Working fully remotely has many wonderful perks, but one of the downsides has been not getting to meet many of my colleagues or ZSA keyboard owners.
I’ve been wanting to visit Japan for a few years now, and when I got the chance to go this year, it just made sense to try to put together something for our Japanese customers.
Initially the idea was just to have some “Spaces” special episodes in Japan, so I reached out to our Japan contact, Hiroko. Hiroko was instrumental in helping us with our Japanese language site, and I wanted to ask if she would be interested in being interviewed for the series. Not only was she keen, but she also suggested that we do something ZSA has never done before, and host a meetup. Slowly the pieces came together: finding a venue, sending out invites to our customers in the Tokyo area, waiting on RSVPs. It was happening!
The meetup itself was small but really special. It was great getting to meet people in person - seeing the boards they brought along, the mods they’d made, and hearing how they use their keyboards day to day.
We also had a lighthearted typing competition (with some impressively fast entries), and handed out ZSA Cards prizes and commemorative stickers.
I really can’t thank Hiroko enough for her help with all this - we absolutely could not have done it without her. And of course, thank you to everyone who came. It was such a pleasure spending time together, hearing your stories, and seeing what you’ve built with your keyboards. Hope to see you again sometime!
