Meet Adrienne Pass

Why do you volunteer for PDXWIT? 

I often feel helpless in the face of everything that's falling apart in my country. And when my locus of control seems just so small, well…

PDXWIT is how I fight back.  

My volunteer work with PDXWIT takes me out of my comfort zone, pulls me away from behind the computer screen & connects me with my Portland peers, marginalized folks who endure a similar struggle to belong & succeed in the tech industry.

Attending PDXWIT events in my green shirt, the emotions are two-fold & enormous. My heart just soaks up the warm feels of empowerment & togetherness as I greet my friends & welcome new faces - then I get the biggest brain-buzz listening to talented professionals share their stories, experiences, & advice across a range of vitally relevant topics in IT. 

I think to myself, THIS.

This is the forefront. These are the networks of resiliency & the associations that spark social change. 

Here are concrete ways for someone like me to support, broadcast, & boost these speakers. This is how we break in. This is how we thrive. Sharing this message of a diverse, equitable, inclusive, & accessible future is the great work that transforms the world. 

And I’m immensely proud to be a part of it all at this critical moment in history. 

What is your day job or another passion of yours (besides PDXWIT)? 

I love games! I love PC, console, mobile, & tabletop games - all the games & the amazing culture of collaboration that surrounds a wholesome game community.

Following my ikigai, I wound up working in downtown PDX at Kongregate (with a K,) where I do QA & wear many different hats.  Right now I’m Jira admining up a storm while standing up game analytics pipelines in AWS + Snowflake, overhauling process & leaving documentation in my wake.

Who is Kongregate? Well, we’re a big bunch of nerds in the biz of publishing & developing video games for both PC + mobile platforms. We also run the Kongregate.com classic browser games portal & sell indies through our super cool Kartridge games storefront. 

Our latest shenanigans include starting up a D&D 5e West Marches campaign that stretches across our 4 offices to include players from all departments & backgrounds. Roll to determine your Ability scores! ;) 

What has been your favorite PDXWIT project, initiative or event you have participated in as a volunteer? Why?

Hmm, my favorite project so far is definitely editing video to build out our PDXWIT YouTube channel~! 

First off, I do not have a media background. I started out volunteering at PDXWIT as a graphic designer & an event photographer, but one day my friend Janessa Olson was scheduled to speak on a “How to Transition into Product” panel. So I showed up with my Nikon mounted to a giant tripod & attempted to video the Q&A.

It was a total disaster! I botched the sound recording & my camera even shut off halfway through the event. 

But now the word was out & PDXWIT leadership had caught on to my interest in film & video! So when a video needed subtitles they reached out to ask me if I could stretch myself & learn how to use Premiere.

Without any idea what I was doing, I cut down videos into clips for social media. I resized the ratio to different media specs. I learned about bitrates & masks & transition effects. It was incredibly difficult & frustrating & I loved doing it! 

Check out our YouTube channel with video clips edited together by yours truly - our speakers are powerful & informed - you will certainly learn a thing or two!

What is something people may not know about you? 

I survived the Great Recession in a ramshackle house in Michigan where I raised a flock of chickens.

My girls were named Ophelia, Odette, Odile, Camas, Clover, Delilah, & Myrtle (after my grandmother who also kept chickens.)

Fresh eggs every morning are soo nice, but let me tell y'all the real value is in the chicken poop.

Chicken manure is the very best for compost - it's full of nitrogen - & my raised beds were overflowing with plump organic vegetables & tasty kitchen herbs. 

Fair warning, if anybody brings up backyard hens around me, I will proceed to talk your ear off.