10 Things We Did in Wine Country (Instead of Drinking Wine) at Offsite 2016
Once a year, Sifties spend a few days together outside of San Francisco, in hopes of accomplishing the seven Rs: relax, recharge, reflect, revel, reset, realign, and reconnect.
We take the opportunity to think about the past year and plan for the next one, in all-hands sessions and functional-time breakout groups. This year took us north to MacArthur Place in Sonoma, and – under a supermoon – we accomplished a lot!
Here are 10 things that we did during our team getaway:
1. We enjoyed our downtime with Siftie-organized activities.
Like spike ball (an intense 2-on-2 game that’s a cross between foursquare and volleyball).
2. One of these activities was a photography walk through downtown Sonoma.
This is not a new phenomena – the Sift Scientists often meet up outside of work to go on photo adventures.
3. We held the 4th annual Siftlympics, where we break into teams for a little friendly competition.
Activities included a relay race, a blind drawing of our CEO, and building the tallest tower out of balloons, straws, and tape.
4. MacArthur Place offers a nightly wine and cheese happy hour, so of course we took part.
In the title of this blog post, we claimed we didn’t drink wine…but could we really say no?
5. The aforementioned event of course led to eating (too much) really delicious food.
6. The tasty foods were followed by even tastier drinks.
Hot chocolate (and wine) by a bonfire on a chilly Sonoma evening, anyone?
7. We expressed our appreciation for our fellow Sifties who exemplify our company’s values.
Those values are: Start with the customer, finish as one team, set the stage, festina lente (hurry slowly), and be tough on ideas and excellent to each other.
8. We celebrated all that we accomplished in 2016 with artful recaps.
What are “artful recaps?” you might ask. At each offsite, departments are tasked with creatively performing the story of their year. Interpretive dance, musical number, game-show, or spoken word … we’ve seen it all!
9. On Open Mic night, we learned about our fellow Sifties’ hidden talents.
We even got to watch our CEO, Jason, freestyle.
10. And last, but certainly not least, we reflected on 2016 and strategized for 2017.
So many ideas, so many Post-It notes!
