[DRAMATIC MUSIC]
KATO RICHARDSON: Ugh.
Can we do that one again?
Do you want the yellow one or the round one?
[THEME MUSIC]
DOUG STEVENSON: Hey, everybody.
Welcome to #MeetFirebase, where you
get to meet the Googlers that make Firebase happen.
My name is Doug Stevenson.
I'm a developer advocate on the Firebase team.
And with me today is Kato Richardson.
[APPLAUSE]
Kato.
KATO RICHARDSON: Hey, Doug.
DOUG STEVENSON: Thanks for being on the show.
KATO RICHARDSON: Nice to see you.
DOUG STEVENSON: Now, tell me, what do you
do with the Firebase team?
KATO RICHARDSON: Yeah, so I'm a similar role to yours, Doug.
I work with developers, but I mostly work on support quality.
So I train the support team, teach them
how to use the product, teach them how to talk to customers,
and just really try to make the incoming experiences as
great as possible.
So basically, when the documentation and the product
fails, I get to step in and make it a great experience
for customers.
DOUG STEVENSON: OK, and so you would
then-- so if the product and the documentation do fail,
what do you do to help correct that?
KATO RICHARDSON: Yeah, so I don't actually
have to do anything, which is the amazingly
awesome part, right?
So I train the support team, and teach them
how to interact with the development community,
and develop processes for them.
And then when they need help with an issue,
like an issue is particularly hard, they raise it to me,
and I help--
I get some engineers involved.
And then I also streamline the process
as much as possible by trying to find new ways to make
it faster and easier.
And then I take all the feedback we get from the community
when we're working in support, and I go back to the engineers,
so we can make fixes to the product
and fixes the documentation to make sure we
don't encounter those again.
DOUG STEVENSON: OK, so what you do
is figure out what goes wrong, and then that becomes feedback,
so we can go and fix things that might have gone wrong.
KATO RICHARDSON: Yeah.
DOUG STEVENSON: OK, well, that's very helpful,
because sometimes things do go wrong,
and we do have a system in place.
And Kato, it sounds like you're sort of
in charge of making sure that system goes smoothly.
KATO RICHARDSON: Yeah.
DOUG STEVENSON: Now, you are also very involved
with Firebase communities.
Tell me about-- what is the Firebase community like?
What can you expect?
KATO RICHARDSON: The Firebase community
is one of the most amazing things about Firebase to me.
I really love just the way that our developers
treat us and the way they think about Firebase.
And the feedback we get from them
is what really shapes Firebase as a product in my mind.
I was originally, Doug, a Firebase user before I
became a Firebase developer.
I was building my own app on Firebase,
but I was doing so much work for the Firebase community
that they eventually said, why don't we
just start paying you for that?
And then I became a Firebaser.
So I really understand the community-- like,
what it's like to actually be a member using the software.
And being a part of that community is one of the reasons
that I love coming to work every day.
DOUG STEVENSON: For everyone out there
who might be interested in joining the community,
what kind of channels do we have for people
to interact with each other?
KATO RICHARDSON: Yeah, so we have support,
of course, which is email-based support
that you can get to from our web site, firebase.google.com.
There's also a place under firebase.google.com
where you can go to the support area,
and we have a whole list of community channels there.
We have a Slack channel where you
can do live chat with our community,
and some of the people like myself,
and some of our engineers, hang out on that live chat as well.
DOUG STEVENSON: I'm on there sometimes too.
KATO RICHARDSON: I see you on there all the time
in test labs, yeah.
We also have Google Groups, which is our mailing list.
And a lot of people come on to Google Groups and discuss
things that you can't talk about on Stack Overflow.
Stack Overflow is great for coding questions and getting
specific help, but their criteria
for what you can post there is really specific.
So the group fills a niche where you just want to come on
and say, like, hey, what's the best way to go about this?
And we also have been participating in Quora a bit
lately, and I know that I've seen some posts
on there get answered as well.
So Quora is another great place for, again,
in-depth topics that don't really fit into the, like,
how do I code this sort of question.
DOUG STEVENSON: So yeah, if you have questions,
be sure to check those out.
We have a lot of Firebase staff that
are waiting to answer your questions.
KATO RICHARDSON: Yep, for sure.
DOUG STEVENSON: One thing I also know
you do, you practice martial arts, right?
KATO RICHARDSON: Yeah.
I've taken part in martial arts since I was a little kid.
I started about the time I was 6,
so pretty much all of my life, I've been involved in it.
DOUG STEVENSON: Wow.
So what kind of martial arts?
Like, is this--
KATO RICHARDSON: Yeah, I started in kung fu,
and I did probably 20 years of kung fu.
I'm actually a 13th degree black belt in kung fu.
DOUG STEVENSON: Wow, OK.
I'm going to stay away from you, then, if there's conflict.
KATO RICHARDSON: And lately, I've
been into Brazilian jiu jitsu, because my body's getting
older, and I need something that's
less impact on my joints.
DOUG STEVENSON: OK.
KATO RICHARDSON: And years ago, I
practiced with professional MMA fighters.
DOUG STEVENSON: Oh, really?
KATO RICHARDSON: I was never into the competitive fighting
aspect of it.
I was always into the chess match, and the strategy,
and the deeper eastern philosophies-- you know,
the just zen lifestyle, and the positive impact it has
on the way you speak and interact with other people,
which is really my true love of martial arts,
is the communications aspect of it--
how you learn to speak to other people,
and communicate with people, and you learn that violence is not
the answer to problems.
You can really de-escalate situations,
and take a hard situation, and have a hard conversation
with somebody without being worried about the outcome.
DOUG STEVENSON: I'm told you do magic tricks.
KATO RICHARDSON: I do.
There's no better way to get a kid's attention
than with a few magic tricks, or just
some sort of a performance.
DOUG STEVENSON: It is hard to get a child's attention
sometimes.
KATO RICHARDSON: Yes, yes.
DOUG STEVENSON: Do you have any tricks to show us today?
Wow me.
KATO RICHARDSON: Well, do you know
how to spot a magician who's walking down the road?
DOUG STEVENSON: Spot a magician?
The hat and the cape?
KATO RICHARDSON: Oh, no, not a wizard, a magician.
So if you see a magician walking down the road,
they'll be carrying one of these little purses.
This is a little magician's purse.
Now, I bet you're wondering what all the stuff in here
is, because these things are huge,
and they're full of things, right?
But in reality, if I open one up for you,
you'll see that it's actually kind of empty.
There's really nothing in it.
But when a magician gets one out and opens it up,
you'll find that he's got all kinds of useful toys in it--
DOUG STEVENSON: OK, I'll take that.
KATO RICHARDSON: --like these little guys here.
DOUG STEVENSON: All right.
KATO RICHARDSON: And these are one of my favorite tricks,
because--
which one would you like?
Do you want the yellow one or the round one?
DOUG STEVENSON: Uh, they both look kind of yellow and round
to me.
KATO RICHARDSON: Well, yeah, which-- pick one for me.
Help me out here.
DOUG STEVENSON: OK, I'll take the one in your right hand.
KATO RICHARDSON: OK, the round one?
DOUG STEVENSON: Sure, the round one.
KATO RICHARDSON: The round one it is, then.
OK, so here's what we're going to do.
Hold your hand out for me, OK?
And what I'm going to do is, I'm going to take this one,
and I'm going to put it in this hand.
OK, now we're going to take yours,
and we're going to put it in your hand like this, OK?
Now close your hand up for me.
OK, now, here's what we're going to do.
Blow into your hand.
DOUG STEVENSON: All right.
KATO RICHARDSON: Now, if you open it up,
it should have changed colors for you, OK?
So what you'll see is-- go ahead and open your hand.
DOUG STEVENSON: I have two--
KATO RICHARDSON: Why-- why do you-- hold on a sec.
[APPLAUSE]
Wait, how did you get my ball?
DOUG STEVENSON: I don't know.
KATO RICHARDSON: No, this is-- this is--
you're not supposed to have mine.
What happened here?
Doug, are you playing tricks on me?
I think you're playing--
DOUG STEVENSON: I don't think I have any tricks to add.
KATO RICHARDSON: Let's try this again.
Let's try this one more time, OK?
DOUG STEVENSON: All right, sure.
KATO RICHARDSON: Here's what I want you to do.
We're going to take this, and we're
going to put it in your hand.
Now close up your hand for me.
OK, now turn your hand over.
OK, I want you to blow into your hand.
Blow on top of your hand this time, like this.
OK, now, I want you to open up your hand for me,
and we should have gotten it to change color--
DOUG STEVENSON: Oh my gosh.
KATO RICHARDSON: What happened, Doug?
DOUG STEVENSON: This is-- oh, it's kind of crazy now.
KATO RICHARDSON: Well, they did change colors,
but where did you get these ones from?
DOUG STEVENSON: I have no idea.
I can only assume it's part of the trick.
KATO RICHARDSON: Wow, all right.
Well, good job, Doug.
DOUG STEVENSON: Thank you.
KATO RICHARDSON: That was well done.
That was better than most of the kids do.
They don't usually have that much of a success.
DOUG STEVENSON: Well, I followed instructions.
[LAUGHTER]
KATO RICHARDSON: That does help, huh?
DOUG STEVENSON: Thanks for sharing that.
KATO RICHARDSON: Yeah, for sure.
DOUG STEVENSON: Do you have any other tricks?
I thought I saw you walk in with a deck of cards.
KATO RICHARDSON: I do have a deck of cards.
It's a pretty cool deck.
We'd probably have to get up to do some tricks with that.
DOUG STEVENSON: OK, you want to do that?
KATO RICHARDSON: Yeah.
DOUG STEVENSON: All right.
KATO RICHARDSON: All right.
I've actually got--
DOUG STEVENSON: Now show me what you got.
KATO RICHARDSON: I actually got this wonderful deck of cards.
It's Firebase themed.
You know, pretty much everything in my home
now is Firebase themed.
DOUG STEVENSON: Oh, really?
KATO RICHARDSON: I don't have any clothing anymore
that's not Firebase.
In fact, it's gotten so bad in my house
that now, some of my kids are wearing Firebase clothes.
DOUG STEVENSON: OK, so they have the fever.
KATO RICHARDSON: Yeah.
We even have Firebase onesie.
Check out this cool deck of cards.
DOUG STEVENSON: OK, that's neat.
KATO RICHARDSON: Yeah, very Firebase themed.
DOUG STEVENSON: Flaming cards, all right.
KATO RICHARDSON: All right, so what I want to do
is, this is called the ambitious card, where it rises to the top
repeatedly.
So I'm going to try this out with you.
Would you mind picking a card for me from the deck here--
something close to the center?
DOUG STEVENSON: I choose this one.
We have ace of hearts.
KATO RICHARDSON: Oh, the ace of hearts.
In fact, would you hold these for me for a sec?
I'm going to take this off.
Get these sleeves out of the way.
DOUG STEVENSON: Got to get nimble.
Can't be weighed down by that jacket.
KATO RICHARDSON: What I want to do is, I want to take it,
and I'm going to put a little bend in your card here, OK?
So we can tell it apart from the other ones in the deck.
So I'm going to take it like this,
and I'm just going to bend it over, OK?
Just like that.
Now, I'm going to take it, and I'm
going to put it right into the center of the deck.
Can you see your card right here?
Here, let me get the bend [INAUDIBLE]
DOUG STEVENSON: Yeah, I see the bend, OK.
KATO RICHARDSON: Yeah, so you got your bend right there.
That's your card in the middle, OK?
So you know it's in there.
OK, now, I'm stuffing it down to the middle of the deck.
Now, what I want you to do is snap your fingers for me
three times.
DOUG STEVENSON: OK, three snaps.
[SNAPS THREE TIMES]
KATO RICHARDSON: Did you see it pop up there?
DOUG STEVENSON: I see a little pop there, OK.
KATO RICHARDSON: Yeah.
Why don't you flip that guy over and see what you got?
DOUG STEVENSON: All right.
Oh, it's the ace of hearts.
KATO RICHARDSON: Right out of the center.
DOUG STEVENSON: Wow, that's pretty amazing.
KATO RICHARDSON: Yeah, so that's called the ambitious card
routine.
DOUG STEVENSON: Well, great trick, Kato.
KATO RICHARDSON: Oh, thank you.
DOUG STEVENSON: And thanks for being on the show.
KATO RICHARDSON: Yeah, it was a pleasure.
DOUG STEVENSON: And thank you for tuning in to #MeetFirebase.
Be sure to subscribe right here to the Firebase channel
on YouTube to get more video content with people like Kato
and some of my other colleagues.
Also, there is Ask Firebase and video tutorials.
So I'll see you here next time.
[MUSIC PLAYING]