In September 2024, more than sixty members of our Global Tech Division (and some guests) traveled to Platja d’Aro, Spain to meet once again. It had been two years since many of us had seen each other. Twenty percent of us had never traveled to Europe before and some had never traveled internationally at all.
Our planning committee started their work months in advance–choosing a location, setting an agenda, recruiting presenters, and, of course, helping to plan the actual traveling. Sixty people journeyed from at least 5 different countries to meet up at Hotel Aromar, one of many hotels in Platja d’Aro that are right on the beach and walking distance from downtown.
Our first day started off with a welcome from Engineering Manager Glitter Chadliwa, followed by a team building activity which had us using social and deductive skills as well as giving us a chance to stretch our legs. We then settled down for everyone’s favorite story hour: Clayton Sims’ Year in Review.
Our largest block of time was for breakout sessions with our sub-divisions. The rest of the day was filled with informative and entertaining topics. We competed in a Spain/Dimagi trivia game, learned about (and experimented with) vipassana meditation, contemplated 90-minute sleep cycles and motorbiking, and saw lightning in a jar (maybe).
Day two started with some team building: a fun game called Stop-Walk that really tested our listening, improvising, and hiding-behind-a-pillar skills. We had small group discussions about what mentorship within the tech team could be, for both mentors and mentees. In the afternoon, we took a historical hike around Platja d’Aro.
Costa Brava, which forms the majority of Catalonia, includes our picturesque host town. Part of our walking tour was a pathway that extends all the way from Spain to France! Consisting of mainly rocky hills and seaside, this was the perfect setting for our Summit with some venturing out at sunrise for early morning treks, jogs and even a quick swim in the warm Mediterranean Sea with a coastline which stretches over 75 miles (120 km).
Most of our day was again dedicated to breakout sessions: divisional sessions in the morning and team sessions in the afternoon. So much of remote work is awesome, especially working in slippers, but it is such a treat to work in the same physical space as our colleagues for a bit. We were able to do some deep dives in our smaller teams. Individuals were nominated to head up these discussions ahead of the summit. Sessions started with a general plan and then expanded into real-time content as teams shared their input on the various topics, including ideas to improve our current ways of working. The dynamics of meetings are so different when you can hear everyone talking at once, laughing, or even just murmuring agreement.
On day three, the weather insisted that we adapt our schedule, so we started the morning with kayaking and snorkeling. For those that are not as at-home on the water, there was a chocolate tasting (two thumbs up). We got back together as a group to do a team building activity that tested our listening and artistic skills (spoiler alert: we’ll all be keeping our day jobs).
We heard a very heartfelt talk about Neurodiversity and Autism and had a knowledge sharing session about Google Analytics, which included both the basic functionality of GA and the road map for our shift to it. We then heard from one of our guests, Fatou Sow, Director of Delivery for Solutions, about a couple of our larger projects. Our other guest, Matthew Hayto, Director of Product for Digital Adherence, shared what he knew about product management, walking us through how to set a clear goal and advising us on how to reach it.
Our last day was the longest, but it felt too short. In fact, after putting on our black and white attire for theme night and pictures, we enjoyed dinner, and an awards ceremony. Awards included best presentation and best photo and the prizes included chocolate (yum). Many of us continued to chat into the early hours (after changing into less fine attire) and the next morning, after breakfast, we said our final goodbyes with talk of what we would do at our next Summit.
