The pandemic taught us that while human lives are perpetually variable, our most memorable moments are influenced by one or more of these four elements: pride, connection, insight, and elevation. Put together, these elements enable us to manufacture more moments that matter; moments that we remember years later!
Connection
In July, 111 Sumo Logic employees across our fantastic India R&D organization met in Goa for our quarterly meet-up, working each morning and chilling in the evenings. As always, it was amazing to see our fellow Sumos in person and indulge in delightful conversations that left us more insightful, fulfilled and enabled.
With COVID precautions in place (including ensuring that all attendees were vaccinated and boosted, as well as encouraging mask wearing where appropriate), the majority of the team attended in person. That said, we also facilitated a remote first mindset and all meetings had Zoom links for remote joiners.
Pride and insight
We spent seven days together – working together, ideating together, vibing together, music jamming together, giving back to local communities together and most importantly, getting to know each other even better than before. The camaraderie was refreshing as we saw 1:1s happening on the beach, by the pool or just generally walking through the resort.
Through deeper discussions, we were able to address a wide range of ideas and challenges. These included impromptu Hackathon ideas, cross-team discussions so that we work on one single agenda instead of by team, brainstorming on new products, competitor product reviews, and improving developer productivity.
Elevation
Sumos generously participated with their time, talent and extended material support towards two local Goa based NGOs who work passionately to give back to the community.
For the beach clean up drive, we partnered with WePlant Foundation, to clean a nearby Miramar Beach that gave us a reality check on how unconsciously we ruin the natural beauty of the beach. Our Sumo Heroes witnessed the enormous volumes of non-biodegradable litter across the beach and collected eight buckets of the litter.
As our second drive, 12 children joined Sumos from El Shaddai Charitable Trust, another Goa based NGO that focuses on the rights of children, especially the marginalized and those from the streets and orphans in Goa. This ‘Team of 12′ chose their Sumo partner to participate in ‘Back to Bachpan’ event where as a collective we refreshed our memories as we played childhood games like Lemon Race, Hula Hoop walk, Three-legged race and built fun Lego units. For this drive, Sumos also generously #packedforacause and we gifted the kids with art kits, notebooks, clothes and grocery items. We also gave away all the board games we used to have in our Noida Office along with a water purifier for their girls’ home which was much needed in their facility.
Through these give back programs we deliberately chose to contribute towards developing a deeper sense of improving the areas we live, work and exist in.
With everyone’s participation, this meet-up became a defining moment in our #sumolife where we were fully relaxed and deeply engaged. We created memories, cultivated friendships and brought together the unique Sumo culture which is part of our values and brand.
Having hosted many such meet-ups over the last two years, we can certainly validate the hypothesis that displacement from a familiar setting brings forth new perspectives and creative ideas. As a result of the environment created at the off-site gathering, the team achieved numerous insights, not just at the technical level but also personally. The euphoria elevated our sense of pride, the sense of accomplishment and a strong sense of belonging. Hence, Team Sumo has chosen to build more such anchoring experiences in upcoming meet-ups.
As we parted ways, in addition to saying ‘see you on zoom’, a lot of us said ‘until next time’!
Thank you Sumo Logic and everyone involved!
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