Belonging.

Welcome, you belong here.

I welcome people of any gender identity or expression, race, ethnicity, size, nationality, sexual orientation, ability level, neurotype, religion, elder status, family structure, culture, subculture, political opinion, identity, and self-identification.
I welcome activists, artists, bloggers, crafters, dilettantes, musicians, photographers, readers, writers, ordinary people, extraordinary people, and everyone in between.

I welcome you. You may wear a baby sling, hijab, a kippah, leather, piercings, a pentacle, a political badge, a rainbow, a rosary, tattoos, microchips or something we can only dream of. I welcome fans, geeks, nerds and noobs, and those who aren’t sure what any of those terms refer to.

I believe it’s possible for people of all viewpoints and persuasions to come together and learn from each other. I believe in the broad spectrum of individual and collective experience and in the inherent dignity of all people. I believe that amazing things come when people from different worlds and world-views approach each other to create a conversation.

I think accessibility is a priority, not an afterthought. I think neurodiversity is a feature, not a bug. I believe in being inclusive, welcoming, and supportive of anyone who comes to me with good faith and the desire to build a community.

I welcome diversity because I believe it makes business and brands stronger and more productive. I believe diverse teams make better products. I strive to make everyone feel welcome and know that their contribution is important.

I think my technical and business experience is important, but I think people’s experience is more important. I know what goes wrong when companies say one thing and do another, or when they refuse to say anything at all.

I believe that keeping my operations transparent is just as important as keeping my services available. To me, you are not eyeballs. You are not pageviews. You are not demographic groups. You are people, and you are welcome here.

I have enough experience to know that I won’t get any of this perfect on the first try. But I have enough hope, energy, and idealism to want to learn things I don’t know now. I may not be able to satisfy everyone, but I can certainly work to avoid harming anyone. And I promise that if I get it wrong, I’ll listen carefully and respectfully to you when you point it out to me, and I’ll do my best to make good on my mistakes.