Hey everyone...
We've got a bit of a different format for speed churning this month.
I recently found out that Ed, who helped organize our inaugural TDC meetup in Denver last September, has passed away.
The night before our big event last year, he sent us this message -
A week after that, on September 26, he passed away. He had suffered a massive heart attack upon arriving in Denver, and this was one of the last messages he ever sent đđ
Ed and I had never met in person, but we had spent countless hours hanging out and chatting on Discord, including weekly video calls for months leading up to the meetup. He never missed a single call, and my 2025 Discord Wrapped had Ed in my top 3 Discord friends...
If you attended our meetup last year, all of the randomized Friday group dinner signups, where to meet, when to meet, who was part of your table, was planned and coordinated by Ed. Those dinners were a huge hit, and a favorite part of the weekend for many.
I remember that Friday night in September, as I went around different restaurants saying hi to all the tables Ed had matched up, feeling sad Ed wasn't there to see the fruits of his labor. I took photos with everyone at each table... I figured I'd be sharing these with Ed so we could make 2026 friday dinners even better.
But he never replied to our chats, DMs, or emails. This past week, I finally tracked Ed down. We didn't know his last name. We didn't have his phone number. Even his Stripe subscription just listed him as "Ed". But there was an email address, which after a few google searches led to his website:
And that led to all the "RIP Ed" posts and hundreds of comments on facebook, linkedin, clubhouse... Ed was a hugely popular guy. He was kind, friendly, helpful, approachable, and generous. Everything we value in our Discord community, Ed embodied. And most of all, he LOVED building communities, and he was really good at it...
I've been in a bit of a funk ever since finding out. I feel devastated we were this đ¤ close to meeting in person, and so sad we lost such a bright soul. He was soo excited about our Discord, and jumped head-first into volunteering for our first meetup. There will be a huge Ed-shaped hole this year when we start planning for TDC26.
But I'm also so happy we became friends, in the way we did, for the time we did. I'm grateful to know that his last weeks, his last days, his last message, was spent doing the thing he loved the most - connecting people.
Ed's motto for our 2025 meetup was "No introverts left behind".
So in honor of Ed, I'd like to dedicate this Friday's Speed Churning virtual meetup to him. Whether you knew him or not, I know he would've loved to meet ya.
This Friday's event will be open to everyone, because that's the kind of guy Ed was.
For those who knew him, we will have time at the beginning to share memories and stories of Ed. We will also be doing our usual randomized 1-on-1 and small group matches, where you'll be randomly matched with other folks over video chat for ~10 minutes at a time. It's a fun, fast way to meet other churners, and Ed loved these.
During the matchups, you can absolutely talk about what you're currently churning, but I'd also like to suggest a couple deeper prompts that have been on my mind this past week. Because if there were a silver lining to death, it's that it can offer those still here a rare glimpse of perspective...
If you knew you were going to die soon, what would you do, right now?
How would you spend your time, and with whom?
What would you churn, if anything?
Join us this Friday afternoon to honor Ed, and meet other churners face-to-face in our virtual meetup. These are always a lot of fun, and this one will be extra special â¤ī¸
As always, drinks optional, video & microphone required.
RIP Ed đ¯ī¸đĨđĒĻâī¸â°ī¸
p.s. Ed absolutely LOVED the Grand Canyon. If you'd like to support something Ed was super passionate about, consider donating to the Grand Canyon Trust đ
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