Don’t you just love it when everyone comes together?
On Friday 13th March the incredible Umbraco community banded together, taking Twitter by storm with a sea of smiling faces in Umbraco emblazoned swag for the biggest ever UmbracoTees Day.
The call for UmbracoTee day came just after we had announced that Codegarden 2020 was called due to the worldwide Covid-19 crisis. It was the only right thing to do - yet, still painful. 💔
So perhaps this is the perfect time to explain once and for all...
What exactly is UmbracoTees Day all about?🔍
For over 4 years, UmbracoTees Day has been a staple of the Umbraco world.
On any given day, Umbracians from all over the world take to Twitter to show off their favourite, oldest, and most fun merchandise that they have gathered across their Umbraco journeys.
“The umbracoTees day is just one way that we can show how great the community is and that we are here for one another.” - Owain Williams
On the latest UmbracoTees Day, we got a particular treat!
As well as some classic Codegarden shirts, we saw a representation of so many community groups and events - from Codecabin to UmbUK to Umbraco Spark. Some even adorned their own handmade Umbraco jewellery (looking at you @LottePitcher)! 🙌
That morning, the influx of tweets and snaps sent #UmbracoTees to #1 spot trending on Twitter, and remained trending for hours! 😱😱
That deserves a whole H5YR of its own 😉
So let’s rewind...how did this all start?
Isn't there anyone better to hear it from than Pete Duncanson (@peteduncanson) himself?
"Umbraco Tees came about four years ago after I saw a tweet from the lovely Dirk (@netaddicts) who noticed how quiet the Umbraco twitter community had become. And he was right: a lot of the fun and random chats seemed to have disappeared as everyone got on with their lives.
So I looked down and saw that I was wearing an Umbraco t-shirt from one of the numerous conferences I had been to and I had the idea for #UmbracoTees. I knew lots of the community would have their own events and festival swag to hand at home.
And so I thought if we all wore our shirts and shared a picture on Twitter then we would remind ourselves of being in this secret club of sorts, and get a bit of that buzz going again.
So I just tweeted it out with some guidance and a hashtag; #UmbracoTees (which funnily enough I got wrong for the first 3 or 4 times!). I think it works so well because it’s so simple.”
- Pete Duncanson
Simple, and friendly. The way it should be. 😄
“That was four years ago and it's still going strong with hundreds of people taking part.”
Why have an UmbracoTees Day now?
It’s been a difficult time for all of us.
Before the corona-lockdown was even a reality, we had to make that heartbreaking decision to cancel Codegarden 2020, for the first time in Umbra-history. As we find ourselves increasingly isolated thanks to the corona-lockdown, it can be hard for us to feel connected and deals a double blow (#H5CS - High 5 Corona Sucks!).
This time it was Owain Williams (@ScottishCoder) who took initiative and called for everyone to dig out their favourite Umbraco shirt and snap a pic.
“I felt we, the Umbraco community, needed to show that we are stronger together and that we all support each other in this tough time.” - Owain Williams
It is times like these that we really do appreciate our community, it’s important to us that we can give back. We respect you and thank you for the respect that you all show us. 👏
Thanks to UmbracoTees Day we could all come together in a way. The good humour and infectious smiles were a welcome brightness during a dark time. For that one day, we all shared a common message: stick up for one another, remember to have some fun, be positive, and be Friendly! 💙
From all of us here at HQ,
H5YR! 😎
Credit for this amazing collage goes to @ScottishCoder!
P.S. When all of this blows over, remember to snag some swag next time you’re at a meetup or festival (pssst, you can even get some at Hacktoberfest!) and get your friends and colleagues involved on the next UmbracoTees Day! And remember - anyone can call and take part in UmbracoTee day. All you need is an Umbraco t-shirt, a Twitter account, and the hashtags; #UmbracoTees #Umbraco - and a smile 🙌😄