PEN PALS WANTED
2023-11-13
Semi-inspired by a similar project by Kev Quirk, I've got a project I want to
run on my blog in 2024.
I want you to be my pen pal for a month. Get in touch by emailing
penpals@danq.me or any other way you like and let's do this!
(IMG) Traditional inkwell and pen, the latter held in an inkstained finger grip, being used to write a letter on unbleached paper atop a wooden desk.
I don't know much about the people who read my blog, whether they're ad-hoc
visitors or regular followers (Not-knowing who reads my blog might come at
least in part from the fact that I actively sabotage any plugin that might
give me any analytics! One might say I've shot myself in the foot, there.).
(IMG) Dan, wearing a black t-shirt and jeans, sits hunched over a keyboard with Pride-coloured keys, looking thoughtfully at a widescreen monitor. On the monitor is a mocked-up screenshot showing site analytics for DanQ.me, but with question marks for every datapoint.
So here's the plan: I'm looking to do is to fill a "dance card" of interesting
people each of with whom I'll "pen pal" for a month.
The following month, I'll blog about the experience: who I met, what I learned
about them, what I learned about myself. Have a look below and see if there's
a slot for you: I'd love to chat to you about, well - anything!
MY GOALS:
*
Get inspired to blog about new/different things (and hopefully help
inspire others to do the same).
Connect with a dozen folks on a more-interpersonal level than I normally
do via my blog.
* Maybe even make, or deepen, some friendships!
THE "RULES":
* Aiming for at least 3 email exchanges over a month. Maybe more. (If we stay
in touch afterwards that's fine too, but it's not essential.)
* Email is the medium. (I'm looking for longer-form, but slower, communication
than you get via e.g. instant messengers and whatnot: a more "penpal"
experience.)
* There's no specific agenda: I promise to bring what I've been thinking about
and working on, and possibly a spicy conversation-starter from
LetsLifeChat.com. You bring whatever you like. No topic is explicitly off the
table unless somebody says it is (which anybody can do at any time, for any or
no reason).
* I'll blog a summary of my experience the month afterwards, but I won't share
anything without permission. I'll happily share an unpublished draft with each
penpal first so they can veto any bits they don't like. I'll refer to you by
whatever name, link etc. suits you best.
* If you have a blog/digital garden/social presence of any kind, you're
welcome to blog about it too. Or not: entirely up to you!
WHO'S IN SO FAR?
Want in? Leave a comment, at-me on the Fediverse @dan@danq.me, fill my contact
form, or just email penpals@danq.me. Okay; looks like I've got a full year of
people to meet! Awesome!
Penpal with...
...during...
...and blog in:
Notes:
Colin Walker
December 2023
January 2024
Colin's announcement
Thom Denholm
January 2024
February 2024
Ru
February 2024
March 2024
Dr. Alex Bowyer
March 2024
April 2024
Agreement via LinkedIn
Roslyn Cook
April 2024
May 2024
Garrett Coakley
May 2024
June 2024
Derek Kedziora
June 2024
July 2024
Aarón Fas
July 2024
August 2024
Cal Desmond-Pearson
August 2024
September 2024
Tyoma
September 2024
October 2024
Farai
October 2024
November 2024
Katie
November 2024
December 2024
Katie's comment
I'll update this table as people get in touch.
WHO DO I WANT TO MEET?
You! If you're reading this, you're probably somebody I want to meet! But I'd
be especially interested in penpalling with people who tick one or more of the
following boxes:
* Personal bloggers at the edges of or just outside my usual social circles.
Maybe you're an IndieWeb, RSS Club, or Geminispace explorer?
* Regular readers, whether you just skim the post titles and dive in once in a
blue moon or read every post and comment on the things you care about.
* Automatticians from parts of the company I don't get to interact with. Let's
build some bridges!
* People whose interests overlap with mine in any way, large or small. That
overlap might be technology (web standards, accessibility, security, blogging,
open source...), hobbies (GPS sports, board games, magic, murder mysteries,
science fiction, getting lost on Wikipedia...), volunteering (third sector
support, tech for good, diversity in tech...), social (queer issues,
polyamory, socialism...), or something else entirely.
* Missed connections. Did we meet briefly or in-passing (conferences, meetups,
friends-of-friends, overlapping volunteering circles) but not develop anything
further? I'd love to pick up where we left off!
* Distant- and nearly-friends. Did we drift apart long ago, or never quite
move into one another's orbit in the first place? This could be your excuse to
touch bases!
If you read this far and didn't email penpals@danq.me yet, go do that. I'm
looking forward to hearing from you!
LINKS
(HTM) Kev Quirk's blog post, "Seeking Pen Pals", which inspired this one
(DIR) Penpals@danq.me
(DIR) My blog post, "Making WordPress fast... the hard way", in which I mention that I undermine any plugin that might provide me analytics
(HTM) LetsLifeChat.com
(DIR) Link to a form where you can leave a comment on this blog post
(HTM) @dan@danq.me on Mastodon
(HTM) My contact form
(HTM) IndieWeb
(HTM) RSS Club
(HTM) Automattic Inc.