Last month, Hotwire hosted its global Bootcamp, our annual event where we bring together every single employee in one spectacular location to meet, learn, share and celebrate accomplishments from the past year. For a second time due to the pandemic, restrictions across the globe meant that our hybrid event this year was to be a mixture of virtual learning for some and for others, in person gatherings in local offices.
Over the past few years, we’ve made some incredible memories at our Bootcamp events – from glamping in Milton Keynes, Irish dancing in Dublin to a fully remote event last year — and this year was no different. Like everything we do at Hotwire, we came together in a truly limitless way – some in person, some on screen, but always one team!
With the theme of this year’s Bootcamp being ‘Rise up’, regardless of where in the world our colleagues were tuning in, there were plenty of opportunities to network through an exciting schedule of engaging and interactive sessions across the two days. Through videos and presentations, we heard from our fearless leader and newly appointed CEO, Heather Kernahan, delivering on our progress against our three-year plan. We also learned more about our refreshed value proposition and recent expansion with the addition of the McDonald Butler team in the UK, bringing ABM & channel and alliances to our services.
We listened to a variety of awe-inspiring keynote speaker sessions, with one focusing on empathy from the incredible motivational speaker Michael Arterberry, along with an intimate fireside chat with author Noreena Hertz. We even learned new ways of thinking during a thought-provoking visual storytelling session with Dan Roam and had the opportunity to listen and discuss Ted Talks on topics such as ‘How Great Leaders Inspire Action’ and ‘The Happy Secret to Better Work.’
We laughed (and cried) at the bravery of our colleagues who delivered ‘Ignite sessions’ on personal topics important to them. To give our colleagues a true sense of our global reach and local flavor, we sent VR glasses to all employees ahead of the event to take virtual tech tours of our global offices – lockdowns and restrictions can’t stop us from collaborating across the globe!
Of course, the legendary entertainment of Hotwire Bootcamp did not disappoint, with Cameo welcomes from famous faces including Montell Jordan and Boy George, to mind-blowing virtual magic shows. There were also fun activities to round off each day’s agenda, from a mixology course, escape room games – even charcuterie lessons! And although they were unable to perform on stage, we were even surprised by pre-recorded performances from our very own in-house band, The Borderless Thinkers.
Despite the disappointment that the entire agency could not get together physically, our hybrid event was a huge success and if there’s one thing we’ve learned, it’s that nothing can stop us from coming together as one team. Hopefully next year will be an opportunity to all meet under one roof, though Bootcamp is so embedded within our culture and values here at Hotwire, we plan to continue it forever –be it an in-person party or a big bang through our screens!