Office Hours #76 · 8 October 2026
September
went
global.
A recap of the community's month, with three new pillars and a $65,000 surprise.
The monthly celebration
Celebrating
the community.
The community team's monthly celebration returns. Head of Community Sam Schneidman says the story of September was that the community went global: 18 in-person events across five continents, Base Camp launched inside the app builder for RSVPs and builder groups, and Japanese, Portuguese, and Spanish channels opened with ambassador leads.
The team shouts out the September vibe sprint winners, highlights Lily Blick for running Design Week, and celebrates ambassador Patrick, who is surfing across Europe in a camper van and meeting builders as he goes. AJ, Old Dev, and Matt are named September's Community Pillars, a monthly Discord role that comes with a year-long profile badge.
It ends with a world-first leak for the community: a month-long game-building challenge worth $65,000 with Overwolf's Nitro team, a Base44 Twitch channel, and a Nitro guest session. Sam then keeps the stream open as a drop-in.
Vibe sprint winners
September's
champions.
- 01
Build for Good
Mimorei by Yuki, from Japan's ambassador community.
- 02
Back to School
Mirror Mirror by Megan, a digital makeup walkthrough.
- 03
Redesign Rumble
Motif Pro by Old Dev, which also won $500.
- 04
Pillars
AJ, Old Dev, and Matt, chosen by staff and peers.
7 lessons
What made
September.
- 01
September went global
18 in-person events across five continents, with Antarctica still to come and over 25 already scheduled for October. Find them on Base Camp.
- 02
Base Camp puts community in the product
Pitched by Sam and Monica at a company hackathon, Base Camp lives in the app builder's Community tab for events, RSVPs, and partner builder groups worldwide.
- 03
Language channels
Japanese, Portuguese, and Spanish channels launched with ambassador leads. Sam Schneidman believes Base44 is the first vibe-coding company to invest this heavily in non-English community.
- 04
Vibe sprint winners
Build for Good went to Yuki's Mimorei, Back to School to Megan's Mirror Mirror, and Redesign Rumble to Old Dev's Motif Pro, which also won a $500 prize.
- 05
Spotlights
Lily Blick ran Design Week like a teacher. Ambassador Patrick has been surfing across Europe in a camper van, meeting builders and even holding client meetings on the beach.
- 06
Community Pillars
AJ, Old Dev, and Matt are September's pillars, chosen for positivity, support, and education. The Discord role rotates monthly, and the profile badge lasts a year.
- 07
Cheating disqualifies
Launchpad votes only shape the top ten. Six otherwise valid Game Jam entries were removed for voting for themselves.
What's
coming next.
Leaked to the community on 8 October 2026 ahead of the official announcement. Check official channels for terms.
- Update 01
A $65,000 game-building challenge
Base44 is partnering with Overwolf's Nitro team on a month-long game jam starting around the end of October, with a voting phase towards the end of November. Full details were due on Monday.
- Update 02
A Base44 Twitch channel
It launches on the Friday of the challenge's first week with live game building.
- Update 03
Nitro guest session
A senior Nitro representative will join an Office Hours session to talk about game-building practices and the competition.
- Update 04
Security Week next week
Sam and Robert cover security basics, a drop-in with a security FAQ app, and go-live readiness. The following sprint asks you to build a guide on something you know.
- Update 05
Builder groups and community approvals
Builder groups are expanding across Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia. Community applications submitted through Base Camp are on hold while minimum criteria are set, and everyone will be emailed a decision.
- Update 06
Game Jam closes, Build a Band opens
The Game Jam closed 45 minutes after the awards, with winners announced on Monday. Build a Band started straight after.
After-show
questions.
Every substantive question from the hour, including answers the hosts could not confirm.
10 of 10 answers
The Discord role lasts one month and rotates to three new people. The profile badge stays for a year from when it goes live.
AJ for his building talent, Old Dev for his growth in builds, activity, and helpfulness, and Matt for being approachable and helping in voice chats. Peers had input too.
Check the Community tab → Base Camp for events near you.
None have been approved or declined yet. The team is still setting minimum criteria, and everyone will get an email either way.
No. Sam wishes he could.
The mobile team is rebuilding the app as fully native, component by component. Fixes are waiting on Apple and Google review.
Accuracy mostly depends on the device camera, and there are npm packages that improve the camera overlay. Sam's own app strips the background from cards and measures centring from a photo, so flower identification is very achievable.
It already has one. Base44 is backend as a service.
No. Please keep entering. Judging looks at quality, not popularity.
Printful.
Watch the original
The awards,
live.
Open on YouTube Prize and challenge details were a pre-announcement and could change. The session runs as an open drop-in after the awards segment.
Bring this to your next build
Show up.
Lift others.
- 01
Check Base Camp for in-person events and builder groups near you.
- 02
Help others in Discord. That is how Community Pillars are chosen.
- 03
Start sketching game ideas now for the month-long $65K challenge.
- 04
Never vote for yourself. Entries are removed for it.
- 05
Use your own language channel if English isn't your first language.
Keep learning
Further reading.
- Base Camp
- Build a Band Launchpad
- Base44 merch store
- Session VODs
Unofficial community archive · All Office Hours