Calm Before the Storm #SIGGRAPH

​Think of BC’s AI ecosystem as a living mycelial web — diverse minds passing creative “nutrients” back and forth to spark new growth. We’ll gather at the Alibi Room on Saturday 9 August 2025 (the day before SIGGRAPH Vancouver 2025 kicks off) to cross-pollinate ideas over pints and playlists.

​SIGGRAPH’s halls will be buzzing with billion-pixel dreams; this is the warm-up jam where indie devs, VFX wizards, sustainability hackers, and curious first-timers trade sketches, prototypes, and half-baked questions without gatekeepers.

​Our meetups have always been inclusive spaces for discussions that mix creatives, developers researchers, and educators in one delicious creative soup.

​Show‑Up‑When‑You‑Can / Drift‑Out‑When‑You‑Need

​No agenda. No lightning rounds. No polite applause breaks. Roll in any time between 4 p.m. and 8 p.m.

​Grab a corner booth if it’s free, weave between tables if it’s packed, and trade half‑baked notions with strangers who speak your dialect of future‑building.

​Why Bother?

​SIGGRAPH is a pressure‑cooked firehose; this is the slow‑flow serendipity space. Indie tool‑smiths, VFX wizards, climate‑tech agitators, and curious first‑timers can share back‑of‑napkin sketches without gatekeepers or slide decks.

​Some of us coach at Google’s AI Journalism Lab, some build weird art with machines, some code the future at local startups—but titles stay at the door.

​House rules: Community-first, open-source heart-on-sleeve, zero tolerance for hype-driven extraction. Bring a friend who’s normally “outside the AI bubble.”

​We support British Columbia’s transition into ethical, inclusive AI—by helping public institutions, businesses, and community leaders build the knowledge, skills, and partnerships they need to navigate emerging technologies.