This year has gone by so fast. The constant stream of events, courses, workshops and road trips has helped it to fly by and it's not letting up! As much as I have done and still have to do, I am constantly grateful for the opportunities I have been #blessed with. Last week was a great example of the opportunities that present themselves around here. I was invited to the community day for Google Next a while ago so I made time to attend. Funny side note about Next, I was asked to build an integration on their hangouts chat platform months ago, however, their api didn't support some of the things that would have made it easier to spin up what I wanted to make. So I had to pass on that as I had too many other things in progress.

I had a blast at Google Next despite not participating directly in the event. If you read my blog or have ever spoken to me for more than five minutes I've probably told you all about the wonders of Firebase. At this point, I should probably be getting some form of payment for the spreading the good word about the product...No, in reality, it comes from a place of love. So I spent a bit of time checking out all things Firebase and hearing about their new features re Cloud Firestore.

I'm hoping more people get on board with Firestore as I'm working on an Apollo Link mod at the moment. The second thing I attended was the Work at a Startup event hosted by Y Combinator. Myself and my Oceanic comrade decided it would be a great chance to meet some new people in the area and get to see the YC headquarters. Getting to go to YC HQ was wild. I still occasionally get "Wow I'm really in Silicon Valley" vibes now and then. Being at YC around a bunch of startups put them into overdrive. We walked around and were lucky to stumble across Drop Box HQ!

No one was there to chat unfortunately but that was ok! We instead went and talked to some companies that were about to pitch. Immediately I was drawn to the PlanGrid booth. PlanGrid makes tools and software to optimise and track the tasks involved with construction. The reason I found this interesting is because I have first hand experience seeing the waste and disorganisation on a construction project. During my uni degree I worked as a cleaner on construction sites. I cleaned paint of windows, unstuck sticky things, dusted dusty things and inhaled way too many toxic fumes and particles. Luckily, I just cleaned up after the errors but I could see the stress and confusion that the physical labourers were under due to miscommunication and rushing. I really enjoyed talking to the founders and hope to connect with them in the future.

Watching the pitches from each company was also very cool. After the event I was very inspired. Launching a startup takes a lot of courage and drive. Two traits that you could tell everyone at the event had.

Last week was a blast. I made tons of new connections and look forward to catching up with the people I met. Now, time to get ready for Burning Man >.<