Pen Pals Wanted

2023-11-13

Semi-inspired by a similar project by Kev Quirk, I've got a project I want to run on my blog in 2024.

I want you to be my pen pal for a month. Get in touch by emailing penpals@danq.me or any other way you like and let's do this!

Traditional inkwell and pen, the latter held in an inkstained finger grip, being used to write a letter on unbleached paper atop a wooden desk.

I don't know much about the people who read my blog, whether they're ad-hoc visitors or regular followers (Not-knowing who reads my blog might come at least in part from the fact that I actively sabotage any plugin that might give me any analytics! One might say I've shot myself in the foot, there.).

Dan, wearing a black t-shirt and jeans, sits hunched over a keyboard with Pride-coloured keys, looking thoughtfully at a widescreen monitor. On the monitor is a mocked-up screenshot showing site analytics for DanQ.me, but with question marks for every datapoint.

So here's the plan: I'm looking to do is to fill a "dance card" of interesting people each of with whom I'll "pen pal" for a month.

The following month, I'll blog about the experience: who I met, what I learned about them, what I learned about myself. Have a look below and see if there's a slot for you: I'd love to chat to you about, well - anything!

My goals:

Get inspired to blog about new/different things (and hopefully help inspire others to do the same).
Connect with a dozen folks on a more-interpersonal level than I normally do via my blog.
Maybe even make, or deepen, some friendships!

The "rules":

Aiming for at least 3 email exchanges over a month. Maybe more. (If we stay in touch afterwards that's fine too, but it's not essential.)
Email is the medium. (I'm looking for longer-form, but slower, communication than you get via e.g. instant messengers and whatnot: a more "penpal" experience.)
There's no specific agenda: I promise to bring what I've been thinking about and working on, and possibly a spicy conversation-starter from LetsLifeChat.com. You bring whatever you like. No topic is explicitly off the table unless somebody says it is (which anybody can do at any time, for any or no reason).
I'll blog a summary of my experience the month afterwards, but I won't share anything without permission. I'll happily share an unpublished draft with each penpal first so they can veto any bits they don't like. I'll refer to you by whatever name, link etc. suits you best.
If you have a blog/digital garden/social presence of any kind, you're welcome to blog about it too. Or not: entirely up to you!

Who's in so far?

I'll update this list as people get in touch. Leave a comment, at-me on the Fediverse @dan@danq.me, fill my contact form, or just email penpals@danq.me. The months/years shown reflect the month of penpalling (the blog post will come the month after):

Dec 2023: Colin Walker
Jan 2024: Thom Denholm
Feb 2024: Ru
Mar 2024: Dr. Alex Bowyer
Apr 2024: Roslyn Cook
May 2024: Garrett Coakley
Jun 2024: Derek Kedziora
Jul 2024: Aarón Fas
Aug 2024: Cal Desmond-Pearson
Sep 2024: Tyoma
Oct 2024: Farai
Nov 2024: Katie

Who do I want to meet?

You! If you're reading this, you're probably somebody I want to meet! But I'd be especially interested in penpalling with people who tick one or more of the following boxes:

Personal bloggers at the edges of or just outside my usual social circles. Maybe you're an IndieWeb, RSS Club, or Geminispace explorer?
Regular readers, whether you just skim the post titles and dive in once in a blue moon or read every post and comment on the things you care about.
Automatticians from parts of the company I don't get to interact with. Let's build some bridges!
People whose interests overlap with mine in any way, large or small. That overlap might be technology (web standards, accessibility, security, blogging, open source...), hobbies (GPS sports, board games, magic, murder mysteries, science fiction, getting lost on Wikipedia...), volunteering (third sector support, tech for good, diversity in tech...), social (queer issues, polyamory, socialism...), or something else entirely.
Missed connections. Did we meet briefly or in-passing (conferences, meetups, friends-of-friends, overlapping volunteering circles) but not develop anything further? I'd love to pick up where we left off!
Distant- and nearly-friends. Did we drift apart long ago, or never quite move into one another's orbit in the first place? This could be your excuse to touch bases!

If you read this far and didn't email penpals@danq.me yet, go do that. I'm looking forward to hearing from you!