Hello and Goodbye, but more Hello!

[Stephen Sifers]

It is with a large smile and a heavy heart that I announce I will be stepping down as a Community Champion and an Atlassian User Group leader. In the same breath I am excited to announce I will be working within Atlassian on the Community Support side. Yes, that's right, I converted from volunteer to employee now! I hope you are as excited as I am (I doubt it, I’m super excited!) My time as a community Champion and Atlassian user group leader has been amazing. Thank you to everyone I was honored to meet and get to know so many amazing people. Thanks to everyone I was introduced to, shared stories with and enjoyed multiple Atlassian Summits! Both AUG Leaders and Community Champions are amazing people and the cherished Champions of the Atlassian Community.

As a Community Champion (Find out more here) I was able take on tough and fun questions. Do research and always learn something about user perception and best practices. Having somewhere that allows you globally interact with someone on a 100% transparent platform has been eye opening. That first time you get that accepted answer is precious and addictive, making you keep coming back to help more people move forward, solve problems and learn.

As an Atlassian User Group leader there was boundless ways to interact, teach, learn and network with users in person, and more recently online. Having a physical event to put faces with names, getting to know people over the 3 years I was an AUG leader and having something to bring you all together was an exceptional experience. I will certainly miss making the homemade food for the AUG events (We know most people showed up for the home cooking.)

But where does that leave us now? Although I will not be directly involved in the AUG events, I will be more heavily involved in the online Community platform. Moving forward I will be within Community Support team ensure we get all those asked questions answered. You know it’s a good team because Daniel Eads is on it!. The Community Team is growing (if you’re interesting more about how Daniel and Myself  transitioned to Atlassian, email us and we’ll be happy to chat). With this growth it will allow us to better enable Community Champions and Users alike to get to the answers they need (The whole reason everyone comes to community in the first place).

With all that said, I am very excited to have made the move over to Atlassian and even more excited to see what comes next. I look forward to working with everyone in the Community on a much closer and focused level. Keep up the amazing work, just know we’re here to support you all!

-Stephen Sifers

[Erica Moss]

@Stephen Sifers Beyond excited to welcome you to the team! You will no doubt bring great insight from your work in the Champion and AUG programs. 😄

[Davin Studer]

Congrats sir!

[Stephen Sifers]

@Davin Studer, Thank you!

[Meg Holbrook]

@Stephen Sifers Congrats, congrats, a hundred congrats! So happy to see our wonderful community representation growing with folks who are so community-minded. 

[Stephen Sifers]

Thank you @Meg Holbrook! 

[miikhy]

Congratz @Stephen Sifers! Best luck in your new position and thanks for everything you do to help our Community users!

[Stephen Sifers]

@miikhy, I Appreciate it!

[Bridget]

From one A-Team to another! :) So excited for you, @Stephen Sifers. 

[Tinker Fadoua]

Wishing you all the best in your new role @Stephen Sifers!

[Stephen Sifers]

@Tinker Fadoua Thank you very much!

[Brittany Joiner]

Congrats!! That's so exciting!

[Stephen Sifers]

Thank you. Very Exciting!

[Abdullahi Aliyu]

Congratulations @Stephen Sifers, so exciting!

[Stephen Sifers]

@Abdullahi Aliyu Really appreciate it!