When you think of a company retreat, you might envision stuffy conference rooms, endless presentations, overused icebreakers, and a generally unengaged audience. You won’t find any of that at a Qwick company event.
What will you find at a Qwick event? A high-energy, interactive experience designed with intention at every touchpoint. An experience that the team itself shapes and iterates upon every six months as we set aside time to unite in our shared mission and build stronger relationships. These bi-annual retreats are known as Ignite and Qwick Camp.
What’s Ignite?
At the start of each year, we bring the entire full-time team together in Phoenix for three days of team-building, education, and celebration.
In typical Qwick fashion, our team grew a lot last year. In fact, our number of full-time employees nearly doubled from the start of 2022 to the start of 2023. As we grow and expand into markets across the country, it’s even more important that we bring everyone together, not just to align on business goals and get amped for the year ahead, but to connect as humans through shared experience. The main goal of Ignite is to foster strong, cross-functional relationships, which are vital to our team as we work together to problem-solve and innovate. Not to mention, they make work a lot more fun and rewarding.
A Homecoming to remember
Who doesn’t love a bit of nostalgia?
This year’s theme for Ignite was homecoming, and the team really leaned into the high school nostalgia. Before the event even began, the team started changing their Slack photos to high school throwbacks to set the tone. This gave everyone an idea of what to expect at the Ignite kickoff party, for which everyone was encouraged to dress as their desired high school stereotype. Check out a few of the winners from our costume contest below.
On the first full day of Ignite, attendees were greeted by a marching band to kick off a jam-packed day of team-building and educational sessions. Programming included panel discussions with Qwick professionals and business partners, updates around exciting new product features, a touching address from Qwick Co-Founder and CEO, Jamie Baxter, and what is sure to go down in history as the most epic game of extreme rock paper scissors ever.
We could share stories and photos from Ignite all day, so we’ll let this video do the talking. Give it a watch!
The final day of Ignite always culminates in a team celebration, and inevitably, lots of dancing. The party at Ignite is extra special as we include guests in the fun and even fly in plus one’s from around the country. We work really hard, so it’s especially sweet when we get to celebrate our accomplishments as a team.
We never want the night to end, so we even host our own after party each year. Highlights from this year’s were an epic balloon drop, all of the late-night munchies you could want, and decor that transported guests right back to their high school days.
The team is only everything
Experiences like this don’t just come together overnight. They are the result of months and months of work from our team, as well as external partners. We can’t thank the people who made this possible enough, and also want to recognize our team for always showing up to these events ready to learn, connect, and embrace whatever adventure awaits them.
Ignite is a powerful reminder of why our employees join, and stay, at Qwick: to build meaningful relationships, be part of a larger mission, and enjoy the journey along the way.
Sound like fun? You might just be the newest addition to the Qwick HQ crew. Check out our open roles and other awesome benefits here. We hope to see you at the next Ignite!
Venues: The Clayton House, Bowlero, Scottsdale Stadium
Photography/Videography: Lee Media Creative
Event Planning + Production: Fresh Wata
Catering: The Clayton House
Entertainment: Boom! Marching Band, Desert House Productions, Matt Roan
