christof's blog

db4o Meeting in Hong Kong

I think the intense, week-long meeting in Hong Kong from 1/8 to 12 was an important milestone in our company's history, building foundations for years to come. While we also discussed short-term planning such as the product roadmap 2007 and adaptations of our business processes to reflect our growth, the most important results were IMO the personal bonds which developed between the 25 participants from all 5 continents and the reinforcement of our core values openness, agility in the pursuit of quality and excellence, and diversity, especially with respect to other cultures.
Sure enough, it is quite time-consuming and exhausting to discuss many details in a full week of meetings, but I cannot think of any better way to get so much information out of so many relevant heads in such a short time, to make so many fundamental decisions while achieving buy-in, alignment, and motivation at the same time. And then: We only have meetings twice a year. I think every staff member in a conventional company easily spends more than a total of 10 days (80 hours) in meetings per year.
Above all, it is a real pleasure to work with all these bright people from so many different backgrounds, to learn from them and to see them grow. The local team members did an awesome job to make our visit in an already exciting city even more memorable.

posted by Christof Wittig @ 12:43 PM