2 months ago
Ready, Set, SummerFest!
Hey now, we are well aware that the weather was not quite summery as we had hoped for, but we are sure that our good vibes and party mood brought the actual summer to us afterwards!
You are welcome, everyone!
Okay then, what happened at the SummerFest?
Oh, what didn’t! We take pride in our colleagues and all the different hobbies and interests they have. That’s why we always strive to have a good variety of options for everyone – something that is built in our very essence. Our Flex Benefits and Work for Everywhere approach are small examples of that.
So, here is a quick recap of all the activities at our Team Building through the eyes of our colleagues!
Graffitti Area
Spray painting might sound easy, but it is not. There are so many things to consider – which design to paint, spray can control, paint pressure, color scheme and all of this while making sure you don’t get caught 😃
That is why a graffiti workshop is not a bad idea. Right opposite our hotel 2 huge canvases were available to everyone who wanted to learn how to master the spray can and experiment with street art.
We invited Sofia Graffiti Tour to teach us the foundations for graffiti and street art. They demonstrated techniques to all workshop participants along with tips and tricks for spray painting. After a short training into the basics, the group of street art enthusiasts started working together on their “Space”-themed canvases.
Lazo from Sofia Graffiti Tour added some details and finishing lines at the end to come up with 7 unique street art canvases, each representing one of our Scalefocus locations.
– Nikolay Bizev, Salesforce Technology Team Lead
Tsarska Bistritsa Tour
It was so much fun! I definitely didn’t expect so many people to join me on the tour to the Tsarska Bistritsa palace, especially with the rainy weather. We got a group of a few dozen people from all of our different offices and teams, who got to know each other on the way – discussing all kinds of topics.
Most of our colleagues had not visited the royal palace before, so they were quite interested in learning more about the history of every landmark in the park.
I took the initiative to be our tour guide, and I was well prepared with all kinds of interesting information and trivia. The thing that impressed our colleagues the most was the power plant that has been operating and supplying the palace with electricity since 1912 – which still works to this day!
– Petar Neychev, Talent Acquisition Specialist and our honorary tour guide
Stand Up Comedy
The American stand-up comic Donald McNair shared his brilliant interpretation of Bulgarian idiosyncratic habits and traditions from a western perspective. He recalled his first reaction at the human trafficking element at weddings (stealing the bride), how he learned where to find top-quality home-made rakia and the endless joy of dealing with government officials when getting his visa.
The audience found Donald’s inability to make sense of some Bulgarian idiomatic expressions particularly entertaining and gave him a well-deserved round of applause each time his smart jokes hit the nail on the head.
– Velina Derilova, Senior Content Writer
Mountain Rescue Workshop
The workshop included a lecture and a demonstration with basic topics like – how to use a defibrillator and how not to get in the way of someone using one. 😄
We had the chance to refresh our first aid skills like chest compressions and mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. It was great to go through the basics and how we can help if we do not panic.
The rescuers shared personal stories and what are the most common cases in which specialists need to respond to save lives.
The Scalefocus engineers had the opportunity to practice assembling stretchers and carrying around colleagues in them.
It was a great experience overall; everyone had the chance to practice and talk to the professionals – sharing their experience in tricky situations and looking for feedback on whether they had acted accordingly.
At the end of the day the biggest takeaways were the DOs and DONTs when you are in the mountains – for example not going alone, bringing warm clothes, telling someone where you are going, charging your phone battery. They even opened up their packs to show their essential gear – flashlight, lighter, rope, aluminum blanket.
The rescuers even debunked some myths that we had been taught as kids: Do not put oil on a tick, do not tourniquet a wound or a snake bite! Alcohol should be used only as a disinfectant. Also important (something that even well-prepared moms like me might miss out) – always have an anti-allergy pill.
– Hristina Bogdanova, Senior Learning and Development Specialist
Board Games
Quite a lot of people in the company enjoy playing board games and having such a variety at the SummerFest was amazing.
We had several different spots where we could play – at the beer garden or at the hotel lobbies.
We chose the smaller lobby since it was closer to the pool party and the cocktail bars. It was a very calm, cozy atmosphere with people sharing drinks and playing various games together. A lot of us gather at the office for board games after work, so this felt quite familiar with an added bonus of meeting new colleagues.
– Yulian Atanasov, Senior Business Development Executive
Innovators workshop
The game we played was a variation on the following “Scrum Ball Game“.
We were divided into 2 teams, but each team played for themselves.
The idea was to throw balls & bring them back. The team that threw the most balls to their teammates, in the limited time we had, would be the winner. There were 3 rounds, and we had a few minutes between rounds to improve our collaboration strategy.
The catch? Anything can be a “ball”. While we started with normal plastic balls, one team realized that the paper provided can be used as a “ball” by ripping it into small pieces & thus throwing more units of “balls” and get much more points per throw.
The goal of the game from an innovator’s point of view is to think outside the box & come up with creative ideas.
It was definitely a unique experience and we had tons of fun meeting new people. I appreciate Stefan’s and Krasi’s efforts to create a workshop event for innovators and have us all meet in real life.
– Neli Shahapuni, Software Engineer
Pool Party
One might say that we are bonkers to have a pool party with the gloomy weather but when the good mood is on – nothing can stop us!
Yeah, the pool was not in swimming-friendly temperature (for humans), so we populated it with ducks! Our colleagues that took part in the duck hunting were awarded ScaleUp points (our internal virtual currency) for their valiant efforts with which they can purchase some pretty cool Scalefocus Summer Swag.
Of course, a pool party isn’t complete without delicious cocktails, groovy music and outdoor games!
Spa activities
We had two SPA centers to ourselves so we could pamper up before the big party! Swimming, chilling and overall relaxing and recharging for the festivities to come.
THE Party!!!
Whatever we try to say or describe wouldn’t do our party justice.
Definitely a night to remember with the music we all love bringing us together.
When there are so many of us, spread out in several countries and cities – it always feels special when we have the opportunity to spend time together and celebrate.
So we partied the night away!
… and that is all we are going to say. For the rest – you just had to be there.
