2015, where did you go? Is it me, or does each year seem to go by faster and faster? It certainly went by in the blink of an eye for me. One interesting thing to note, is that Disqus’s Community Service Program has been going strong for 1 year! Go Disqus!
Last night at Disqus HQ, we hosted our fifth Game Night event. For those unfamiliar, Game Night is our quarterly board game event where we welcome folks for a night of board games, food, and drink. While we host an internal event for Disqussers every month, it’s the public events with the local community that I look forward to the most.
This past Friday, a few employees from Disqus and I volunteered our time to pack food boxes at the SF Marin Food Bank. You may recall that a few Disqussers participated in a similar activity at the SF Marin Food Bank last December, but what was different this time around was that we partnered up with a group called Startups Give Back.
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 :)
Earlier this week, we hosted a good ole fashioned company BBQ at Crissy Field in San Francisco - it was about time that we brought the team together for a little fun in the sun fog!
In July, we started a series called Life At Disqus. Inspired by Humans of New York, this project aimed to share the story of Disqus through the people who work here. Every week, we introduced a new Disqusser, sharing insights into their passions, hobbies and aspirations.
During the course of running Life at Disqus, I was reminded of one important fact: technology isn’t what makes communities so special - it’s the people. We’re a team of geeks, mavericks, and quirky characters passionate about what we do, just like the types of eccentric and tight-knit communities we hope to foster every day through the products we build.
I hope you enjoyed following along as much I did being able to bring these stories to life. Here now is a recap including some extra tidbits we didn’t publish the first time around.
Photo via @SaysHelen
It's like 10:30 pm and I'm still in the office.
In office team dinner during the Hackathon.