What is Indie Party?

Indie Party is a fun and engaging virtual event designed to inspire creativity and collaboration among independent creators. Participants complete fun challenges in a playful and social atmosphere to bring their ideas to life.

In September 2024, we will be kicking off the very first Indie Party. All are welcome and this one is 100% free with no strings attached. Future parties will cost money (it takes a lot of time and resources to facilitate) so this is your only chance to join for free!

Why join Indie Party?

Creative endeavors are thrilling journeys that require clear milestones, social support, and meaningful feedback to truly bring ideas to life. While envisioning your idea is exciting, turning it into reality is a challenging process.

In many ways, creative endeavors resemble training for endurance events like marathons, bike races, and triathlons. They demand time, dedication, and discipline. At Indie Party, we believe creators can benefit from the key characteristics of endurance events:

🏁 Clear milestones

Anybody can say they want to complete a triathlon but nobody goes from couch to triathlon in a day. It takes months of hitting small milestones to build up the strength and endurance to be able to complete a triathlon.

So why do so many people believe they can bring an idea to life overnight? It takes weeks to months of brainstorming, learning, planning, creating and iterating to bring ideas to life. Indie Party leverages gamification to make hitting milestones feel addicting and more motivating so you can accelerate from idea to execution as quickly as possible.

Social support

Imagine running a marathon alone with nobody else running alongside you. Would you feel as energized to run and to do your best?

There’s no need to pursue your best ideas alone. Indie Party is your opportunity to hit your creative goals with friends who are experiencing the same challenges as you.

💬 Meaningful feedback

Transforming an idea into reality requires thoughtful feedback and iteration. By sharing your project with others in the Indie community, you can expect to receive valuable insights from fellow participants and judges, helping you refine your idea and identify areas for improvement.

What kind of projects will there be?

Indie Party is a space for creatives and builders to create whatever they want, like:

• Music

• 🎨 Art

• Apps

• 🎲 Games

• ✍ Creative writing

• Design specs

• 👩‍💻 Open source projects

• 💡 Anything you can imagine...

If that is too broad for you, we asked a few facilitators of the event (who may also be judges) to express what types of projects they would love to see.

I would love to see projects that help make boring things fun, and projects that help group coordination through gamification (encouraging people to get involved in volunteering, politics, etc), and projects that help people express a more artistic side than a traditional "job" would normally encourage.

— Nico Valencia

I would love to see projects that blend art and technology in some way that can only be done by the person creating the project. Projects that make you think and inspire you to view the world differently.

— Katy Jeremko

I'd love to see projects that show the promise of the web as it can be/could be/should've been ... fun, democratic, anti-capitalist, user utility/value over profit and "retention" aka infinite scroll. Also projects that encourage civic engagement at a local level, to show people they can affect positive political or social changes in their neighborhood/village/town/city/communes/vault/etc. Similarly, projects that encourage hyperlocal community, to get people to better know and empathize with the people that are right across the street from them. NOT what NextDoor turned into.

— Ryan Bruels

I want to see people create things that bring them joy and that they want to share with others. One of my favorite creations was a game that I was able to play with friends and family. It was a joy to build and delightful when I witnessed others experience something I poured my energy into. I think everyone should experience this delight with their own creation.

— Sean Connolly

What are the prizes?

We thought long and hard about what types of prizes would fit the primary goal of Indie Party, which is to help people bring their ideas to life. Each prize pack was chosen to help the creative journey in some way, whether it’s gaining new skills, building encouragement or getting some much needed rest after grinding on your idea.

Indie Coffee Pack

Sometimes you just need a little jolt to start your day. We curated some of our favorites from one of our favorite coffee spots on the planet - Costa Rica!

Indie Chill Pack

Indies go hard. Chill out and treat yourself to a day at your local spa for a massage. You deserve it. Up to $300 value.

Indie Reads Pack

We put a lot of thought into our favorite books that can help you live your best indie life. We will announce some of these throughout the event but we’ll leave a few surprises too!

Indie Learning Pack

Hone that next skill, learn a fun craft or just jump into something new with $300 worth of Udemy learning credits.

Indie Recharge Pack

Indies need support from those around them. Celebrate your journey with your family, partner or friends with a special day out. We’ll help you find the right spot and cover the experience up to $300.

How does Indie Party work?

Indie Party is a two week event with multiple milestone challenges and one final challenge.

Participants can earn stars for each challenge where the amount of stars earned will be determined by the event judges.

The challenges will be revealed sequentially with the first one to be announced when the Indie Party officially begins.

If you are curious about what types of challenges to anticipate, expect things that involve fun, creativity, innovation, collaboration and impact.

Participants who earn the top 5 most stars will be eligible for prizes.

Why Indie Party?

At Indie, our mission is to provide the digital space for creatives and builders to express their passions and bring ideas to life.

We believe that fun and engaging social creator events are a perfect way to help people embrace their ideas and connect with like-minded individuals, fostering collaboration and innovation in a supportive environment.

What we love most about Indie Party is that it is ultimately about you, the vibrant creative people out there who are ready to embark on an exciting adventure and bring your ideas to life.