Every year, WebDevStudios (WDS) holds a company retreat called WDS Camp. The next one takes place next week, May 7-11, 2018, in North Carolina. As a 100% distributed company (that means we all work remotely from home), bringing together the entire company is a HUGE deal to each and every team member at WDS.
According to an article published at Inc. in 2017, a company retreat poses many benefits, including the time necessary for employees to learn about each other’s personalities and a chance for the employer to show love and appreciation for their team. It’s a win-win for everyone, really.
“WDS Camp allows us the opportunity to hang out in person and really get to know each other on a more personal level,” explains WDS CEO, Brad Williams. “It’s a great time to strategize, improve our service offerings and processes, share knowledge, as well as have fun together. We work hard, and we play hard, so it’s no surprise that WDS Camp is always an extremely fun time for everyone involved!”
Again, keeping in mind that we work remotely, for many of us, WDS Camp will our first time meeting in real life. Maintainn Support Technician, Michael Beckwith, is a long-time WDS employee and this will be his fifth WDS Camp.
“I just enjoy getting to hang in person with all the people I work with five days a week, but not see daily in person, on a more personal level,” he says, when asked what he’s looking forward to at the retreat. Director of Operations, April Williams, has diligently and patiently been coordinating all the logistics, including flying everyone out to North Carolina. While it sounds like a daunting task, April has handled it with great grace and expertise.
“The intention of WDS Camp is to bring together our remote team into one location where they can work together, further build their working relationships, and strengthen the community that is WDS,” April elaborates. “We have a week of events planned that span from group hack-a-thons to cornhole tournaments to a big WDS 10-year anniversary party.”
The excitement around our virtual office is practically tactile. We are so looking forward to bonding and establishing new memories. For the most part, our umbrella of companies, which includes Maintainn, eWebscapes, and Pluginize, will be quiet. But, we invite everyone to follow our WDS Twitter profile and the hashtag #WDSCamp, as we will share our experiences intermittently.
WDS will return to our regular business hours on May 14, 2018 at 9 a.m. EDT. We look forward to getting back to working on making the web a better place.