Setting our OOO to “Gone Camping” — The Inaugural Camp Thumbtack is Here!
Our first-ever Camp Thumbtack is finally upon us. The three-day event outside of Denver, Colorado is all about developing new relationships, rallying around a shared purpose, and most of all, having lots of FUN! With 600 attendees joining from the US, Canada, and the Philippines, it’s the largest event in our company’s history, and we’re so excited to give you a taste of what’s coming.
The Vision — Developing lasting connections and aligning on our shared purpose
From the beginning, Thumbtack has always valued connection and collaboration, and our founders knew that a strong culture was key to building a successful business. Now, as a virtual-first company, we’ve made in-person events a pillar of our new workplace model to keep everyone engaged and connected to Thumbtack’s mission, to each other, and to the road ahead. We’ve hosted team-focused offsites and are excited to bring Thumbtackers from across the company together for the first time in one location. Our vision for Camp Thumbtack is to celebrate everything we’ve accomplished over the past year and rally behind where we’re heading in the future. We have two main goals for the event: to build lasting connections with new teammates throughout the company, leading to increased trust and even better collaboration, and to leave Camp with a greater understanding of what we’re setting out to achieve.
The Theme — Building tomorrow, together
At Thumbtack, we believe in the power of our people and what we can accomplish as a team, so we’ve designed Camp’s programming around the idea of Building Tomorrow, Together. Through on-stage programming from senior leadership, employees will learn more about why we’re here, where we’re going, how we’ll get there, and why it matters. By aligning on a common goal, we hope that employees will bring a renewed sense of inspiration back to their work after Camp.
The Inspiration — Summer camp, but better
Whether you’ve ever attended or not, you probably have a pretty vivid picture of what summer camp looks like: days spent outdoors, all kinds of fun activities, s’mores, and scary stories by the fire. But most of all, summer camp is about camaraderie, coming together as a team, and bonding with both old and new friends over shared experiences. And this is precisely the kind of impact we hope to make with Camp Thumbtack — creating the opportunity for our team to develop relationships that stand the test of time, fostering deeper connections and understanding while we work virtually. We took inspiration from all the best things that summer camps embody and then put an adult spin on it.
The Team Building — Forging new connections with our Tack Mate groups
We know meeting new people can be nerve-wracking, so we’ve organized Thumbtackers into 24 Tack Mate groups in an effort to encourage interactions outside everyone’s departments. These semi-random groups will include employees across functions, regions, seniority levels, and tenure. We’ll share meals and participate in some activities together — icebreakers and all. But most importantly, each group will work together during our Tack Mates Tourney, a friendly competition where teams will showcase creativity and Camp spirit. (What’s that? Do we hear camp songs?) And in true camp fashion, groups will be led by Camp Counselors, made up of our very own Thumbtack volunteers!
The Agenda — A little work, a lot of play
We’ve packed a lot into three days, with a mix of all-hands sessions, smaller group gatherings, a variety of activities, and even downtime to refresh. Expect forward-looking presentations from senior leadership, panels with local home professionals, and team building. The rest of the time (and by that, we mean the majority!) is a choose-your-own-adventure format with programming thoughtfully designed for every kind of interest.
The Fun — Activities for every kind of interest
Camp Thumbtack is all about unplugging (yes, we leave our laptops at home!) and having fun — whatever fun means for each and every one of us. Dreading the thought of group sports? No worries, kickball is totally optional. Try journaling in the Hammock Grove instead. We’ll have optional early-bird activities, like boot camp and yoga led by fellow Thumbtack employees, and plenty of classic camp fun. Think capture the flag, tug of war, hopscotch, double dutch, and friendship bracelets. There will also be not-so-campy activities, including typewriter poetry, axe throwing, and an aromatherapy bar. Our Employee Resource Groups will even organize their own meetups, with activities from tarot card readings to salsa lessons. And for all the party people in the group, we’ll even have a few late-night fun options (hello, silent disco and bingo & brews). The festivities will culminate in what we hope will become our most amazing Camp tradition — an Oscars-style Value Awards ceremony with recognition awards, speeches, and live entertainment by some of our talented co-workers.
We hope everyone will walk away feeling inspired and invigorated about our shared purpose, with new friendships, a deep sense of camaraderie, and a clear picture of where we’ll go together over the next year. Now let’s set our OOO messages and pack our bags for Camp! We can’t wait to see everyone there.
We’re hiring inspired folks who want to embrace the virtual-first, not virtual-only way of working. Check out our opportunities at www.thumbtack.com/careers.
