Wow, what an amazing, life-changing experience. The workshop I was attending that paid for me to go was incredible; it was really interesting, and the other mods were fantastic, I had such a great time meeting them all and getting to know them and their little corners of the internet. Any Imposter Syndrome I felt before attending quickly evaporated as I realised I was able to contribute a lot to the group, and I really felt like I belonged there. We have a discord server now that we’re all on, and it’s a lovely happy place!

(The skyline coming into Manhattan)


The workshop itself was fascinating. It was about tools for moderators and what, if any, help AI tooling could be for both larger and smaller communities. It was a great two days.

And then I got to travel north to visit my boss and his wife for 4 days. It was BEAUTIFUL there, really stunning.

(View from my bedroom in Ossining)

I ate well, slept well, and was incredibly well looked after! Got home early yesterday morning, but have a dreadful throat infection (I won’t show that, it’s too gross) so am resting and recovering in bed now til the antibiotics do their thing. I have a throat spray so that I can at least get fluids down me – there were 12 hours where I couldn’t swallow anything which was just awful.

But, vertigo and throat infection aside, I had THE best time. I’m so pleased I went, that I felt able to say YES to it.

It was truly life-changing.