Disable February banner

fixes spacing on frontpage between buttons so they don't touch
disables stale alert
fixes rsms's titles
add some promo to my stream as well

assets/images/film.svg

@@ -0,0 +1,48 @@
+<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
+<svg viewBox="0 0 407 299.52" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">
+ <g fill-rule="evenodd" stroke="#000">
+  <path d="m3.6047 276.11l144.34-0.9047c65.433-330.52 201.75 30.602 243.31-269.6l-75.055 2.7141c-6.6315 207.32-207.85-73.623-312.59 267.79z" stroke-width="1.209"/>
+  <path d="m9.8911 268.85l132.67-0.3774c71.647-323.89 203.28 28.209 243.86-258.04l-66.486 2.1028c-8.9006 202.54-208.26-66.805-310.04 256.32z" fill="#fff" stroke-width="1.167"/>
+  <path d="m15.655 270.37l118.33-1.3317c67.88-328.3 213.83 15.915 248.12-259.63l-57.595 1.0425c-11.554 215.97-203.4-61.615-308.86 259.92z" stroke-width="1.049"/>
+ </g>
+ <path id="b" d="m317.05 23.014l68.414-0.4852" fill="none" stroke="#000" stroke-width="8"/>
+ <use id="a" x="0.05918" y="8.070896" width="400" height="400" xlink:href="#b"/>
+ <use x="-1.39643" y="8.070896" width="400" height="400" xlink:href="#a"/>
+ <use x="1.938454" y="-5.999996" width="400" height="400" xlink:href="#a"/>
+ <use width="400" height="400" xlink:href="#a"/>
+ <g fill-rule="evenodd">
+  <g stroke="#000">
+   <path d="m227.77 94.824l113.54 32.994 5.3372-4.3668-109.66-29.112-9.2189 0.4852z"/>
+   <path d="m254.94 95.31l100.92 21.834 2.9112-6.065-95.585-16.254-8.2485 0.4852z"/>
+   <path d="m277.4 92.782l87.721 8.4209 4.8033-9.163-78.342-3.8013-14.182 4.5434z"/>
+   <path d="m221.95 96.523l104.32 37.846 8.4911-1.6982-107.96-36.876-4.8521 0.7278z"/>
+   <path d="m148.44 97.978l93.644 23.29 8.9763-0.2426-96.07-24.503-6.5503 1.4556z"/>
+   <path d="m176.83 94.582l86.852 28.384 16.012 4.3668-93.644-33.479-9.2189 0.7278z"/>
+   <path d="m201.09 94.582l94.857 35.905 18.438 3.1538-109.17-39.302-4.1242 0.2426z"/>
+   <path d="m229.23 123.94l-89.278-23.775-12.13 3.3964 87.822 24.745 13.586-4.3668z"/>
+   <path d="m208.36 133.64l-88.307-27.171-13.1 6.7929 93.159 25.716 8.2485-5.3373z"/>
+   <path d="m193.32 145.77l-91.704-26.201-8.2485 3.8816 91.704 27.657 8.2485-5.3373z"/>
+   <path d="m182.16 160.33l-100.44-28.142-4.852 6.3076 102.38 27.657 2.9112-5.8224z"/>
+   <path d="m68.14 149.17l103.35 27.657-1.4556 8.2485-109.17-30.083 7.2781-5.8224z"/>
+   <path d="m56.495 163.72l107.72 33.964-3.3964 10.674-109.17-36.39 4.852-8.2485z"/>
+   <path d="m43.88 184.59l110.14 36.39-2.426 10.189-113.05-39.302 5.3372-7.2781z"/>
+   <path d="m32.235 204c38.816 14.071 77.633 35.972 116.45 42.213l-0.9704 7.7633c-47.869-7.82-78.926-26.848-118.39-40.272l2.9112-9.7041z"/>
+   <path d="m23.987 225.34c40.11 13.909 71.691 36.348 120.33 41.728v3.8816l-124.21-35.42 3.8816-10.189z"/>
+   <path d="m15.738 246.21l87.822 20.379 0.4852 3.8816-92.189-14.556 3.8816-9.7041z"/>
+  </g>
+  <g stroke="#fff">
+   <g stroke-opacity=".941">
+    <g fill="none">
+     <path d="m21.561 269.5l109.17-0.9704c2.5562-19.534 6.3695-34.04 10.189-48.52l-99.467-3.3965c-7.5494 13.956-13.571 34.024-19.893 52.887z"/>
+     <path d="m45.336 209.33l97.526 2.9112c4.9067-16.793 11.941-32.522 19.408-48.035l-85.396-7.2781c-17.609 23.677-23.878 37.431-31.538 52.402z"/>
+    </g>
+    <path d="m45.336 209.33l97.526 2.9112c4.9067-16.793 11.941-32.522 19.408-48.035l-85.396-7.2781c-17.609 23.677-23.878 37.431-31.538 52.402z" fill="#520"/>
+    <path d="m79.785 152.08l84.426 7.2781c11.7-21.16 28.438-31.067 40.272-39.787l-62.591-9.7041c-19.065 5.7242-50.564 28.697-62.106 42.213z" fill="#803300"/>
+    <path d="m150.06 107.44l58.224 10.189c21.404-6.1186 20.674-8.2623 51.432-3.8816l-45.609-10.674c-19.065 0.87218-39.405-0.90034-64.047 4.3668z" fill="#a40"/>
+   </g>
+   <path d="m233.65 102.07l51.432 15.526c32.594 5.6544 43.163 5.8662 62.106-10.189l-48.035-15.041c-13.877 9.4869-33.565 14.408-65.502 9.7041z" fill="#803300"/>
+   <path d="m300.55 90.458l48.035 14.556c8.4357-10.053 15.574-24.146 19.893-40.757l-48.52-5.8225c-4.5062 13.599-7.4955 19.569-19.408 32.024z" fill="#520" stroke-opacity=".941"/>
+   <path d="m321.42 53.582l48.52 4.3668c5.0992-17.851 6.9891-31.422 8.2485-44.154l-50.946 0.4852c-0.71652 14.325-2.5197 27.563-5.8224 39.302z" fill="#2b1100"/>
+  </g>
+ </g>
+</svg>

assets/js/main.js

@@ -49,7 +49,8 @@
     const modal = document.querySelector(`#${target}`);
     if (modal) {
       btn.addEventListener("click", (e) => {
-        toggle_modal(modal, true);
+        if (e.target.tagName !== 'A')
+          toggle_modal(modal, true);
       });
     }
   });
@@ -77,10 +78,36 @@
   document.addEventListener("keydown", (e) => {
     if (e.key === "Escape") {
       var modal_id = body.getAttribute("modal");
-      if(modal_id) toggle_modal(document.querySelector(`#${modal_id}`), false);
+      if (modal_id) toggle_modal(document.querySelector(`#${modal_id}`), false);
     }
   });
 
+  // timelines
+  // ----------------------------------------
+  const updateTimeline = (timeline) => {
+    const day_target = timeline.getAttribute("data-day-target");
+    timeline.querySelectorAll(".day-events:not(.hidden)").forEach((day_events) => { day_events.classList.toggle("hidden", true); });
+    timeline.querySelector(`[data-day-title="${day_target}"]`).classList.toggle("hidden", false);
+    timeline.querySelectorAll(`.day_listing.active`).forEach((listing) => {
+      listing.classList.toggle("inactive", true);
+      listing.classList.toggle("active", false);
+    });
+    var new_active = timeline.querySelector(`.day_listing[data-day-target="${day_target}"]`);
+    new_active.classList.toggle("active", true);
+    new_active.classList.toggle("inactive", false);
+  };
+
+  document.querySelectorAll(".timeline_grid_container").forEach((timeline) => {
+    const days = timeline.querySelector(".day-listing-container");
+    days.addEventListener("click", (e) => {
+      const day_target = e.target.getAttribute("data-day-target");
+      if (day_target) {
+        timeline.setAttribute("data-day-target", day_target);
+        updateTimeline(timeline);
+      }
+    });
+  });
+
   // Swipers
   // ----------------------------------------
   const swipers = document.querySelectorAll(".swiper-slider");

assets/scss/custom.scss

@@ -50,16 +50,26 @@
 }
 
 .testimonial a,
-.img_grid_container a {
+.img_grid_container a,
+.timeline_grid_container a {
     color: var(--meetups-color) !important;
     text-decoration: none;
 }
 
 .testimonial a:hover,
-.img_grid_container a:hover {
+.img_grid_container a:hover,
+.timeline_grid_container a {
     text-decoration: underline;
 }
 
+// .day_listing.active {
+
+// }
+
+.day_listing.inactive {
+    color: rgb(163, 163, 163);
+}
+
 .modal-bg a {
     color: var(--meetups-color) !important;
     text-decoration: none;
@@ -71,7 +81,7 @@
 
 .frontpage-stream-container {
     max-height: calc(75vh);
-    min-height: 36rem;
+    min-height: 34rem;
     aspect-ratio: 16 / 9;
 }
 
@@ -111,3 +121,53 @@ blockquote p:first-of-type {
         content: "" !important;
     }
 }
+
+// Revolt chat server
+.revolt-form-section {
+  max-width: 600px;
+  margin: 2rem auto;
+  padding: 0 1rem;
+}
+
+.revolt-form .form-group {
+  margin-bottom: 1.25rem;
+}
+
+.revolt-form label {
+  display: block;
+  margin-bottom: 0.5rem;
+  font-weight: 600;
+}
+
+.revolt-form .required {
+  color: #e74c3c;
+}
+
+.revolt-form input,
+.revolt-form textarea {
+  width: 100%;
+  padding: 0.75rem;
+  border: 1px solid #ccc;
+  border-radius: 4px;
+  font-size: 1rem;
+}
+
+.revolt-form input:focus,
+.revolt-form textarea:focus {
+  outline: none;
+  border-color: #3498db;
+}
+
+.revolt-form button {
+  background: #3498db;
+  color: white;
+  padding: 0.75rem 1.5rem;
+  border: none;
+  border-radius: 4px;
+  font-size: 1rem;
+  cursor: pointer;
+}
+
+.revolt-form button:hover {
+  background: #2980b9;
+}

config/_default/menus.en.toml

@@ -2,81 +2,69 @@
 
 # main menu
 [[main]]
-name = "Conferences"
+name = "Meetups"
+url = "/meetups"
 weight = 1
 
-[[main]]
-parent = "Conferences"
-name = "Seattle"
-url = "/Seattle"
-weight = 1
-
-[[main]]
-parent = "Conferences"
-name = "Boston"
-url = "/boston"
-weight = 2
-
 [[main]]
 name = "News"
 url = "/news"
 weight = 2
 
 [[main]]
-name = "Media"
+name = "Guide"
-url = "/media"
+url = "/guide"
 weight = 3
 
 [[main]]
 name = "Explore"
-weight = 4
-
-[[main]]
-parent = "Explore"
-name = "Discord"
-url = "https://discord.com/invite/txcCe8vyQ6"
 weight = 3
 
 [[main]]
 parent = "Explore"
-name = "Meetups"
+name = "Chat"
-url = "/meetups"
+url = "/chat"
 weight = 1
 
 [[main]]
 parent = "Explore"
-name = "Members"
+name = "Media"
-url = "https://donorbox.org/handmadecities"
+url = "/media"
 weight = 2
 
+[[main]]
+parent = "Explore"
+name = "Cowork"
+url = "/cowork"
+weight = 3
+
 [[main]]
 name = "About"
 url = "/about"
-weight = 5
+weight = 4
-
 
 # footer menu
 [[footer]]
-name = "Tickets"
+name = "Guide"
-url = "/tickets"
+url = "/guide"
-weight = 1
+weight = 4
 
 [[footer]]
-name = "Members"
+name = "About"
-url = "https://donorbox.org/handmadecities"
+url = "/about"
 weight = 5
 
 [[footer]]
 name = "Meetups"
 url = "/meetups"
+weight = 1
+
+[[footer]]
+name = "Chat"
+url = "/chat"
 weight = 3
 
 [[footer]]
-name = "Seattle"
+name = "News"
-url = "/seattle"
+url = "/news"
 weight = 2
-
-[[footer]]
-name = "Boston"
-url = "/boston"
-weight = 4

config/_default/params.toml

@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ google_adsense = ""     # example: ca-pub-xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
 # custom script on header, example: custom_script= "<script>console.log(\"Hello World\")</script>"
 custom_script = ""
 # copyright
-copyright = "© 2024 Handmade Cities LLC"
+copyright = "© 2026 Handmade Cities LLC"
 
 # Preloader
 # preloader module: https://github.com/gethugothemes/hugo-modules/tree/master/components/preloader
@@ -38,8 +38,8 @@ preloader = "" # use jpg, png, svg or gif format.
 # Navigation button
 [navigation_button]
 enable = true
-label = "tickets"
+label = "Chat"
-link = "tickets"
+link = "chat"
 
 # search
 # search module: https://github.com/gethugothemes/hugo-modules/tree/master/search
@@ -55,15 +55,15 @@ show_categories = true
 # announcement
 # announcement module: https://github.com/gethugothemes/hugo-modules/tree/master/components/announcement
 [announcement]
-enable = true
+enable = false
 expire_days = 7
-content = "Handmade Seattle Nov 20th - 22nd, 2024. [Buy Tickets](/tickets) now!"
+content = "Official February [Memos](/memos)"
 
 # seo meta data for OpenGraph / Twitter Card
 # seo module: https://github.com/gethugothemes/hugo-modules/tree/master/seo-tools/basic-seo
 [metadata]
 keywords = ["Conference", "Handmade", "Software", "Programming", "Low-Level"]
-description = "Handmade Cities - Indie Conferences for Low-Level Programmers"
+description = "In-Person Events for for Low-Level Programmers"
 image = "images/opengraph.png"
 
 

content/english/_index.md

@@ -1,34 +1,40 @@
 ---
 # Banner
 banner:
-  title: "<span class='boston-color'>Boston</span> in the Summer.<br>
+  title: "<span class='boston-color'>Come</span> for programming,<br>
-   <span class='seattle-color'>Seattle</span> in the fall.<br> 
+   <span class='seattle-color'>stay</span> for the friends.<br> 
-   <span class='meetups-color'>Meetups</span> all year round."
+   <span class='meetups-color'>Meetups</span> all year round!"
-  content: "We are the largest indie conferences for low-level programmers. This is your portal to meet with folks into graphics, game engines, kernels, compilers, and more!"
+  content: "We are the largest offline events for systems programmers: 100% indie. This is our portal to meet engineers super into game engines, compilers, terminals, kernels and more:"
   image: "/images/hmc_spread.png"
   hide_banner_img: true
   live_banner:
-    enable: true
+    enable: false
     use_twitch: true
     use_youtube: false
     title: "Handmade Seattle 2024"
-    title_class: "text-black dark:text-white mb-4"
+    title_class: "seattle-color mb-4"
     twitch_channel: "abnercoimbre"
     youtube_channel_id: "UCkiOutDcOG0KRLQc71Pd-Fg" # found at: https://www.youtube.com/account_advanced, is currently yt/handmadecities
-    section_class: "pb-24"
+    section_class: "pb-36 row mb-4"
     buttons_class: "p-2 px-3"
     buttons_row_class: "mt-4 text-white gap-4"
     buttons:
-      - title: "Join Private Chat"
+      - title: "<i class='fa fa-ticket'></i> Tickets"
-        link: "https://chat.handmadecities.com"
+        link: "/tickets"
         class: "btn seattle-bg"
+      - title: "<i class='fa fa-comments'></i> Chat"
+        link: "https://chat.handmadecities.com"
+        class: "btn bg-green-500"
+      - title: "<i class='fa fa-gift'></i> Donate"
+        link: "https://donorbox.org/handmadecities"
+        class: "btn bg-red-700"
       - title: "Twitch"
         link: "https://twitch.tv/abnercoimbre"
         class: "btn meetups-bg"
         icon_only: true
         icon: "fa-brands fa-twitch"
       - title: "YouTube"
-        link: "https://youtube.com/handmadecities"
+        link: "https://youtube.com/@handmadecities"
         class: "btn bg-[#ff0000]"
         icon_only: true
         icon: "fa-brands fa-youtube"
@@ -48,16 +54,16 @@ banner:
     alt_text_right: "right"
   button:
     enable: true
-    label: "Tickets"
+    label: "Quick Guide"
-    link: "/tickets"
+    link: "https://guide.handmadecities.com"
-    icon: "fa fa-ticket pl-2"
+    icon: "fa fa-book pl-2"
     class: "btn text-white seattle-bg"
   button2:
     enable: false
-    label: "Twitch"
+    label: "Donate"
-    link: "https://twitch.tv/abnercoimbre"
+    link: "https://donorbox.org/handmadecities"
-    icon: "fab fa-twitch pl-2"
+    icon: "fa fa-gift pl-2"
-    class: "btn bg-purple-700 dark:bg-purple-700 dark:text-white hover:bg-purple-800 mt-6 text-white"
+    class: "btn bg-red-700 dark:bg-red-700 dark:text-white hover:bg-red-800 mt-6 ml-2 text-white"
 
 # Features
 features:
@@ -88,69 +94,43 @@ features:
       label: "About Us"
       link: "/about"
 
-  - title: "Partnered with Handmade Network"
+  - title: "Recognized by Industry"
-    title_class: "text-white mb-8"
-    image: ""
-    side: "center"
-    bg_img: 
-      parallax: true
-      img: "/images/net.jpg"
-    transition:
-      start: "/images/transition2.svg"
-      start_class: "mb-5 mt-12 transform"
-      start_style: "mask-repeat: repeat-x;mask-position:top;"
-      start_color: "#fff"
-      start_dark: "/images/transition.svg"
-      start_dark_color: "#150e31"
-      end: "/images/transition3.svg"
-      end_class: "mt-20 transform -scale-x-100 -pb-1"
-      end_color: "#fff"
-      end_dark: "/images/transition3.svg"
-      end_style: "mask-size:cover;mask-position:bottom;height:165px;"
-      end_dark_color: "#150e31"
-    bg_color: "#0a0a0a"
-    content: "The Handmade Network is our online community and go-to hub when there's no in-person events. Participate in jams, be awed by project showcases and enjoy a huge Discord community."
-    content_class: "text-white mt-12 px-12 py-8 bg-[rgba(0,0,0,0.85)] rounded-lg !col-9"
-    button:
-      enable: enable
-      class: "bg-white dark:bg-white text-black"
-      label: "Network"
-      link: "https://handmade.network"
-
-  - title: "Companies Value Handmade"
     title_class: "text-center mt-16 mb-12"
     image: ""
     section_class: "pb-24"
     side: "center"
-    content: "<span class='block mx-auto mt-24 text-black dark:text-white w-1/2'>**Hiring Handmade people.** These brands have attended our job fairs. Companies may rent a job booth but cannot influence nor sponsor the event.</span>"
+    content: "<span class='block mx-auto mt-24 text-black dark:text-white w-1/2'>Sample of companies hunting for Handmade talent. Ready to [join](https://guide.handmadecities.com/docs/support/employment/) the list?</span>"
     content_class: "mt-12"
     img_grid:
       imgs:
-        - name: "JangaFX"
+        - name: "Kagi"
-          img: "/images/companies/jangafx.png"
+          img: "/images/companies/kagi_doggo.png"
-          link: "https://jangafx.com/"
+          link: "https://kagi.com/"
-        - name: "Pontoco"
-          img: "/images/companies/pontoco.png"
-          link: "https://pontoco.com/"
         - name: "Mozilla"
           img: "/images/companies/mozilla.png"
           link: "https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/"
-        - name: "TestFit"
+        - name: "JangaFX"
-          img: "/images/companies/tf.png"
+          img: "/images/companies/jangafx.png"
-          link: "https://www.testfit.io/"
+          link: "https://jangafx.com/"
-        - name: "Magic Poser"
-          img: "/images/companies/magic_poser.png"
-          link: "https://magicposer.com/"
         - name: "System Era"
           img: "/images/companies/systemera.png"
           link: "https://systemera.net/"
+        - name: "TestFit"
+          img: "/images/companies/tf.png"
+          link: "https://www.testfit.io/"
         - name: "KCSE"
           img: "/images/companies/kcse.png"
           link: "https://www.kcse.com/"
+        - name: "Pontoco"
+          img: "/images/companies/pontoco.png"
+          link: "https://pontoco.com/"
+        - name: "Magic Poser"
+          img: "/images/companies/magic_poser.png"
+          link: "https://magicposer.com/"
     button:
       enable: false
 
-  - title: "Hundreds in person,<br> Thousands online"
+  - title: "Meet in person,<br> not online"
     title_class: "text-white"
     transition:
       start: "/images/transition4.svg"
@@ -170,12 +150,12 @@ features:
     image: "/images/nystrom.webp"
     image_link: "https://vimeo.com/780000746"
     image_class: "rounded-md shadow-lg"
-    content: "Every year hundreds of low-level programmers convene physically while thousands more watch from the comfort of their couch."
+    content: "Every month hundreds of caring programmers convene around the world to discuss the need for software quality."
     content_class: "p-4 px-6 rounded-md bg-[rgba(0,0,0,0.7)]"
     section_class: "text-white"
     button:
       enable: true
-      label: "Register"
+      label: "Attend Our Events"
-      link: "/tickets"
+      link: "/meetups"
       button_class: "bg-white text-black"
 ---

content/english/about/index.md

@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 ---
 title: "About Handmade Cities"
-meta_title: "About"
+meta_title: "About | Handmade Cities"
 layout: "about"
 description: "About Handmade Cities"
 draft: false
@@ -16,28 +16,33 @@ features:
       img: "/images/starry_night.png"
     grid:
       - title: "Sponsor-free tech events"
-        content: "We reject sponsorship deals because we must be allowed to criticize anyone’s software. Accepting “free” bags of money destroys our ability to change the industry."
+        content: "**100% indie.** We reject sponsorship deals because we must be allowed to criticize anyone’s software. Accepting “free” bags of money destroys our ability to change the software industry."
         color: "#FC6D36"
         content_class: "text-white"
       - title: "An obligation to software quality"
-        content: "The industry’s incentives are about imposing control and fleecing customers. We’ve abandoned the user’s quality of experience, agency over their software, and privacy."
+        content: "Our industry’s incentives destroy ownership to extract rent from customers. We’ve abandoned the love for our craft, the user's quality of experience, and their right to privacy."
         color: "#A456EA"        
         content_class: "text-white"
       - title: "Self-host wherever possible"
-        content: "Anything essential to our conferences is processed in-house. E.g. When you register for an event we personally handle the process to generate your ticket—removing spying middlemen like Ticketmaster."
+        content: "We operate our own chat server and mailing lists. For purchases, payment processors ping our servers to process orders ourselves."
         color: "#6B8EE8"        
         content_class: "text-white"
-      - title: "Healthy expansion"
+      - title: "Direct funding approach"
-        content: "As a [polyglot](https://vimeo.com/661662233), our founder intends to expand even outside the United States. Since we wish to retain independence, however, we’re only growing through increased audience support."
+        content: "We grow through obvious means, funded by users purchasing Handmade software. **Zero investors.**"
         color: "#60E3C4"                
         content_class: "text-white"
+    button:
+      enable: true
+      label: "Official Memos"
+      link: "/memos"
+      icon: "fa fa-ticket pl-2"
+      class: "btn text-white meetups-bg"
 
   - title: "Abner Coimbre"
     title_class: "text-white -mt-2"
     subtitle: "Founder"
     subtitle_class: "!text-[#F7CE3B]"
-    image: "/images/people/abner_2022_512.webp"
+    image: "/images/people/abner_2024.png"
-    image_class: "rounded-full"
     section_class: "text-white"
     transition:
       start: "/images/transition3.svg"
@@ -48,40 +53,6 @@ features:
       start_dark_color: "black"
     bg_color: "#060610"
     content_class: "mt-4"
-    content: "[Abner](https://abnercoimbre.com) is the founder of Handmade Cities and sole organizer for our conferences.<br><br>His professional story began when he left Puerto Rico for a yearlong internship at NASA. Abner was mentored on how they make software and after winning NASA’s Intern of the Year, he published an essay on their programming philosophy ([featured](https://observer.com/2017/07/a-look-into-nasa-coding-philosophy-kennedy-space-center-programming/) in the news.) He was promoted to launch control engineer.<br><br>Abner also started the [Handmade Network](https://handmade.network/), an online community learning to make quality software. He went on to work for Jonathan Blow multiple years and then Cyan Worlds to help ship the [Myst remake](https://store.steampowered.com/app/1255560/Myst/).<br><br>His concern of declining standards—both ethical and technical—pushed Abner to run tech conferences full-time, with ironclad conviction that we need independent organizers more than ever."
+    content: "[Abner](https://abner.page) is founder of Handmade Cities and full-time [indie dev](https://terminal.click).<br><br>Born and raised in Puerto Rico, he was mentored by Kennedy Space Center on how they make software. After winning NASA’s Intern of the Year, Abner penned an essay on their programming philosophy: featured in the [news](https://observer.com/2017/07/a-look-into-nasa-coding-philosophy-kennedy-space-center-programming/). He was subsequently promoted to launch control engineer.<br><br>Abner started the [Handmade Network](https://handmade.network/), an online community learning to make quality software. He went on to work under Jonathan Blow followed by Cyan Worlds to ship the Myst Remake.<br><br>Now in his early thirties, Abner's concern for declining software standards—both ethical and technical—pushed him to become a community organizer."
 
-  - title: "Morgan Rammell"
-    title_class: "text-white"
-    subtitle: "Event Coordinator"
-    subtitle_class: "!text-[#F7CE3B]"
-    bg_color: "#060610"
-    image: "/images/people/morgan_cropped_512.webp"
-    image_class: "rounded-full"
-    content_class: ""
-    section_class: "!pt-24 text-white"
-    content: "Morgan’s done corporate event planning for several years but is now interested in the indie space. She oversees the logistics of running and facilitating Handmade conferences, working with the venue to solve any issues that arise in real-time.<br>
-
-  Born and raised in Washington state you’ll find Morgan snowboarding, hiking, camping, and even rock-climbing!"
-  - title: "Phil Homan"
-    title_class: "text-white"
-    subtitle: "Technical Producer"
-    subtitle_class: "!text-[#F7CE3B]"
-    bg_color: "#060610"
-    image: "/images/people/phil_homan_512.webp"
-    image_class: "rounded-full"
-    content_class: ""
-    section_class: "!pt-16 text-white"
-    content: "Phil Homan, who goes by [PH Test](https://phtest.tv/), is a Seattle developer with a knack for multidisciplinary work: live-performance visuals, experimental programs, games, and video production—often with tools he made himself!<br>
-
-  Phil joined Handmade Cities to help Abner with matters related to streaming, recording, and A/V support at the conferences."
-  - title: "Devon ([tek256](https://tek256.com))"
-    title_class: "text-white"
-    subtitle: "Editor"
-    subtitle_class: "!text-[#F7CE3B]"
-    bg_color: "#060610"
-    image: "/images/people/devon.jpg"
-    image_class: "rounded-full"
-    content_class: ""
-    section_class: "!pt-16 !pb-32 text-white"
-    content: "Devon is a guy who makes things."  
 ---

content/english/board-meeting-20250318/index.md

@@ -0,0 +1,97 @@
+---
+title: "Advisory Board Meeting"
+meta_title: "Board's Meeting Notes"
+layout: "board"
+description: "Advisory Board Meeting Notes - 18 Mar 2025"
+draft: false
+---
+#### Meeting Notes - 18 Mar 2025  
+
+**AGENDA**:
+
+No agenda set, first meeting
+
+---
+
+**DISCUSSION ITEMS**
+
+1. **Handmade Boston (HMB): Aug 1-2 (Fri-Sat)**
+
+- Sister conference to Seattle
+- No more online track: No more online tickets or Twitch stream for Boston
+- Goal is to become the "fully offline" counterpart
+- Return to original technical lectures format (sans homework)
+- Boston should have job booth rentals too
+
+**2025 Target:** Two-hundred in-person attendees. We're still in the growth and experimentation stage. 
+
+**Founder's Note:** It wasn't until the third HMS that we found the perfect business model. This will now be our third HMB, following same trajectory.
+
+2. **Handmade Seattle (HMS): Dec 5-7 (Fri-Sun)**
+
+- Flagship Conference
+- Fully-Hybrid: Both in-person and online tickets like always
+- The formula's already perfected, just need to focus on ticket sales
+
+**2025 Target:** Four-hundred in-person attendees. The closest we got to selling all in-person tickets was Fall 2023, with 97% of all tickets sold (before mass layoffs hit hard.)
+
+**Founder's note:** A well-known phenomenon is that once you pack a venue (typically a 400-seat theater) you'll see exponential growth the following year, exploding to say one thousand ticket holders, then an order of magnitude after that. See PyCon, VidCon, etc.
+
+3. **Ticket Sales**
+- Early bird sale begins sometime in the Spring (with 20% discount)
+- Once we start ticket sales we will use the [newsletter](/news) to request community submissions
+
+**Q: Are board members allowed to submit their own talks or demos?**
+
+*A: We've decided no, but we'll revisit the question (and its ethics) next year.*
+
+4. **Weekend Conferences**
+
+Board is pleased with the new conference dates. Hositing conferences over the weekend gives attendance a massive boost (even though venue rental is more expensive. Risk is worth it.)
+
+5. **Revolt Chat**
+
+- Board agreed [Revolt](https://revolt.chat) is a substantial improvement over Element/Matrix for the conference live chat
+- Board wondered whether or not we should support Discord as another private chat server, in a bid to expand audience
+- Founder noted at least a third of ticket holders are anti-Discord and privacy-conscious
+
+Finally, the board recommended an overall survey to previous ticket holders.
+
+6. **Voting on Talk/Demo Submissions**
+
+- Matt Nite simply used a Google Form for Software You Can Love
+- It's best if the founder says "please read these submissions by the next meeting, and add your own notes"
+- Source speaker candidates from meetup hosts
+- Generally receive more feedback from meetup hosts on conference content
+
+We've agreed to create a dedicated email address for receiving submissions
+
+7. **Hard Deadlines to Commit to Present at HMB/HMS**
+
+- Gradually add penalties when deadlines are not met
+- Ensure all speakers sign agreement. NO EXCEPTIONS
+
+8. **Conference Agendas**
+- Get the agendas up as early as possible
+- It's okay to massage the schedule a little throughout the year
+- It's okay to let speakers update their talk title and description even if it's already on the website
+
+---
+
+**ACTION ITEMS**
+
+- Founder to meet with meetup hosts before the next board meeting
+- Create HMC email address for community submissions
+- Create webpage explaining how to enter submissions. WITH DEADLINES
+- Discord integration for submissions: allows live thread discussions among board members
+- Make sure Jim (1st speaker for HMB) is on our website by the next meeting
+- Make sure Taylor (1st speaker for HMS) is on our website by the next meeting
+- Determine how many open slots we have for each conference
+
+**Founder's note:** Last item depends on venue and the available hours their rental affords us, which is being negotiated. As an estimate, I will offer figures to the board from previous years.
+
+---
+
+**NEXT MEETING**
+
+Date: 16 April 2025 1600-1700 (US/Pacific)

content/english/board/index.md

@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+---
+title: "Advisory Board"
+meta_title: "Advisory Board"
+layout: "board"
+description: "The Handmade Cities Advisory Board"
+draft: false
+---
+The Handmade Cities Advisory Board is the board appointed to advise the [founder](/about). They supervise the founder's general affairs as he:
+1. Organizes our two annual conferences: [Boston](/boston) in the summer, [Seattle](/seattle) in the fall
+2. Supports and grows our local [meetups](/meetups) 
+3. Decides which talks, demos, interviews or similar content are given at Handmade Cities
+
+The board has voting power over talk and demo submissions from the community. The founder may override the board, but such a decision must be made public through the meeting notes below.
+
+The board meets once a month. Meet the members in the [About](/about) page.
+
+**MEETING NOTES (TIMES IN US/PACIFIC)**
+- [18 March 2025 16:00](/board-meeting-20250318)

content/english/boston/index.md

@@ -1,8 +1,53 @@
 ---
-title: "Handmade Boston 2024"
+title: "Handmade Boston 2025"
-meta_title: "About"
+subtitle: "The East Coast's premier event for systems programmers. Fully offline"
-description: "this is meta description"
 image: "/images/hmb/boston-dark-mode.svg"
-draft: false
+layout: "event"
-layout: under_construction
+
+# Event Details
+event_dates: "Saturday August 16th, 2025 (Sat 2PM)"
+registration_date: "August 1st, 2025"
+venue_name: "Boston Public LIbrary"
+venue_address: "700 Boylston St., Boston, MA 02116"
+
+# Coming Soon Section
+coming_soon_text: "We've Changed Venues!"
+coming_soon_description: "We meet at the Boston Public Library, Saturday at 2PM. Check the top banner"
+
+# Initial Speakers
+initial_speakers:
+  - name: "Abner Coimbre"
+    topic: "Author of Terminal Click"
+    affiliation: "terminal.click"
+    image: "/images/people/abner.jpg"
+  - name: "Caden Parker"
+    topic: "Senior Graphics Programmer"
+    affiliation: "vectrx.substack.com"
+    image: "/images/people/caden.png"
+  - name: "Gwen Lofman"
+    topic: "Livecoding for Music and Visuals"
+    affiliation: "glfmn.io"
+    image: "/images/people/gwen.png"
+  - name: "Switch Angel"
+    topic: "Livecoding Co-Presenter"
+    affiliation: "tinyurl.com/switchangel"
+    image: "/images/people/switchangel.jpg"
+  - name: "This is You"
+    topic: "Audience is demoing projects"
+
+# Call to Action Buttons
+enable_newsletter: true
+newsletter_link: "/news"
+enable_discord: true
+discord_link: "https://handmadecities.com/discord"
+enable_cfp: true
+cfp_link: "mailto:submissions@handmadecities.com"
+cfp_deadline: "August 1st, 2025"
+
+# Content Display
+show_description: true
 ---
+
+Handmade Boston brings together the brightest minds in low-level programming for inspiring technical lectures.
+
+We're the sister event to Seattle and a fully-offline counterpart: enjoy deeper lectures exclusively in-person and make some new friends for life.

content/english/invite.md

@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+---
+title: "Invite a Friend to our Chat!"
+layout: "invite"
+---

content/english/media/_index.md

@@ -1,3 +1,5 @@
 +++
 title="Media"
+meta_title="Media | Handmade Cities"
+image="/images/film.svg"
 +++

content/english/media/boston-2024/_index.md

@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ type="notice"
 text="""
 **We are editing these recordings**
 
-Sign up for the [newsletter](/news) to be notified.
+Sign up for the **[newsletter](/news)** to be notified. Starting in 2025, HMB is fully offline (no online track)
 """
 +++
 

content/english/media/seattle-2022/abbrv.md

@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
++++
+title="Abbrv"
+mediatype="demo"
+conference="seattle-2022"
+date="2022-11-17T14:00:00-08:00"
+description="OS-Wide Text Expansion Tool"
+thumbnail="/images/thumbnails/2022HMSAbbrv.jpg"
+
+[[videos]]
+title="Abbrv"
+embed="https://player.vimeo.com/video/770635667"
+service="vimeo"
+download_link="https://player.vimeo.com/progressive_redirect/playback/770635667/rendition/1080p/file.mp4?loc=external&oauth2_token_id=1777364455&signature=4c97d263413615d95801a1694eb67eef9f44d98465f49fd094d5fc95f84f03d2"
+
+[[speakers]]
+name="Jake Mason"
+bio=""
+image="/images/people/2022-jake.png"
++++

content/english/media/seattle-2022/blinded-by-fear.md

@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
++++
+title="Blinded by Fear"
+mediatype="demo"
+conference="seattle-2022"
+date="2022-11-17T14:30:00-08:00"
+description="A Sci-Fi Horror Written From Scratch"
+thumbnail="/images/thumbnails/2022HMSBlindedByFear.jpg"
+
+[[videos]]
+title="Blinded by Fear"
+embed="https://player.vimeo.com/video/776801975"
+service="vimeo"
+download_link="https://player.vimeo.com/progressive_redirect/playback/776801975/rendition/1080p/file.mp4?loc=external&oauth2_token_id=1777364455&signature=6520e27748d76d5d7101f131c52b68ed17ac82ef24e001d7eba39c6bcb2b47d4"
+
+[[speakers]]
+name="Tyler Middleweek"
+bio=""
+image="/images/people/2022-tyler.png"
++++

content/english/media/seattle-2022/complexity.md

@@ -0,0 +1,25 @@
++++
+title="Complexity"
+mediatype="talk"
+conference="seattle-2022"
+date="2022-11-17T10:00:00-08:00"
+description="Why Can’t We Make Simple Software?"
+thumbnail="/images/thumbnails/2022HMSComplexity.jpg"
+
+[[videos]]
+title="Complexity"
+embed="https://player.vimeo.com/video/780013486"
+service="vimeo"
+download_link="https://player.vimeo.com/progressive_redirect/playback/780013486/rendition/1080p/file.mp4?loc=external&oauth2_token_id=1777364455&signature=eb06c9a10a7b11a2394f9502150c6ff763098f0050bcc933cb273a8c0e95020d"
+
+[[videos]]
+title="Complexity - Q&A"
+embed="https://player.vimeo.com/video/780015991"
+service="vimeo"
+download_link="https://player.vimeo.com/progressive_redirect/playback/780015991/rendition/1080p/file.mp4?loc=external&oauth2_token_id=1777364455&signature=fae782ddb976e18774011f871375acc55d0e001f54ac87e22f2d8ebcc30ab2e9"
+
+[[speakers]]
+name="Peter van Hardenberg"
+bio=""
+image="/images/people/2022-peter.jpg"
++++

content/english/media/seattle-2022/embergen.md

@@ -0,0 +1,25 @@
++++
+title="EmberGen"
+mediatype="demo"
+conference="seattle-2022"
+date="2022-11-17T09:45:00-08:00"
+description="Create Stunning Fire, Smoke, and Explosions in Real-time"
+thumbnail="/images/thumbnails/2022HMSEmberGen.jpg"
+
+[[videos]]
+title="EmberGen"
+embed="https://player.vimeo.com/video/770611307"
+service="vimeo"
+download_link="https://player.vimeo.com/progressive_redirect/playback/770611307/rendition/1080p/file.mp4?loc=external&oauth2_token_id=1777364455&signature=beec7f3f854cdea173bfbfc32e8a7ad56059adb486dab9bffb70ffb85404a7fe"
+
+[[videos]]
+title="EmberGen - Q&A"
+embed="https://player.vimeo.com/video/780010746"
+service="vimeo"
+download_link="https://player.vimeo.com/progressive_redirect/playback/780010746/rendition/1080p/file.mp4?loc=external&oauth2_token_id=1777364455&signature=00418fff7906f74e0bfa241f0ae5bee869ae9fcc298ea1b3c1386108613c1055"
+
+[[speakers]]
+name="Nick Seavert"
+bio=""
+image="/images/people/2022-embergen.png"
++++

content/english/media/seattle-2022/its-not-survivorship-bias.md

@@ -0,0 +1,25 @@
++++
+title="It's Not Survivorship Bias"
+mediatype="talk"
+conference="seattle-2022"
+date="2022-11-17T14:45:00-08:00"
+description="On Successful Software Endeavors"
+thumbnail="/images/thumbnails/2022HMSItsNotSurvivorshipBias.jpg"
+
+[[videos]]
+title="It's Not Survivorship Bias"
+embed="https://player.vimeo.com/video/783465506"
+service="vimeo"
+download_link="https://player.vimeo.com/progressive_redirect/playback/783465506/rendition/1080p/file.mp4?loc=external&oauth2_token_id=1777364455&signature=5175b718a41f8341f0165885620559eab69c26fd128ae96f78744b12eb852ffd"
+
+[[videos]]
+title="It's Not Survivorship Bias - Q&A"
+embed="https://player.vimeo.com/video/783467957"
+service="vimeo"
+download_link="https://player.vimeo.com/progressive_redirect/playback/783467957/rendition/1080p/file.mp4?loc=external&oauth2_token_id=1777364455&signature=3d4ed60422ccc4e0e25ec46b9b33687c89e01358a41f37a37709e54978b0b549"
+
+[[speakers]]
+name="Mason Remaley"
+bio=""
+image="/images/people/2022-mason.jpg"
++++

content/english/media/seattle-2022/magic-poser.md

@@ -0,0 +1,25 @@
++++
+title="Magic Poser"
+mediatype="demo"
+conference="seattle-2022"
+date="2022-11-17T09:30:00-08:00"
+description="The magic of magic poser"
+thumbnail="/images/thumbnails/2022HMSMagicPoser.jpg"
+
+[[videos]]
+title="Magic Poser"
+embed="https://player.vimeo.com/video/770866543"
+service="vimeo"
+download_link="https://player.vimeo.com/progressive_redirect/playback/770866543/rendition/1080p/file.mp4?loc=external&oauth2_token_id=1777364455&signature=92a99f3b31cd781e435baca7edeabe41a4de72a086797038246f3aa62ff0423b"
+
+[[videos]]
+title="Magic Poser - Q&A"
+embed="https://player.vimeo.com/video/1024237568"
+service="vimeo"
+download_link=""
+
+[[speakers]]
+name="Wombat Studio"
+bio=""
+image="/images/people/2022-magicposer.png"
++++

content/english/media/seattle-2022/memory-strategies.md

@@ -3,15 +3,14 @@ title="Memory Strategies"
 mediatype="podcast"
 conference="seattle-2022"
 date="2022-11-16T12:00:00-08:00"
-description="The Merits of (Un)safe, Part 1"
+description="The Merits of (Un)safe"
-thumbnail="/images/image-placeholder-16x9.png"
+thumbnail="/images/thumbnails/2022HMSMemoryStrategies.jpg"
-draft=true
 
 [[videos]]
 title="Memory Strategies"
-embed=""
+embed="https://player.vimeo.com/video/774890907"
 service="vimeo"
-download_link=""
+download_link="https://player.vimeo.com/progressive_redirect/playback/774890907/rendition/720p/file.mp4?loc=external&oauth2_token_id=1777364455&signature=3c443137144bf46966f5607ab00f818dfa5f98e1ac7643e62160f55e0bb27792"
 
 [[speakers]]
 name="Ryan Fleury"

content/english/media/seattle-2022/rsms.md

@@ -0,0 +1,25 @@
++++
+title="Virtual Computer"
+mediatype="talk"
+conference="seattle-2022"
+date="2022-11-17T15:45:00-08:00"
+description="A little virtual computer"
+thumbnail="/images/thumbnails/2022HMSRSM.jpg"
+
+[[videos]]
+title="RSMS"
+embed="https://player.vimeo.com/video/1024179839"
+service="vimeo"
+download_link=""
+
+[[videos]]
+title="RSMS - Q&A"
+embed="https://player.vimeo.com/video/1024184763"
+service="vimeo"
+download_link=""
+
+[[speakers]]
+name="Rasmus Andersson"
+bio=""
+image="/images/people/2022-rasmus.png"
++++

content/english/media/seattle-2022/talking-with-computers-and-humans.md

@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
++++
+title="Talking with Computer & Humans"
+mediatype="talk"
+conference="seattle-2022"
+date="2022-11-17T11:00:00-08:00"
+description="A Synthesis of Communication & Interaction Models"
+thumbnail="/images/thumbnails/2022HMSTalkingWithComputersAndHumans.jpg"
+
+[[videos]]
+title="Talking with Computer & Humans"
+embed="https://player.vimeo.com/video/776820165"
+service="vimeo"
+download_link="https://player.vimeo.com/progressive_redirect/playback/776820165/rendition/1080p/file.mp4?loc=external&oauth2_token_id=1777364455&signature=2699877e9db9e9293e21dd84e870245da9a0145b0ca91db85b2df6eb2a35c33c"
+
+[[speakers]]
+name="Andrew Reece"
+bio=""
+image="/images/people/2022-azmreece.jpg"
++++

content/english/media/seattle-2022/whitebox.md

@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
++++
+title="Whitebox"
+mediatype="demo"
+conference="seattle-2022"
+date="2022-11-17T11:45:00-08:00"
+description=""
+thumbnail="/images/thumbnails/2022HMSWhitebox.jpg"
+
+[[videos]]
+title="Whitebox"
+embed="https://player.vimeo.com/video/776820761"
+service="vimeo"
+download_link="https://player.vimeo.com/progressive_redirect/playback/776820761/rendition/1080p/file.mp4?loc=external&oauth2_token_id=1777364455&signature=e51194c36b0e6183091a289040a893b718e9b86d83530910b834f417ba1a75bd"
+
+[[speakers]]
+name="Andrew Reece"
+bio=""
+image="/images/people/2022-azmreece.jpg"
++++

content/english/media/seattle-2022/yucan.md

@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
++++
+title="Yucan"
+mediatype="demo"
+conference="seattle-2022"
+date="2022-11-17T14:15:00-08:00"
+description="Cross-Platform UI Engine"
+thumbnail="/images/thumbnails/2022HMSYucan.jpg"
+
+[[videos]]
+title="Yucan"
+embed="https://player.vimeo.com/video/779195985"
+service="vimeo"
+download_link="https://player.vimeo.com/progressive_redirect/playback/779195985/rendition/1080p/file.mp4?loc=external&oauth2_token_id=1777364455&signature=ef22037d9370e956dde2624dea073ac02681d8fb470b196356b01ab6415169af"
+
+[[speakers]]
+name="Christian Buttner"
+bio=""
+image="/images/people/2022-christian.webp"
++++

content/english/media/seattle-2024/_index.md

@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
++++
+title="Handmade Seattle 2024"
+date="2024-11-20T09:00:00-04:00"
+enddate="2024-11-22T18:00:00-04:00"
++++
+

content/english/media/seattle-2024/hms-day-one.md

@@ -0,0 +1,24 @@
++++
+title="Day One Livestream"
+mediatype="talk"
+conference="seattle-2024"
+date="2024-11-15T11:00:00-08:00"
+description="Catch the VOD of our latest conference (first day)"
+thumbnail="/images/thumbnails/2024HMSDayOne.png"
+
+[[videos]]
+title="Eon: An Amiga 500 Demo"
+embed="https://www.youtube.com/embed/zYAif5PhhoQ?start=7129"
+service="youtube"
+
+[[speakers]]
+name="Abner Coimbre"
+bio="Conference Host"
+image="/images/people/abner_2022.png"
++++
+
+## The year that triggered the Handmade civil war
+
+Partly due to our keynote talk (timestamped), Handmade Cities [paid a price](/news/splitting-from-handmade-network/) for it. This was, however, [not the only reason](/news/hms-2024-clear-the-air/).
+
+The Twitch stream is not available as individual recordings yet, but as you can see our team archived a backup on YouTube.

content/english/media/seattle-2024/hms-day-two.md

@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
++++
+title="Day Two Livestream"
+mediatype="talk"
+conference="seattle-2024"
+date="2024-11-16T11:00:00-08:00"
+description="Catch the VOD of our latest conference (second day)"
+thumbnail="/images/thumbnails/2024HMSDayTwo.png"
+
+[[videos]]
+title="Eon: An Amiga 500 Demo"
+embed="https://www.youtube.com/embed/OfnEfFb8yks"
+service="youtube"
+
+[[speakers]]
+name="Abner Coimbre"
+bio="Conference Host"
+image="/images/people/abner_2022.png"
++++
+
+## Watch day two of our latest conference
+
+The Twitch stream is not available as individual recordings yet, but luckily our team archived a backup on YouTube.

content/english/meetups/atlanta.md

@@ -10,6 +10,6 @@ bio="daniel@handmadecities.com"
 image=""
 +++
 
-#### Optional Discord Server
+#### Optional Revolt Server
 
-The mailing list is how you get official invites, but you may join the Discord for extra updates or to chat with the meetup group.
+The mailing list is how you get official invites, but you may join Revolt for extra updates or to chat with the meetup group.

content/english/meetups/australia.md

@@ -10,6 +10,6 @@ bio="khrob@handmadecities.com"
 image=""
 +++
 
-#### Optional Discord Server
+#### Optional Revolt Server
 
-The mailing list is how you get official invites, but you may join the Discord for extra updates or to chat with the meetup group.
+The mailing list is how you get official invites, but you may join Revolt for extra updates or to chat with the meetup group.

content/english/meetups/berlin.md

@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
++++
+title="Berlin's Mailing List"
+date="2024-11-03T12:00:00-08:00"
+description="Receive Handmade meetup invites from the capital of Germany!"
+api_endpoint="https://api.handmadecities.com/v1/meetups/berlin"
+
+[[hosts]]
+name="Marcel Ochs"
+bio="marcel@handmadecities.com"
+image=""
++++
+
+#### Optional Revolt Server
+
+The mailing list is how you get official invites, but you may join Revolt for extra updates or to chat with the meetup group.

content/english/meetups/boston.md

@@ -5,11 +5,11 @@ description="Receive Handmade meetup invites from the Hub of the Universe!"
 api_endpoint="https://api.handmadecities.com/v1/meetups/boston"
 
 [[hosts]]
-name="Caden Parker"
+name="Margret Riegert"
-bio="caden@handmadecities.com"
+bio="margret@handmadecities.com"
 image=""
 +++
 
-#### Optional Discord Server
+#### Optional Revolt Server
 
-The mailing list is how you get official invites, but you may join the Discord for extra updates or to chat with the meetup group.
+The mailing list is how you get official invites, but you may join Revolt for extra updates or to chat with the meetup group.

content/english/meetups/cambridge.md

@@ -10,6 +10,6 @@ bio="josh@handmadecities.com"
 image=""
 +++
 
-#### Optional Discord Server
+#### Optional Revolt Server
 
-The mailing list is how you get official invites, but you may join the Discord for extra updates or to chat with the meetup group.
+The mailing list is how you get official invites, but you may join Revolt for extra updates or to chat with the meetup group.

content/english/meetups/dc.md

@@ -6,10 +6,10 @@ api_endpoint="https://api.handmadecities.com/v1/meetups/dc"
 
 [[hosts]]
 name="Felix Ulmanu"
-bio="felix@handmadeciies.com"
+bio="felix@handmadecities.com"
 image=""
 +++
 
-#### Optional Discord Server
+#### Optional Revolt Server
 
-The mailing list is how you get official invites, but you may join the Discord for extra updates or to chat with the meetup group.
+The mailing list is how you get official invites, but you may join Revolt for extra updates or to chat with the meetup group.

content/english/meetups/denmark.md

@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
++++
+title="Denmark's Mailing List"
+date="2024-11-03T12:00:00-08:00"
+description="Receive Handmade meetup invites from the happiest place on earth!"
+api_endpoint="https://api.handmadecities.com/v1/meetups/denmark"
+
+[[hosts]]
+name="Patrick Jakobsen"
+bio="patrick@handmadecities.com"
+image=""
++++
+
+#### Optional Revolt Server
+
+The mailing list is how you get official invites, but you may join Revolt for extra updates or to chat with the meetup group.

content/english/meetups/detroit.md

@@ -10,6 +10,6 @@ bio="seth@handmadecities.com"
 image=""
 +++
 
-#### Optional Discord Server
+#### Optional Revolt Server
 
-The mailing list is how you get official invites, but you may join the Discord for extra updates or to chat with the meetup group.
+The mailing list is how you get official invites, but you may join Revolt for extra updates or to chat with the meetup group.

content/english/meetups/gothenburg.md

@@ -10,6 +10,6 @@ bio="sam@handmadecities.com"
 image=""
 +++
 
-#### Optional Discord Server
+#### Optional Revolt Server
 
-The mailing list is how you get official invites, but you may join the Discord for extra updates or to chat with the meetup group.
+The mailing list is how you get official invites, but you may join Revolt for extra updates or to chat with the meetup group.

content/english/meetups/grenoble.md

@@ -10,6 +10,6 @@ bio="martin@handmadecities.com"
 image=""
 +++
 
-#### Optional Discord Server
+#### Optional Revolt Server
 
-The mailing list is how you get official invites, but you may join the Discord for extra updates or to chat with the meetup group.
+The mailing list is how you get official invites, but you may join Revolt for extra updates or to chat with the meetup group.

content/english/meetups/israel.md

@@ -10,6 +10,6 @@ bio="eternalstudent@handmadecities.com"
 image=""
 +++
 
-#### Optional Discord Server
+#### Optional Revolt Server
 
-The mailing list is how you get official invites, but you may join the Discord for extra updates or to chat with the meetup group.
+The mailing list is how you get official invites, but you may join Revolt for extra updates or to chat with the meetup group.

content/english/meetups/london.md

@@ -10,6 +10,6 @@ bio="jack@handmadecities.com"
 image=""
 +++
 
-#### Optional Discord Server
+#### Optional Revolt Server
 
-The mailing list is how you get official invites, but you may join the Discord for extra updates or to chat with the meetup group.
+The mailing list is how you get official invites, but you may join Revolt for extra updates or to chat with the meetup group.

content/english/meetups/minneapolis.md

@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
++++
+title="Minneapolis' Mailing List"
+date="2024-11-03T12:00:00-08:00"
+description="Receive Handmade meetup invites from the city of lakes!"
+api_endpoint="https://api.handmadecities.com/v1/meetups/minneapolis"
+
+[[hosts]]
+name="Dan Grigsby"
+bio="dan@handmadecities.com"
+image="/images/people/dan_grigsby.webp"
++++
+
+#### Optional Revolt Server
+
+The mailing list is how you get official invites, but you may join Revolt for extra updates or to chat with the meetup group.

content/english/meetups/montreal.md

@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
++++
+title="Montreal's Mailing List"
+date="2024-11-03T12:00:00-08:00"
+description="Receive Handmade meetup invites from cultural and economic capital of Quebec!"
+api_endpoint="https://api.handmadecities.com/v1/meetups/montreal"
+
+[[hosts]]
+name="Mitchell Amihod"
+bio="mitchell@handmadecities.com"
+image=""
++++
+
+#### Optional Revolt Server
+
+The mailing list is how you get official invites, but you may join Revolt for extra updates or to chat with the meetup group.

content/english/meetups/nyc.md

@@ -10,6 +10,6 @@ bio="mark@handmadecities.com"
 image=""
 +++
 
-#### Optional Discord Server
+#### Optional Revolt Server
 
-The mailing list is how you get official invites, but you may join the Discord for extra updates or to chat with the meetup group.
+The mailing list is how you get official invites, but you may join Revolt for extra updates or to chat with the meetup group.

content/english/meetups/portland.md

@@ -10,6 +10,6 @@ bio="sid@handmadecities.com"
 image=""
 +++
 
-#### Optional Discord Server
+#### Optional Revolt Server
 
-The mailing list is how you get official invites, but you may join the Discord for extra updates or to chat with the meetup group.
+The mailing list is how you get official invites, but you may join Revolt for extra updates or to chat with the meetup group.

content/english/meetups/seattle.md

@@ -5,22 +5,22 @@ description="Receive Handmade meetup invites from the Emerald City!"
 thumbnail="/images/meetups/distantworlds_space.jpg"
 api_endpoint="https://api.handmadecities.com/v1/meetups/seattle"
 
-[[hosts]]
-name="Allen Webster"
-bio="Founder of [Mr. 4th Lab](https://mr4th.com). Hosts the classic monthly meetups"
-image="/images/people/allen_square.webp"
-
-[[hosts]]
-name="Phil Homan"
-bio="Staff [member](https://handmadecities.com/about). Hosts the coworking sessions (bi-weekly)"
-image="/images/people/phil_homan.jpg"
-
 [[hosts]]
 name="Abner Coimbre"
-bio="Staff [member](https://handmadecities.com/about). Hosts the third place (weekly)"
+bio="Hosts the classic monthly meetups"
 image="/images/people/abner_2022.png"
+
+[[hosts]]
+name="Peter Slattery"
+bio="Hosts the Seattle [coworking](/cowork) sessions"
+image="/images/people/peter.jpg"
+
+[[hosts]]
+name="Taylor Robbins"
+bio="Hosts the Kirkland [coworking](/cowork) sessions"
+image="/images/people/robbins.jpg"
 +++
 
-#### Optional Discord Server
+#### Optional Revolt Server
 
-The mailing list is how you get official invites, but you may join the Discord for extra updates or to chat with the meetup group.
+The mailing list is how you get official invites, but you may join Revolt for extra updates or to chat with the meetup group.

content/english/meetups/sf.md

@@ -10,6 +10,6 @@ bio="xander@handmadecities.com"
 image=""
 +++
 
-#### Optional Discord Server
+#### Optional Revolt Server
 
-The mailing list is how you get official invites, but you may join the Discord for extra updates or to chat with the meetup group.
+The mailing list is how you get official invites, but you may join Revolt for extra updates or to chat with the meetup group.

content/english/meetups/tokyo.md

@@ -5,11 +5,11 @@ description="Receive Handmade meetup invites from the capital of Japan!"
 api_endpoint="https://api.handmadecities.com/v1/meetups/tokyo"
 
 [[hosts]]
-name="Moai-san"
+name="Migue-san"
-bio="moai@handmadecities.com"
+bio="miguel@handmadecities.com"
 image=""
 +++
 
-#### Optional Discord Server
+#### Optional Revolt Server
 
-The mailing list is how you get official invites, but you may join the Discord for extra updates or to chat with the meetup group.
+The mailing list is how you get official invites, but you may join Revolt for extra updates or to chat with the meetup group.

content/english/meetups/vancouver.md

@@ -5,11 +5,11 @@ description="Receive Handmade meetup invites from the warmest city in Canada!"
 api_endpoint="https://api.handmadecities.com/v1/meetups/vancouver"
 
 [[hosts]]
-name="Matt Currie"
+name="Gabriel Dechichi"
-bio="matt@handmadecities.com"
+bio="gabriel@handmadecities.com"
 image=""
 +++
 
-#### Optional Discord Server
+#### Optional Revolt Server
 
-The mailing list is how you get official invites, but you may join the Discord for extra updates or to chat with the meetup group.
+The mailing list is how you get official invites, but you may join Revolt for extra updates or to chat with the meetup group.

content/english/meetups/vegas.md

@@ -10,6 +10,6 @@ bio="jstevens@handmadecities.com"
 image=""
 +++
 
-#### Optional Discord Server
+#### Optional Revolt Server
 
-The mailing list is how you get official invites, but you may join the Discord for extra updates or to chat with the meetup group.
+The mailing list is how you get official invites, but you may join Revolt for extra updates or to chat with the meetup group.

content/english/meetups/vienna.md

@@ -10,6 +10,6 @@ bio="patrick@handmadecities.com"
 image=""
 +++
 
-#### Optional Discord Server
+#### Optional Revolt Server
 
-The mailing list is how you get official invites, but you may join the Discord for extra updates or to chat with the meetup group.
+The mailing list is how you get official invites, but you may join Revolt for extra updates or to chat with the meetup group.

content/english/memos/index.md

@@ -0,0 +1,27 @@
+---
+title: "Official Memos"
+meta_title: "Official Memos"
+layout: "board"
+description: "Memos from our founder"
+draft: false
+---
+Handmade Cities publishes memoranda written by [our founder](/about), usually addressed to prominent community members. The public nature of these documents lets you:
+1. Keep tabs on how we govern
+2. Call out faulty reasoning or inconsistencies (but don't *"well actually"* us)
+3. Increase chances for participation e.g. because you saw a new initiative
+
+Memos are published once a month as PDF documents below.
+
+## MEMORANDA
+
+**January 2026**
+
+- [HMC Memo 001 - Wiki Ownership](/memos/HMC-Memo-001-Wiki-Ownership.pdf)
+- [HMC Memo 002 - UXUI](/memos/HMC-Memo-002-UXUI.pdf)
+
+**February 2026**
+
+- [HMC Memo 003 - Server Admin](/memos/HMC-Memo-003-Server-Admin.pdf)
+- [HMC Memo 004 - Meetup Hosts](/memos/HMC-Memo-004-Meetup-Hosts.pdf)
+
+Date of publication varies.

content/english/news/_index.md

@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 ---
 title: "News"
-meta_title: ""
+meta_title: "News | Handmade Cities"
-description: "this is meta description"
+description: "The latest Handmade Cities news"
 newsletter_signup:
   active: true
   title: "Join our newsletter"
@@ -14,9 +14,9 @@ newsletter_signup:
   button_class: "btn text-white meetups-bg col-3"
   section_class: ""
 text_sidepanel:
-    active: true
+    active: false
-    title: ""
+    title: "RSS Feed"
-    title_class: ""
+    title_class: "mb-6"
     text_class: ""
-    text: "[RSS](/news/index.xml)"
+    text: "[Subscribe](/news/index.xml)"
 ---

content/english/news/computer-club-atelier-hivernal-2026.md

@@ -0,0 +1,16 @@
+---
+title: "Computer Club - Atelier Hivernal - Lyon"
+meta_title: ""
+description: "Martin Fouilleul is our French meetup host. Read their latest announcement"
+date: 2026-01-10T12:00:00Z
+image: "/images/meetups/france.jpg"
+categories: ["Meetups"]
+author: "Martin Fouilleul"
+tags: ["meetups", "france"]
+draft: false
+---
+
+> [Martin Fouilleul](/media/seattle-2023/orca/) is our [French](/meetups/grenoble) meetup host. You may reach the author at martin@handmadecities.com
+
+<p>Bonjour, et bonne année,</p>  <p>Pierre-Louis, que vous avez déjà pu croiser aux meetups Grenoblois, vous propose une nouvelle après-midi d&rsquo;échanges et de bricolage autour de vos projets software/hardware. Ça se passe le <strong>17 janvier</strong> à partir de 14h, à <strong>Grrrnd Zero</strong>, 60 avenue de Bohlen, Vaulx-en-Velin.</p>  <p>La capacité maximale étant de 10 personnes, pensez à réserver à l&rsquo;avance en écrivant à <a href="mailto:meetup@pld.tf">meetup@pld.tf</a>. Un repas est proposé pour les personnes en avance entre 12h30 et 13h30, merci de prévenir lors de votre réservation.</p>  <p>En espérant vous y retrouver nombreux·ses !</p>  <p>Martin</p>  <p><img src="https://rel.pld.tf/meetup/20260117.png" alt="Affiche" /></p>
+

content/english/news/farewell-to-distant-worlds.md

@@ -0,0 +1,58 @@
+---
+title: "Farewell to Distant Worlds"
+meta_title: ""
+description: "One of Seattle's most popular coffee shops is winding down. Guest article by Allen Webster"
+date: 2025-08-29T12:00:00Z
+image: "/images/meetups/distantworlds_space.jpg"
+categories: ["Meetups"]
+author: "Allen Webster"
+tags: ["meetups", "seattle"]
+draft: false
+---
+
+A special Handmade meetup: one of Seattle's most popular coffee shops is winding down.
+
+> Allen Webster is a meetup host for [Seattle](/meetups/seattle). You may reach the author at allen@handmadecities.com
+
+Seattle area folks,
+
+As the last Saturday of the month approaches, we’re looking forward to our usual Handmade meetup, but a few things will be very different this month. Please read to the end to catch all the details.
+
+The big news:
+-------------
+
+First and foremost, the venue we have been with since the beginning, Distant Worlds Coffeehouse, is closing on August 31st, making our meetup one of the last events to occur in the space. This news came rather suddenly and saddens us deeply, not to mention the owner and staff at Distant Worlds. Abner has made an effort to reach out to as many people as possible to give Distant Worlds the send off they deserve, and all sales will go towards an employee severance fund, so please buy your drinks and snacks as usual (or splurge!)
+
+{{< image src="images/meetups/dw.png" caption="Distant Worlds - Seattle Roosevelt" alt="Distant Worlds" height="400" width="400" position="center" command="fill" option="q100" class="img-fluid" title="Distant Worlds (Seattle)"  webp="false" >}}
+
+Second, while Abner will still be in attendance, he wants to focus at least some of his attention on talking with the staff with whom he has a long standing relationship. So he’s asked me, his backup host, to step in for the month. Many of you may know me, but in case you don’t I look forward to meeting you. I am Allen Webster, creator of [4coder](https://4coder.net) and [Mr. 4th Lab](https://mr4th.com), and I’ve been the host of a few meetups before, so you’re still in good hands.
+
+The details:
+------------
+
+-   **Where:** Distant Worlds Coffeehouse (in Seattle)
+-   **When:** Saturday, August 30th, 2PM-4PM
+-   **Parking:** While there is street parking around the neighborhood, the most reliable place to park is “Green Lake Park & Ride”.
+-   Afterwards those who are up for more time together migrate down the road for pizza and time at the pub.
+
+Submitting Topics:
+------------------
+
+Many of us in the community work on software projects on our own. The goal of the meetup is to get a chance to get help where we’re stuck, to get feedback on what we’ve built, and to practice explaining our ideas to other programmers.
+
+Usually we gather up topics on the fly at the start of the meetup, but to make the most of our time I am going to try **an experiment!**
+
+I’m asking you to take a few minutes to write a short pitch of what you’d like to bring and send it to me ahead of time at allenw@mr4th.com. Tell me about your topic, and what questions you might like to get answers to, what new features of your project you might like to demo, or what you’d like a chance to discuss.
+
+I will sort through pre-submitted topics ahead of time to pick an order and see how much time we can give each topic, that way we can dive right in. I want to be sure we pack our last meetup at Distant Worlds with as many opportunities for people to participate as possible, while we celebrate our meetup community. I’ll still take topics on the fly if there’s time, but I’m going to give first priority to pre-submitted topics.
+
+*See you on Saturday!*
+
+-Allen
+
+{{< button label="Employee Severance Fund" link="https://venmo.com/u/distantworldscoffee" style="solid" >}}
+
+---
+
+> Staff Note: Can't make it in person? Use the Employee Severance Fund button above!
+

content/english/news/first-boston-meetup-2026.md

@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+---
+title: "Boston Meetup 01/24"
+meta_title: ""
+description: "Margret Riegert is our Boston meetup host. Read their latest announcement"
+date: 2026-01-12T12:00:00Z
+image: "/images/meetups/boston.jpg"
+categories: ["Meetups"]
+author: "Margret Riegert"
+tags: ["meetups", "boston"]
+draft: false
+---
+
+> Margret Riegert is our [Boston](/meetups/boston) meetup host. You may reach the author at margret@handmadecities.com
+
+<h2>Meetup Details</h2>  <ul> <li>Date: January 24th, 2026</li> <li>Time: 12-2pm</li> <li>Address: 700 Boylston St, Boston, MA 02116</li> <li>RSVP: <a href="https://partiful.com/e/vUcDz66dzwi4k9L6iJiy\">https://partiful.com/e/vUcDz66dzwi4k9L6iJiy</a></li> <li>Boston Meetup Revolt: <a href="https://revolt.handmadecities.com\">https://revolt.handmadecities.com</a></li> </ul>  <hr />  <h2>The Agenda</h2>  <ul> <li><strong>Software Project Demos:</strong> Bring a project you&rsquo;ve been working on, ask questions, get constructive feedback, etc.</li> <li><strong>Presentation:</strong> Give a mini talk about something you&rsquo;ve been working on and that you think others in the handmade community would find interesting</li> <li><strong>Special Topics:</strong> Talk as a group about anything relevant in the handmade community</li> <li><strong>Social After:</strong> Afterwards, we can head out and grab something to eat</li> </ul>  <p>You&rsquo;re not required to bring a project or anything; showing up is good enough!</p>  <hr />  <h2>Getting there</h2>  <p>We&rsquo;ll be in the mezzanine conference room #3.</p>  <p>If you enter through the Boylston Street entrance, you want to head to the left and look for where it says Community Learning Center.</p> 

content/english/news/first-boston-meetup-reminder-2026.md

@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+---
+title: "Boston Meetup Reminder"
+meta_title: ""
+description: "Margret Riegert is our Boston meetup host. Read their latest announcement"
+date: 2026-01-23T12:00:00Z
+image: "/images/meetups/boston.jpg"
+categories: ["Meetups"]
+author: "Margret Riegert"
+tags: ["meetups", "boston"]
+draft: false
+---
+
+> Margret Riegert is our [Boston](/meetups/boston) meetup host. You may reach the author at margret@handmadecities.com
+
+<p>Hello! This is just a friendly reminder about the Handmade meetup <strong>tomorrow</strong> at the library.</p>  <h2>Meetup Details</h2>  <ul> <li>Date: January 24th, 2026</li> <li>Time: 12-2pm</li> <li>Address: 700 Boylston St, Boston, MA 02116</li> <li>RSVP: <a href="https://partiful.com/e/vUcDz66dzwi4k9L6iJiy\">https://partiful.com/e/vUcDz66dzwi4k9L6iJiy</a></li> <li>Boston Meetup Revolt: <a href="https://revolt.handmadecities.com\">https://revolt.handmadecities.com</a></li> </ul>  <hr />  <h2>The Agenda</h2>  <ul> <li><strong>Software Project Demos:</strong> Bring a project you&rsquo;ve been working on, ask questions, get constructive feedback, etc.</li> <li><strong>Presentation:</strong> Give a mini talk about something you&rsquo;ve been working on and that you think others in the handmade community would find interesting</li> <li><strong>Special Topics:</strong> Talk as a group about anything relevant in the handmade community</li> <li><strong>Social After:</strong> Afterwards, we can head out and grab something to eat</li> </ul>  <p>You&rsquo;re not required to bring a project or anything; showing up is good enough!</p>  <hr />  <h2>Getting there</h2>  <p>We&rsquo;ll be in the mezzanine conference room #3.</p>  <p>If you enter through the Boylston Street entrance, you want to head to the left and look for where it says Community Learning Center.</p> 

content/english/news/first-dc-meetup-2026.md

@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+---
+title: "D.C. Meetup: API Design & Single-Header Libraries"
+meta_title: ""
+description: "Felix Ulmanu is our Washington D.C. meetup host. Read their latest announcement"
+date: 2026-01-12T12:00:00Z
+image: "/images/meetups/dc.jpg"
+categories: ["Meetups"]
+author: "Felix Ulmanu"
+tags: ["meetups", "dc"]
+draft: false
+---
+
+> Felix Ulmanu is our [Washington D.C.](/meetups/dc) meetup host. You may reach the author at felix@handmadecities.com
+
+<p>Join us this Saturday, 24 January 2026, from 1:45pm to 2:45pm, to discuss API design and single-header libraries. How should we structure and program libraries to impose as few usage constraints as possible? We&rsquo;ll look at <a href="https://github.com/nothings/stb">the STB libraries</a> and other examples as case studies.</p>  <p><strong>Please note the slightly different time than usual</strong> (though after 2:45pm, we may continue chatting over lunch nearby). We&rsquo;re still at the <strong>West End Library</strong>, 2301 L St NW, Washington, DC 20037, in <strong>Meeting Room 2</strong>. See you soon!</p>  <h2>Contact</h2>  <ul> <li><code>_felixu_</code> on Discord, or reply to this email</li> </ul>  <p>Note that it appears Gmail may send this announcement to &ldquo;Promotions&rdquo;. To prevent this, you can set emails from this address to always go to your primary inbox. (We will never send spam!)</p>

content/english/news/first-dc-meetup-correction-2026.md

@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+---
+title: "D.C. Meetup: POSTPONED to Sunday, 1 February"
+meta_title: ""
+description: "Felix Ulmanu is our Washington D.C. meetup host. Read their latest announcement"
+date: 2026-01-22T12:00:00Z
+image: "/images/meetups/dc.jpg"
+categories: ["Meetups"]
+author: "Felix Ulmanu"
+tags: ["meetups", "dc"]
+draft: false
+---
+
+> Felix Ulmanu is our [Washington D.C.](/meetups/dc) meetup host. You may reach the author at felix@handmadecities.com
+
+<p>Due to Winter Storm Fern, the next DC meetup, previously scheduled for this Saturday, is <strong>postponed to Sunday, 1 February, from 2pm to 4pm</strong>. See the last email for our topic and location, which both remain unchanged. Sorry for the trouble, and we hope to see you soon!</p>  <h2>Contact</h2>  <ul> <li><code>_felixu_</code> on Discord, or reply to this email</li> </ul>  <p>Note that it appears Gmail may send this announcement to &ldquo;Promotions&rdquo;. To prevent this, you can set emails from this address to always go to your primary inbox. (We will never send spam!)</p>

content/english/news/first-kirkland-cowork-2026.md

@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+---
+title: "Friday Co-Working in Kirkland"
+meta_title: ""
+description: "Taylor Robbins is our Kirkland co-working host. Read their latest announcement"
+date: 2026-01-08T12:00:00Z
+image: "/images/meetups/kirkland.jpg"
+categories: ["Meetups"]
+author: "Taylor Robbins"
+tags: ["cowork", "kirkland"]
+draft: false
+---
+
+> Taylor Robbins is our [Kirkland](/meetups/seattle) co-working host. You may reach the author at taylor@handmadecities.com
+
+<p>Dear Handmade folks,</p>  <p>Happy New Year! Tomorrow is our first Kirkland Co-Working session of 2026. Now that the holidays are done it&rsquo;s back to work, and what better way to work than in the company of others. Come hang out, anyone is welcome, even if you need to work on your day-job tasks while you&rsquo;re there, but we always love hearing what people are working on if you have something to share.</p>  <p><strong>When:</strong> 2:00pm-5:00pm (Friday January 9th)</p>  <p><strong>Where:</strong> Thruline Coffee - 136 Park Ln, Kirkland, WA 98033</p>  <p><a href="https://maps.app.goo.gl/CmeFmdPdLZkycXHw6">Google Maps Link</a></p>  <p><img src="https://www.robbitay.com/handmade/thruline_coffee_512.png" alt="Thruline Coffee Image" /></p>  <p>I still recommend charging your laptop beforehand, but if you need we often get the table in the back with an outlet and I&rsquo;ll bring a extension cord + splitter. If you don&rsquo;t see us when you first walk in make sure you check behind the counter on the right, the table we sit at is not visible from the door.</p>  <p>If you have any questions don&rsquo;t hesitate to reach out! (reply to this email, or DM/ping on Discord <code>@ProfessorSil</code>)</p>

content/english/news/first-london-meetup-2026.md

@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+---
+title: "London Meetup, January 11th"
+meta_title: ""
+description: "Jacques Heunis is our London meetup host. Read their latest announcement"
+date: 2026-01-04T12:00:00Z
+image: "/images/meetups/london.jpg"
+categories: ["Meetups"]
+author: "Jacques Heunis"
+tags: ["meetups", "london"]
+draft: false
+---
+
+> Jacques Heunis is our [London](/meetups/london) meetup host. You may reach the author at jacques@handmadecities.com
+
+<p>Hey everyone</p>  <p>It&rsquo;s now 2026, time for everybody to mis-type the year for the next two months! \\o/ More importantly, its a new month and that means a new meetup. I&rsquo;m sending this out a bit late so we&rsquo;ll schedule for the 18th of January.</p>  <p>As usual we&rsquo;ll book a table at The Fellow (a pub near Kings Cross Station, N1 9AA). There&rsquo;s no agenda so anybody is free to bring any topics or demos that they&rsquo;d like to discuss. If anybody wants to bring a laptop or gadget or what-have-you to demo something that&rsquo;s awesome but most often its just a casual chat about recent projects or topics that interest people. The only ask is that attendees grab a drink or some food to compensate the pub for so kindly allowing us to use their space.</p>  <p>We&rsquo;ll schedule for 14:00 on the 18th of January (2 weeks from now) and people are welcome to stay for as long as they fancy. Since space is limited, please do respond <a href="https://rsvp.handmadecities.com/event/BodEJGrM\">on the event page here</a> by the end of Sunday the 11th if you&rsquo;d like to attend, just so that I can make a reservation for the table.</p>  <p>Looking forward to seeing you there!</p>  <p>Jacques</p>

content/english/news/first-london-meetup-correction-2026.md

@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+---
+title: "Correction: Handmade London Meetup, January 18th"
+meta_title: ""
+description: "Jacques Heunis is our London meetup host. Read their latest announcement"
+date: 2026-01-05T12:00:00Z
+image: "/images/meetups/london.jpg"
+categories: ["Meetups"]
+author: "Jacques Heunis"
+tags: ["meetups", "london"]
+draft: false
+---
+
+> Jacques Heunis is our [London](/meetups/london) meetup host. You may reach the author at jacques@handmadecities.com
+
+<p>Hey everyone</p>  <p>Just a correction from my previous email since the subject disagreed with the body on the date of the next meetup. As shown <a href="https://rsvp.handmadecities.com/event/BodEJGrM\">on the event page</a> <strong>the event will be on the 18th of January</strong>, not the 11th.</p>  <p>Sorry for the confusion, please do not show up at The Fellow on the 11th!</p>  <p>Looking forward to seeing you there!</p>  <p>Jacques</p>

content/english/news/first-vancouver-meetup-2026.md

@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+---
+title: "First Vancouver Meetup of the Year is Tomorrow!"
+meta_title: ""
+description: "Gabriel Dechichi is our Vancouver meetup host. Read their latest announcement"
+date: 2026-01-23T12:05:00Z
+image: "/images/meetups/vancouver.jpg"
+categories: ["Meetups"]
+author: "Gabriel Dechichi"
+tags: ["meetups", "vancouver"]
+draft: false
+---
+
+> Gabriel Dechichi is our [Vancouver](/meetups/vancouver) meetup host. You may reach the author at gabriel@handmadecities.com
+
+<p>Hi there! Happy new year!</p>  <p>Our first Vancouver Handmade Meetup of the year will be this Saturday (tomorrow), January 24th at 2pm PST.</p>  <p>Same location as usual, right next to the Brentwood Town Centre Station.</p>  <p><strong>Location</strong>: <a href="https://www.google.ca/maps/place/1955+Alpha+Wy.,+Burnaby,+BC+V5C+0K5/@49.26672,-123.0032249,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m6!3m5!1s0x5486773aed540b73:0x8115d594509db9c4!8m2!3d49.26672!4d-123.00065!16s%2Fg%2F11hhm5l_nk?entry=tts&amp;g_ep=EgoyMDI1MDQzMC4xIPu8ASoASAFQAw%3D%3D&amp;skid=5dbe0e2f-2f48-479d-acad-b25f3371746e\">1955 Alpha Way, Burnaby BC V5C 0K6</a> </br><strong>Date: Saturday, January 24th</strong> </br><strong>Time: 2pm - 4pm</strong></p>  <p>On this meetup we will have a very special <em>talk from Sab on handling segfaults when working close to hardware</em>, which many of us were looking forward to, so hope you can all make it!</p>  <p>If you&rsquo;re considering attending you can RSVP <a href="https://luma.com/i49vxiqs\">by clicking this link</a>.</p>  <p>Looking forward to meeting y&rsquo;all soon!</p>

content/english/news/hmb-meeting-instructions-2025.md

@@ -0,0 +1,65 @@
+---
+title: "Boston Conference Instructions"
+meta_title: ""
+description: "Where we're meeting for 2025"
+date: 2025-08-14T12:00:00Z
+image: "/images/companies/bpl.jpg"
+categories: ["Press Release"]
+author: "Abner Coimbre"
+tags: ["meta", "hmc"]
+draft: false
+---
+
+All the details for our special event in Boston this weekend.
+
+*UPDATED 8/15: Additional FAQ at the end*
+
+Dear Handmade folks,
+
+I'm motivated to see you this weekend. This is a reminder there was a shakeup and downsizing that you can read about [here](/news/winding-down). With that said, everyone attending is in great spirits and we're looking to get inspired.
+
+#### Where do we meet?
+
+I'll be at the entrance to the Boston Public Library at 1:45PM. At 2:05 I'll start heading to the conference room. If you're arriving late, our friend Caden (who kindly reserved the space for us) has this for instructions:
+
+> It's Mezzanine Conference Room 2. From the entrance on Boylston street, you veer slightly to the left to the DVD section, and go up the stairs. From there you'll be able to see all the mezzanine conference rooms.
+
+If you're still lost, you should ask library staff how to get to Mezzanine Conference Room 2.
+
+#### Can I demo something?
+
+If we have extra time after the proper presentations, attendees can demo their own Handmade projects: it can be a side-project, but it can also be commercial software you work on, as long as you get into interesting technical details (we don't want this to be an ad.)
+
+#### What do we do after the meetup?
+
+The plan is to go until 5PM or so. For those with time and motivation left, we'll walk to a nearby park for casual chatter until we do a 6PM dinner together. It's fun to play it by ear, so we'll decide where to eat and drink in person!
+
+#### I'm here in Boston already
+
+Make sure you're in the HMC [Discord](https://handmadecities.com/discord) so you can sync up with other attendees in the area. There's a public `#handmade-boston` channel and a private `meetups-boston` channel and you may use either of them. 
+
+NOTE: If you don't see the private `#meetups-boston` channel, select **Channels & Roles** in your Discord app and choose "Boston" as a city of interest.
+
+Your indie organizer,<br>Abner Coimbre
+
+---
+
+#### Additional FAQ
+
+1. **I'm a 2024 fundraiser supporter. Can I join?**
+
+If you got lifetime perks from the 2024 fundraiser, you can join all future Handmade events including this one. Just state your name when I see you! It also helps to let me know ahead of time you wish to RSVP, since I can't always guarantee a seat.
+
+2. **I'm a monthly donor. Can I join?**
+
+If you're a monthly [donor](/donate) to Handmade Cities, you can join all future Handmade events including this one. Just state your name when I see you! It also helps to let me know ahead of time you wish to RSVP, since I can't always guarantee a seat.
+
+3. **I'm a regular Boston meetup member**
+
+If you've attended Caden's Handmade Meetups somewhat regularly, you should be fine for this event! First come, first served in terms of available seats.
+
+4. Can I bring my laptop for my demo?
+
+Of course; the conference room has a giant TV with HDMI cable. I should also have an adapter for Macbooks.
+
+Please bring your laptop fully charged in case we run out of outlets. If your laptop isn't HDMI-compatible and it isn't a Macbook, you should carry any special cables or adapters that you need.

content/english/news/hmc-2025.md

@@ -0,0 +1,71 @@
+---
+title: "Handmade Cities 2025"
+meta_title: ""
+description: "Tickets, Submissions, and More!"
+date: 2025-04-11T12:00:00Z
+image: "/images/hmc/2025.png"
+categories: ["Press Release"]
+author: "Abner Coimbre"
+tags: ["meta", "hmc"]
+draft: false
+---
+
+Conference tickets, community submissions, our new advisory board, and more.
+
+**Things to Discuss:**  
+- Spring Ticket Sale  
+- Call for Submissions  
+- Our New Advisory Board  
+- New Meetup Hosts  
+- Terminal Click - Beta Access
+
+Dear Conference Goer,  
+
+Since my last newsletter about [parting ways](/news/splitting-from-handmade-network/) with Handmade Network, things have been moving fast. I’ve got plenty of exciting news to share today!
+
+---
+### Spring Ticket Sale  
+I’m excited to announce the **Spring Sale** for Handmade Cities 2025! This year, we’re hosting **Boston in the Summer** and **Seattle in the Fall**.  
+
+[Discounted Tickets](/tickets)
+
+These are now weekend conferences. Furthermore, Boston and Seattle are spaced further apart, giving our events a lot more breathing room.
+
+The agenda isn’t finalized yet (hence the discounts), but we’ve already listed some promising presenters. If you’ve attended since 2019, you know we’re keen to deliver better conferences every year. (And trust me, last year was full of valuable lessons.)  
+
+---
+### Call for Submissions  
+We’re officially accepting talk and demo submissions for both conferences! Whether you have a technical lecture, a short talk, or a software demo, we’d love to hear from you.  
+
+**Submit your proposals to:** submissions@handmadecities.com  
+
+You'll find a submission button on the [Boston](/boston) and [Seattle](/seattle) pages too. Further news or deadlines will be posted there.
+
+---
+### Our New Advisory Board  
+We’ve ratified a new **Advisory Board** to help guide Handmade Cities.  
+![Initial advisory board](/images/hmc/initial-advisory-board.png)
+The board [meets monthly](/board) to discuss progress with the conferences and meetups, offer feedback to presenters, or vote on community submissions. While I could in theory override their votes, any such action shall be made public in our meeting notes—serving as checks and guardrails.  
+
+---
+### New Meetup Hosts  
+Despite the interesting economy, our local meetups are thriving! This year, we’ve officially launched meetups in [Tokyo](/meetups/tokyo) and [Berlin](/meetups/berlin) with [Vancouver, Canada](/meetups/vancouver) making a strong comeback.  
+
+A huge thanks to our hosts for fostering monthly gatherings of programmers who embody the Handmade ethos. If you’d like to join or wishlist a meetup in your city, visit [handmadecities.com/meetups](/meetups).  
+
+Interested in hosting a meetup? Email us at support@handmadecities.com!  
+
+---
+### Terminal Click - Beta Access  
+
+The closed beta for **Terminal Click** is in [full swing](https://terminal.click/beta). If you’ve attended (or plan to attend) Handmade Boston, you automatically qualify for access. Just email me at abner@terminal.click to get your download link.
+
+*Note: Please use the same email address that you used to book a conference ticket.*
+
+My latest April devlog, [The Wizard and His Shell](https://terminal.click/posts/2025/04/the-wizard-and-his-shell/), hit the [top spot](https://lobste.rs/s/ndlwoh/wizard_his_shell) on Lobsters for multiple days. It’s been fascinating to see the growing commentary with each devlog we release.
+
+I believe it’s crucial for leadership to independently ship Handmade software. That’s why I’m sharing this project here—it’s a direct reflection of the ethos we’re building together.
+
+In closing, I hope you’ll register for the conferences. If you like what I’m doing, registering early is the best way to show your support, and it means the world to me.
+
+Your independent organizer,<br>Abner Coimbre

content/english/news/hms-2024-clear-the-air.md

@@ -0,0 +1,65 @@
+---
+title: "Let's Clear The Air"
+meta_title: ""
+description: "A follow-up to the previous newsletter titled 'My Honest Take'"
+date: 2024-11-26T05:00:00Z
+image: "/images/hms/mailbox.jpg"
+categories: ["Press Release"]
+author: "Abner Coimbre"
+tags: ["conference", "hms"]
+draft: false
+---
+
+A follow-up to the [previous](https://handmadecities.com/news/hms-2024-my-honest-take/) newsletter titled "My Honest Take"
+
+This update primarily addresses community veterans, so it may feel a bit like inside baseball! The focus is mainly on how the content of Handmade Seattle has evolved and diverged from its original direction.
+
+**Dear Handmade Community,**
+
+Wow, a lot of people read my last newsletter. Two sections—_“2024: A Gap Year”_ and _“When the Industry Suffers, We Listen”_—sparked strong reactions. They struck like a lightning bolt. Some loved it, some loathed it, and others fell in between. I want to address the concerns and clarify where I think I misstepped.
+#### On _“2024: A Gap Year”_
+
+This year is not a pivot. Handmade Seattle remains interested in technical depth. If you’ve noticed a broader trend of moving away from old-school talks, I think that’s fair to discuss, though I'd ask we don't lump 2024 into that particular story. I explained some of my challenges in the previous newsletter, but ultimately I failed to ensure we included that type of content.
+
+Also, I didn’t emphasize strongly enough just how much I personally want to return to a full slate of technical talks. I crave them too. For anyone who didn't get their fill, I understand. We'll need time to see me build that track record once again.
+
+#### Keynote Talk
+
+Regarding Andrew Kelley's keynote, I should mention I personally want small businesses to flourish in the software space. I want more programmers selling closed-source binaries at a profit, not less. Seeing Handmade devs thriving in this way is my own dream: Andrew knows this! At the same time, I found his formulation of the problems in our industry compelling, even if I disagree with some of his solutions.
+
+#### On My Rant
+
+I said something unfair in the last newsletter:
+
+> “I’m struck by the ignorance from some audience members.”
+
+This was directed at a small subset of interactions I had in person. That doesn’t excuse the comment, and I regret expressing my frustration this way.
+
+To explain, though not excuse: the financial and logistical challenges for Handmade Cities this year were immense. Some costs tripled, venues demanded massive upfront payments, and negotiations were draining. On top of this, I saw firsthand the toll the economy has taken on friends, colleagues, and community members. I let my frustration spill over in the wrong direction.
+#### My Two Requests
+
+To move forward, I ask two things of you:
+
+1. **See 2024 as unique, not the new normal.**  
+    I’m returning to old-school content, with a sprinkle of the non-technical, though sparingly.
+2. **Talk to me.**  
+    Indie conferences allow direct feedback. If you loved a talk or demo, tell me. If you were disappointed, tell me that too. I’ll listen.
+
+I hope this assuages the camp that feels alienated, even if just a little bit.
+#### On Communication
+
+Handmade Cities and Handmade Network are **separate entities** with a [shared vision](https://handmade.network/blog/p/8971-november_2024__the_next_ten_years#30343). If you’re upset about something Handmade Cities did, reach out to me directly. If it’s Handmade Network, Ben Visness is your point of contact. If it's about both of us, email both of us! 
+
+Although we're often happy to be surrogates for each other, it helps a lot when important feedback reaches the right human.
+
+The community spans many spaces—some important folks aren’t on Discord, while others engage primarily online. I think we'll need better ways to connect these groups. We’re keen on solving the challenge of clearer feedback across the various subsections of Handmade.
+#### A Closing Note
+
+I’m still me—still in love with Handmade software (and a couple other things), still re-watching [Eskil Steenberg](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=443UNeGrFoM) for the umpteenth time. I'm still excited to return to programming during Christmas break and avoiding humans :)
+
+If I’ve let you down, please don’t let it fester. Email me, message me, or find me at an in-person event. We might end up not seeing eye to eye anyway, but at least we talked about it. Some of you have already started doing this and that means a lot to me.
+
+Let’s also all try to rest this holiday season.
+
+**All the best,**  
+**Abner**

content/english/news/hms-2024-my-honest-take.md

@@ -0,0 +1,102 @@
+---
+title: "My Honest Take"
+meta_title: ""
+description: "A personal reflection on the latest conference while looking ahead to 2025"
+date: 2024-11-26T05:00:00Z
+image: "/images/hms/indie-organizer.png"
+categories: ["Press Release"]
+author: "Abner Coimbre"
+tags: ["conference", "hms"]
+draft: false
+---
+
+A personal reflection on the [latest](<https://www.twitch.tv/videos/2306676590>) conference while looking ahead to 2025.
+
+![](/images/hms/indie-organizer.png)
+
+### My Dear Audience,
+
+Another conference is in the books!
+
+I’ll be sending ticket holders a private newsletter soon, featuring HMS discounts and promotions to support the conference and the projects we showcased—stay tuned for that!
+
+In the meantime, I’d like to share my own thoughts on how Handmade Cities went this year.
+
+### No More Fundraisers
+
+Thanks to your support, Handmade Cities has a solid future again. This year’s fundraiser and the generosity of independent donors saved us, but I’m thrilled to return as a profitable small business again for 2025.
+
+To everyone who bought tickets, both in-person and online, thank you for keeping this dream alive and well. A special shoutout to those who bought tickets even though they were unable to participate: your belief in this conference made all the difference.
+
+While I hope we never need another fundraiser, knowing the community has my back is a privilege I deeply appreciate.
+
+### Counting the Wins
+
+This year threw us a lot of unforeseen scenarios. A literal storm caused flight delays and untold power outages, and many had to bow out due to personal or professional obstacles.
+
+Despite all that, we pulled it off.
+
+Big thanks to the Seattle Center for keeping us running during the storm. I relied on our fully-hybrid model, which let presenters showcase demos remotely while attendees stuck at home could still join via livestream or chat. Revolt, our private chat server, was a HUGE improvement over Matrix—so much smoother!
+
+Turnout was strong and the effort everyone put into making their presentations happen, despite the odds, left me feeling proud and grateful. You and my staff members made this year work, and it felt more like a community achievement than ever.
+
+### 2024: A Gap Year
+
+This year’s talks covered a mix of topics. Some, like the **File Pilot** podcast, Allen Webster’s **Creative Exercises**, and Mason’s **Vulkan** talk embodied the technical, systems-oriented spirit of Handmade. The demos, too, were incredible showcases of [our ethos](https://handmade.network/manifesto).
+
+At the same time other presentations ventured beyond technical subjects (sometimes far beyond.) While I *personally* enjoyed them and know the majority of the audience loved it, I want to acknowledge that this year leaned more heavily on non-technical content than intended.
+
+The challenge in 2024 was bandwidth. Handmade-style talks demand a unique headspace and, for speakers outside our community, close collaboration. In previous years I had the capacity to guide this process through in-depth discussions. This year, however, my energy was focused on keeping the business afloat. A great number of speaker candidates also expressed they weren’t in the right mindset for preparing technical topics. 
+
+To put it plainly: without relaxing some of our usual expectations, there wouldn’t have been a conference at all.
+
+### When the Industry Hurts, We Listen
+
+I’m struck by the ignorance from some audience members. A few seem unaware of the hardships others face, likely because they’ve never personally known anyone who’s been hit hard. Last week alone, at least half a dozen attendees publicly shared how the industry cast them aside, leaving some nearly destitute. Did you reach out to hear their stories? To ask if they had family support to fall back on? And what about those who stayed silent? I know for a fact there are dozens. They might’ve been sitting next to you in the auditorium.
+
+Multiple presenters told me they’ve provided room and board for competent programmers with nowhere else to go. These aren’t isolated cases—they reflect the cascading effects of a struggling economy. If this isn’t on your radar, I urge you to think about it.
+
+Andrew Kelley’s keynote talk addressed these realities. I never asked him to speak about it; he came to me after hearing the same first-hand accounts I did and asked me for a platform. As leaders of software communities, we couldn’t ignore the suffering we were seeing. You may disagree with his solutions, or wish Handmade Cities focused solely on programming. Trust me, I wish we could too. But when the situation is this insane I’m not going to sweep these issues under the rug. Acknowledging legit struggles and brainstorming solutions is part of who we are. Our indie brand gives us the freedom (and I would argue duty) to question the system and the big players without restraint.
+
+I know most of you understood the situation, and I’m grateful.
+
+### Roadmap for 2025
+
+Here’s the vision my staff members and I currently have for next year. In no particular order:
+
+#### 1. Handmade Seattle
+Our primary goal for Handmade Seattle is to sell out the venue like we did in 2023, this time with full in-person attendance. A packed venue generates good FOMO and amplifies word-of-mouth, triggering exponential growth for the following year (provided the event is a hit). While we achieved the right ticket sales, those attendance numbers fell short, so I’m eager to try again in earnest.
+
+We’re already lining up great speakers, including Billy Basso and Freya Holmér, who will deliver technical deep dives. I’d also love to invite Vjekoslav, creator of File Pilot, to visit us in person too. Stay tuned for more teasers and fresh faces as 2025 unfolds!
+
+#### 2. Handmade Boston
+For HMB the focus is in fine-tuning the masterclass formula. It took two years to perfect Handmade Seattle, and Boston seems to be on the same timeline. Thanks to all your feedback, I feel confident about how to structure the content and logistics for 2025 to deliver excellent masterclasses while keeping the online track timely. Fingers crossed as I implement these ideas!
+
+#### 3. Revenue Diversification
+I aim to strengthen or add revenue streams. For example a merch shop has been in the works for a good while now. Additionally, as the economy improves, I’ll be more proactive about renting job booths early. The big challenge here is finding companies like Kagi and K&C—who can take criticism—rather than those looking to influence my conference.
+
+I’m also planning to expand benefits for conference members, giving you more reasons to support Handmade Cities with monthly donations.
+
+#### 4. Brand Recognition
+We’re boosting our presence across platforms. Alongside Twitch and Vimeo, Handmade Cities now has a [YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/@HandmadeCities) channel!
+
+Beyond conference recordings we plan to stream regularly, featuring interviews, commentary on programming news, and more. The goal is to convert online followers into active participants: whether it’s subscribing to the newsletter, attending local meetups, or buying conference tickets.
+
+*Note: While we’re on YouTube, all videos shall remain demonetized. True independence means running the f\*ck away from closed-source, corporate algorithms to make a living.*
+
+#### 5. Local Meetups
+Handmade meetups are vital to our vision. I’m building a platform to replace meetup.com, helping meetup hosts promote and grow their gatherings to uphold the Handmade ethos. If you’re interested, [subscribe](https://handmadecities.com/meetups) to your favorite city or add it to the wishlist if it’s not yet an official meetup location. 
+
+Want to host one? [Let us know](mailto:support@handmadecities.com) and we’ll set up an interview.
+
+### Abner’s Christmas Reset
+
+I’m hitting pause to become a systems programmer again in peace and quiet.
+
+After an exhilarating but exhausting year (the most demanding I’ve ever had) I’m ready to recover. I plan to spend this time with my partner and closest friends, keeping my circle tiny to conserve what’s left of my social battery.
+
+While I’ll still be involved in wrapping up Handmade Cities tasks—like finishing this year’s recordings and completing the new website pages—please expect me to be far less reachable. I may pop into email or Discord occasionally but don’t be surprised if my responses are slower than a sloth.
+
+I’ll officially be back early January. That’s when I’ll convene my staff and meetup hosts to launch our strategy for 2025. To stay in touch, all you need is to be subscribed to the [newsletter](https://handmadecities.com/news) and optionally join the [Discord](https://handmadecities.com/discord).
+
+See you in the new year. I’ll be rested, recharged, and ready to roll!

content/english/news/hms-2024-tomorrow.md

@@ -0,0 +1,52 @@
+---
+title: "Handmade Seattle 2024 Kicks Off Tomorrow!"
+meta_title: ""
+description: "Here's what to expect from our 10-year anniversary"
+date: 2024-11-19T05:00:00Z
+image: "/images/hms/landing-2024.png"
+categories: ["Press Release"]
+author: "Abner Coimbre"
+tags: ["conference", "hms"]
+draft: false
+---
+
+Check out the schedule on the [conference website](https://handmadecities.com/seattle) to see what sparks your interest.
+
+## Hey Handmade folks,
+
+We have incredible presentations waiting for you: talks, demos, fireside chats, and even an exclusive podcast premiere. Tickets are still available if you’d like to support indie conferences like ours.
+
+### Hybrid, Always
+
+Whether you’re in person or online, we’re all sharing the same track. The entire conference is livestreamed for free.
+
+- **In-person tickets** get you access to the building, private chat server, and official Friday hangouts.  
+- **Online tickets** include the private chat server, where you can ask live questions to speakers.
+
+### Check-in Details
+
+Registration opens at **9:00 a.m. (Seattle Time)** at the **Nesholm Family Lecture Hall**—not a minute sooner! This location can be found on your favorite Maps app. Please pull up your “General Admission” email with the QR code to check in.
+
+I’ll personally welcome and scan you in until I’m on stage—then my staff will take over. You’ll get a **VIP bracelet** and, if it’s your first time, a **Handmade Seattle wristband** (bring yours if you’re a veteran!). The bracelet means no repeated scans, which keeps things smooth.
+
+### Job Booths
+
+Virtually every company I reached out to asked me to try again in 2025, but we secured **two job booths** with many open roles worth checking out (see the companies on the private chat server)!
+
+Even if you don’t match a position perfectly, please apply anyway.
+
+If you’re a thoughtful programmer who values quality, you’re ahead of the game. If you don't get hired, you'll make important connections or get serious advice for your next steps.
+
+### No Trade Show, But…
+
+To keep our event financially viable in 2024, there’s **no in-person trade show** this year. Instead, we’ll have dedicated channels in the private chat server for job booths and demos.
+
+Every company or demoer that's attending in-person will make appearances on stage so you'll know who they are during lunch breaks and hangouts!
+
+Handmade Seattle isn’t just surviving; it’ll thrive again—[storms](https://www.kiro7.com/weather/forecasts/drier-conditions-thursday/PX25E7IDLRAHJEMIPT6KLXWNME/) and all. Some doubted we’d make it this far, but here we are.
+
+We’ve weathered COVID, and we’ll weather this economy too. (*Also seriously buy an umbrella.*)
+
+Your organizer,  
+**– Abner**
+

content/english/news/hms-2024-two-weeks.md

@@ -0,0 +1,64 @@
+---
+title: "Handmade Seattle Almost Here"
+meta_title: ""
+description: "Two weeks left! Here's what's ahead at Handmade Seattle"
+date: 2024-11-07T05:00:00Z
+image: "/images/hms/lecture-hall.jpg"
+categories: ["Press Release"]
+author: "Abner Coimbre"
+tags: ["conference", "hms"]
+draft: false
+---
+
+**Hello Handmade Community,**
+
+Two weeks left! Here's what's ahead at Handmade Seattle.
+
+First I'm excited to announce that we've finally [shipped](/) a lightning-fast replacement for our old, clunky WordPress site. With support from my staff and the Handmade Network team, we've built a site that's smoother, faster, and way easier to navigate. Though we're still adding some of the older content, I think you'll appreciate how much cleaner everything feels:
+![](/images/hmc/landing-light-theme.png)
+Above is the light theme in honor of [Ben Visness](https://handmade.network/about), who loves it for unknown reasons.
+
+**Special Thanks to Jes and Freya**
+
+I want to give a big thanks to [Jes Chuhta](/media/seattle-2023/the-state-of-software-ux/), a talented designer who shaped the Handmade Cities brand into something that really stands out now. Also, a shoutout to [Freya](https://acegikmo.com), who is a recurring speaker and friend of Handmade. Jes made it to Handmade Cities because of Freya. She loved the ethos and has since helped us move beyond “programmer art.” 
+
+Their influence on Handmade Cities is unmistakable.
+
+**Handmade Seattle in Two Weeks**
+
+The conference is nearly here: **Wednesday - Friday, November 20 - 22nd 2024**. 
+
+![](/images/hms/landing-2024.png)
+
+The [lineup](/seattle) is finally coming together. Admittedly, it’s not finalized yet, but it’s really shaping up well. I acknowledge that having to wait is not ideal, because an official lineup is the lifeblood of a conference. That said if you trust us, please [register](https://handmadecities.com/tickets) early so we can push through this year and make a strong comeback in 2025.
+
+P.S. Friday will be all about in-person hangouts. No livestream, just real connection.
+
+**Why Boston Recordings Are Delayed**
+
+This year came down to either closing up shop or finding a way to press on through the bad economy. I chose the latter, which has meant smaller attendance, slow-ass responses from yours truly, and difficulties with advance planning. Even worse it’s also meant some delays, especially the Boston in-person recordings for online ticket holders. If you’re tired of waiting, send me an [email](mailto:support@handmadecities.com), and I’ll make sure to process a refund. 
+
+![](/images/hmb/under-construction.png)
+
+I'm committed to editing and publishing the recordings shortly after Handmade Seattle.
+
+When I asked in [Discord](/discord) if I should have perhaps shut down, you all told me to keep going, and I’m grateful. Most in-person conferences that pause don’t return. Your encouragement has kept me motivated. 
+
+That said, I apologize for this year’s circumstances. I really should have done a better job communicating the state of affairs on the regular.
+
+**We’re Still Alive, and 100% Independent**
+
+In my opinion, surviving a bad year brings immediate change for the better. Take 2020. We pivoted fully online, self-hosted a chat server, hit \#1 on Hacker News, and sold enough tickets to stay profitable. The year after we became fully-hybrid: a model that allowed me to become a full-time business owner, pay staff members, and make it possible for Handmade Seattle to reach people globally.
+
+Now it’s 2024. Amidst the layoffs a startling evolution is taking shape: [Handmade Meetups](/meetups) are growing like crazy. They've become a communal meatspace when there’s no conference. Next year, I'm planning to build upon Handmade Meetups as a serious platform: our very own meetup.com, but without the spying, ads and vendor lock-in. 
+
+Name your favorite city. Imagine traveling to Tokyo and finding a Handmade meetup happening nearby. New friends, cool projects, surprise job offers, conversations on software quality—anywhere in the world.
+
+**See You Soon**
+
+I’m looking forward to [Handmade Seattle](/seattle), rain or shine. I’ll keep you posted with more newsletters as we approach, including daily schedules, speaker slots, and invites to our private chat server.
+
+Your indie organizer,  
+Abner
+
+P.S. I’ve kept references to Majora’s Mask and ChocoVine to a minimum. Please expect a lot to slip through once Handmade Seattle kicks off. That's how I decompress.