Building community whereever you are

It was a warm March day. My girlfriend texted me - “With no football on TV, I’m bored”. (We are both huge Denver Bronco fans and watched many games together!)

I texted back - “Come on over. We’ll sit on the back patio, have a beverage, and chat.” I then texted two other girlfriends in the neighborhood. “Come on over for some girl-time and drinks”. Within 15 minutes, my patio was filled with people, laughter, and smiles.

It’s been a while since Chris Short and I took an idea to get the community together casually and turn it into the highly successful Kube Khan at KubeCon Seattle in 2018. From that event to Kube Khan in San Diego in 2019 to now smaller get-togethers with industry friends at various open source events, one thing is consistent - I am able to pull together fun people for casual fun.

Now, I know I am the queen of the “Irish goodbye” and I’m not one to close down the party. But, I do enjoy bringing people together. And I’ve realized I have the skills that make this successful: enthusiasm, openness, inclusion, caring, and a desire to see people coming together to connect, expand their network, and have fun.

And the more I think about it, this is something I’ve always done. Not in a planned way, but by making space and seeing who shows up. Sometimes it turns into something bigger, but most of the time, it’s just conversations and people leaving a little more connected than when they arrived.

So, if we are going to be at the same event, let's get together. Or if you are in southern Colorado and want to sit on a patio, you know where to find me.