Reflections after the 2025 IFT Offsite
It takes me a while to come down from a large social event. And it takes even longer for me to process everyone else’s feelings and thoughts. The IFT offsite was no exception, a lot of conversations, a lot of clarity, and, for the first time in a long time, a feeling of re-connection with our mission.
The Story Beneath the Strategy
There’s something vital about cultural realignment. Not because everyone suddenly agrees, but because it surfaces values in the open, where those who’ve been unsure can find orientation, and those who’ve been holding the line can finally feel heard. That, alone, made the offsite for me.
I saw Jarrad’s keynote strike a chord with many CCs, it was well prepared and well delivered. And most importantly it wasn’t just a speech, it was a recalibration, a reminder that we are not just building tools, we are telling a story. A story with values, characters, and turning points. A story that asks others to join us, not because of features, but because of shared purpose.
This was meaningful for a lot of CCs in Status particularly, because we’ve been carrying the impacts of cultural erosion for some time. We’ve felt isolated, adrift, sometimes forgotten. That moment of connection with the broader organisation was our first. It mattered. I felt moved.
And I wasn’t the only one, I saw individuals lift their heads. I saw people motivated, energised, talking about building tribes. In fact that word kept coming up, tribes, and not just as metaphor. As structure. As practice. As shared belonging. It struck a chord with me actually, because these words mean something to me. Because if you’re working in an open source organisation dedicated to privacy and free speech, this is the level of involvement we should be expecting from ourselves. Not just contribution, but resolute commitment!
The Offsite You Can’t Schedule
There were conversations throughout the week that genuinely inspired me, honest, super-productive, and energising. I was lucky to have many of them myself, on topics ranging from values to vision to the smallest UX details. What really struck me, though, was how many more were happening all around me, across teams, across roles, across projects. I kept hearing about great dialogues in quiet corners and long walks, Discord follow-ups turned into forum posts, spontaneous brainstorms that resulted in real next steps.
Things that come to mind are Petty and Arseniy’s conversation about storytelling and cultural clarity. Roxana surfacing communication values that instantly resonated. Rob sketching out a database of ‘Hero’s Journey’-style narratives for onboarding and outreach. And countless others I only heard about after the fact, echoing the same feeling, we were reconnecting.
These weren’t just meetings or side chats. They flowed naturally from the kind of week we were having, where so many conversations felt charged with purpose. They felt like the beginnings of new stories, fragments of shared understanding, seeded in dialogue. Stories that might grow into proposals, product shifts, or cultural practices. Some already have.
Alisher observed in his wonderful reflection, ‘leadership is what we do when things get blurry.’ That idea echoed throughout the week. People weren’t waiting for instructions. They stepped into uncertainty, named what needed alignment, and helped reorient the path forward. It wasn’t coordination by structure, it was coordination through solidarity and ideals.
The offsite made space for that, and people stepped into it with honesty and curiosity. And from what I saw and heard, many carried those stories home with them, ready to continue. There were, also, quiet acknowledgements of pain, not in bitterness, but in reflection. Status CCs have been through some shit, there remains many lessons in that time, and I hope we don’t forget them.
Opening the Channels
One of the strongest impressions that I carried home was just how much the leadership team at the offsite genuinely wanted to do right by CCs. I saw them listening, a lot, I noticed that they were being constantly pulled away for side conversations, check-ins, or spontaneous questions. To be honest, it looked exhausting. And I also saw glimpses of real care and effort particularly from Arwen and Corey. That kind of presence matters. It gave me hope.
I really want this to be a starting point, not a moment that fades. Please keep the conversation going. Keep talking to us. Keep the channels open. Keep the energy going. Cultural alignment isn’t something you announce, it’s something you practice, again and again and again. It’s a rhythm (a rhythm of business perhaps 
) of listening, of clarifying, of recalibrating and re-committing.
On a practical note we need clearly defined mechanisms for feedback that are not only open, but trusted. We also need clarity around what happens after the feedback is given, this will allow us to set our expectations and make feedback less of a black box experience. Leadership can’t be everywhere and when things start to go wrong we need to address it immediately, this is where CCs must play a vital role in guarding our culture and direction.
Stories That Became Next Steps
I’m hopeful. I left the offsite with a list of tangible next steps, conversations turned into commitments. A draft of a mission statement for Status (maybe even the IFT) rooted in Jarrad’s keynote. A plan to explore Operator community rewards with Amelia. A demonstration of Keycard Shell for signing Event and Attendance credentials. Storytelling and voice building plans with Jamie. A privacy interview with Cristian. Design discussions about contact discovery with Rahul. A proposal to track mobile readiness across IFT tech. And an idea to enable anonymous feedback via ShardSeals credentials and ZK proofs with Corey.
There’s often talk in decentralised projects of a shift that’s coming. But after this offsite, one thing is clear the shift isn’t coming:
The Fork Already Happened.
It didn’t happen in code. It happened in culture. Not in one decision, but in thousands of small ones, to pause, to realign, to speak, to listen, to act.
This offsite was a chapter worth naming. It showed us that when the mission is clear, people move. Jarrad’s keynote brought that clarity. It was good, and seeing its effect on others was even better. We saw renewed focus, realigned energy, and glimpses of the organisation many of us signed up to be part of.
For the first time in a long while, Status CCs had the opportunity to truly connect with the wider organisation. Now it feels like the beginnings of something new, or maybe the return of something old and important.
Yes, we still have lessons to learn , but we are learning them. Leadership showed up with intent. They listened. They made themselves available. It looked exhausting, but it also looked real. That listening shouldn’t stop now. It should become how we work.
And the conversations, there were so many. Not just the ones I had, but the ones I heard about after, the ones people are still talking about. Moments of alignment, of care, of purpose. These are the moments culture is made from.
A personal aside, I was lucky enough to be given significant emotional support by some really wonderful people last week. I had to deal with some unexpected and very difficult personal circumstances while away from home. It would have been so much harder were I actually alone in a strange place. Thank you, I am very grateful to you, and I mention this because I want to recognise the wonderful kindness in this organisation.
This isn’t the end of the story. It’s the start of a new one, and like any good story, it gains strength when it’s shared. When others can see themselves in it. When the next chapter invites participation, not observation.
And the best part? We’re already writing it, together.
Collaborate to write a mission statement
Awards / Rewards for Operator communities with Amelia
Explore all the use cases of Keycard Shell
Moar articles for the comms with Jamie
Privacy interview with Cristian
Status app contact discovery simplification with Rahul
Michele suggested location proofs could be more dynamic with the inclusion of special hardware
Can it be used on Mobile? site
Put it all in the bin and do it live
Status teams seized the moment and flipped script
ShardSeals for anonymous feedback with Corey
2025 IFT All-Hands: Split, Croatia: Collected Links & Reflections