Wow, what a party!

One of the most exciting parts of my moving to San Francisco was my ability to take part in Atlassian Summit 2010.  Last year I attended as a customer and this year I was absolutely honoured to attend this year as an Atlassian employee.

This years event was a total success.  Over 550 customers, partners and Atlassian attended this year which was almost double the number of last years event.  It was held on 3 floors of the beautiful Intercontinental Hotel in downtown San Francisco.  There were countless presentations, talks, product demos and interactions with customers.

Prior to the event some of the Atlassian staff from the US, Europe, Australia and Brazil gathered at Ocean Beach for an amazing bonfire by sunset.  The weather quickly turned cold and I was the only guy wearing shorts and sandals, guess you can tell I’m Canadian!

Wednesday started off with Atlassian Starter Day which I was able to watch the entirety of.  It was an opportunity for customers to watch presentations by Michael Arrington of TechCrunch, Glenn Kelman of Redfin, Steve Ginsberg of Pandora and many others.  The day was packed with great talks and really resonated with me considering I’ve spent pretty much all of my professional career working at start-up companies.

In the evening was the Summit Reception, where customers are partners would register and meet over free drinks and browse the partner pavilion.  It was a great introduction to the event and also an awesome opportunity to interact with customers from across the globe.  I was able to meet people from Australia, Norway, the UK and even Canada!

That night was the second incarnation of the infamous Firewater Party.  Last year the guys from Appfire threw an amazing party and this year they totally outdid themselves.  They managed to score the Presidential Suite in the hotel, which was fully decked with snacks, booze, entertainment and wicked good times.  Big props to them putting on another great event!

During the next evening was the Atlassian Summit Bash, held at Jillian’s Pub.  Atlassian rented the whole bar and supplied all you can eat burgers, fries and fajitas!  Of course there was an open bar, in addition to billiards, poker and a Rock Band tournament.  This was a great opportunity to meet customers and partners in a casual environment.  Needless to say there were some ill people at the office the next day!

On Thursday I had the opportunity to staff the AtlasBar.  This was Atlassian’s homage to Apple’s Genius Bar, which provides the opportunity for customers to ask questions to the experts on our various products.  It was cool to get feedback from real customers and help solve their problems.  I remember asking questions as a customer last year, so it was great to be on the other side!

There’s a pile of photos online from the 3 days, just take a look on Flickr for the #atlassian tag.

For those who may have missed it, we have posted every single presentation online for your viewing pleasure.  I highly recommend checking out the Keynote embedded below to get an idea of what’s in store for Atlassian in the coming year:

Looking forward to seeing you at Atlassian Summit 2011!

Dylan

Phew, and what a crazy month it has been!  My initial plan to post every week was obviously not followed.  But now that my beloved Canucks are out of the playoffs, and the greatest TV show ever has finally come to a close, I’m hoping to have more time to provide updates via blogging.

Moving In

Not long after I arrived in SF, I was lucky enough to snag an awesome apartment in the Glen Park area.  This is a tad south of the city, but close enough to make it to the center of San Francisco in about 30 minutes by walking/BART.  The area is rich in culture, a blend of Hispanic and Chinese really shows the diversity of this city.  The apartment itself is not far from Mission Street, which has an amazing array of food markets, restaurants and bars.  I’m about a 10 minute walk from the grocery store which is really handy, and there are plenty of shops within 2-5 minutes that will sell a cold case of beer for cheap.

Over the weekend I came across the Broken Record, which is a local pub about 15 minutes away.  While it does seem like a dive (heck, the Yelp listing names it as a dive bar), the people were very friendly and the food was delicious.  This is a whiskey bar, and while I’m not a big whiskey drinker the locals told me I will be shortly.  Pretty cool stuff!

Transportation

As mentioned above my new place is quite close to the Glen Park BART station, which makes it easy to explore the city.  However, my main mode of transport these days is by bicycle.  I invested a few hundred dollars in some commuter bike gear (portable pump, night lights, bag, etc.) and so long as you stay away from the hills, San Francisco is an easy city to navigate.  I can usually get to work in about 15 minutes.  In addition, over the weekend I did a bike ride to Golden Gate Park in about 45 minutes.  From there it’s an amazing ride back home long Ocean Beach on the west coast of the city, following the Pacific Ocean.

There are times that a vehicle would be handy though, like making a trip out to IKEA in Oakland to load up on some funiture.  Enter Zipcar!  Zipcar is an awesome car-sharing program with many locations in San Francisco.  Basically, you go online to reserve a vehicle for a set amount of time, and pay about $9/hour.  This covers the car rental, gas and insurance.  I paid about $25 total to rent a car for a few hours, head out to IKEA, load it up and bring it back.  I don’t plan to use the service that often but it’s really handy to have in case you need to drive somewhere.

Life @ Atlassian

It’s been a busy first month working for Atlassian and getting ramped up with the team.  I love our office located in the Mission District, it’s easy to get to and there’s an unlimited supply of restaurants to check out during lunch time.  The team has been amazingly supportive and it’s been exciting to meet new people and hear their stories.

We’ve also had some amazing events, from Kayaking in Sausalito to a company picnic on Dolores Park.  Too much fun I tell ya!

June is going to be a busy month for us, as the 2nd Annual Atlassian Summit will be taking place on June 9 - June 11.  Last year I attended as a customer, this year I’ll be attending as an employee.  I’m booked to work Starter Day, as well as the AtlasBar which will be an awesome experience.  What more, there will be lots of good times had with the Welcome Reception, Firewater After-party and Summit Bash.  And the best news of all is that this years event is sold-out.  I’m excited to have a blast with our awesome customers and get a better understanding of how they use our products!

Events

Of course there’s lots of do in San Francisco.  As mentioned in my previous post I’m a big concert fan so I’ve been trying to get to as many live events as I could.  A quick recap of what I’ve seen so far:

• Jakob Dylan at the Regency Ballroom - An amazing venue with some awesome tunes.
• Jeff Garlin at Cobb’s Comedy Club - My first real comedy show, Jeff was hilarious!
• San Francisco Giants vs. Arizona Diamond Backs - Explored AT&T Park and got to see the Giants come out with a win!
• Mardi Gras - An awesome display of culture in the Mission District with food, music and dancing

Next up on the plate is Thrice this week back at the Regency Ballroom.  I’ve also got The Black Keys lined up for the fall, as well I’ll be heading back to Cobb’s to see Tracy Morgan later in the summer.

That’s all for now!

Dylan

The End

Absolutely amazing - that’s basically how I describe the final chapter of LOST.  An emotional closure to the most amazing TV series ever was exactly what I was looking for.  I laughed.  I cried.  I was completely satisfied with the ending, yet the show will live on and open to interpretation as to what exactly happened.  And that is what makes this TV show just so damn special.

In the end, Lost taught is that it is not the destination, but the journey of life and the people that you enjoy it with along the way.  This was particularly hard for me to digest on Sunday, being away from many of my family and friends.  But that being said, it made me realize how lucky I am to have such awesome people in my life.

What I was really excited about was that the show ended on it’s own accord.  The producers ended Lost exactly the way they wanted, and not because the network thought it was necessary to end the show.  Because of this, I’m happy with the final outcome.

I won’t go into a full diagnosis and recap of this episode, simply because it can’t be dissected with only one viewing.  The amount of content in The End was simply mind boggling.  And while it didn’t touch on much of the mythology of the show as many had hoped, it was the most character-driven episode in 6 years.  In the end, Lost wasn’t about some silly island.  It was about the characters and how they bonded through their journey.

I think this quote from Christian Shephard basically sums up the series:

This is a place that you all made together so you could find one another. The most important time of your life was when you were with these people. That’s why you are all here. No one does it alone Jack. You needed all of them and they needed you.

There’s a lot of criticism for the finale, if the producers simply patched something together.  I call bullshit, but I do like this quote from Miles Straum that they may have thrown in just to address that:

I don’t believe in a lot of things, but I believe in duct tape.

And now as I try to find something to fill the void that is Tuesday night, I look back on this epic story and how it has changed me and brought me closer to the people I care about.  How many TV shows can you say that have done that?

Thank you LOST!

Dylan