October 2024 Newsletter
Message from the co-ordinators
Hello everyone and welcome to October, isn’t the year going by so quickly!
The main thing we want to draw your attention to in this newsletter is the upcoming Alumni Community Winter Party in London! This really will be a great opportunity to catch up with former colleagues as well as a fun evening of bowling, karaoke, food, drinks and more! All the information you need about the event, including how to get yourself a ticket, can be found at https://withjoy.com/metaswitchalumniwinterparty.
Importantly, we need 40 more sign-ups before the 14th October or we will have to cancel the event; at the time of writing, 90 people are signed up (including plus ones) so we need YOU to sign up and get your friends to sign up as soon as possible. Do it now! (Sign-ups will remain open until mid to late November, but only if the event goes ahead!)
Local Upcoming Events
Edinburgh
October’s meetup event will be on this Thursday (3rd October). Please fill out this form by Thursday lunchtime so they know how much pizza to order. Expect some presentations from people who have left AFO, but mostly it's about a chance to meet up with some old/current colleagues.
In November, we’ll be holding a more low-key event at a local pub on Thursday 7th. Keep an eye out on the WhatsApp group for a poll to determine the location nearer the time. Announcements will be cross-posted to the Discord too.
Can’t make it down to London for the Alumni Community Winter Party? Well no need to worry, we’re going to be holding a second Winter Party in Edinburgh! The details of this are still to be confirmed but will most likely be on Saturday 30th November. Keep an eye out for posts in WhatsApp and Discord for more information!
Enfield
Kings Head pub trip on October 22nd - this is some people’s last day at the Enfield Microsoft office and so we’re going to cap it off with a pub trip! Start time 5pm but people are welcome to come along later (or earlier if they’re keen!).
Things you can get involved with
Get yourself a ticket to the winter party! And while you’re at it, gather your friends and make sure they get their tickets too, all the details you need are at https://withjoy.com/metaswitchalumniwinterparty.
We’re looking for a new local meetup rep for the London and/or Enfield areas so if you’re interested in helping ensure regular alumni meetups happen in this area, get in touch!
Subscribe to this newsletter so that you don’t miss out on future editions!
Please share this newsletter with friends and (former) teammates to ensure no-one misses out on news over the coming months!
Events round up
Cambridge
On Friday 27th September, a group from the Cambridge office went to Alton Towers for the day. For some of us this brought back childhood memories and for others it was the first time they'd been on a rollercoaster! Thanks to Rachel Newhouse for organising :)
Enfield/London
John Lazar visit (Thanks to Ed Holland for the write-up)
The Great John Lazar came to visit on the 10th of September to talk startups, and as you'd expect this was incredibly informative. He filled in some questions around startup basics (preseed, seed, etc) for those who missed Chris Mairs chat a couple of months back, and took follow on questions. He then covered, well, everything. The state of AI; what to look for, like who has invested; how to get a job in a startup (sorry, you are going to have to do a lot of work networking); Salary, shares, options; Who the players are; Etc. If you are interested in specific opportunities, John offered to help get you introduced. John also dropped us a list of interesting links afterwards, which are shared on discord in #entrepreneurship. Finally, most likely off the back of this visit, John was confirmed as President of the Royal Academy of Engineering. Congratulations, John. https://raeng.org.uk/news/dr-john-lazar-confirmed-as-president-of-the-royal-academy-of-engineering
Other takeaways:The Vault in the Old Wheatsheaf is a decent venue for ~30 people, if we need somewhere outside Genotin Road
People signing up very late (like a day or two before), makes it difficult for organisers. I was catering for 10, no...., 30.
UK Chess Blitz London qualifier (Thanks to Andrew Nubbert for the writeup)
8 of us had a great day at the UK Chess Blitz London qualifier on Saturday 21st September. It was organised through the Discord and we had a mix of current employees and alumni. 15 games each of frenetic "3+2" chess (each game lasted about 7 minutes) provided plenty of interesting stories throughout the day:Yanqing Cheng and Mike Bridges' table collapsing mid-game
Thomas Anthony winning a game with Kg1-Kf1 checkmate (this is not technically possible. Long story)
Bilen Ahmet's bishop changing colour
Rob Dover being live-streamed beating an International Master*
*due to him not turning up on time and Rob being given a walkover
Various incidents involving calling arbiters during intra-Metaswitch pairings
Full results are here if anyone's interested. Bonus points if you can work out what the cell entries like "119b1" mean in the table.
Photo of the post-games curry. (It might be the case that George Holderness had to leave early.)
Edinburgh
On Saturday 7th September, a summer BBQ was held in Edinburgh. Thankfully the weather held up as many folks got together for some tasty food!
A small group of crafters from Edinburgh went to a local pottery painting studio, Doodles, on Wednesday 11th September and spent the evening painting a selection of different items.
Updates from the community
Nic Neate is joining Nimbus Maps as CTO / head of engineering on 1 Oct. Most of their recruitment is in India and Sri Lanka at the moment, but he'll share it here first when UK positions come up!