2023 Year in Review

This year has been an eventful and fulfiling one, both in my professional life and personal life.

WordCamp Asia 2023

It was incredibly rewarding to finally be able to host WordCamp Asia in Bangkok this year, after many years of preparation and delays caused by the pandemic. Collaborating on a long-term project with organizers from across Asia was a unique learning experience. Navigating the challenges of uniting people with diverse cultures and personalities was a journey of trial and error. While it wasn’t always smooth sailing, the event ultimately turned out to be a great success. I’m deeply thankful for the years of dedication from everyone involved, which was essential for sharping the event.

Moving to Yakushima

In February, we moved from Tokyo to Yakushima. Thanks to our architecture/consturction company, our first experience building a house from scratch turned out to be a pretty satisfying experience.

From early summer to fall, we went to the beach, mountains, rivers, and waterfalls with my friends from Tokyo who came to visit and my husband’s parents who visited from the U.S.

Work

I have been working at Automattic for over 13 years now (!). After serving as the WordPress.org Community Manager for four years, I transitioned to a new role in June. I’m now focusing on promoting contribution activities across the WordPress project.

I hope to be able to provide even more effective support for converting contributors’ motivation to sustainable action from mentorship method, rather than an instructional approach.

Team and department meetups took me to Rome, Tokyo, and Malaga. I spoke at WordCamp Tokyo and Open Source Summit Japan, and appeared on the Search Engine Journal and WPTavern podcasts.

I still work at home, but I now have a small room dedicated to office space in my new home.

Community

I started an online meetup called Community Building Workshop Japan with Junko, GOUTEN san, and Shusei in the summer.

In my local communiy, I’ve helped with the elementary school PTA’s newspaper and sold popcorn at kindergarten events. I enjoyed getting to know new folks through kids and closely interacting with my parents and relatives this year.

Miscellaneous

I continue to learn Spanish on Duolingo, at a slow/relaxed pace. In the second half of this year, I enjoyed listening to more book summaries on Headway and Blinkist. I got to pick up a lot of books in areas that I would have never been able to finish otherwise.

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Next spring, our son will start elementary school. Our daily schedule will change a bit with that transition, but I hope we will have more time to enjoy the life on this island even more.