Monday Meeting

In this open discussion episode, the Monday Meeting community digs into Adobe's new After Effects AI Assistant, agentic workflows and MCPs, the booming market for interactive graphics in Rive, and how AI is reshaping specialization and career strategy in motion design.
This episode covers:
First impressions of Adobe's After Effects AI Assistant: The beta tool promises to build comps from text descriptions, but early reactions raise questions about speed, pricing, and when it's actually worth changing your workflow.
How one agent can replace a stack of AI subscriptions: Why paying for isolated AI features inside each app might be selling yourself short—and how a single agentic workflow with good context can organize Illustrator files, Rive state machines, and more.
Where AI helps and where it doesn't: The tasks worth handing off (labeling layers, hunting down broken expressions, batch settings) versus the ones where you'll spend more time prompting than doing it yourself.
Rive's interactive graphics boom: How the "Flash on steroids" tool is powering live event graphics for NBA All-Star Weekend, Final Four broadcasts, and interactive games—and what that market looks like for freelancers.
How to make developers love working with you: The handoff documentation approach that keeps clients coming back, plus a free open-source Rive player tool shared with the community (link in show notes).
Spotting AI misrepresentation in freelance work: The growing problem of hired artists secretly passing off AI output as handmade—and where the community draws the line on acceptable use.
Hyper-specialization vs. covering more ground: How AI lets artists go deeper into a niche or expand their range to deliver full products solo—and how to decide which path fits you.
Do degrees still matter in an AI world?: A spirited debate on liberal arts education, critical thinking, and what to tell the next generation entering creative careers.
Upcoming Events:
Game Night date TBA—keep an eye on the website and Discord for the official date
Guest episode later this month: Nick and Sam Snyder from Snaggletooth TV on passion projects outside client work (date TBA)
Next open discussion: September 14th
Office hours on Discord on non-podcast Mondays—portfolio reviews, reel reviews, troubleshooting, and hangouts
Ilya is seeking beta testers for a new After Effects expression editor—post in the Discord to join

Visit MondayMeeting.org for this episode and other conversations from the motion design community!

SHOW NOTES:
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⁠⁠IVG Tool Kit
Ilya’s expression editor plugin (needs beta testers!)

This open discussion episode starts with live events, collaboration, and freelance positioning — and one rule: no AI talk. That rule lasts about six minutes.
This episode covers:
How to stay visible without making everything yourself: Why collaborations are quietly doing more for freelance work right now than solo output.
The call opener that gets clients talking: How to turn cold outreach warm, and why leading with your credentials is the wrong move.
Why your reel might not be what's getting you hired: The case for selling your process and your soft skills instead.
The difference between AI slop and AI that actually drives your software: What happens when you hand an approved script to an agent and walk away for coffee — plus the argument for why it's still not worth your time.
How to spot "tool slop" before you download it: Vibe-coded plugins are flooding the market, and provenance is becoming the only real filter.
Where to draw the line with generative AI: The push-button test, and whether gen AI storyboards quietly contaminate everything downstream.
How to talk a small business out of the AI flyer: The argument that actually lands — and it isn't water usage or artist harm.
How to price your work when the client wants an AI discount: Flat rates, rate cards, and who should be paying for those tokens.
On being the tired cheerleader: An honest note about burnout, survivor's guilt from the COVID boom, and the LinkedIn positivity trap.

Upcoming Events:
Game Night: Wednesday, July 29th, 6:30pm Pacific — Gartic Phone is the official game, with optional Mecha Chameleon afterward
Open discussions are held the second Monday of every month
No guest episode scheduled this month — pitch a guest if you've got one!

Visit MondayMeeting.org for this episode and other conversations from the motion design community!

SHOW NOTES:
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⁠IVG Tool Kit
AE Scripts Sale

In this special guest episode, Ben Drake (head of motion) and Shaw Flick (creative director and head of writing) of Pennant Video join the Monday Meeting team to talk about how motion designers can think like writers—from daily writing habits to hooks, structure, and saying more with fewer words.
This episode covers:
Writing as thinking, not word smithing: Why the real skill is finding the underlying message and structuring ideas—and the daily morning practice that builds it.
The writing/motion overlap: Patterns, contrast, rhythm, transitions, problem-and-resolution—how the writer and the animator are solving the same problems.
Less words on screen: Why mirroring the VO hurts retention, how text length quietly drives runtime, and where on-screen words actually earn their place.
Pennant's mid-funnel approach: The "video marketing trifecta"—differentiation, demonstration, validation—and the anthem, explainer, and testimonial work it shapes.
Live script reads as a client unlock: Reading a first draft aloud on the call instead of emailing it—and why it beats the ChatGPT scripts clients tend to send.
Start with the goal, not the deliverable: Digging into what a video needs to do before any craft call, with a Datavant trade-show piece that turned "powered by AI" into a turbine-engine metaphor.
Hooks that actually pull people in: Bucketing ideas into themes, generating in your own head over a chatbot, lenses like "list and twist," and a book recommendation for silencing your "inner ding-dong."
Upcoming Events:
Next Open Discussion: July 13th (second Monday of each month)
Next Game Night: July 29th (last Wednesday of every month, possibly debuting Mecha Chameleon!)
Visit MondayMeeting.org for this episode and other conversations from the motion design community!

SHOW NOTES:
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Pennant Video
Pennant Video "Trust Issues Vol 1"
Datavant video
A Self-Help Guide for Copywriters by Dan Nelken
Everybody Writes by Ann Handley
Do Interesting by Russel Davies
Hey Whipple, Squeeze This by Luke Sullivan
Manifesto Writing
Sony Trapper's of Time

In this open discussion episode, the Monday Meeting team leads a conversation about the emotional side of creative work—processing projects that get canceled, separating your identity from your output, and leaning on community through the freelance feast-or-famine cycle.
This episode covers:
When a project gets shelved at the 11th hour: Why it stings more when you've poured yourself in—and how to tell over-investment from imposter syndrome.
Separating yourself from your work: How to keep your work from becoming your identity—plus a book recommendation that helps.
"The client is not your friend": How to stay emotionally distant while still doing your best work.
Reframing canceled work: How a shelved project can still earn its keep—and why the ownership outlasts the client's approval.
Coping strategies that actually help: The small daily habit that brings back a sense of control when everything else feels out of your hands.
Soft skills over creative: Why how you handle a project going sideways can matter more than the final result.
The feast-or-famine booking cycle: Saying "no," the "full restaurant" effect, and the booking pattern every freelancer keeps running into.
Community as a lifeline: How these calls and the Discord help carry people through rough seasons.
Upcoming Events/Schedule:
Game Night: Wednesday, June 24th (now every last Wednesday of the month), ~6/6:30 PM Pacific—playing Gartic Phone
Next Open Discussion: Monday, July 13th (now monthly, every second Monday)
Off-Monday "Open Office Hours" voice channel on Discord for portfolio/reel reviews—not recorded, so good for NDA-sensitive work
Open to guest hosts and topic requests; new social media memes and challenges rolling out
Visit MondayMeeting.org for this episode and other conversations from the motion design community!

SHOW NOTES:
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The Good Enough Job
Scott Pelley Fired from 60mins
Do What You Can’t by Casey Neistat
Business Model Generation written by Alexander Osterwalder & Eves Pigneur

In this open discussion episode, host Jen Van Horn leads a conversation about unplugging from screens, summer hobbies, and creative projects that get you off the computer.
This episode covers:
Boulder Startup Week recap: Highlights from the AI-heavy conference, an unexpected standout workshop using LEGO to surface abstract ideas, and why networking leads from startup events tend to pay off on a longer timeline than you'd expect.
Explaining motion design to non-designers: Why pitching at conferences and local meetups sharpens how you describe your work in ways your website never will.
Automation as a way off the screen: How vibe coding and AI tools can actually free up time for hiking and other things—and the trap of getting pulled back in to build "just one more" automation.
Tactile creative projects for summer: Laser cutters, zoetropes, flip books, stop-motion experiments, and physical design work that keeps the creative muscles moving without a monitor.
In-camera experimentation over Photoshop: Playing with prisms, plexiglass, LED wands, and actual cameras to make weird abstract imagery and try unfamiliar genres.
Rituals that reset the brain: A grab bag of what the team actually does to unplug—biking, hammocks, gardening, running programs, and small bookend habits that separate work from life.
Visiting Colorado pre-camp: Recommendations for anyone arriving early for Camp Mograph, plus a heads-up about altitude.
Upcoming Events/Schedule:
**Monday Meeting is moving to a monthly format—every second Monday going forward!
Next podcast: Open Discussion on June 8th
Game Night: Wednesday, May 27th
Join the Discord for announcements, office hours, and topic suggestions
Visit MondayMeeting.org for this episode and other conversations from the motion design community!
SHOW NOTES:
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