Company meeting in Turkey
Mindaugas Zukas··Updated Ivinco is a fully remote company with no central office, and we gather the whole team in person once a year. This post is from our 2011 retreat in Turkey, where we combined planning sessions with downtime on the Mediterranean coast.
Ivinco is a virtual company - we have no office, all our employees work from their homes. Being virtual allows us to keep our company costs low and it also allows us to hire talents all around the world. However, it's very important for people who work together to meet in person regularly. So every year we organize company meetings in cool places where our staff can meet and spend some time together to work and have fun.
This year we went to Turkey, to a beautiful 5 star all-inclusive hotel on the cost of Mediterranean Sea. When we arrived Turkey met us with a near-hurricane weather, which was a bit dissapointing (but allowed us to concentrate on our work plans better :) ), but after a few days it was all nice and sunny and we were able to relax on the beach and took one day-off our schedule for a boat trip near the old Alanya city with breathtaking nature.
Turkey was a great place to meet - we had a great relaxation and very good conditions for our group work sessions and presentations - hotel provided us a conference room with internet and projector.
In 2010 and 2009 we had company meetings in Moscow where we attended HighLoad and Sphinx User conferences where we gave a few talks about using Sphinx search engine.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why does Ivinco run as a fully remote company?
Going remote-first lets us hire the best engineers regardless of where they live. It also keeps our overhead low and gives the team flexibility to work from wherever they're most productive. We have been remote since the company was founded in the late 2000s, well before remote-first became a common pattern in tech.
How does Ivinco maintain team culture without an office?
By meeting in person. As this post describes, Ivinco organises a company meeting every year, where the team works and spends time together.
What does an Ivinco company retreat look like?
The 2011 meeting in Turkey combined group work sessions and presentations in the hotel's conference room with time on the beach and a day off for a boat trip near the old city of Alanya.
