When work is a pleasure, life is a joy!

When work is a pleasure, life is a joyWhen work is a pleasure, life is a joyWe recently came back from the first Retreat in charming VeniceSome people dread the image of a whole weekend sleepover with their colleagues, usually filled with cheesy kollektivbuilding activities. But for me, it means a weekend full of fun and new memories with EnhancersDo you want to come and see me in Venice?, said ur Chief Innovator Mitko after we came back from the Power Week. He has been living there because of a university project and thought it could be fun if the whole team came for a visit. Thanks to our adventurous souls, the decision welches easy to make and Yes welches the only answer.We are better togetherI couldnt wait to go to our Venice Retreat. As some of us work remotely, gathering together is always a blast. With the distance and focus on work, I often forget about Vessys sarcastic sense of humor influenced by Dublin, for example.We also planned to sum up our learnings, takeaways, and amazing memories from the past year which I personally enjoyed the most.A company of friends. Ive always dreamt of working in a company that states that about themselves. And it turned out that this description represents . ?? The trust, support when I need it and the freedom of developing my top skills from the very beginning. Oh, I also felt it on the plane to Venice. Im scared of flying, you see, and I will never forget how the others tried to comfort me throughout the flight. Cheers for that ??Believe it or not, some of our team members met in Venice for the very first time Yet they acted like theyve known each other forever. Good job, Georgi, for recruiting such a superb crowd.Related speciesiclesChief Joy Officer A secret weapon of a successful businessBreakfast the most important meal of the weekVing Tsun the martial art thats improving our teams productivityWhy a retreat?2016 has been a pretty successful year for . One of the most positive things is that our team has grow n from 6 to 20 within 2016. It made our office a bit tight which led to choosing a new one. There were many other highs and lows, and we felt it was important to share them with each other. All the newbies, including me, could hear the history and all the old dogs could remind themselves of what brought to where it is now.The first nightWe arrived in our cozy hostel Generator in Venice on a cold Friday evening. We got into our bunkrooms which brought some good memories from high-school to my head. The night talks about our childhood boyfriends/girlfriends. Or a bottle of wine party where instead of a glass, each of us had their own bottle of wine to drink from. Just to be clear, this didnt end too well for some of us. (Psst, you know who Im talking about.) ??But lets get back to Friday evening. We gathered in the lounge area with the other Enhancers. After we had our short talks, hugs and glad to see you moments, we were ready to start throwing our 2016 wins on the wall with sticky notes.Id like to mention some of the things I think make all of us Most Proud Of working at . Firstly, the release of Marissa Mayers resume in geschftliches miteinander Insider which brought 10K+ new users to our platform. The process of helping others changing their careers began.So far 200K+ people have created a resume on our platform to get the job they best fit in. Read our latest story here Sam from Spotify.We managed to save the company and most importantly the team after running out of investment funds, then secured a new one from 3 great investors. Soon after that, reached the break-even point.This year we started building a true work-life harmony in our team. We travel together, spend time together outside of work, eat breakfast on Mondays, train Ving Tsun twice a week and so on.From this meeting I realized that before I joined , there were some tough moments. What I know for sure by now, is that our Top Strengths are turning a difficult situation into an opportunity an d sticking together no matter what.To celebrate, we went out in the quiet streets of Venice and made some noise. Nothing inappropriate, I think It was quite difficult to find a club which would fit all 18 of us in. We stopped at a place where they played salsa music and the night began I love a bit of salsita and I was surprised some of the others are actually pretty amazing at it Even the Colombian waiter said we dance like pros.Many tequilas, laughs and dances inspired by our Ving Tsun classes to a Kung Fu Fighting song, they let us play our own songs from YouTube. Imagine the mood after that It turned into a private party. We left after the barman disconnected my phone from the speaker, at about 2 amThe Saturday adventureThe next day after our night out, we did some wandering around the streets of Venice together to clear our heads and explore its beautiful history and architecture. People say Venice is only for couples who are deeply in love. But I had a completely different fe eling surrounded by people I love working with.Thanks to a detailed plan of our operations star Deni, each of us could decide what to do. Most of us (mainly the ones who could bear the hangover) stuck together at the end. We passed by Piazza San Marco, Saint Marks Basilica and San Marco Campanile. Since our Chief Innovator Mitko loves history, he happily took on the role of our private guide. The weather was cold and our energy level high. We walked with smiles on our faces ready to use selfie sticks at each corner.In the afternoon, we were on our way to a conference room. Each team presented their Q1 focus and the plan. As weve heard from quite a few customers how we helped them find a job, I prepared a surprise for everyone. A Skype call with Sam, who I spoke with and wrote about on our blog. She found a job at Spotify and was super excited to talk to the whole team and give her feedback. I think it went pretty well. ??A Sunday well spent brings a week of content.Enhancers took it slow on Sunday and dedicated the entire day to a trip visiting the island Burano, famous for its colorful houses. I loved it there, it felt like a fairytale. Our Arts Director Kaloian didnt like it so much as he prefers simplicity ?? We took loads of pictures and had delicious coffee in the cutest cafe.My very first retreat with made me excited for the future. I look forward to new memories, retreats, Power Weeks and hard work it will bring. And to making you a part of it, of courseBack to youHave you tried traveling with your team for a company retreat? Let us know how it went in the comments