2 posts tagged with "cometcon"

Written by Michelle Wong - Marketing Specialist

We’re back with the fifth edition of CometCon, this time a mini 3-day version of our company-wide internal conference. Twice a year, local and remote team members gather at Comet HQ for CometCon for team bonding, fun activities, presentations, and collaboration.

Here are some highlights of our end of year CometCon:

Speaker Series​

At each CometCon, team members from each department are welcome to lead a presentation or workshop. This time we had six different talks from the Marketing, Product, Developer, Software Testing, Sales, and Customer Success teams.

Sharing knowledge and insights cross-functionally is always a big part of CometCon. Many of the presentations focused on how we can improve the product and experience for our Comet Community.

In-Person Connection​

One of our favorite parts of CometCon is getting everyone together to hangout and connect throughout the week. While those of us at Comet HQ enjoy our hybrid model of working a few days in the office and a few days remote each week, it’s valuable for everyone to spend dedicated time together, especially for the fully remote team members.

During CometCon the dev teams can have their standup meetings in person, discuss and workshop ideas, and have water cooler chats (or in our case, coffee machine chat), things you can’t replicate as naturally over Slack. We believe important topics get surfaced and new ideas are sparked in a deeply human way when we gather together in person.

Team Activities (aka Mandatory Fun)​

It wouldn’t be CometCon without some fun team activities! We headed off-site to a local café for a mystery event lead by our General Manager, Josh. This team activity involved creative problem solving, brainstorming ideas, and teamwork.

Next, we headed over to a Battle Axe Throwing spot for a bit of fun. We channeled our inner Viking / lumberjack and teamed up for a few games. Flannel was worn. Axes were thrown. Fun was had by everyone.

End of Year Celebration & Prize Giving​

We wrapped up CometCon with our End of Year holiday party and prizegiving to celebrate some milestones and special awards for our Comet team members.

Long Service Awards​

• Suprio Das, Developer – 5 years
• Josh Flores, General Manager – 12 years

Graduation from Junior Dev program​

• Liam Green, Developer

Best CometCon Talk​

• Michelle, Marketing – Winner
• Callum, Product – Runner Up

December Team Nomination​

• JC, Developer

Special Thanks​

• Leandra, for organizing CometCon and keeping the office running smoothly behind the scenes

2024 Monthly Team Nominations​

Earlier this year we started a new initiative, Team Nominations, where we acknowledge our teammates at Comet. At the end of each month, anyone at the company can submit a Team Nomination to give kudos and shoutouts to someone they work with who they feel deserves to be recognized for their work. The nominees are given a shout out during our Friday team meeting at the end of each month, and a prize goes to the top nominee. Congratulations to this year’s winners!

• December – JC, Developer
• November – Alex, Sales
• October – Mike A, Developer Team Lead
• September– Rhane, Developer
• August – Ben Frengley, Developer
• July – Xavier, Customer Success
• June – Michelle, Marketing

That’s a wrap​

There’s always such a buzz in the office for the week of CometCon, and this mini CometCon was no exception. It was great to get everyone together for collaboration, connection, and celebration as we wrap up 2024 and look forward to next year. We can’t wait to bring you on the journey with us for what’s next for Comet in 2025!

Written by Michelle Wong - Marketing Specialist

Last week we held our fourth CometCon event, a company-wide internal conference where both local and remote team members gather at Comet HQ for a week of collaboration, workshops, speaker talks, and connection.

As usual, our General Manager, Josh, kicked off the week with a fun team activity – this time splitting everyone into teams for an interactive quiz. After the winners were presented with their prizes, we launched into the conference sessions.

Here are some highlights from the week:

Speaker Series​

At each CometCon, every department is welcome to submit a topic for the speaker series. This week we had three technical deep dives from our developers, a website workshop with the Marketing team, customer insights from the Sales team, and a Q&A session focused on our European distributor market. It’s always valuable to learn from different departments and discuss how we can improve the product and experience for our customers.

Developer Sprint​

During CometCon, our developers worked in pairs on a dedicated week-long sprint. It was great to partner the devs up with someone they don’t usually work with to generate fresh ideas and smash out specific projects.

Open Discussions​

In addition to the speaker series, we also had several open discussions about the product roadmap and our company direction, facilitated by Callum, our Product Engineering Manager, and Josh, our GM. Everyone was welcome to ask questions and contribute to the conversation in a town hall style discussion. It’s important to us to hear different perspectives and thoughts from all the teams on Comet’s journey.

Time for connection​

One of the most valuable parts of CometCon is the unstructured time to connect and chat with everyone in person, especially for our fully remote team members. Even for those who work at Comet HQ – our company has a hybrid model where a couple days are remote each week – it is valuable to have everyone together for a full week. We find that the conversations and innovative ideas that get tabled over a shared plate of tacos or a pint at the pub, it something you just can’t replicate over Slack.

That’s a wrap​

This was our best CometCon yet! The energy and buzz of having everyone together was amazing. Huge thanks to the event organizers for another successful CometCon! We can’t wait for the next one.