Building a Community, One Crazy Week at a Time: Reflections on the AI Tinkerers' Journey

It’s 1:30 AM, and here I am, still riding the waves of the past week’s chaos, sitting in bed, trying to put my thoughts into words. If I’m honest, the week has been a surreal blur—exhausting, exhilarating, and everything in between. But as I reflect on it all, one thing is clear: sometimes, the best experiences in life come from diving in headfirst, even when you’re scared out of your mind.

The Weight of Responsibility

Let’s start with the obvious—I was terrified. You see, I’m the organizer of AI Tinkerers in Kuala Lumpur, a chapter of a global community with over 15,000 active builders spread across 26 cities. I’ve only been doing this for three months, but it already feels like a lifetime’s worth of lessons. My latest challenge? Organizing an event called the Prompt Olympics, inspired by a similar event in New York. But unlike the New York chapter, I was working solo, with no product, no plan, and no clue how I was going to pull it all off.

Picture this: I’m in New Zealand, dealing with family matters, while also trying to organize this event back in Malaysia. I had nothing concrete—just a rough idea and a couple of conversations with AWS and some folks from the local user group. And then, suddenly, things started falling into place. We secured a sponsor for the venue and food (shout out to MoneyLion), AWS agreed to provide the prizes, and the user group got on board. It all sounded great on paper, but in reality? I was freaking out.

The Pressure Cooker

I’m not going to sugarcoat it—those days leading up to the event were a pressure cooker. Every little decision felt like it carried the weight of the world. I was nervous as hell, constantly questioning whether my design choices would hold up under the pressure of 100 people simultaneously engaging with the platform. The stakes were high—there were significant prizes on the line, and people weren’t going to be forgiving of bugs in a product that had been cobbled together in less than a week.

"The stress was overwhelming, but it also pushed me to think critically about every aspect of the event."

A Crazy, Serendipitous Timeline

In hindsight, the timing of everything is almost laughable. One moment I'm in New Zealand, and the next, I’m back in Malaysia with just nine days to pull everything together. There was this absurd serendipity to it all, like the universe was testing just how much I could handle. My friend Matt Barty (a friend who would be a major support through this ordeal) and I couldn’t help but laugh at the ridiculousness of it all. It was like the world decided to cram every possible challenge into one tiny moment, just to see if I’d crack under the pressure.

But here’s the thing—I didn’t crack. I pushed through, even when the odds felt impossible. I stayed up all night, working on the design and implementation, hacking away at the platform, hoping and praying that everything would work out. And somehow, it did.

The Event: A Night to Remember

When the day finally arrived, I was still terrified. But as people started showing up—more than 120 of them, no less—I felt a shift. I gave my speech, nervous but determined, and threw in a little disclaimer about bugs being a “feature” of our community’s “build fast, break things” culture. I wasn’t sure how it would go down, but the response was better than I could have imagined.

The LLM Lock Picking Challenge

The LLM Lock Picking challenge, one of the main events, was a hit. We had people trying to trick an LLM into giving up a secret passcode, and the whole thing was just pure fun. There was this one guy who figured out a way to cheat the system using his Next.js + hydration expertise—he found some global var stored somewhere on the client side. Instead of being upset, I embraced it. He was a stand-up guy, came to me right after to confess, and I ended up inviting him to share his little hack with everyone. It was a hilarious, bonding moment that perfectly captured the spirit of the event.

The Takeaway: Embracing the Power of Doing

As I look back on this experience, there’s a lot to unpack. Sure, there was a fair amount of blind luck involved. But more than that, I’ve come away with a renewed belief in the power of just doing. It’s easy to get caught up in self-doubt, to convince yourself that you’re not the right person for the job. But this week has taught me that with a bit of elbow grease, a willingness to silence that negative inner dialogue, and a determination to push through, you can achieve more than you ever thought possible.

"I want to remember this feeling—this surreal, invigorating sense that I can impact my story, my direction, my fate."

A New Chapter for AI Tinkerers

Looking forward, I’m more committed than ever to building this community in Kuala Lumpur. It’s clear that there’s a hunger for it—a desire for a space where techies can come together, share their passion, and build something amazing. The feedback I’ve received from this event has been incredible. People are excited, engaged, and eager for more. And as exhausted as I am, I’m also energized by the possibilities that lie ahead.

So here’s to the next crazy idea, the next impossible challenge. Because if this week has taught me anything, it’s that sometimes, the best way to move forward is to dive in, no matter how deep the water looks. And who knows? You might just find that you’re a stronger swimmer than you ever realized.