1 house.
5 days.
6 people.
13,585 miles between them.
Countless calories consumed.
For the first time in Order Desk history, the entire team was together under one roof. And for many of us, this was our first time meeting each other in person.
To mark the occasion we decided to assemble in David’s home state of Idaho, where he founded Order Desk. Our adventure would take us from exploring the state capitol in Boise, to a quiet cabin home in the mountains of McCall.
You’d think we would be nervous about our big retreat, especially since it meant that some of us would be leaving our loved ones behind for a week, but that wasn’t our experience. As each of us landed in Boise, one by one, it felt like old college friends meeting up for the first time in years, and that same vibe continued throughout the week.
What did we do during the week?
When you think of a retreat, you might think of vacationing and kicking back, but that wasn’t the case with us. The Order Desk team is very passionate about our app and how it impacts you and your business, so while we gave a heads up that we would be offering limited support throughout the retreat, we still did our best to make sure you were taken care of. Every morning, we sat around a table and responded to all of our support emails as a team.
After that, we transitioned into focused conversations about the future of Order Desk. How can we improve existing features? How do we make our platform more accessible and intuitive? There were presentations, concepts, sketches, updates and lots and lots of notes were taken. You’ll be seeing some of these changes in the months ahead, but you also may have already noticed a few of them already!
But it wasn’t all work. We also got to spend some time enjoying each other’s company and took in all the beautiful sights that McCall has to offer. The weather was perfect the whole week, and there was still some fresh snow for us to enjoy. Other than a few scuffs and wet socks, we enjoyed some local shopping and took a wonderful hike to experience some stunning scenery.
When we weren’t exploring, we were in our cabin playing games, eating ice cream, and watching our favorite shows and movies together.
Everyone on our team also had their own memories from the trip, which we’d love to share!
I enjoyed actually making food with everyone. We cooked and snacked and shopped together. It’s just not an experience you can duplicate remotely. – David
We spent hours every night unable to quit playing card games. It was especially funny when David was the winner… or the loser. – Amy
The obvious choice would be to say the food… but I think I most liked that we all got to spend as much time together as we did. It made it easier to pick up on little personality nuances that don’t always translate through Slack. – Dan S.
That time I threw a snowball so hard it went all the way around the world before hitting me in the back of the hand. – Louie
Moving the reclining chair in to the living room, tucking in with a blanket, a bowl of mint chocolate chip ice cream and watching Game of Thrones with everyone. – Fab
My favorite memory was the first day when everyone was finally together at the airport, it was so exciting and it was a really happy moment for the team. There were also so many little moments that I’ll always look back on with amusement, like the card games, Fab’s obsession with American supermarkets, and our morning work sessions. – Dan V.
Did you know that McCall has its very own lake monster named Sharlie? We’re happy to report that the entire Order Desk team made it out in one piece, so thankfully no Jurassic Park-level shenanigans were had. But we’ll never know how close we came to an encounter.
Monsters aside, our team had an incredible time together, so it’s safe to say that our first company retreat was an outstanding success. The future of Order Desk is looking very bright, and we think you’re going to love the direction we’re heading.
