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Tech Inclusion Alliance at MnTech Tech Talent

It was great to get to be part of the MnTech Tech Talent event today with Caroline Karanja as she shared the details of the new Tech Inclusion Alliance, and then a brief panel discussion with Tarek Tomes and myself on what companies are doing that is working to bring more diverse talent into technology.

My key points:

  1. Companies need to solve this problem or it will limit their growth as they are unable the available talent pool isn’t growing fast enough.
  2. Companies can do more to lower the barriers to bringing talent into their organization. Technology choices are hiring choices!
Promotional banner for the MnTech Tech Talent Virtual Forum on March 3 2022 featuring five speakers with their names and organizations

The video for the session is up now.

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Slack’s delayed send feature is nice, but I wish there was an option to delay sending to when the person is next online, instead of a specific time.

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Tammy creates a family book each year and 2021 is another great keepsake. These books are going to be treasured by the kids, even more in the future than they are now. I cherish each one.

Photo book cover titled 2021 The Great American Road Trip(s) showing a family of four smiling outdoors among desert cacti in Arizona.
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Imagine Dragons Mercury Tour

We all went to see Imagine Dragons Mercury Tour at the Target Center. Imagine Dragons is Mazie’s favorite band, and she is a particularly big fan of Dan Reynolds. We got her tickets for the show and let her pick who she wanted to take. Lucky for us, she picked us! The show was great. They played for over two hours and hit a wide array of songs. It was also the most normal event we’ve been to since COVID.

Packed arena concert with a performer bathed in golden spotlight on a circular stage extension, large eye displayed on LED screen behind main stageBand performing on a round center stage in a packed arena, spotlights beaming down, crowd surrounding them on all sidesPacked arena crowd faces a lit circular b-stage with a guitarist performing, large red LED screen glowing at the main stage beyondFamily of four smiling for a selfie in an arena with a large concert stage and crowd visible behind them

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We are ready to head to a Minnesota Aurora FC soccer game! ⚽️

Adult and two children wearing matching navy blue Minnesota Aurora FC t-shirts smiling together indoors
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Buildings in downtown Minneapolis lit up in Blue and Yellow for Ukraine. 🇺🇦

Downtown Minneapolis skyline at night with skyscrapers lit in blue and yellow in solidarity with Ukraine
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Russia Attacking Ukraine tonight deeply saddens me. I have a wonderfully talented technology team of 100 people in Kyiv and we are trying to keep everyone safe.

New York Times front page dated February 24 2022 with the headline Russia Attacks Ukraine and subheadlines about explosions and Biden response.Wall Street Journal front page showing a map of Ukraine with Russian-controlled regions highlighted as Russia begins military operations.

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Dogsledding with Wintergreen

It was 2009 when I first went dogsledding at Wintergreen! That trip was just me, and it was Layne Kennedy’s photography workshop. It was an amazing 3-days of dogsledding and I got three awesome friends out of it as well!

So it was great to come back 13 years later, this time with the whole family, and have a fun half-day dogsledding trip with Wintergreen Dogsled Lodge outside of Ely.

The dogs were just as I remembered them — so excited to pull and really loud when they had to be stopped. The dogs seemed friendlier than I remembered from the first time. We got a plenty cold day with temperatures around -4 F°. Everyone had a good time on the snow!

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Frozen head shots at the end of todays dogsledding adventure!

Person in snow-dusted black beanie, orange ski goggles, and Seirus face mask standing in a snowy pine forest.Person bundled in a hooded puffer jacket and frost-covered balaclava and knit hat after dogsledding in snowy conditionsPerson bundled in a smiley-face beanie, black neck gaiter, and colorful knit scarf standing on a snowy frozen lake.Child bundled in a blue jacket and FC Bayern München winter hat with a snow-covered Turtle Fur neck gaiter pulled up over their face, standing on a snowy frozen landscape with dogsled equipment

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Two minutes on the dogsled trails out with Wintergreen Dogsled Lodge today. We had to stop and start the sled so you hear the “woah” and “hike” commands. Willow and Acorn are the two lead dogs. Tammy and Mazie are in the sled in front of me, and Tyler was on their sled.