The AI Collective · Colorado Springs

Founding Mixer — Team Ops

Thu Oct 15, 2026 5:30–7:30 PM Call time 5:00 ACA · 905 Garden of the Gods Rd, Suite E

Living page — updated Oct 12. Refresh after Wed AM signup pull.

Run of Show

Bookend the stage time. Protect the mingle. Nothing from the front runs long.

Design rule: this is a mixer. People came to meet people. ~42 min of real mingle, stage time spread and short, the one content block kept to a taste.

Open before Thursday: confirm the policy voice (Scaggs / Whitten / Donnie W.) and give Matt A + Dr. Eric a 2-line heads-up on their ~4 min each — so the content block lands clean. Andrea confirmed in person.

The timed flow

Time	What	Who
5:30	Arrivals, drinks, name tags. Red Leg cans on ice, music on, greeters at the door. Opt-out dots handed out.	Greeters / Marsh
6:00	Welcome video — AJ Green. Settles the room, blesses the chapter from national.	Michael cues
6:03	Opening remarks (~5m). The honest frame: builders are here, the 95% is the mission, tonight we find each other. Quick nod to ACA + Red Leg up top.	Michael
6:08	Team intro — lightning (~6m). Each organizer 30–45 sec: name, what you bring, “come find me if…”	Team
6:14	Icebreaker = “who’s in the room” (~10m). Stand-up game (“stand if you build daily / shipped this week / brand new and proud”). Spotlight 3–4 live.	Watkins · Michael
6:24	THE BIG MINGLE (30m). The heart of the night. Contributors find Michael, sponsor talks happen, beginners get welcomed. Protect it fiercely. (testimonial camera running)	Everyone
6:54	“A taste of what’s next” — Keyboards & Policy (~18m). Matt A ~4 (building) → Dr. Eric ~4 (building) → policy voice ~3 → ~5 open reaction. Standing, conversational, light.	Michael MC
7:12	Close (~6m). Event #2 direction + the ask (“21 of you offered to teach or demo — find me”) + bring-the-95% homework + full thank-you to ACA (Scott) & Red Leg.	Michael
7:18	Final mingle / soft close. People linger, swap info, team works the room and captures names. (testimonial camera running)	Everyone

Roles — lock these

Door + greeters: 2 people, name tags, warm welcome. Hand out opt-out photo dots — orange dot = don’t publish me. (No dot = fine to photograph.)
Steven Lucks: our honored ACA elder. Keep him good company, let him talk shop one-on-one, make sure he never stands alone. Scott or Karrie are natural anchors if he needs a familiar face. No mic. He leaves feeling like the elder he is.
Beginner welcome: greeters keep an eye on the newer folks (see Host Map) so the builders don’t swallow them.
Capture: Watkins — stills + testimonial station during both mingles. Needs a helper to run the station. (See Shot List.)
Name capture at close: someone owns the list. That list is the chapter.
N.P. Dawson: if he demos, handle access — he’s deaf; quiet corner, visual cues.

Sponsor thank-you lines

Say it warm, twice — top nod + full close.

“Two thank-yous, and I mean both. This room exists because the ACA opened its doors — Scott, you’ve been in our corner since before there was an ‘our.’ And the beer in your hand is courtesy of Red Leg Brewing — Colorado Springs taking care of Colorado Springs. Raise it to both.”

Host Map

A map, not a script. Everyone gets a warm welcome — these are the ~20 who need a real conversation and who owns it.

The one hard rule: nobody stands alone for more than a minute.

Michael — MC, roams Marsh Matt Aponte Dr. Eric Andrea — in person Watkins — on camera

Steven Lucks — keep good company

Our honored ACA elder. Give him real attention, let him talk shop one-on-one, make sure he’s never left standing alone. Scott or Karrie are natural anchors. No mic.

Sponsor / venue leads → Michael + Eric

Justin Bergen (Five3) · Mike Rowe · Andrew Lints (RevFlow) · R. Dale Brunet (“the AI whisperer”) · Amanda Hall · (Keara Vega-Hernandez — also a beginner, below).

All offered to host, sponsor, or find a venue. This is the open sponsor gap closing itself. Goal: a real talk + “let’s connect next week.”

Beginners / protect → Marsh

Jack McKechnie · Jen Loder · Amanda Herber · Matt Curdy · Michael Schuette · Keara Vega-Hernandez.

The actual mission. Make them feel chosen, not lost. Herber & Curdy named real pains (too many tools, no time, privacy) — “that’s exactly why we exist.”

Builders / future leads → Aponte

Paul Parson · Jason Antalek · Nathan Harmon (Diffio) · db cooper · Dev Kumar · Rachel Wood (PhD) · Ruben Sanchez · Colin Woods · Rick Helvey · Keith Sumner · Donnie Williams (NexGen AI) · N.P. Dawson (handle access — may demo his 7-agent setup).

Level 4–5 who offered to teach or demo. Your leadership pipeline. Goal: “would you run or teach a session?”

Founders / policy / strategic → Eric + Michael

John Scaggs (C12) · Stephen Whitten (Logos) · John Rougeux (Flag & Frontier) · David Kurtenbach · Shane Jones · Robert Atkins · Jeremy Millar · Jarret Rodgers · Mendi Mullett · Uriah Kimmig · Brian & Robb Erickson (King Grizzly — brothers).

Policy-voice candidates live here: Scaggs, Whitten, Donnie Williams. Tap one for the content block — give them the heads-up.

🔗 Intros to engineer

Jen Loder ↔ Shannon Pulsipher — both in the AI-for-wellness orbit. Natural pair.
Brian ↔ Robb Erickson — same company; make sure they meet people outside their pair.
N.P. Dawson ↔ Nathan Harmon / Jason Antalek — builders who’ll geek out on his agent setup.
Cluster the policy crowd (Scaggs, Whitten, Rougeux, Kurtenbach) near the content block.

The rest → zone coverage: Marsh door-side, Aponte center, Eric + Michael roaming. Warm hello, “who are you, what do you do.”

Shot List — Watkins

Our landing page runs stock photos + SF testimonials. Thursday is how we swap them for real local ones. Two jobs: stills + testimonial video.

Opt-out dots: orange dot on a name tag = DO NOT PUBLISH. Blur or cut anyone wearing one in post. No clear face goes public without this check.

Before doors (5:00–5:30)

Scout the testimonial corner: quiet-ish, clean background, decent light, away from speakers and bar noise.
Camera on a tripod there. Test audio — the room gets loud; get close or use a lav.
Grab the clean shots you only get once: empty room, signage, Red Leg cans, name-tag detail. The crowd ruins these after 5:30.

Stills — what the landing page needs

One wide HERO — full room, warm, mid-conversation or a stage beat. Landscape.
3–4 candids of small-group talk — different ages/faces, real laughter, someone showing a screen.
2–3 connection close-ups — two people talking, a handshake, someone lighting up.
The icebreaker in motion — hands up / standing. Energy shot.
Michael on the mic + the team — during intros and the content block.
Details — name tags, Red Leg cans, chapter signage, the ACA room.
One group shot near the end — gold for recap and the page.

Aim ~30–40 keepers. Variety beats volume.

Testimonial station — both mingles

Runs during both mingles (6:24 & 7:18). Pull willing folks aside, 15–30 sec each. Aim for 8–12 clips; we need 3 great ones for the page.
On camera, open with: “Mind if we use this on our site and socials?” — a verbal yes is your release.
Prompt (pick one, one answer): “Why’d you come tonight?” · “What do you hope this chapter becomes?” · “Finish this: AI for the rest of us means…”
Get a spread: a builder, a beginner, an ACA member, a woman-owned business, someone who drove in.
Shoot vertical (9:16) first for socials; horizontal too if easy.

After the night

Dump everything to the shared Drive that night or next morning.
Flag the 3 best testimonial clips + top 10 stills for Michael → landing-page swap + recap post.