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Sam's guide

Thursday, September 24, 2026 · San Francisco

How we choose and verify events

Facts first. We never invent speakers, prices, availability, or attendance. Every factual claim traces to a source record you can follow, and event pages show when details were last verified.

Quality over inventory. Our backend ingests broadly; our front page recommends narrowly. Featured events carry an editorial score built from editorial judgment, organizer reliability, substance, distinctiveness, source confidence, and logistical clarity. Popularity and sponsorship don't buy placement — ever.

Labels mean something. “Top Pick” is exceptional and broadly recommendable. “Only in SF” is hard to replicate anywhere else. “Free but Actually Good” clears the same quality bar as paid events. Every label has an internal written rationale.

Freshness is a feature. Sources are crawled on a nightly schedule, and every listing carries the date it was last checked so you can judge it yourself. When a listing hasn't been re-verified recently we say so on the event page rather than letting it pass as current. Stale events are dropped from featured surfaces; canceled events are clearly marked, never quietly deleted.

One event, many sources. When an event appears on multiple platforms, we merge the listings into one canonical page, keep every source attributed, and send registration to the organizer's own destination.