Welcome Wednesday: Tell us about your celebrity close encounters

Monique vdB
Community Manager
Community Managers are Atlassian Team members who specifically run and moderate Atlassian communities. Feel free to say hello!
November 18, 2020

It's Wednesday, aka the day we welcome some of the thousands of folks who joined the community this week.  I will tag a few of you in the comments, but I'm waving at all of you! 👋🏻

I'm from L.A. so this topic was inevitable: What celebrity close encounters have you had? 

I've had many celebrity encounters over the years but in true Angeleno fashion, I generally tend to play it cool. Except I got to unleash my inner fangirl at the Hamilton stage door in 2016. 

The night I was there, Jerry Springer, Blair Underwood, and Kim and Kanye were all in the audience, and at the stage door afterward I got my program signed by some of the actors. Lin-Manuel Miranda called me "sweetheart" and I will cherish that moment forever.

Here I am at the stage door looking very happy with Leslie Odom Jr. in the background, and I think the fan in front of me who I was chatting with that night is also a mildly famous author. 

Screen Shot 2020-11-18 at 11.18.28 AM.png

So tell us: what celebrities have you spotted out in the wild? 

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Vero Rivas
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November 18, 2020

Hi @Monique vdB 

 How fantastic !!!

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Nic Brough -Adaptavist-
Community Leader
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November 18, 2020

So, ignoring the community leaders and other Atlassian related celebrities:

  • I've shaken hands with Queen Elizabeth, and her son, Wingnut^H^H^H^H Charles
  • I've been propping up the bar while bits of Iron Maiden order drinks next to me three times
  • I went to school with the queen's private secretary (the one who asked her to do the infamous James Bond helicopter drop for the 2012 Olympics) Sir Edward Young 
  • John Barnes (of the Liverpool football team at the time) bought my friends a replacement round of drinks after one of the other players stumbled into me and spilled the round I'd just got.
  • Before I joined Adaptavist, I went for drinkies with them on Old Street, opposite their offices.  Bill Nighy dropped by
  • I said hello to Dawn French and Lenny Henry when I was waiting to pick up my sister from her friend's house (they lived next door)
  • But the only celeb I've had more than a fleeting contact with is Sandie Shaw - she and I would chat while I made tea for her and mum for their work sessions (my mother has many diverse skills, but making tea is not one of them.  She's even worse than that lady who was a meme for a while for getting every. single. step. utterly. wrong.)
Monique vdB
Community Manager
Community Managers are Atlassian Team members who specifically run and moderate Atlassian communities. Feel free to say hello!
November 18, 2020

I am most impressed by Bill Nighy, Dawn French, and THE FREAKING QUEEN ARE YOU KIDDING ME.  

Nic Brough -Adaptavist-
Community Leader
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November 19, 2020

I left out all the people I walked past while I worked for the BBC - never interacted with most of them beyond giving BRIAN BLESSED directions to the "One show" studio and using my security card to open a gate for Jeremy (Top Gear) Clarkson when he'd forgotton his.

Helen Griffiths _Capgemini_ November 19, 2020

It's OK that I read BRIAN BLESSED in BRIAN BLESSED's voice, isn't it? 

Nic Brough -Adaptavist-
Community Leader
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Community Leaders are connectors, ambassadors, and mentors. On the online community, they serve as thought leaders, product experts, and moderators.
November 20, 2020

Yes, it was BRIAN BLESSED with his voice.

He was walking to a studio next to my office as I was walking to another BBC building (or the tube, can't remember).  He sounded like a grumpy thunderstorm coming towards me, to the point where I was rummaging for a 'brolly before realising thunderstorms don't rumble in English. 

I was nearest, I showed him to the doors (glass, so you can see reception behind it), and reassured him he was in the right place, then got on the tube and mopped up all the blood from my ears.  He's a clever and funny man, but, well, quite loud.

Helen Griffiths _Capgemini_ November 19, 2020

Most famous person i've met is Rupert Grint (most famous as being Harry Potter's best friend) - he was really lovely. I've met lots of 'celebs' that work for the BBC - David Dickinson (on more than one occasion), Jeremy Paxman, a couple that do a show called Homes under the Hammer etc. 

None that match yours though @Monique vdB! When I was in Vegas for Summit last year, I was on the look out, but didn't see any (or if any walked past, I never noticed!)

Monique vdB
Community Manager
Community Managers are Atlassian Team members who specifically run and moderate Atlassian communities. Feel free to say hello!
November 19, 2020

@Helen Griffiths _Capgemini_ Rupert Grint is a pretty good one! Did you see he just had a baby? 

Brant Schroeder
Community Leader
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November 19, 2020

I don't know if I would recognize a celebrity even if they were standing right in front of me.  I don't really pay attention to that stuff.  I have had run ins with celebrity animals in our neck of the woods.  

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Kristin Lyons
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November 24, 2020

My photo was in the original Pet Semetary movie so I met a handful of the people on set, but I don't remember any of it - I was so young!

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