As a fast-growing company, one of the biggest challenges we face is how to maintain our close-knit, collaborative culture as we scale. About 9 years ago, our then 24-person, globally distributed team gathered in San Francisco for one week of face-to-face working sessions and team building, planting the seeds for an event that would later become a core driver in maintaining global connectedness—MeetUp.
In 2018, over 1,100 Muleys attended MeetUp for yet another year of in-person all-hands sessions, cross-functional time, a 2-day hackathon, and relationship building in San Diego. Being at MeetUp, the global nature of the company becomes palpable, as you hear people speaking in dozens of languages, sharing experiences from nearly every corner of the world. It’s an incredible energy that reinvigorates everyone for an exciting year ahead.
While most people at MeetUp will recount similar favorite moments and experiences, we wanted to share a peek into what MeetUp is like from the eyes of different Muleys from across the globe. Here’s a photo diary recap of every day at MeetUp, through the eyes of people from Chicago to Sydney!
Day 0: Pre-MeetUp outing at a Clippers game
Chloe Fryar, Field Marketing Manager, Sydney
“My favorite part about MeetUp was being a part of a group of like-minded peers, socializing with them (that’s us at the Clippers game before MeetUp officially began!), and gaining access to first-hand information––it’s something I look forward to all year! I am based in Australia, so having the ability to network with peers from other offices is invaluable––we have the opportunity to share and collaborate on the great programs that are being launched globally. MeetUp gives us the opportunity to hear the company’s vision directly and to really dive into the strategy of the company, both of which set us up for the year.”
Day 1: Global all hands with 1,100+ Muleys
Fernando Melone, Partner Enablement Manager, London
“What I loved most about MeetUp is meeting with all my fellow Muleys. There’s nothing like a live, cross-functional conversation during lunch, during the breaks, and after long hours of learning and working together. Also, the working sessions that we had together were great moments that allowed us to reinforce knowledge, learn something new, generate initiatives, and present all those ideas we had all year in our heads! It’s really exciting.
The all-hands sessions were great—afterwards, you get out of the room recharged and filled with excitement and energy. There’s a reason why leaders exist, and they have existed through history in all different disciplines and situations. It’s to help each other grow, to imagine, to solve, and to execute. If you ask me what’s the most exciting thing for me, it is that after an all hands, I feel that I’m in a place where all of that is happening.”
Day 2: Sales lunch discussion
Tia Gaffen, Regional Lead, Account Development, Chicago
“I think that what I loved most about MeetUp is the opportunity to spend time with the MuleSoft family! Thanks to MuleSoft, I have friends across the globe and having them all in one place, and working towards the same vision for 6 days straight made my heart so incredibly full. Plus, as a salesperson on the Account Development team, I think that the most valuable thing that MeetUp offered is cross-functional time and the ability to work with the Global AD Team in order to share best practices and get the perspectives of some of the smartest people I have ever met.”
Day 3: Surfing and 16+ other offsite activities
Alan Leung, Senior Technical Recruiter, San Francisco
“During MeetUp, we all had the chance to pursue fun activities. I picked surfing because this is a sport I want to get better at. I think surfing is similar to how people go through life. Surfing is a sport that requires a lot of patience, persistence, perseverance, and being in the present. What I enjoyed most that day was being able to see everyone getting back up on the board despite how they fell down, yet still, have a big smile on their face. ‘The best surfer is the one having the most fun.’ But it’s hard to narrow down one specific piece about MeetUp that I loved because there were so many.”
Day 4: Global, cross-functional hackathon
Esteban Wasinger, Software Engineer, Buenos Aires
“The really cool thing about MeetUp is the hackathon.Having the entire engineering team in the same room means you can create teams with people from different offices, and, if you are interested in someone else’s project, you can just walk a few steps, talk about it and give your opinion. You can also ask for help on any Mule product, all the product owners are there!
In terms of the hackathon, what I enjoyed most about MeetUp is the presentations of the projects––you have to take the salesperson out of an engineer, which is a big challenge!
Demonstrating the value of a project is almost as important as the project itself, you have to explain it and sell it. You go from showing the project to another engineer, to presenting the project to a talent recruiter or our CEO. Adapting your speech for each of those audiences is important so that they can get the most value out of the project. And, finally, after two long days and so much effort, people saying, ‘hey, I love your project!’ and giving you their vote, is entirely gratifying.”
Day 6: Short walk before wrapping up MeetUp
Victoria Raines, Account Development Representative, Atlanta
What I loved most about MeetUp was being with the whole company and being surrounded by great leaders. Greg, Simon, and Ross never fail to bring us all together and get every one of us excited to be a part of this company. I left MeetUp really looking forward to what is in store for us as a company. Every anecdote from both Muleys and customers is a testament to how powerful our mission is.
Plus, the location was incredible! It’s tough to beat San Diego. Being from Atlanta, I felt like I was on vacation: it was sunny and 70 degrees every day and nothing beats being right next to the ocean. I also loved getting the opportunity to bike around Coronado for my activity, it was a great way to get active in the middle of a busy week. The sights were beautiful!
The fact that we are a global company is one of my favorite things about MuleSoft. One of my highlights of MeetUp was getting to know the folks from other offices. Learning about so many different cultures is amazing, and I feel so lucky to be able to call people from all over the world my colleagues.
Check out #meetup18 on Instagram and Twitter to see what else Muleys were up to at MeetUp. We’re already gearing up for MeetUp 2019—join us! We’re growing the team all over the world, and MeetUp is the one time each year that we all come together.
