Our 2nd meet-up in 2025
Two weeks ago, we had our 2nd meet-up of the year - it was amazing!
Since last time, Ferhat has joined the team. He's our full-stack developer and lives in Antalya, Turkey, so arranging a meet-up that includes flying people in was something very different from just us Danes meeting up.
I love working fully remote. So does the team. It's one of the premises of working at Herodesk. It's not for everyone, but if you enjoy it, it's really something special.
And because of that, when we only see each other on the screen most of the time, our meet-ups are something we really look forward to.
I want to share a bit about what we did, how it was arranged and the output...
But first... Flying in a colleague from Turkey to Denmark on a short-term work VISA isn't as simple as you might think 😅 It apparently takes a whole lot of paperwork and approval to accomplish, so if you're planning to fly people in from non-EU countries, start early to get all the VISAs and paperwork in place!
Anyway! The meet-up was a three-day event. Tuesday to Thursday.
Tuesday morning, I picked up Ferhat at the airport. It was funny. It felt like we knew each other. We've been talking daily for 5-6 months, but at the same time not, because it was the first time we met in person! Funny feeling...
Tuesday afternoon was at my place, where Sara and Jim also joined for a strategy session. I've been preparing some (for us, at least) pretty big plans for 2026 that I shared with the team. I'll share them with you in a few weeks.
That was really the only thing on the agenda, as such big news often takes some time to really sink in before questions pop up. But fortunately, we all see things in the same way, and the team is fully on board!
After that, we had a glass of champagne to celebrate the launch of our AI agents, something we all worked really hard on in the weeks leading up to the meet-up 🥂
Then, off to some fun! Bowling! And afterwards a good steak dinner in Aarhus city.
Don't underestimate the value of spending some time together that has nothing to do with work. We're so focused on work every day, so taking some time to have fun was a great break.
On Wednesday, we had a work-together session. A few things were planned, like roadmap review and stuff like that, but Sara quickly grabbed the opportunity to start writing top-of-mind things to fix on the whiteboard. I loved it - so we could sit together and fix 6 or 7 items from her to-do list. All the small, annoying things that you never really get to do were done that day. Small effort, great impact.
Sara left for her home in the afternoon, so Ferhat and I grabbed a burger and watched some sports on a gastropub in Aarhus, before calling it an early night.
Finally, Thursday: Tech / programming work together, where we had a chance to go deep on some different challenges. And finally, in the afternoon, drop Ferhat off at the airport to head back home.
Three intense days with some fixed items on the agenda, some unscheduled time to "just do our job" (I think that's important, too, when meeting - don't pack the schedule too tight) and lots of time to have fun!
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When you work fully remote, as we do, I think it's incredibly important to meet up physically a few times per year. That's also why it's listed as mandatory to participate in our employee handbooks. It's so important to connect, relate and align. And now, a few weeks later, I can only confirm that we have a better collaboration than ever before.
I'm already looking forward to the next meet-up!
And next time, we'll remember to take more (and better 😅) pictures than this!
