What this is, and whether you are welcome

What: A monthly evening about AI, for people who make things
First one: Thursday, 10 September 2026, doors 19:30
Then: Once a month
Where: kollectiv, 69 The Old High St, Folkestone CT20 1RN
Cost: Free
Run by: Ivan Pedrazas & Tamer Akeil
Email: fam@andcake.dev

The premise

Something has arrived in the middle of how creative work gets made, and most of the conversation about it is happening either in places that are far too excited or in places that have already decided. Folkestone has an unusual number of people who make things for a living. This is a room where those people can talk about it in front of each other.

That is the whole idea. It is not a training course and it is not a support group. Nobody is going to teach you to use a tool, and nobody is going to tell you it will be fine. Once a month, somebody who has actually done something shows the room what they did, and then the room gets to push back.

It is free, it finishes at nine so people with an early start or somebody to get home to can still come, and, for now, none of it has happened yet. The first one is on Thursday, 10 September 2026. What it turns into after that depends quite a lot on who walks in.

Who runs it

FAM is run by Tamer Akeil and Ivan Pedrazas.

If you want to speak, want to bring something, want a photograph taken down, or want to tell us we have got something wrong: fam@andcake.dev. It is read by a person.

How the evening runs

Doors and the bar at 19:30. Somebody shows something at 19:00 for about half an hour. Questions from 19:30, which is where it should get interesting. From eight to closing time is networking time: people talking to each other, which is where the actual point of the evening tends to happen. Really! Out by 21:00 or a bit later.

Getting in: Step-free from the street. Everything happens on the ground floor, so there are no stairs and no lift to worry about. There should be an accessible toilet. There is no hearing loop. If that matters to you, email us before you come and we will work something out.

Getting there: Folkestone Central is the nearest station. There is parking nearby. There is a bar and it takes card. There is food.

If there is something else you need to know before you commit to coming, ask us, we would much rather answer than have you not come.

Questions people actually ask

I think AI is bad for artists. Am I welcome?: Yes. Genuinely, and not in a we-tolerate-dissent sort of way.; A good number of the people in this room think some version of what you think: that the training data was taken, that the work is being devalued, that the people cheering loudest are not the people who will carry the cost. Those arguments get made here out loud, by people whose livelihoods are actually on the line, and nobody gets talked down to for making them.; What we ask of you is what we ask of everyone: argue with the strongest version of the other person's position rather than the easiest one, and argue with a person rather than at a room. Past that, come and be furious about it. It is a better evening when somebody is.

Do I need to bring anything?: No. Yourself, and money for the bar if you want a drink. No laptop, no notebook, nothing to read beforehand.; If you have made something you want to show, bring it, but that is an offer, not an expectation, and most people never do.
Will I be photographed?: Probably a few times, across a whole evening. The photographs go on the archive page and occasionally on Luma.; Tell whoever is on the door that you would rather not be, and you will not be. You can also email us afterwards and we will take a photo down, no reason needed, no questions asked, usually the same day.
Is it going to be a sales pitch?: No. Nobody pays to speak here and nobody sells from the front. If a talk turns into a demo of something you can buy, that is a mistake we made in the booking and we would want to know about it.; We have no sponsor at the moment. If that changes it will be somebody helping with the cost of the room and the drinks, it will not buy anybody the microphone, and we will say plainly who they are.
Do I need to know anything about computers?: No, and the evening is built on the assumption that most of the room does not. Anyone speaking is asked to explain things the way you would to a friend in a pub rather than to a colleague at work.; If somebody uses a word you do not know, ask. You will not be the only one who did not know it, and asking out loud is genuinely doing the room a favour.
I do not know anybody. Is that going to be awkward?: This is the first one, so nobody knows anybody. There is no group that has already formed and no in-jokes to be outside of, and that will never be quite as true again as it is in September.; Come at half six rather than five to seven anyway, walking into a half-full room is easier than walking into a full one, and somebody will talk to you before the talk starts.
Can I show something I have made?: Yes, and please do. Email us and we will find you a slot, five minutes is usually plenty, and you do not have to be finished, or good, or sure about it. Half-done and interesting beats polished and safe.
Can I come if I do not drink?: Yes. There is a bar and there are also soft drinks and tap water, and nobody keeps count. Plenty of people come straight from work and leave straight after.
What does it cost?: Nothing. Register on Luma so we know how many chairs to put out, and turn up.

Come to the first one

Thursday, 10 September 2026 at kollectiv. It is free, it will take you twenty seconds to put your name down, and the archive is currently a blank sheet waiting for the first roll.

Save me a spot

Booking is handled by Luma. It's free, it takes about twenty seconds, and it's how we know roughly how many chairs to put out.