On Tuesday, the Swift Kick Team (Tom, Sabina and Jay) got to meet and spend quality time with new interns Kate and Kevin. And like after all retreats, we are now a happy team, ready to Swift Kick it together.
This year, Tom and Sabina did a lot of prior planning, that turned into an accidental 5 hour conversation about the company. As Tom said, we got to chat about the important, but not urgent stuff. It felt good to get out of our inboxes, plan the future, and plan the retreat!
On Tuesday, Kate and Kevin walked into our office, unsure what to expect. They were surprised by how super cool and hip Tom and Sabina were (this may be embellished a little). We started off with a couple “get to know you” questions that were shockingly deep, and wondered where Tom even found such questions. (One example that flustered Sabina: “Why have you ONLY accomplished what you have accomplished?” Well, I never!)
Then, we launched right into a company overview, so Kate and Kevin could see the big picture of Swift Kick. After this, we started our Quarter Planning. We mapped out all the possible projects to take on, and then chose our theme for Q1. This theme was brainstormed into picture form once it was picked so we can have a visual aid for the next 3 months of our focus. This art session led to some laughter and embarrassment in drawing skills.
This led into lunch time, ordered in from FreshCo. While we happily munched away, we did some more questions from that ever-introspective pile, and got to know each other better. Sabina and Kevin learned they share the inability to swim, and we all talked about whether we would ever skydive or not. Sabina and Kate bonded since Kate goes to Fordham, Sabina’s alma mater. Tom wondered if all this Ram pride was going to drown him.
After lunch, the team assembled Oreos on a platter, and grabbed some cups, to serve MILK AND COOKIES to the other people that Swift Kick shares the office with. While some people responded with “HELL YEAH” others had a desperate look of clinging to their New Year’s resolutions in their eyes. Sabina tried the puppy dog face but some people wouldn’t budge. We were happy to feel the community vibe in the space, nonetheless, and we got to introduce Kate and Kevin to everyone!
After a relaxing lunch, part 2 of Quarter Planning took place. We filtered down the project list, assigned people to each, and mapped out the tasks all the way through March.
By this point, we were all tired but feeling accomplished, so we packed our things and headed out to dinner in good spirits. Our Uber driver was awesome and talked to us the whole way to Hell’s Kitchen. We went to Gotham West Market – a cool indoor “market” with several dining options right inside. We flipped a coin because no one could decided between Mexican or Udon noodles. Noodles it deliciously was! Dinner came with lots of balancing of chopsticks, and good talk about concerts and music preferences. Did you know Kevin used to work security at concerts and has met many famous artists? A country music bond was found between Kate, Kevin, and Sabina, so get the pickup truck and moonlight ready!
We ended the night with a magic show set up in an apartment in Hell’s Kitchen, where we met up with Tom’s lovely wife Annie. Kate was ecstatic because she LOVES magic.
We are so ready for this quarter, and can’t wait to get it going!
