Some of you, no doubt, will be wondering what exactly this post is about. Others will be all too familiar with this, and likely be nodding their heads as they read through it. Cryptic, right? Well, let’s begin….
Our community. It’s amazing – that’s simply the only way to describe it. People give talks at User Groups, engage on the forums, hack at hackathons. Outside of our ‘day jobs’, we continue with sharing the knowledge & love that we have for things. Look around the world, and the number of user groups is astonishing. So many great people out there who are speaking, blogging, mentoring, etc.
Of course, socialising was a major part of this as well. Go to any event, and afterwards you’d likely find a large percentage of people going to their local ‘watering hole’ (aka pub/bar/drinks location), and continuing to chat around things. It’s one of the reasons why I was drawn into the community several years back.
Then in early 2020, COVID-19 hit. Suddenly there were no user group meetings in person. Most of us were working from home, spending a lot (most?) of the day on Teams calls. We couldn’t get out, we couldn’t socialise, and we definitely couldn’t hang out & have drinks (non-alcoholic drinks ARE counted as drinks as well, for the record!) together. It was depressing, and weighed us all down.
Then a hero stepped forward. Admittedly, due to it being Chris Huntingford, he was already a hero in most people’s eyes, but this took things to the next level. He realised the need for social interactions in this ‘new world’ that we were facing, and started a virtual pub. The Bespoke Badger was born!
Running on Thursday evenings, starting off around 6:30pm UK time, and going…until the last person left. People would drop in to say hi, catch up with friends, and drop off again. Some stayed for a few minutes, others stayed for hours. Some even would stay the whole night!
It wasn’t just the UK though. Plenty of people from multiple European countries joined as well, and soon became regulars. The USA would start coming online too (even though it was during the workday there) across multiple time-zones. One person (no names!) there even re-organised their Thursday schedule so that no-one would book meetings whilst it was ‘Bespoke Badger time’. Even people based in the Far East, Australia & New Zealand would come on as well (being Friday their time).
Sure, there were regular topics brought up again & again, but we all had a laugh from them. Welcoming new members to the Badger, sharing laughs & sadness together. Even better, no queues at the bar to get drinks, as all it usually took was a short trip to the kitchen! Some technology talks as well (careful not to mention SharePoint!), but SO many different subjects & topics that came up.
Larry Merkelis took over as the Landlord, and would throw open the (virtual) doors with aplomb every week.
Now you might be thinking ‘why would I spend my evening on yet another virtual call’? Well, from my experience (& those of others), it’s not just ‘another virtual call’. Time flies by, we’re all having fun, and then suddenly you realise it’s past midnight, and you’ve been there for 5+ hours.
Why am I mentioning all of this? Well, for a few reasons. For me, the Bespoke Badger has become a staple in my weekly schedule (which my family all knows about), and a way to keep up/connect with friends, as well as meeting new people.
The Christmas Party (held this past weekend, organised by Tricia Sinclair & Alison Mulligan) had a total of 87 people from around the world joining in live, covering 11607 minutes (that’s almost 200 hours!) across them. Awards were presented, and I was honoured to received the ‘Social Butterfly’ award, presented by Dona Sarkar.
Current times can be challenging, but I feel that the Bespoke Badger makes it so much more bearable for so many of us.
You may have come for the nerdy tech stuff, cool apps and awesome Microsoft gear, but you will stay for the heart-warming, encouraging people. We’ll all welcome you with open arms, cheer you up, help you out and take so much care.
So come along & check it out, and join us there. There’s a website (https://www.thebespokebadger.com/) & Twitter (https://twitter.com/BespokeBadger). We’re more than welcoming (you’ll get used to the ‘in jokes’), and would love to see you.
Wishing you happy holidays!