At Hotwire, we think a lot about global relationships – our teams include people from all over the world, with all the different cultural perspectives they inherently bring. These relationships are fundamental to our business, and the success of our teams and our clients. Whether we’re dealing with multi-region product launches, follow-the-sun news hijacking opportunities, or building global creative campaigns that can be tailored to local markets. Hotwire has definitely got more than a touch of the HSBC ‘think global, act local’ in its DNA.
Every year we invest in a truly global conference for the team, held in a different, glamorous location each July – Hotwire Bootcamp is a two day bonanza of sharing, planning, inspiration, learning (and a little partying!) with colleagues from across the world. It’s a cornerstone of our culture, and fundamental to building our ‘one team’ approach.
This year though, we’re doing something even more special. We created a challenge inviting members of the North American team to pitch themselves to spend time learning and playing ‘on location’ with our European cousins. Judging criteria was tough – individuals needed to demonstrate via written and video contributions what they want to learn, and to teach their colleagues during time spent together. And the entries…. Oh the entries! We know our team is amazing, but the quality of applications – which included microsites, content hubs, integrated campaigns and videos – completely blew us away! The judging process was near-impossible but we got there in the end. And the winners were announced at a full team get together – dragging it out as much as we feasibly could to build anticipation – the screams could be heard blocks away as winners were declared! There were even tears of joy as names were called! And now, five lucky (and incredibly smart) individuals from our San Francisco and New York teams will be spending their summers in Frankfurt, Munich, Paris and London!
Building one borderless, global team is a priority and it’s amazing to be able to offer our North American team the opportunity to work and socialize with colleagues from all over the world. We can’t wait to hear about all the adventures and experiences the teams have together.. Watch out Europe! Team America is coming for you!