Community knowledge disappears into the scroll.
In a large community, the useful answer often already exists—someone posted an event, shared a contact, or recommended a place. Finding it again is the problem. People arrive with different goals and limited time, while the information they need is distributed across messages and links.
Leading a community of more than 5,000 members gave me a close view of that friction. I built AfroTech Guide to turn some of that informal knowledge into an experience people could actually navigate. It is a community-built resource, not a claim of official event affiliation.
A guide with a structured foundation.
The mobile-first public experience brings together approved people and events, onboarding and correction flows, and curated Houston dining recommendations. The documented food directory contains 90 listings across 15 cuisine categories. The structure makes the information useful without turning every interaction into another group-chat request.
A connected AI experience extends the underlying directory into conversational discovery, comparisons, planning, and editable introduction drafts. The MCP App UI gives supported AI hosts a structured way to display records and plans. Public website features and connected AI features have different release scopes; not every underlying module is currently exposed in the public guide.
A recommendation should still point to something real.
Record identity and validation carry through search, comparison, recommendations, and saved plans. A changed or unknown record cannot simply be treated as valid because an assistant included it in an answer. Planning accounts for conflicts, buffers, and stop limits, and a save is only described as complete after the backend confirms it.
Private account state and contact fields remain separate from approved public records. Introduction drafts are written for the user to inspect and edit; the product does not quietly message another member. These details protect the trust that makes a community directory worth using.
A useful bridge between the room and the internet.
The project has grown from a directory into a public guide and a connected planning experience. Its value is in making community information easier to act on: find a person, compare an option, plan the day, or begin a thoughtful introduction.
Automated tests cover record lookup, account state, planning, and host interactions. Real device and AI-host acceptance remain separate checks. The community size and directory inventory provide context, not a claim that every member is an active application user.
About this case study +
Current guide README, public release-scope notes, MCP App UI audit, original case study, and my recorded community leadership experience. Directory counts reflect the documented inventory.
Researched and updated October 3, 2026.