Mode Meetup
Jenn and I visited Boston for the first time to attend the 3rd ever Mode Meetup. Despite being Mrs. Types, this was also Jenn’s first real keyboard meetup experience after all these years!
the day before
The trip started with our flight getting delayed 6 hours into a red-eye flight due to the airline overbooking. Quelled with a handsome cash reward, we idly rotted in the musty seats of LAX after determining we’d rather do that than book 2 additional Ubers during rush hour. Luckily this gave me an excuse to continue my progress in Persona 5, which I still have yet to complete after 70 hours.
As soon as we landed the following morning, I met up with Xris from Mode and Matthew Encina from Mod Musings at the famous George Howell Coffee near the Downtown Boston area (Jenn went straight to bed). This cafe was a recommendation from Xris, and after trying a couple cafes, I can attest to George Howell Coffee being the best coffee I tried in Boston during my short trip. We then joined up with some more keyboard friends for a delicious brunch at Buttermilk & Bourbon.
taken by Xris at George Howell Coffee
Due to our itinerary being pushed back, we had to hit the ground running and stop by all the touristy shops before the day of the event!
First stop after brunch, our local Boston guide, Brad (aka Boss Mode), led us down Newbury Street, which carried pretty much any main stream brands you can possibly think of. Walking down this street reminded me a lot of New York but cleaner; the Downtown Boston area and it’s surroundings in general felt like a mix of San Francisco and New York but cleaner. Then, to quench Jenn’s thirst to explore the city, we trudged through a shortened rendition of the Freedom Trail, where we explored the Boston Common, the Granary Burying Ground (where Paul Revere is buried), and the site of the Boston Massacre.
embroidery machine at Muji on Newbury St.
day of
The air was thick with anticipation (+ the humidity of Boston’s summer) as the Mode team set up for the meetup. There was a clip that didn't make it into the meetup video, but Jaicob handsteamed every single tablecloth that was laid out.
As it came time for the door to open, a diverse crowd of people stood lining up outside— local college students, young kids holding their parents’ hands, and some familiar faces of long time keyboard enthusiasts. The event was sold out and the final attendance ended up being around 230.
Matthew Encina unveiled his 2 new collaborations for his X-Ray line, which both looked amazing in person. I’ve built both a regular Protagonist and Bauer Lite and I preferred the X-Ray versions to the units I had.
Nainaigogo MC'd the event!
My personal favorite board at the meetup was nainaigogo’s XG themed commission. That classy deep blue accent had me feeling some kind of way and she did a fantastic job with the infill. The keyboard turnout pleasantly surprised me as there was a good variety of modern customs of all budget ranges, some vintage boards, and a healthy amount of Mode keyboards (it is a Mode meetup after all, but it wasn’t an overwhelming amount of Mode keyboards).
I’ve been attending meetups since 2017 and all these years Jenn never tagged along, but this time the allure of traveling to finally Boston worked. It’s pretty rare my channel features the perspective of a non-enthusiast so it might be interesting to hear Jenn’s perspective as a newbie at her first meetup. The meetup was a healthy 4 hours (meetups of this size don’t really need to be any longer in my opinion unless theres activities/panels/stations) and I had a great time getting to chat with a lot of the keyboard community members of the New England area.
still fascinating to see and type on an OTD build after all these years
the day after (our last day in Boston)
Throughout our short trip, we kept noticing this cafe called “Tatte” (pronounced like “latte” with a t) all around Boston, so on our last day, we finally made time to check it out. It served coffees, teas, pastries, and brunch menus with an Eastern Mediterranean and European twist. We went to the Brookline location near our AirBnB. There were plenty of seating both indoors and outdoors, and our food came out pretty quickly! Jenn got a croissant breakfast sandwich and I got the Lamb Meatball Shakshuka which was absolutely CHEF’S KISS. We went in with no expectation, seeing that it’s a chain cafe, but we highly recommend checking out Tatte if you are in the area!!
Lamb Meatball Shakshuka
We spent the final hours before our flight exploring the beautiful art and architecture inside Boston Public Library, though it would be remiss of me to not say I was lured in by the A/C (at this point, the humidity had the both of us in a chokehold). Then our final stop was at the WNDR Museum, a multi-sensory interactive art exhibit, for a cute little date. We were able to buy our tickets at the door with no wait. Highly recommend checking it out once if you are interested in contemporary art and interactive experiences.
Jenn at the Boston Public Library
I love discovering new music and want to start incorporating it more into my content so at the end of each blog I’ll start sharing an album or song that I’ve been enjoying (similar to what I did in this experimental ending)
Shoutout to artekmis for recommending this album to me!