It’s an exciting time at Headway! The crew has been growing over the past couple months and this retreat came at a convenient time to personally welcome new folks to the ship. With each individual that joins our crew, we gain new experiences and perspectives that impact each new day.
Growth expands our horizons and propels us further into uncharted waters.
Our ship is currently sailing downwind surfing the waves at speeds we have never reached before. Conditions that allow us to sail easily from point A to B while also making record time is something usually experienced within our dreams, not reality. I love to kick back, let the sails out, and watch the miles go by, but that is where the danger comes in. If we lose sight of the ship, the conditions, our speed, we suddenly create a dangerous situation that could easily turn from laid back cruising to disaster.
Taking a reef may slow the adrenaline, but it is necessary to reduce speed in order to ensure you remain even-keeled. Retreats are a big part of our culture and although we have the wind at our back it’s imperative that we don’t forget to reef the sails!
Development Team - Green Bay
Further development on Birdseye
The development team gathered in Green Bay at our new office to focus on Birdseye and continue towards an alpha launch. We started the week by welcoming Mark VanLandingHam and Kelsey Leftwich to the team! From there, we planned out the week of Birdseye tickets, split into groups, and began focusing on the various stories we picked up.
Although our goals were focused around Birdseye we also wanted to ensure we took some much-needed opportunities for fun.
Always time for music
A retreat is never complete without some form of a jam session. Most of the folks here on the team have some sort of musical talent and although most of them are shy about it, Jon is always looking for an excuse to showcase his soprano skills. On Monday evening it was showtime.
Copper State Brewing Company
On Tuesday we headed down the street to Copper State and learned more about the brewery and their story via a tour. The tour was like a game of clue where you had to read cards and figure out the next step in the process. Raphael was channeling his inner Shakespeare.
Green Bay Farmers Market
Being on Broadway in Green Bay has some summer benefits too, like the market that is held every Wednesday evening. We took the opportunity to take a walk down and have some cheese curds and BBQ.
We lost Raphael in the crowd only to realize an hour later that he had stopped into an artists booth to have a drawing made.
More games and fun
On Thursday we welcomed Nick Wessing to the team who brought his own Nintendo Switch gear. Just when I thought I was going to be crowned the smash brothers champion since we had been playing all week…
We went bowling to top it all off! Here is Matt letting us know he was going to bowl a strike.
Design Team - Salt Lake City & Front Conference
While the development team gathered in Green Bay, the design team traveled to Salt Lake City to connect and collaborate on our upcoming new website, Birdseye, and attend Front Conference. The conference didn’t start until Thursday, so throughout the week the team took some time to explore the city on Lime and Bird scooters, ate some great food, and even went for a hike.
Hiking Ensign Peak
Once Billy arrived on Wednesday to join the design team, Sam packed up some peanut butter sandwiches, bananas, and beverages into a backpack to hike up to the top of Ensign Peak for a view of the sunset over Salt Lake City. It was quite the adventure up to the top, but well worth it.
Front 2019 - Case studies on user experience and product management
Front is a conference that assembles some of the greatest minds within developing better user experiences for products and how to manage the growth of a product as it matures. At Headway we want to make sure we are constantly understanding new opportunities to improve our process so that we can create products that always deliver value, help our clients build healthy businesses, and improve the way people live their lives through those products.
The speakers from companies like Google, Webflow, and Pluralsight covered all sorts of topics from within the digital product design industry and the impact that can happen when you have the courage to lead. If you’re curious to watch the presentations yourself, you can watch all of them here.
Connecting with the Salt Lake City design community
We’re not only connected to the design community locally, but nationally as well. Past events, like Epicurrence, have helped us establish strong relationships with designers and entrepreneurs within our industry. Our friends at Underbelly hosted an event where we were able to connect with designers and creators from Salt Lake City and beyond. The design team even got lunch the next day with our friends at Rally.
Ending the week in celebration
Our new office in Downtown Green Bay
We ended team week with a gathering of family and friends of Headway here at our new headquarters in Green Bay. After a long two months of moving, planning, and still maintaining our course with clients, it was a great end to a long week together.
It was cool to hear the news that our office was featured as one of Wisconsin’s coolest tech offices by Wisconsin Inno. We are proud to share our space with the community and look forward to all the ways we can keep growing and make an impact.
