For nearly two years, I’ve worked with teammates I’ve never shared space with in real life. We’ve “met” through video calls, and we know each other well via our constant text chatter at work, through longer-form internal blog posts, and most importantly, through an ongoing banter of GIFs, memes, and emoji reactions in our team … Continue reading A week in Cannes
I travel this weekend to France. After being back at Automattic, the company where I work, for over two years, I will finally get to meet my teammates in person. I drank wine last night to train for the week. On our meetup, we’re going to give flash talks: 3-4 minute talks on any topic … Continue reading How to be good at conversation
Last month, when my poor family suffered snow and wind chills in the negative digits, I was in Mexico for work. We worked hard, I swear. And we also played hard. After a full week of training, testing, troubleshooting, and writing, we took one day to go exploring. My teammate booked a private van for … Continue reading Mayan Ruins in Mexico
On my recent trip to Whistler, British Columbia, I attempted to pack minimally. I reduced shoes to 4 pairs — boots, Vans, flip flops, and running shoes — and I left my camera at home. That last was a big mistake. (As were the running shoes, but we don’t need to talk about that). I … Continue reading Where’s my brain?
It’s that time of year again: time for the Automattic Grand Meetup. As a distributed company, with more than 450 employees in 45 countries, we all work from our home offices, coworking spaces, cafes, airports, airplanes, trains, RVs, and family and friends’ homes for 51 weeks of the year. But in this one week in … Continue reading On my way to Whistler
Last week, during the snowmageddon that buried my family under a foot of snow, I was in Phoenix, Arizona, co-working with my team who I usually only interact with online: team Phoenix. Phoenix in Phoenix. We named ourselves after the mythical creature that rises from the ashes — not after the city — but somehow … Continue reading Phoenix in Phoenix
Butterfly Mind 