We provide IT solutions while working remotely from various locations and once in a while, our team of IT experts meet for a fun and talks-filled retreat to get to know each other better. Read about our company trip to Warsaw.
Reliving and sharing memories of our 4 days of fun and bonding that our IT experts’ squad had during our company retreat, brings smile on our faces. We try to meet a few times per year to tighten our relationships, exchange experience, talk about everything work and non-work related and have some fun time. Such retreats play a crucial role in the integration of our distributed organization. In Spring of 2017 we came to Warsaw, our HQ city and we’d like to share the highlights.
Can’t wait to see those faces!
Some of us didn't have a chance to meet before, so it was exciting to see each other for the first time after so many video calls, emails, messages exchanged. Nevertheless, those Slack video calls helped us in recognizing the faces of our remote software dev team. They have also made grounds for getting to know one another deeper during the priceless face-to-face contact, which was an opportunity to verify built-up impressions. During the whole trip, we couldn't stop talking! A lot of programmers’ jokes (both good and bad) were said and we had some serious discussions about the latest exciting up and coming IT trends. What’s important, laughter was heard almost all the time. Once again our real-life meetings proved that we get along quite well 😃
Warsaw by night
We arrived from various directions spread over Poland: some of us enjoy every day a clean breeze by the Baltic Sea, others inhale the Polish mountain air. This time we chose Warsaw for our retreat. We stayed in the center of Warsaw, so we had all the fancy restaurants and attractions that were waiting for us, all within walking distance.
We kicked off our retreat with a dinner in one of the loudest bars in the area - English Legend’s Bar. Our Ruby experts team could watch the match on the TV together with a few shouting English fans. Good food, tasty beer and laid-back conversations kept us going till the late hours of the evening. A casual night walk prompted a spontaneous action - taking a group photo with the famous Warsaw’s Palace of Culture and Science. A lovely postcard: a bunch of iRonins and a Polish capital by night.
*Warsaw by night and iRonin's bunch of IT experts!*
"Didn’t know models have such a tough life!"
If you think these type of trips are all about fun and relaxation, then you would think again, after getting to know we had a 7 AM wake up call on our second day. Yes, that early. We had only four days and a quite packed, full of activities program, so no time for sluggishness here! But we definitely weren’t complaining about it either, since we had a good reason for getting out of bed so early - a photo session. A professional photo session for each of us and also for our whole IT team together.
Being a model turned out to be quite challenging - with commands directed at us all the time, like: look all in one direction, smile wider, don’t blink! “Didn’t know models have such a tough life” - one of our back-end developers commented with a smile. We were brave though and after several tries managed to get a nice group photo. Take a look below at how beautiful we are! We look easy, carefree and delighted. Just exactly how we feel in each other’s company.
*We look handsome in those T-shirts, don’t we? (like "The Bold and the Beautiful"? :))*
I believe I can fly
One famous tradition on iRonin retreats is a surprise activity. This time it was something with an burst of adrenaline dose. We moved to the outskirts of the city and found ourselves standing in the front of Flyspot building. “I will be able to cross out the next point from my bucket list!” - one of our Ruby programmer exclaimed. We came inside, our eyes caught a view of people just hanging in the air behind the big glass… It was a wind tunnel! The prickle of excitement was soon in overdrive.
One of the ladies from our team, after reading through a lot of warnings and cautionary rules, decided to resign. At least we had someone who could take photos of others flying - thanks photog. How was it being high up there? “So cool!” - our programmer Łukasz said. No wonder: 200 km/h was the air speed, we were hanging 30 metres above the ground and had a one-in-a-lifetime chance to try flying! Such a great idea to amuse the IT team!
*Ready, Steady, Go!*
And then, the day brought another fun experience...
All you can eat!
For all gourmands out there: for lunch we had a tasty beet soup, some fish or duck meat and the unforgettable dessert of the traditional Polish cheesecake. For dinner we went to Ceska Restaurant (ribs! czech beer!) to ease our nerves and still-bent knees after wind tunnel thrill.
We will also mention that in the evening we headed to a party as it was, by this time, Friday night. No more details on that, as the golden rule of parties is: what happens there, stays there 😉
*Ceska Restaurant: Hard-to-forget portion for well-built man*
Fire in the hole!
Shooting competition time! We wanted to see who has the best eye for catching software bugs so we took it to a shooting range. With 5 different types of guns - all short - we checked our aim skills. We had to be fully concentrated, the moments of silence were only interrupted by shots firing out. It was a very fair play, but guess who won in the end? Of course…our CEO Cyprian 😃
It was awesome to experience another buzzing event, which made us feel miles away from computers, programming, the IT world, our tired eyes and aching backs. “Never tried it before, but I think I’m gonna be hitting the shooting range more often now. It helps you improve focus and concentration” - our back-end expert shared after the trip. We rounded up our company retreat edition 2017 with a siesta on the banks of the Vistula river and an evening feast of seafood, steaks and pizzas.
*Working on our accuracy and ability to focus on bug-shooting*
Looking forward to the next retreat!
To sum up, our company retreat left no one hungry, neither for food, nor for the adrenaline, entertainment and great company! We’ve got to know each other better and had a wonderful time. Events like this helps to remind us that each one of us is a real person - not just a virtual avatar - and we have more in common than we expected: similar approach to the work-life balance, high valuing of freedom, taking responsibility of our own actions, and being an individual who enjoys helping out others. Fun times! We all look forward to the next event!
If you consider yourself an IT expert or want to become an IT samurai, value great work-life balance, fun and enjoy great company (both online and offline) - check out our openings and send us your CV! We look forward to a bigger crowd and new faces during the next retreat!
