Summertime Fun: How the Events team kept things fresh with Chime’s summer programming

The idea of connection at work has long been researched as a way to increase productivity, drive engagement, and improve happiness levels. According to the Harvard Business Review, “data shows that having a best friend at work is strongly linked to business outcomes, including improvements in profitability, safety, inventory control, and employee retention.” Benefits don’t just apply to the company, though — having friends at work can improve your health. According to Time magazine, having a work bestie is “linked to a lower risk of burnout, better mental health, fewer traumatic experiences, and maybe even a longer lifespan, according to studies conducted by researchers in Spain, Japan, Germany, Iceland, and Israel, among others.”

Outside of work, we might go to events to meet new people — a local yoga class, concert, or skate night. At Chime, we bring that same philosophy to work, creating intentional events that bring Chimers together to form connections.

“Our goal with any Chime event is to help Chimers create connections and feel support,” says Amanda Delaney (she/her/hers), Chime’s Senior Manager of Internal Events and Experience. “I love events so much because work can be stressful at times — we help Chimers step away from their desks for a bit, have fun, relax, meet new people…and then go back to their work feeling energized.”

This summer, the entire Chimer Experience team took the room’s temperature to decide what kind of events they wanted to produce. “We wanted to be mindful of Chimers’ headspace and workloads, as well as what’s going on — like performance reviews — and planned our events accordingly,” says Rachel Prael (she/her/hers), Senior Events Coordinator.

The result was a summer of fun, relaxation (with pottery!), and many Chimer connections. Here’s a look at how their events plan came together, the events they produced, and all the fun Chimers had in the SunChime. ☀️

The planning process

Planning for this summer’s events started last October — with budgeting and company goals set, the Chimer Experience team set out to envision our marquee summer party and smaller events. “This year, we wanted to be more intentional about all of our events — connecting them to our business needs and members, as well as embracing intersectionality with other happenings, too,” says Rachel.

So the team started to map out the summer, starting with the marquee party and then layering on events for cultural heritage months (like Pride and Immigrant Heritage Month) and pure summer joy. They partnered with an events production company, Glow Events, for the summer’s biggest event to map out the vision, create a mood board, and brainstorm venues and other details. Once they’d decided on a direction, they got leadership buy-in and started planning.

Catering to multiple locations and virtual Chimers alike

There’s a lot to consider when planning one big event, let alone three plus a virtual option — but the team is committed to providing a great experience for all Chimers, regardless of location. “We believe in having umbrella traditions, but that not every office should do the same thing — we try to cater our events framework to our individual locations,” Amanda says.

This level of intentionality extends to virtual events, too. “Virtual tends to require more thought,” explains Rachel. “It can be a fun challenge to translate an experience for our virtual attendees — but we always start with whether an event suits the audience it’s for,” she adds. And while virtual events pose challenges, they also hold opportunities for things like animal appearances. “You can’t bring a llama to the office, but you can have one on a Zoom call,” Rachel jokes.

Another aspect of hosting events across locations and virtually is timing. The team is constantly considering the inclusivity of their events — when to host them and how to align with when Chimers are in-office, when applicable.

SunChime is born ☀️

“We know consistency is key, and branding events can make them extra fun,” says Amanda. “We had the idea to contain all of our summer programming between the summer solstice and fall equinox, brand it, make it fun and summery, and add prizes.”

That’s how SunChime was born (of course, because we love puns). The team came up with the idea of a passport for Chimers to collect stickers from the many events, and the rest of the event ideas came together organically. “The vibe we wanted was summer fun: ice cream, popsicles, meeting other Chimers, and finding connection through events,” Amanda says. At the end of summer, if a Chimer had attended four or more events or were active in a specific Slack channel, they’d be entered into a raffle to win SunChime exclusive swag: a branded cooler and water bottle sling.

The goals of SunChime were to involve all Chimers across all offices and remote locations and to surprise and delight them throughout the summer.

The team made sure there were plenty of ways for folks to get involved, even virtually. “We added a watercolor feature to one of our Slack channels and asked icebreaker questions like, ‘What food reminds you of childhood?” to engage people,” Rachel says. “By answering, Chimers would be entered into the raffle.”

Summer wouldn’t be the season it is without food — so the team also focused a lot of their programming on snacks and food. “We sent the first 100 Chimers to fill out a form for a free Snack Magic box, for example,” says Rachel.

SunChime also included an ice cream social for all Chimers in-office and virtual, watermelon palomas, custom lip balm and fan swag, virtual scavenger hunts, a pottery and meditation session, popsicle pop-up, roof party, and triple coffee tasting!

To wrap up SunChime, the team produced their marquee event, SummerChime, in person for our San Francisco, Vancouver, and Chicago offices and virtually for all remote Chimers. “We chose a 90’s theme because the trend is having a moment right now,” says Amanda. Chimers were invited to dress up, and the events featured activities like a hat airbrush station, caricature drawings, friendship bracelet station, a Nintendo 90’s bedroom lounge where you could actually play, and endless photo opportunities.

Some photos from the various SummerChime celebrations:

Overcoming challenges to provide better events for all Chimers

Amanda, Rachel, and the team gather a lot of feedback from every event they host, from quantitative data, like attendance numbers, to qualitative responses to post-event surveys.

The team tries to incorporate learnings from feedback — in fact, this summer’s scavenger hunt came from a survey suggestion. “We read every survey response and take suggestions when we can,” says Rachel. “The hardest part is that we can’t take every suggestion, but we can make adjustments to serve Chimers we’re creating events for and try to give them what they want.”

Understanding Chimers — who they are and what they’re interested in — is the start of the process for the team to do their best to accommodate everyone. They also consider timing and days of the week, mixing up when events are offered to accommodate as many folks as possible. “Every event might not be for every Chimer, but we hope that they find one that fits their schedule and enjoy it!” Amanda says.

The team takes Chime’s Be Human value to heart, always ensuring that all events offer inclusive access so if someone has a special request, it’s never a setback on the day of an event. “Wheelchair access, vegan and vegetarian options, mocktails, gender-neutral bathrooms, and lactation rooms have all become standard at any big in-person event,” Rachel says. “Even if an accommodation doesn’t apply to us, we must consider everyone’s experience to deliver the best event possible for all Chimers.”

By creating an inclusive environment, the Events team encourages every Chimer to attend to connect with others and be delighted — just what they set out to do in the first place.