Here at Disqus, one of our values is being colorful. Our product is designed to let all sorts of people from all over the internet find each other to have great discussions. We’ve often said that Disqus is the web’s “community of communities” - an environment where all sorts of communities can gather and thrive. We believe that colorful characters are what make the internet a special place...and the same goes for our company! Employees are encouraged to share their whole selves with us, whether that means bringing their expertise from previous workplaces to their projects or teaching us how to juggle (seriously, we’ve had Disqusser-led workshops in everything from bike maintenance to ballet to brewing...and things that don’t start with “b” too). A diversity of opinions and experiences makes us a stronger team, and sharing our passions with each other helps us remember that we’re all humans :)
Because it was just recently Pride Month, and our home city of San Francisco is full of rainbows and love, I thought I’d share a little bit about what’s been going on around these parts, in terms of celebrating our communities.
Earlier this month, we hosted a group of super awesome teens from Maven’s Queer Youth Tech Camp for three days of their two-week camp. On the days the teens were here, they made our office their home. They camped out in our biggest conference room and in some of our common spaces, and we embraced the wild and crazy energy that is inevitable when you have 18 enthusiastic teens building and learning together! I was absolutely impressed with their curiosity and talent - they asked some very insightful questions about what we’re building, and we even got a little bit existential about the nature of communities on the internet. And when I saw their final projects, I couldn’t believe the computer games and apps they had developed in such a short amount of time! These teens are serious business, y’all! Blew. Me. Away. 
Aaaaand the teens voted us “Best Tech Host Site” and awarded us this sweet wooden robot trophy! I’m all verklempt :)
As a small tech company, we don’t always have the resources to give as much as we’d like to, but we do have great office space and big hearts! :) We encourage employees to host meetups and community events here in our SF office, for their own communities (like our Board Gamers and HR Meetups) or for those we’re connected to (like Cassandra or the IGDAF). We believe strongly in the power of community -- and the need to create space to allow those communities to flourish authentically on their own. It’s what we’re doing with our product, and what we like to do in our offline lives as well.
We also joined our friends at SoundCloud (we’re backed by some of the same investors) to march with their employee group, the QueerClouders, in the San Francisco Pride parade. And what an epic parade it was, following the historic Supreme Court decision for marriage equality! It was an honor to be able to support a fellow USV company to march in support of not only our LGBTQ Disqussers, but an entire nation of people who are now able to receive these basic human rights. I’m proud to be a part of the Disqus community, and proud to continue our efforts to support all sorts of communities across the interwebs!
