British Columbia – Kathryn Presner

A preamble (starting at the end)

Waiting to board the plane from Vancouver to Montreal – on my way home from this year’s Automattic Grand Meetup (GM) – my colleague told me how much he appreciated what I do to welcome fellow Canadians to Automattic. “It might not be said often, but it’s always appreciated.” An older man also waiting to get on the plane turned to me and asked, with a smile, “Your boss?” I was confused at first. Why would he assume he was my boss? Maybe because he was a man? Or maybe it’s just uncommon for colleagues – without a hierarchical boss/employee relationship – to show overt appreciation for each others’ work. In any case, I found it interesting, and it made me think.

***

Last week, nearly 600 of my co-workers and I gathered again in Whistler, British Columbia, to spend time with each other at our annual all-company get-together. For the first time, I decided to teach a class (CSS: Basics and Beyond) instead of attending one myself or doing a project. While it was a lot of work to put together three days of material for the workshop, I had a ton of help from three wonderful colleagues, and it was a gratifying experience to help boost the CSS coding skills of our co-workers.

Other highlights include an attempt to see the aurora borealis (we didn’t – but the clear sky and endless stars were still breathtaking), a hike to Brandywine Falls with some of my theme-team colleagues, and a nice walk to Alta Lake.

It was a low-key GM for me this year – full of reflections on how it could possibly be my sixth one, how quickly the time passes, what the future holds for me, and how much I appreciate my friends and colleagues at Automattic. People who appreciate me in turn.

Want to see more from Automatticians about this year’s Grand Meetup? Check out the #a8cgm tag on WordPress.com or Instagram.

The Canucks (Canadians)

Closing-party shenanigans with my team

My friend Val and I

My team with someone who couldn’t be at the GM Photoshopped in!

If you know what these are, you’re probably Canadian! Courtesy of my teammate Laurel.

social media photos with the #a8gm hashtag

#a8gm social media stream

Me and 2 colleagues with a cardboard cutout of Justin Trudeau and a bear in the background

Posing with the PM, who upstaged the bear this year

Golf course, pine trees, and mountains in background

Whistler golf course

Brandywine Falls

Hike to Alta Lake

Steller’s jay

Landscape with turquoise lake and pine trees

Brandywine Falls hike

A GM in Canada

This year I got to experience an Automattic Grand Meetup in my homeland for the first time. Granted, it took place in Whistler, British Columbia, 5000 km away from where I live, but it was still Canada! It was fun to watch nearly 500 of my colleagues encountering everything from poutine to the stunning Coast mountain range for the first time. They were even struck by small things I take for granted, like the ubiquitous Canuck politeness, in the form of “sorry” and “please” on signage.

The week was jam-packed, even more so than my last four Grand Meetups. (Has it really been five already? Seems impossible!) Highlights of the week include a class on WordPress plugin development taught by code wrangler Jennifer (I made something! And it’s on GitHub!); icebreakers and brainstorming with my theme division-mates; organizing an afternoon of painting for my colleagues, who blew me away with their creativity!); spotting a black bear (OMG!) munching on foliage by the side of the highway; swooping across mountaintops in the spectacular Peak to Peak gondola; and attending a thought-provoking workshop about diversity and inclusion by an outstanding facilitator, Y-Vonne Hutchison. And of course, countless chats with friends/co-workers from all over the world and a lot of good food. Oh, and I invented a cocktail that was one of three chosen to to be served at the closing party. (Automojitto! It was blue and yummy!)

As we’re a company full of bloggers, many of my colleagues have posted accounts of their week in Whistler as well. You can check out some of them under the #a8cgm tag on WordPress.com.