SF Japanese Engineers Meetup

Last Tuesday, we hosted the SF Japanese Engineers Meetup (SF日本人エンジニアの飲み会 in Japanese) with over 70 people in our office. I’ve been a co-organizer of this meetup group for three and a half years, and finally was able to invite the group to enjoy our office space —and tons of Super Duper burgers!

Unlimited burgers and fries—and great conversations!

Unlimited burgers and fries—and great conversations!

We had an ice breaker game called “Networking Bingo”. Each attendee got a bingo card filled with questions in each block and the goal was to find as many people as you could to match to each question—such as, “Do you know how to code in Python?” (me: Yes!). After 15 mins were up, people got raffle tickets based on the number of bingo rows they had filled.

 

Organizers explaining how the game works

Organizers explaining how the game works

 

After finishing the game, raffle tickets were handed out

After finishing the game, raffle tickets were handed out

Next, one of our SmartNews members, Ian Kennedy, gave a presentation about SmartNews and how we should pursue your dream job and hack your career path. I found it very informative and inspiring for attendees, and many questions asked after his talk.

 

Ian passionately presenting “Do What you love, love what you do”.

Ian passionately presenting “Do what you love, love what you do”.

After more burgers, beers and awesome discussions, we gathered for group photos. Overall, every attendee had a good time to talk with other engineers and tech-related people. What a fun night!

The group photo with our mascot, Chikyukun, and Sleepy Bear

The group photo with our mascot, Chikyukun, and Sleepy Bear

 

Takeshi Ohishi, Software Engineer, Ads Team