# About Me

Nick with a black cat draped over his shoulder with Anderson Cove in the background

For so few characters, my Twitter bio is right on the money due to long adjustments.

he/him  #Drupal Manager @taoticreative Opinions mine #Environment #SocialJustice T'So-uke Lands
Politics: @GreeNickVert #sooke #yyj
💖Hiking, Biking, Karate

- as of 2021/09/07

That is accurate, but is also an example of some of the problems of social media - specifically, loss of nuance and detail. Whereas on my own site I can be as verbose as I want 😉. Unfortunately, writing about myself is where I get most laconic.

I'm a web developer by trade. I've lived on/around Vancouver Island my whole life - ranging from Pacheedaht lands (Port Renfrew) to Tsawout/Tseycum lands (Pender Islands) although mostly in the Sooke area. When not being a computer nerd, I can generally be found hiking, biking, gardening or at community events (at least pre-COVID). Although on pause for the pandemic I'm a Shukokai Karate sensei and help out with a couple local choirs.

I'm an avid cyclist and keen hiker of all our local parks - from Mt Doug to the Matterhorn, and cycle as my primary transportation modality. Through the 2019 federal election, the GPC Leadership race and the 2020 BC Election, and so far in the 2021 Federal Election, every event I've attended either by bike or as a stop on a trip with more weight (construction supplies etc)

Depending on your precise definition of millennial used, I'm either exactly in the middle or to the slightly younger side - born in 1990. My earliest news memories are the War in the Woods (Clayoquot Sound anti-logging protests), and Kim Campbell being Canada's first female prime minister - although I didn't expect her to be our only female prime minister almost 30 years later.

Certainly looking forward to in person events again - whether the many fall fairs in our region, live music or choir. Despite being very online - been using Zoom for more than 5 years - it just isn't the same for many things.

Nick wearing a red shirt and a bike helmet with cloud and wind swept ocean behind him
Nick with lake/greenery behind him
Nick with a black cat draped over his shoulder with Anderson Cove in the background

# Work

Although both palaeontology and veterinary sciences were very appealing as a youth, I instead have pursued another interest of mine - specifically, web development. I've specialized in Drupal development.

During the day, I'm a backend manager at Taoti Creative.

Taoti Creative

Working at Taoti since 2018, I'm also head of the dev-ops practice area and was majorly responsible for the shift to composer usage internally. Taoti is a top 100 Drupal company for contributions for the last year (as of April 2021).
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When not "working" with Drupal at Taoti Creative - although lines are sometimes blurred which is what I get for turning a love into a job. Like I contribute quite a bit to Drupal - both core and the contrib ecosystem, often that is directly related to my work but sometimes no connection. Taoti specifically gives me time for DrupalCon so the barriers are quite often vague. Sometimes "yes this is my own time" but also "I'm able to contribute because I learnt about this bug at work and it interested me" and "Taoti's money is what gives me the free time to contribute".

I've helped organize many Drupal events from user groups to cons, most recently on one of the track teams for DrupalCon 2022 Portland. Likewise, I've spoken at many Drupal events, most recently DrupalCon Portland 2022.

Most of my Drupal contributions - both core and contrib - can be found through my drupal.org profile. Much of my other open source code contributions can be found on GitHub.

# Politics

I've been politically active from a young age - leading (with my twin) student vote for on the Pender Islands. We were also environmentally active being involved with conservancy association, speaking at the UNEP International Childrens' Conference of the Environment at UVic in 2002 and serving on the Youth Round Table on the Environment (Environment Canada advisory body).

The last year has certainly big a busy year for me learning all the fun of campaigning in a pandemic. During the pandemic with varying degrees of restrictions I participated in the Canadian Green Party leadership race, the BC Green leadership race, BC provincial election, and to a lesser degree, Annamie Paul's by-election campaign, and the Saskatchewan and New Brunswick provincial elections.

 

Nick holding a Gord Baird BC Green election size, with a Horgan sign in the background.

During last year's leadership campaigns for both the Canadian Green Party and the BC Green Party - significantly overlapping too - I was live tweeting a lot. Such as this one during a live group event (Ontario region townhall).