OutsideLLMS

OutsideLLMs was a music-meets-generative-AI hackathon partnering with OutsideLands, the biggest private music festival in the US, slated to be run in mid-August of 2023 when I signed up as a volunteer to help run the venue. After sending a couple extra emails I got a message from the organizer, a leader at Cerebral Valley, who asked that I do some extra administrative work about a week before the event.

I followed through within a couple hours, and apparently managed to impress him, because he soon reached out with another task, and another, and another. Throughout the week we worked on sponsorship marketing, developer outreach, floor plans, and website/social media design, and with each part of the event I worked on I found another door to open. Five days later, I was driving up to San Francisco daily to get equipment, recuit volunteers, meet with the sponsoring companies, and work on setup and catering.

The event itself was chaotic - as the newly-appointed manager, I had to deal with food, volunteer organization, and calls and emails from distressed hackers and confused sponsors. It really put my conflict resolution and coordination skills to the test, but I aquitted myself well and the event was a smashing success.

Of all the million things I learned from running OutsideLLMs, the lesson that stands out the most is that there’s nothing out of reach. The amount of responsibility and trust on my shoulders from something as simple as my saying “Done! What’s next?” was massive, and despite having no experience with much of what I led, I led it well and created a fantastic product. It’s the attitude and the soft skills that lead to being able to learn anything on the job!