By Clara Thamke
When I was asked if I would be down to write a spring offsite recap, I was a tad nervous, since writing has never been one of my strongest skills. I’m not really into backing down from a challenge, however, so I decided to do it my way. Which, naturally, was to create a little picture diary of the day. I hope you enjoy! 🙂
8:00 A.M.
After arriving at the JUMP building and winding my way up into the depths of their parking garage, I was greeted with a long table full of what would be considered a continental breakfast situation. I happily grabbed a blueberry muffin and some fruit, the first bit of fuel for the day ahead.
8:30 A.M.
Jaime kicked us off with a Q1 business review, which detailed ████ ██ ████ █████████ and ███ ██████ ████████ ████████████.
Redacted for company privacy.
9:45 A.M.
After a quick bio break, we rolled into our creative exercise led by Kellie and Jessica. The goal was to pitch a campaign for the product “Eggies“. With our groups, we were challenged to come up with the pitch, and then modify it after a curveball was thrown at us. The winning team got to take home all 6 eggies and an additional egg yolk separator. Just crack, boil, and twist!
11:35 A.M.
Lunch came around and we were given time to load up whatever we wanted from the sandwich bar. I opted to go for 3 separate sliders with different toppings. We also were given time to fill our “written sugar” cards, which is mostly just a fun opportunity to gush about 3 of your coworkers.
12:00 P.M.
Post-lunch, Emily gave us all a great presentation about modern art, showing examples of how it can look, sound, and feel. I learned that ultimately it doesn’t matter if others don’t like it, if you have the confidence, anything can be art.
12:15 P.M.
Molly got up to present next. She gave us her POV on audacity through the lens of Florence Given, a writer and feminist with a strong point of view. I came away from her presentation feeling like I could stand to be a bit more audacious in my life.
12:30 P.M.
We followed Molly’s presentation with a case study workshop. Jaime showed up some good case study examples, and we got the ball rolling on how we talk about our own work. Talking about yourself is always tough, but talking about your work seems to be even harder.
2:45 P.M.
Tracy and Jaime retook the stage to lead us in an exercise meant to start the conversation around how we cultivate our culture. We looked at everyone’s individual strengths, and how they combine to make our team such a powerhouse. They ended with a bonus lil book club moment and gave us all a hardcover copy of Unreasonable Hospitality to read.
4:45 P.M.
Lexy took us away next, using artists Chiharu Shiota and Yayoi Kusama to give us all a peek into the way she thinks. It was lovely seeing the beautiful works by each artist, and even lovelier to get to understand how her mind works in a new way. Take a peek at those artists’ work if you have a second, I promise it’s worth your time 🙂
5:00 P.M.
Stephanie followed with her juicy presentation all about heirloom tomatoes and marketing. Did you know that tomatoes are from the nightshade family? Or that they actually were cultivated in the Americas? Me neither!
5:15 P.M.
Last but not least, I (Clara) closed our offsite with a presentation about Medieval art, specifically why it looks the way it does (spoiler: it’s cuz of the church). I minored in Art History and was excited to get the chance to use my knowledge to teach others! I probably added a few too many GIFs and transitions, but I think everyone enjoyed it.
Overall, this offsite left me feeling excited for the future, and excited about the team we’ve cultivated. It’s always nice to spend time with all my coworkers in a meaningful way. I’m looking forward to the next one!
Xoxo – Clara
