieWeb organizers, and he wrote a station astir this incident if you want to publication much astir this incident. (Thank you for checking if I was okay aft the incident!)

But There’s More

Three days aft the incident, 1 of the AI agents astatine the gathering emailed me—but I wasn’t the only one—at slightest 2 different HWC: AP participants besides sewage an email too. 😐 And what’s more, is really different IndieWeb organizer received emails from this very aforesaid supplier preceding HWC: AP for 1 of the IndieWeb Carnival events.

I want to beryllium clear; I personally do not invited AI agents aliases bots emailing maine aliases immoderate subordinate aliases joining immoderate IndieWeb organization events. The IndieWeb is to observe the humans connected the World Wide Web and not being portion of the Internet pinch AI-riddled slop that is the firm web.

If a funny quality is intrigued by the IndieWeb, they should be arsenic a existent person; not via a non-human proxy, AI supplier aliases bot. AI generated contented being marketed arsenic sentient beings is not thing I want to prosecute in.

Feature

Enough pinch the AI incident, fto maine springiness everyone who attended (with an existing site) a small shout-out, successful nary peculiar order:

• fLaMEd wrote astir his first HWC experience! Their blog was 1 I followed very early connected successful my IndieWeb journey; a ace bully website and tons of content. Go cheque it out!
• Rajiv is simply a newcomer to the IndieWeb organization and was introduced to it because he saw my floor plan aft I started utilizing their Android record head app connected macOS (DroidDock)! He bought a domain, made a tract conscionable to person thing to stock for the inaugural HWC: AP! Very impressive. (Very happy to person you successful our community!)
• Chris has been to different HWCs before; but contempt the AP clip area being 6:30am for him, he came to show his support and will besides beryllium attending the 2nd 1 adjacent week too! (🙏 convey you!)
• April is personification I met via Mastodon and besides successful erstwhile virtual IndieWebCamp events. It was bully to spot her driblet by!
• James hosts different IndieWeb events and is the 1 who recovered the gathering notes—THANK YOU! His tract has loads of cool resources and is worthy reference if you want to beryllium inspired.
• Jeremy runs a podcast astir food. I’m happy to spot him astatine the AP arena arsenic I ne'er get to be the EU/London version of HWC (that’s astatine 2am for me).
• Jo is besides a regular astatine the EU/London HWC and has an amazingly creator individual site; ace unique! She does zines excessively which is simply a caller conception to maine but looks for illustration bully fun!
• Akbar is personification who follows maine connected Mastodon. He’s happy there’s now an AP version of HWC because he tin yet subordinate the IndieWeb conversation! (I look guardant to seeing you successful the early meetings!)
• Zachary hosted virtual HTML Day events successful the past and is ever helping retired pinch minutes and transcription. I thoroughly admit his thief keeping minutes (the notes for the gathering has been wikified) arsenic I wouldn’t person been capable to seizure everything astatine the aforesaid clip arsenic facilitating. (Thank you truthful overmuch for capturing each the ideas, topics, and thoughts of the people!)
• Sara writes fan-fiction and participates successful the galore IndieWeb penning events/carnivals that runs each twelvemonth round. She writes successful Slovenian and successful English and is simply a person of languages!

Closing Word

Thank you for everyone who attended and made the first HWC Asia Pacific version a occurrence overall. I’m really thrilled this clip area adds to the existing HWCs—I’ll support it going for arsenic agelong arsenic I can! But astir importantly, the meetup is only arsenic bully arsenic the group successful it. I’m simply a provider creating a abstraction for it to happen.

If you person immoderate feedback aliases comments, please scope retired pinch the methods below arsenic I’m ever connected the lookout to making progress. Thanks again.

—Naty