The DS|CAFE is short for "DSri's Cafe"Formerly known as Dave Seah, who now goes by the name DSri (pronounced "Sree").
DS|CAFE (also known as DSCAFE) is a Discord server that was born on August 17, 2016. It started as an extension of the davidseah.com blog as a way to keep "office hours" online. I periodically mentioned it in blog posts and occasional YouTube livestreaming, calling it a "virtual coworking" space well in advance of the global pandemic of 2020-2022. For this period of time, the DS|CAFE reorganized to be a place to provide a virtual coworking experience for visitors. As of late 2023, the DS|CAFE is now returning to its roots as an extension of DSri's office hour space, albeit with an expanded mission.
Values
The culture of DS|CAFE is based on DSri's own values using a creative experimental approach, where a "failure" is reframed as a successful experiment yielding useful experiential data. The virtual space is designed to nurture this kind of exploration in a friendly way, encouraging curiosity and supportive recognition of everyone's efforts. The sharing of stories and experiences is encouraged, as is recognition of the achievements both large and small as part of a normal day.
There are two fundamental tenets in DSri's working theory of their fulfilling life:
- Practicing a virtuous circle Explore-Learn-Build-Share activities.
- Being around positive-minded, self-empowered, curious, conscientious, competent, generous, and kind people, aka The Tribe.
Expansion of Mission
After 20 years of online writing, DSri wants to create an organization that provides practical ways to support the two tenets. DS|CAFE is seen as the foundational space. As of December 2023, the planning for this organization has been mentioned in the 2022 and 2023 Groundhog Day Resolution posts.