This past week was the annual Automattic Grand Meetup, where (almost) everybody at the company gets together in the one place. This was my fourth GM, and you can read about the previous years here: 2016, 2015, 2014.
This year we returned to Whistler – a ‘village’ that lies to the north of Vancouver, in Canada. I went a few days early to explore Vancouver, and that will be the subject of a post in the next few days.
Whistler is famous for its scenery, and outdoor activities like mountain biking, and all of that jazz. A bit of a contrast for a company who spend the majority of their time hunched over laptops perhaps. This year, I finally went up the mountain on the gondolas to take a look around.
After you make the initial descent, there is a the ‘peak to peak’ gondola ride. This is apparently the longest unsupported lift span in the world, at a length of almost 2 miles, and is the highest of its kind – with an elevation of over 1,400 feet. Despite starting off seemingly normal, when the valley opens up, it is not for the faint of hearted.
I have no idea how on earth they managed to build this thing.
If you’re feeling brave, you can get a glass bottomed carriage.
It started raining when we were up, which brought out some really nice textures.
Don’t look down.
At the top there was a strange beaver like animal that was called a ‘hoary marmot’, or ‘whistler’, after a certain noise that it makes. The village was originally named ‘London Mountain’ (apparently because of the fog that rolls in from time to time), but then renamed after this beast later on.
Lift aside, the week was spent working on projects, talking about things to come, and meeting colleagues for the first time. With over 600 people from all around the world, there was a lot of introductions to be made – even for seasoned Automatticians. Here are some faces:
We finished off the week with the closing party…
Lots of portraits, as trying to focus an f0.95 lens on a dancefloor is virtually impossible (!).
Til next year…