4 min read
Have you had a team event during the pandemic? Big group events are a particularly tough challenge - and our team has tackled it the second time!
At ip.labs, everyone has been longing to meet all our colleagues again after being in home office for a very long time due to the pandemic. In order to keep everyone safe, we went for the remote option, while coming up with a plan to bring us close together and spark the spirit - despite our physical locations.
Keep on reading to learn how we made this virtual event a special occasion to meet, to honour what has been, and to celebrate what is coming.
Working 199 Years at ip.labs
Having a virtual team event via Zoom needs a rigid agenda and a lot of planning ahead. Sounds boring? Well, this ip.labs get-together was everything but a lame occasion, with people sitting still in front of their screens for hours. This event was packed with emotions & activity!
The most emotional part was the celebration for the team members who spent some time with us. It was touching to hear all the kind words for each of them and the stories of our shared past. I would love to go into detail but, well, data protection ;-)
A total of 14 (!) colleagues were awarded for being part of ip.labs for more than 10 or even more than 15 years, during which they left their mark on our company. Thanks to their dedication and ideas, ip.labs was able to take the lead in photo product creation worldwide, and we are honoured those team members will help to form the future of creating photo products.
Firing up the Team Spirit
During the second part of the event, our team was on a mission to tackle the future. The crew at ip.labs had lots of fun solving a tricky task as a team - and the result is amazing! (Wait until we installed it in our office, where it will welcome every guest as soon as the pandemic is over. Continue reading to get a sneak peek here on the blog.)
Just a few weeks ago, ip.labs officially released the outcomes of our rebranding. Our design assets had been around for almost twenty years, and we felt the need to transform our brand into something new in order to ensure it still represents who we are. During the event the team was challenged to bring our new brand design to life.
>> Read all about our 2021 Rebranding
Since taking photos is related to the core of our business, it became as well the centre of the team activity. 10 teams tackled the task to compose a predefined design made up from 150 single pictures.
Here is a sketch of the ip.labs design:
The result is amazing and a creative proof of what our team is capable of. On top, it was a lot of fun and action, walking around taking photos instead of sticking to the desk the whole time. While we already composed and revealed the piece of Art during our event, we are going to leave you with a little cliffhanger here. We plan to print and hang it physically on our walls ... so stay tuned for the big reveal!
Getting Together
What should a good event always have? Food, drink and surprises! We prepared a box full of presents and drinks to toast with that had been sent out in the days before. Also, we organized each team member credit for the delivery service of choice to have dinner together.
All in all, it was an exciting, thrilling and emotional get-together that brought us closer together. In case you didn't see your colleagues during the pandemic, this is our advice: in our experience, a remote event may be a bit more challenging than meeting face-to-face, but it is well worth it!
We will update this blogpost as soon as our design is put on a wall in the office and show you, how it looks like.
