The weekend of our team building was quite remarkable, unifying and overall amazing for all of us SiteGrounders! After a very successful 2016 when we almost doubled our employees for the second year in a row, our big multinational family grew to more than 450 people in 11 countries, speaking over 30 languages. We decided to invite all of them to an epic weekend meetup. To break down the geographical barriers and bond with colleagues we usually see only behind monitors, we decided to continue last year’s tradition and organize our own SiteGround Festival, this time on the beach!
Building Our Festival Grounds from Scratch
Our meetup took place at a beautiful beach on the Northern Black Sea coast. True to our philosophy to always craft and organize everything ourselves, our events team had worked hard to prepare everything starting with the pre-meetup activities and on-site workshops all the way to building our own stage (true story!). Of course things would not have been possible without the amazing help of our catering and stage partners. Luckily, this time we were thinking a step ahead and got it all on camera for a time-lapse!
The Warm-up: SiteGround Get Fit Challenge
This year the team-building activities started well before the actual event. We organized a month-long challenge for the whole team with the sole purpose to lead a healthier and more active life and have fun doing so. We encouraged people to form teams of 4 and commit to at least one of the following activities – team walking/running, cycling or weight loss. To motivate the participants we had prizes for the top-performing team in each category, we put a ban on junk food in our offices and started loading up the SiteGround kitchens with healthy or homemade food only.
A little hesitant at first, it’s amazing how active people can get when they train together in teams! The total results from the Challenge were hands-down amazing. Our winning Cycling team traveled 1590 km in less than a month, our Walking winners passed 1200 km and our Weight loss champions lost 26 kilos – just a kilo more than their runner-up!
Moves, Crafts and Arts
Even though the challenge ended right before the team meetup, we kept the inspiration for active lifestyle going! To reconnect with teammates from other offices and foster our company spirit, all SiteGround Beach fest initiatives circled around things SiteGrounders love – creativity, sports, sharing knowledge, and music. To recharge our batteries and get our adrenaline levels up, we had awesome water adventures like jets, paddleboards, and windsurf. We had yoga classes and improvised fitness classes all led by members of our team. We organized beach volley tournament and soccer tournament for the competitive enthusiasts. It was also a fun way to strengthen teamwork by doing the best you can for the group, learning to rely on others, even only for a game.
Surely, no SiteGround event can go without creativity and art. To entertain all teammates with creative minds, we had a special dream catcher workshop, sand sculptures, a body art station, and a smartphone photography course.
Music and Happiness for All
Though all these activities were fun and cool, the most epic and memorable part of the Beach Fest was the night of the concerts. Four amazing bands performed for the huge SiteGround family while we jumped, danced and sung the night away. Although our headliners were the epic hip-hop/rock/punk/reggae fusion group Dubioza Kolektiv, one more band was especially near and dear to our hearts – the SiteGround’s very own rock stars, called ‘Technical Issues’ comprised entirely of members of our Customer Care and Tech teams! Surely, we did not forget about one more crucial part of the SiteGround family – our clients. All the while we made sure our customer support services stayed unaffected during the event. To do that, we set up a huge hall with workstations where our support agents were working on reduced shifts to provide 24/7 support and still be able to join in the fun once their shift was over.
We’ve always believed that the strong connection between happy and motivated teammates is the key to quality service. Every company-wide event we organize is an investment with a clear return – our team and customers’ happiness. We decided to share the good vibes we experienced together and hopefully spread them to you as well! The way SiteGround treats and takes care of one another has always been special and we hope we managed to translate it into words. Because it’s what makes SiteGround awesome!
31 Replies to “SiteGround Beach Fest – Our Epic Team Meetup!”
So what about your clients? why weren’t we invited?
Hello, Ingrid! As much as we would love to invite all of our lovely clients, with 700,000 domains on our platform and growing, we’ll have to find a way bigger beach and venue. 🙂
On a more serious note, we’ve been thinking about possible ways to also have clients on one of our meetups. The idea still needs a lot of work, but however it develops, you’ll be first to hear about it on our blog. 🙂
Being site ground client from last 7 years, can we join you in the event? if yes please guide us the way forward
Hello, Fawad! Happy to hear you’ve been with us for 7 years! 🙂 We appreciate the loyalty and trust! We’ll keep that in mind for next year’s team meetup.
That’s really awesome! Congrats on your success, you all certainly deserve it because your customer service is impeccable.
Thanks for the kind words, Elizabeth! Happy to hear this!:)
I love seeing this insight into the company and your company culture! Looks like it was a blast!
That’s nice! I am very pleased with the service of you guys in Siteground. Congrats!
Thanks, Alvin! We appreciate it!
Work Hard, Play Hard! Clearly siteground is a great company that looks after it’s people, and it’s people look after us! Happy to be a client! You all deserve it!
Hey there! Do you guys do it every year? During that event, nobody works? Employees all over the world have to pay their own tickets (flights) to get to that beach or the company provided for free?
I’m curious about it!
Hey, Nelli! We try to organize at least one meet-up every year for all employees – which, given that we are more than 400 now, is challenging. We’ve always made sure that our services stay unaffected as stellar as usual during all company events, but we also try to make it easier for everyone on the team to join in at any point and not miss out. In this particular case, we set up workstations at the venue for our 24/7 agents who had to work on a special schedule so that anyone could join the meetup right away before or after their shift. And yes, we covered everything, including travel and accommodation, as we want to provide equal conditions for all employees – those working in our headquarters, foreign offices and remote teammates, to join in.
I really appreciate you guys sharing the information about this as it seems really awesome event. 🙂 It allows to get a better feel about the “culture” of Siteground.
What comes across is exactly what I was feeling about the team and reflects so beautifully the energy and the way you care about your clients.
I switched a clients account over to siteground about a year ago. After having only very positive experience and not only only with all the technical performance part of things but even more the kind of support you are providing I’m right now in the process of switching over my whole re-seller account and client hosting to siteground.
Yes technical, performance, reliability is a must, but bottom line for me is the human-facto, people.
Behind every technical issue, behind every reaching out for support is not only a client but a human being which needs this support.
Acknowledging this and dealing with your clients on that “human level” the way you so fantastically do, creates a very healthy base for a bond which is set for long lasting successful and for every one rewarding relationship.
Great,…. keep up the great work you guys do… and keep have fun while doing so. 🙂
Thank you for the kind words, Michael! Well said! This is exactly the reason why we’ve decided to make our annual meet-ups a tradition. Preserving our company culture has always been a key priority and we believe in the value it brings to our customers. 🙂
Your customer support is top notch and it’s nice to see a company rewarding its employees with a well planned and fun team-building weekend festival. Well done SiteGround!
Thank you, John! We do our best to provide excellent customer service. 🙂
Great spread on the event Ilina 🙂 Truly inspiring so thank you for sharing – Patrick
Thanks, Patrick! It’s a pleasure! 🙂
I had no idea how superior you were to the hosting services in the US, which used to be among the best in the world and have now been all bought up by large parasitic corporations. I’m moving most of my sites to Siteground and advising my friends likewise.
Your service is the best, and you guys deserve all the party time you want to keep the love train going.
Brock, we are very happy to have you on board! Thanks for the trust and for recommending our services. 🙂
Brilliant! Thank you for sharing. I haven’t been with you long but your support team are truly amazing. Am so pleased I have signed up for three years with such an amazing company and unified team. 🙂
I just wanted to echo the responses from so many people here. Clearly Siteground has mastered what I’ve known for years. Happy employees means happy customers. You guys are doing a great job.
I’ve managed websites for 15 years and have tried MANY hosting companies. Siteground will be my last as they are everything I’ve been searching for in a hosting company but could never find until now.
I worked for Hewlett Packard back in the late 80s and early 90’s before they fell apart under horrible management changes and restructuring to took the family like employee culture started by Bill and Dave and threw it to the wolves. It didn’t take long after that for the company to collapse. HP closed all 3 plants in my area 5 years later and 1000s of employees were displaced by the closure of the largest employer in the County.
Do yourselves and your customers a favor, keep doing what you’re doing, take care of your people and they take care of the company and their customers. It’s a simple concept that very few people get. You have a excellent management team. My hats off to them and your hard-working employees. They’ve earn the trip!
Thanks for sharing!!!!
Well said, Mike! It really is a simple concept, yet so true. Thank you for your kind words, we’re happy to have customers like you! 🙂
We are so happy to have just moved to SiteGround. Thanks to the brilliant Tsvetan Varbanov. My blog about it might amuse you. http://www.skjohannesen.com/bulgaria/
Cheers and best wishes,
Hello Stan, glad to hear that you moved to SiteGround. Welcome on board and thanks for featuring us in your blog post! 🙂
thanks for sharing, i didnt realize you guys were so big, i made the right choice back 10 years ago.
Thanks for this glimpse into your workplace culture! Much better than spending money on dodgy ads and Superbowl promotions – it gives the feeling that this is a company with a real sense of priorities!
Enda, we were happy to share it with you! Thanks for the kind words! 🙂
Thank you TEAM SiteGround. After my previous experience with the “other” hosting company ( let’s just keep the GOOD KARMA by wishing them well and not disparaging them) it was and has been a great pleasant surprise knowing that I am getting the BEST SECURED AND PEACE OF MIND — SERVICE ( all in Caps).
Further, knowing that I can put a Face on the people running the SiteGround makes it even a better, comforting and reassuring experience. I look forward to being at one of your Beach Parties in person and not virtually: )
Sincerely, Thank you again for all your help and services.
Best,
Hassan
Hello Hassan! Thank you too for the great support and praise for our work! 🙂
Congrats on all your success. I have been a reseller with SiteGround since 2012. One of the main reasons I have stayed so long is the friendly and helpful customer support. Keep up the good work guys!