The Adobe Shooters League: A 19-Year Legacy
By Dr Ken Lunde, Janitor, Spirits of Christmas Past
Good things always come to an end. When that inevitably happens, it provides an opportunity to reflect upon all of the “good” that was experienced, and more importantly, the necessity to record as many details as possible to ensure that the “good” is not lost forever.
That is the sole purpose of this particular article.
This article chronicles an activity that spanned a solid 19 years, took place in Silicon Valley, and was entwined with a 28-year career. To summarize it in TL;DR fashion, it is best for me to simply quote the following short description that is aptly categorized as “Volunteer Experience” in my LinkedIn profile, with a date range of October 2000 through September 2019:
I founded and managed the Adobe Shooters League, which met once a month at a local shooting range for 19 solid years. This activity provided to Adobe employees and their guests an opportunity to practice and improve their firearm safety and marksmanship skills when they might not otherwise find the time in their busy work and family schedules to do so. While many of the league members were experienced shooters, new members with little or no firearm experience joined on a regular basis. This presented ongoing opportunities for me and other experienced shooters to teach and mentor, to instill safe firearm-handling habits, and to prevent poor ones from taking root.
If you liked what you just read—and I genuinely hope that you did—I encourage you to take the time out of your busy day to read the entire article with an open mind. I am confident that you will be glad that you did.
In The Beginning…
Often I was told that starting such an activity, particularly in Silicon Valley, especially an activity that receives funding on a quarterly basis from a billion-dollar company, is very unusual, definitely unique, and quite bold. Well, I somehow managed to keep the Adobe Shooters League going strong for 19 full years. Furthermore, the quarterly funding that we received from Adobe not only paid for the range fees and targets, but also ammunition. In case you happen to be wondering right now whether I submitted expense reports that included ammunition, the answer is a definitive yes.
I grew up around firearms. I will forever be thankful to my father for that. He turns 85 this year, and we still enjoy hunting together. In other words, I learned to respect firearms from an early age. My high school senior yearbook even included a photo of me with my first AR-15 rifle, though the editors incorrectly described it as an M16, which was the military’s select-fire version (I wish I had that instead):
Speaking of the military, I enlisted in the US Army Reserve at the beginning of my senior year of high school, and re-enlisted twice for a total of nine years of service (1982 through 1991). Other than a year-and-a-half of ADT (Active Duty for Training), which earned me “veteran” status at the age of 19, I was a member of the now-disbanded 247th MID (Military Intelligence Detachment) for all nine years. Although my primary and secondary MOSes (Military Occupational Specialties) were 97E (Army Human Intelligence Collector) and 96B (Army Intelligence Analyst), respectively, I also served as my unit’s armorer, and was a small arms expert.
The year 1991 represented an important turning point in my life: the “US Army Reserve” chapter ended, and the “Adobe” chapter began.
Fast forward to the year 2000. I was over nine years into what ended up as a 28-year career at Adobe.
At some point in its history, Adobe established a committee whose name is the acronym ESCAPE (Entertainment, Sports, Celebration, Activities, Party Planning, and Events), which provides funding for employees’ participation in various recreational activities, such as volleyball, basketball, soccer, and so on. I carefully read the funding guidelines and Adobe’s policies, and found absolutely nothing that would preclude shooting as an activity, as long as the activity doesn’t take place on Adobe premises. Well, duh. Soon thereafter I discovered that there were many employees who shared the same passion.
The Adobe Shooters League was born in September 2000, and our first event, which was attended by 23 employees and three family members, took place the following month.
In order to manage the league and its events, I established a now-defunct distribution list, shooters@adobe.com, a month before the very first event (September 2000). This distribution list was strictly used for announcing league events, and to solicit RSVPs for each event. At its peak, there were approximately 250 employees subscribed.
Why Two Names?
Our activity used two different names, and the reason was incredibly simple: political correctness. Political correctness is a reality in Silicon Valley and elsewhere, so we necessarily used two different names depending on the target — pun intended — audience of our communications:
- Adobe Shooters League was used when the audience was the league members themselves, or outside of Adobe
- Adobe Marksmanship League was used for company-internal announcements, mainly to satisfy the quarterly funding requirement to solicit new members
Both names refer to the exact same activity, and were used interchangeably. Our wiki page, which was accessible company-wide, included the following banner:
I have never subscribed to political correctness—and at my age, likely never will—so I obviously prefer the former name.
Our Events
Drawing on my own experience at shooting ranges, I knew that the success of the Adobe Shooters League was ultimately about member satisfaction. A typical league event was best characterized as glorified range time, and lasted up to two hours, starting at 6PM. (The starting time was meant to provide attendees sufficient time to drive home to retrieve their shooting gear.)
There was one league event per month, except for December, which meant that there were generally 11 events per calendar year. Why skip December? Early on, I noticed that attendance was much lower in December compared to other months, no doubt due to the holidays. I therefore decided that taking one month off was a good idea.
I often joked that if I were to schedule an event a day or two before Christmas, attendance would have been unusually high, due to employees wanting to get away from family members who were visiting over the holidays.
In order to make the events more pleasant and stress-free, attendees simply brought their gear to the shooting bench, placed their unloaded firearms on the shooting bench, grabbed a target and placed it on the target hanger, loaded their magazines (or speed-loaders, if they brought a revolver), then started shooting at their target. Depending on how much ammunition one planned to shoot during an event, which was only the league-supplied ammunition for some, most participants stayed anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour. I was the only one who needed to stay for the entire event, which gave me plenty of time to observe and coach. I enjoyed that.
Those with little or no firearm experience rarely owned their own firearm, so they needed to borrow a firearm from me or another league member. They were also coached by me or another experienced league member until they felt comfortable. I request that inexperienced members to watch the short Firearms Safety Depends On You video prior to attending their first event. I also recommended to inexperienced members the NRA’s excellent A Guide For New Shooters that covers all of the basics, from firearm safety to firearm cleaning and maintenance.
A fair number of members purchased their first firearm after becoming a league member. Some of them became genuine firearm enthusiasts, many of which involved their family in the league. This brought me great joy.
As hinted above, employees who attended these events were encouraged to bring family members, including children, along with guests. Virtually every event included family members or guests, with some of them attending regularly. This aspect of the Adobe Shooters League was very important to me, because it extended the bonding effect to one’s friends and family.
I own a pair of Browning Buck Mark rimfire handguns that are chambered in .22 LR (aka .22 Long Rifle), which are excellent for beginner shooters: they have very little recoil, and have superb out-of-the-box triggers. One of them was configured with conventional iron sights, and the other with a red-dot sight. Depending on how many inexperienced shooters were planning to attend a particular event, I would bring one or both Buck Marks.
When the number of inexperienced shooters was much higher than usual for a particular event, which happened from time to time, I would also bring along my Smith & Wesson K-22 Masterpiece, which is a revolver that is also chambered in .22 LR, and which was made in 1951, 14 years before I was born. My Buck Marks were definitely the most popular handguns at these events. Sometimes, my own shooting enjoyment at an event would involve one of these handguns, because they are so pleasant to shoot. I would go so far as to claim that shooting them is therapeutic.
In terms of centerfire handgun marksmanship, my overall favorite handgun is probably a hard-chromed and customized Sig P210-2, which I brought to league events from time to time.
In terms of centerfire combat handguns, a hard-chromed Heckler & Koch P7 PSP rises to the top for me, due to its compactness, low bore axis, reliability, safety features, unique manual of arms, and unique gas-retarded operating mechanism. (The HK P7 PSP is also the very first centerfire handgun that I owned, so it holds a very special place in my heart among my firearms.)
The more experienced league members would often bring their favorite “toys” (aka firearms) to each event, which would sometimes be a shotgun or a big-bore revolver. Shotguns and big-bore revolvers, when fired, are much louder than a typical handgun, and therefore ended up becoming the highlight of an event due to their attention-getting properties. The more experienced shooters would also provide the less-experienced shooters an opportunity to shoot their firearms, which also turned out to be an excellent learning experience for the latter, and an excellent coaching opportunity for the former.
For each league event, we typically had a bay of 10 shooting lanes to ourselves for up to two hours. The league events took place on a day of the week that was typically slow for the shooting range, business-wise, which happened to be Tuesday, and I was able to negotiate a flat rate for the two hours. This was good for them, because it was guaranteed business on what was typically a slow night. This was especially good for me, because I knew beforehand exactly how much I needed to pay at the end of each event, which was incredibly helpful for budgeting purposes.
Practice Makes Perfect
Bringing one’s skills closer to the point of perfection requires practice. The main “positive” that I observed, because I necessarily attended and managed all 204 events, was that each and every league member, particularly those with little or no firearm experience, improved their marksmanship and firearm-handling skills. There were no exceptions. The more one practices—regardless of the sport—the better one’s skills become, even if one practices only once a month. Regularity is definitely key. Here is proof from one of my bolt-action rifles that is chambered in .204 Ruger, which fires a hand-loaded cartridge that uses a hunting—not match—bullet:
I’d like to mention that two of our league members—after leaving Adobe—decided to pursue careers in law enforcement. One of them had excellent shooting skills before joining the league, which he acquired through personal interest and training, so the transition to a career in law enforcement made a lot of sense for him. The other had little or no firearm experience before joining the league, but his skills quickly improved over time by simply attending events on a regular basis. If memory serves, he owned an original Walther P99, which is an excellent combat handgun with a superb out-of-the-box trigger. Anyway, he shared the following gem with me in an email dated 2007-03-21:
Turns out I’m the best marksman in my police class by a longshot (no pun intended). I overheard the instructors talking about me, “Hey, that one’s a real good shot. Keep an eye on him.” 100 shots fired: 90 in dead center, 9 outside but still in center mass, and 1 miss — accidentally hit the head. (Uh oh.) The next best shot had only about half as many in center mass. The best line was, “Where’d you learn to shoot, son? The military?”
“Nope, Adobe.”
Love it.
Statistics
You may not keep as detailed records as me, but it is in my nature to do so. Some of the statistics that I have captured for the Adobe Shooters League are very much worth mentioning in this article, because they are not recorded elsewhere:
- Total number of events: 204
- First event: 2000-10-17
- 50th event: 2005-02-15
- 100th event: 2010-01-12
- 150th event: 2014-10-21
- 200th event: 2019-05-07
- Final event: 2019-09-10
- Lowest attendance: 4 (2007-03-13)
- Highest attendance: 33 (2013-03-05)
- Average attendance: 15
In terms of venue, the 204 events took place at the following Silicon Valley shooting ranges:
- Field Sports Park (San Jose, California): four events (2001-07-19, 2001-11-10, 2002-06-27 & 2002-07-25)
- Reed’s Indoor Range (Santa Clara, California): 166 events (2004-01-14 through 2019-09-10)
- Sunnyvale Rod & Gun Club (Cupertino, California): two events (2003-06-23 & 2004-07-12)
- Target Masters West—PERMANENTLY CLOSED (Milpitas, California): 32 events (2000-10-17 through 2003-11-12)
I’d like to use this opportunity to convey special thanks to the management and employees of Reed’s Indoor Range for hosting our league for over 15 years! The league would simply not have been possible without such a reliable and welcoming host. To celebrate our 200th event, and to show our appreciation to our host, 11 of us in the league pooled our money together so that we could buy $30 Amazon gift cards for all of the employees at Reed’s Indoor Range. I included with the gift cards the letter that is shown to the left. We did the same in early 2014 to express our thanks to Reed’s Indoor Range for hosting us for 10 years.
The most common firearm at league events—and for good reason—was the Glock Model 19, which I personally consider to be the best overall combat handgun in the world due to its capacity, compactness, durability, reliability, safety features, and simplicity.
The most interesting statistics, however, are for the targets and ammunition that the league members enjoyed over the course of 19 years.
In terms of targets, the league went through over 6,000. Our most common target was the ALCO Hill 23P, which was very cost-effective. A box of 500 targets typically lasted three years, and the price was less than $100.
Now for ammunition, or ammo for short…
Before I reveal the mind-boggling ammunition statistics, I should point out that each employee who attended an event was provided one or two boxes of ammunition, depending on the league’s supply. When the league first began, .22 LR ammunition was incredibly inexpensive, to the tune of 500 rounds for less than $10 at Walmart. Also, .22 LR ammunition was abundant. These two factors meant that there was no limit other than time. Later, after the price of .22 LR ammunition rose significantly, the limit became one or two boxes per event, like centerfire ammunition.
My ballpark estimate, prior to writing this article, was that league members fired approximately 150K rounds of Adobe-funded ammunition over the course of 19 years.
I decided to spend a little over an hour going through the records, and the end result was that I determined that the figure was approximately 141,000 rounds of ammunition, broken down as approximately 113,000 rounds of centerfire handgun ammunition and approximately 28,000 rounds of rimfire ammunition. The actual figures were 113,300 and 27,825, respectively, but they may be off by a few hundred rounds due to a small number of receipts not indicating the type of ammunition, the actual number of rounds or boxes, or the number of rounds per box.
Thinking further about these large figures, ammunition cartridges are loaded with bullets that are lead, copper-plated lead, or copper-jacketed lead, right? The common theme, of course, is lead, Pb, which is a heavy element. By my best guess, 75% of the centerfire handgun ammunition that was fired was 9mm with 115 grain bullets, and the remaining 25% was .45 Auto with 230 grain bullets. Typical rimfire bullets weigh 40 grains. Therefore, we can conclude that the 113,000 and 28,000 ammunition figures mean that Adobe employees and their guests literally fired over one ton of Adobe-funded lead downrange over a 19-year period!
Quick, check my math (hint: there are 7,000 grains in one pound):
84,750 centerfire 9mm bullets × 115 grains = 1,392 pounds
28,250 centerfire .45 Auto bullets × 230 grains = 928 pounds
28,000 rimfire bullets × 40 grains = 160 pounds
Yep, 2,480 pounds is literally over one ton of lead. Nice.
Quarterly Funding
Extreme understanding of Adobe’s funding process was key to the ongoing success of the league. Shortly before each quarter, I needed to submit a funding request in which I requested a specific amount, and described what the funding would be used for. For the last several years, I requested $1200 per quarter. Half of it, $600, was slated for range fees, which were $200 per event. The remaining $600 was used to purchase ammunition, in bulk of course, which was mostly centerfire ammunition for handguns. The two most popular cartridges were 9mm (aka 9×19mm Parabellum) and .45 Auto (aka .45 ACP), though we also had on hand .40 Auto (aka .40 S&W), .38 Special, and even 12 Gauge for shotguns. I bought .22 LR rimfire ammunition in bulk, but that was done about once every year or two. I also bought targets in bulk every three years or so, but that expense was less than $100, which I mentioned earlier in this article.
Although this may deserve to be in the previous section, because it is a statistic, I submitted expense reports on a regular basis, which typically covered range fees, ammunition, and sometimes targets. I submitted a total of 206 expense reports, 77 of which included ammunition. Every expense report that I submitted was approved.
I was told by Adobe’s funding committee—on more than one occasion, by the way—that the Adobe Marksmanship League was the only Adobe-sponsored activity that has never abused its funding, such as to use the funding to purchase inappropriate items, or not to use all of the funding for a particular quarter. In fact, it got to the point that our funding was virtually guaranteed each quarter, with an almost carte blanche status.
During the later years, representatives from Adobe-sponsored activities were required to attend the San Jose Communities Fair, which began in 2017, if memory serves. My records indicate that the Adobe Marksmanship League attended from 2017 through 2019. We were assigned a table, and a signup sheet was provided, which I used to add new members to our distribution list. I also prepared a sign that included the Adobe logo at the top, “Adobe Marksmanship League,” “Founded in 2000,” and our email address (aka distribution list). Our table, which was manned by myself and other league members, was very popular.
Challenges & Lessons Learned
All activities will face challenges, and the Adobe Shooters League was no exception.
The league faced two main challenges over its 19 years:
- The price and availability of ammunition. In 2009 or so, during the financial crisis, the availability of ammunition dropped like a lead—once again, pun intended—ballon, and its price skyrocketed. There were even quarters during which I was simply unable to purchase ammunition for the league, because there was none to purchase, at least at reasonable prices.
- From time to time, an employee would ask Adobe HR (Human Resources) why such an activity is being funded—let alone being sponsored—by Adobe. This would usually happen after an announcement to solicit new members, which was a funding requirement.
Sigh. There was not much I could do about #1, but #2 was actually dealt with quite easily, and I ended up becoming extraordinarily skilled at doing so:
Such inquiries provided to me an excellent opportunity to remind HR that Adobe’s own policies actually prevented some employees from participating in this activity, because they lived too far away to reasonably drive home after work, then drive back to the range with their shooting gear. (Adobe’s policies prevented employees from keeping firearms and ammunition in their vehicles while on premises.) The concern, of course, was the possibility of active shooter events in the work place. I specifically told HR—on multiple occasions, by the way—that I could guarantee that league members are incapable of committing such atrocities, and further stated that I worried more about employees who were not league members. That pretty much ended the conversation each and every time.
Moving on, I took some time to reflect back on 19 years of managing the Adobe Shooters League, and came up with a list of lessons that were learned:
- Start beginners with smaller-caliber firearms. One’s first experience is the most impressionable, so making it pleasant is key. Handguns that are chambered in .22 LR handguns are very pleasant to shoot.
- Encourage the more experienced members to interact with and coach the less-experienced ones. This was important, because it empowered the more experienced shooters, and also benefitted the less-experienced ones. I devoted much of my time at the events coaching others.
- Express appreciation to the host shooting range. Although we had an entire bay of 10 shooting lanes to ourselves for two hours, as soon as I realized that we won’t use some of the shooting lanes, I informed the range staff so that other customers could use them.
- Always leave the shooting range in a cleaner state than when you arrive. The first thing that I did upon arriving at the shooting range was to sweep forward any brass from previous customers, and to throw away any trash. I did the same prior to leaving. This is important.
- Respect the shooting range’s rules. Even if you do not agree with a particular rule, such as no aluminum- or steel-cased ammunition, it is important to respect such rules. Remember, you are a customer, but also a guest.
- Watch out for and stop any unsafe firearm handling. I spent a lot of time observing our league members, which had the side benefit of allowing me to stop any unsafe firearm handling, which sometimes included rapid-fire. I explained to the league member that it was better for me to tell them rather than the range staff. They always agreed.
- Logistics-wise, indoor ranges are much easier than outdoor ones. Outdoor ranges are certainly fun, mainly because the longer shooting distance encourages the use of larger-caliber firearms, such as rifles. A total of six Adobe Shooters League events took place at outdoor ranges, but dealing with the logistics was a nightmare compared to our usual indoor range events.
- When the budget is tight, the priority is range fees first, then targets, and finally ammunition. There were several quarters during which our funding covered only the range fees. Most league members, particularly the more experienced ones, typically had their own ammo. The league-supplied ammo was certainly a pleasant benefit, but when push comes to shove, covering the range fees was higher priority.
- Do not abuse your budget. If you abuse your budget, it may lead to lower funding, or no funding at all.
- Do not schedule the April event on or before the 15th of the month. It seems that many people have a particular deadline in their mind. I often joked that some members may print their IRS Form 1040 and use it as a paper target.
- Do not schedule an event in December. It’s the holidays, folks!
- Do not purchase oddball ammunition. As stated earlier, the most popular ammunition was 9mm, .22 LR, and .45 Auto, pretty much in that order. We also had on hand a somewhat modest supply of .38 Special and .40 Auto, along with 12 Gauge for shotguns. As an example, I was once asked to purchase .32 Auto (aka .32 ACP) ammunition, and it literally took years for it to be used up.
Published Articles
Describing the league to others was always a challenge, but luckily several articles have been been published throughout its history. The exposure was very much welcomed.
The first article to be published about this activity was aptly entitled The Adobe Shooters League, which was published on TFB (The Firearm Blog) on 2013-03-17. The article was written by none other than Chris Cheng, who was the fourth season champion of the History Channel’s Top Shot competition.
The second article, entitled Adobe at the Range, appeared later that year in print, on page 15 of the June 2013 issue of the NRA’s Shooting Illustrated magazine:
The third article was published in the July/August 2019 issue of CRPA’s (California Rifle & Pistol Association) California Firing Line magazine. The article, entitled Adobe Shooters League Celebrates its 200th Event, was once again written by my friend Chris Cheng, and spanned pp 68 and 69 of that publication:
I gave to Reed’s Indoor Range a framed 11×17 print of this two-page spread, which is proudly hanging on one of their walls.
The article that you are currently reading serves as the fourth and final article.
Other Events
Other events, besides actual shooting, were attended by league members, including myself, such as two Silicon Valley Friends of NRA banquets, in May 2015 and May 2016. The venue was Elks Lodge, which was only a couple of miles from Adobe’s HQ in downtown San José. Both times, we had an eight-seat table that included a sign that read “This Table Reserved For: Adobe Shooters League.” Both times, the table included a firearm that was to go to one of people at the table. And, both times, I bowed out of the drawing to determine who at the table would receive the firearm. My interest in attending these banquets was mainly to promote the Adobe Shooters League among the shooting community.
It was during the May 2015 banquet that I had the honor to meet Chris Cheng for the first time:
Although it is not easily discerned in the photo above, I am proudly wearing my NRA Benefactor Member (three levels above Life Membership) pin:
In terms of actual shooting activities, three of us competed three times as a team named “Adobe Shooters” at the GSSF (Glock Sport Shooting Foundation) match in Richmond, California. This was in September 2001, September 2003, and September 2006. I seem to recall that I used my Glock Model 20 all three times, because I shoot it so well. I noted the following about the results of the September 2003 match:
Our team placed third in the civilian category, and had a higher score than the
Oakland and San Jose Police Department teams (scary thought)
What Happened?
Being somewhat frank, and from my personal perspective, the following three things brought about the demise of the Adobe Shooters League, in the following order:
- Political correctness finally caught up to this activity
- My unexpected departure from Adobe
- COVID-19
I started to feel the first item in the list above more strongly in 2019. It is perhaps a mere coincidence that the second and third items are also associated with the year 2019.
In any case, it is incredibly unfortunate that the remaining league members were unable to keep this activity alive. In their defense, new and insurmountable barriers were erected that made continuing the league an effective non-starter.
Enter the year 2020. Now that the Adobe Shooters League is part of history and one of my legacies, I am very proud to close this article by stating that over the course of 204 events that spanned 19 years, there was not a single injury. (By contrast, the very first time that I played Adobe-sponsored volleyball, I ended up paying a visit to the Emergency Room.)
The closest that the Adobe Shooters League ever got to experiencing an injury was during its first few years—in early 2001, I think—when someone brought an antique 12-gauge shotgun to an event at Target Masters West: while chambering the first round, the firing pin struck the primer, and because the cartridge was not locked in the chamber, the shotgun exploded. Luckily, no one was injured.
The Adobe Shooters League was instrumental in bringing together a genuinely diverse range of employees from various parts of the company—such as Legal, Finance, Sales, Marketing, Engineering, and even Security—who would not have otherwise had a reason to interact. In fact, a former Adobe CIO (Chief Information Officer) was a league member, and Adobe’s former Senior Director of Global Security attended 18 events. In addition, during the summer months, Adobe’s young and impressionable interns were able and eager to attend league events, which instilled into each and every one of them a very positive #AdobeLife and #AdobeForAll experience to carry with them, either as future Adobe employees or simply knowing that Adobe actually sponsored such a fun activity.
The mere existence of the Adobe Shooters League ultimately led to greater employee bonding with the company, which clearly increased employee retention and fostered company spirit, and provided a much-needed stress-relieving break from the daily work grind for some.
I think that I speak for all former and current Adobe employees who were Adobe Shooters League members, all of whom I consider to be friends, when I state that something within Adobe’s corporate culture that was downright fun and rewarding has been lost and can never be replaced. I shall forever cherish these memories, particularly because I was literally their caretaker.
About the Author
Dr Ken Lunde worked at Adobe for over twenty-eight years — from 1991-07-01 to 2019-10-18 — specializing in CJKV Type Development, meaning that he architected and developed fonts for East Asian typefaces, along with the standards and specifications on which they are based. He architected and developed the Adobe-branded “Source Han” (Source Han Sans, Source Han Serif, and Source Han Mono) and Google-branded “Noto CJK” (Noto Sans CJK and Noto Serif CJK) open source Pan-CJK typeface families that were released in 2014, 2017, and 2019, is the author of CJKV Information Processing Second Edition (O’Reilly Media, 2009), and published over 300 articles on Adobe’s now-static CJK Type Blog. Ken earned BA (1987), MA (1988), and PhD (1994) degrees in linguistics from The University of Wisconsin-Madison, served as Adobe’s representative to the Unicode Consortium since 2006, was Adobe’s primary representative from 2015 until 2019, serves as Unicode’s IVD (Ideographic Variation Database) Registrar, attends UTC and IRG meetings, participates in the Unicode Editorial Committee, became an individual Unicode Life Member in 2018, received the 2018 Unicode Bulldog Award, was a Unicode Technical Director from 2018 to 2020, became a Vice-Chair of the Emoji Subcommittee in 2019, published UTN #43 (Unihan Database Property “kStrange”) in 2020, and became the Chair of the CJK & Unihan Group in 2021. He and his wife, Hitomi, are proud owners of a His & Hers pair of acceleration-boosted 2018 LR AWD Tesla Model 3 EVs.
