Every year, we take our Metonauts away for some much-needed R&R, and a bit of team-bonding. 

In 2023, we headed to Barcelona for our company retreat, with an action-packed schedule before us. Here’s everything we got up to while we were in the Spanish sun: 

(P.S. Could you see yourself joining our company retreat next year? Check out our available roles here: https://apply.workable.com/metomic/?lng=en)

Arriving to some wonderful goodies 

On arrival, we set out some goodie bags full of treats for our Metonauts. We had Metomic bucket hats, sun cream (essential!), disposable cameras, and more. Relaxing by the pool, it was the perfect way to kick our trip off, and say hello to people we’d never met in person before, including our colleagues from the States! 

“Second week at the company and I'm flown out to Barcelona - one word: UNREAL. So great to meet all of the team and get a good understanding of how Metomic came to be! Happy to be a Metonaut.” - Jake Robertson 

Cooking up a feast 

Once we’d settled in, we headed over to our paella cooking class. From the rooftop, we had beautiful panoramic views of the city, including the gorgeous sunset. Split into three teams, we got stuck into cooking different types of paella, while we caught up with old colleagues and new. 

The professional chefs deemed the veggie team the winner and we all tucked into our first proper taste of Spain since we’d arrived. 

“We all had such a great time at the paella cooking class: rooftop views spanning across Barcelona, bathed in a glowing sunset as we split up into teams to tackle separate tasks and missions, with teamwork and positivity, procuring three giant paellas which we all relished over an endless stream of wine and stories.” - Rob Caesar 

The founders story 

The next day, we all got together to hear the story of Metomic from our founders, Ben and Rich. They highlighted the ups and downs along the way, and the progress the product has made since the early days. It was quite the journey, and a great way for our new starters to get up to speed with how far we’ve come.

“Hearing from the founders was really inspirational, I got to hear about the ups and downs of Metomic and what our vision is for the future. Definitely got me inspired and fuels me to crack on and do my best!” 

Metomic storytelling 

To get to know our team a little better, we invited some of our colleagues to share their career journeys, and their experiences with Metomic so far. Mike (Engineering), Chemilla (Customer Success), Stuart (Engineering), Kianna (Sales), and Mark (Engineering) took to the stage to tell us what inspired them to get into their chosen career paths. It was a great way to learn more about each other, and the lessons they’ve learned along the way. 

“I had the chance to share my own story - how I started selling at 8 and now here I am at 23, lucky to be part of this incredible company. So grateful to the organisers, it really brought everyone closer together.” - Kianna Kararia

Beach Olympics 

In the afternoon, we headed down to a park near the beach for our version of the Olympics. Four teams competed against each other in some challenging games to win the prize - a lovely bottle of champers. Blindfolds, water balloons, and plenty of fun abounded while everyone battled it out. 

Victory went to the white team who successfully beat all other teams to take the prize. 

“Such an incredible trip filled with so many core memories. Beach olympics was definitely a highlight- frantically throwing water-balloons and having a good laugh.” 

Dinner at La Taperia  

After a boisterous afternoon, dinner was a lovely opportunity to get glammed up and head to a gorgeous restaurant, where we were able to socialise more and swap a few stories about the day. 

We shared tapas and sangria before heading to bed after a very busy Wednesday. 

The Metomic Vision

Next morning, we were up bright and early to hear more from our founders about their vision for the company. Discussing our ambitious targets and direction of the product, Rich and Ben told us more about how the shape of Metomic had evolved since the early days, but remained true to their idea of helping businesses keep sensitive data safe, without getting in the way of employees doing their jobs. 

It really put things into perspective for everyone, and helped us all to see how our individual roles fit into the bigger picture. 

“It was amazing to see the founders’ overall vision for the company. Sometimes, you forget to take a step back and look at the bigger picture, so this session was particularly helpful for me.” - Allie Asprou 

Team Breakout Sessions 

With the vision of our Metomic founders still fresh in our minds, we broke off into our teams to focus on different activities. While the Sales & Marketing teams worked on competitor analysis and role playing, our Engineering team used the time to build a Docs website to help our customers integrate their SaaS apps quickly and easily. 

A couple of hours well spent!

Boat Tour and the first Metomic Awards

To round off a marvellous few days, we took a catamaran tour around the bay, enjoying the (slightly stormy!) sunset from the sea. With delicious food to tuck into, as well as lots of beautiful scenery to admire, we reminisced on the time we had spent together, and where we might be this time next year. 

Finally, we hosted our first ever Metomic Awards to recognise our team members who had gone above and beyond over the last few months. It was the perfect way to end a wonderful company retreat. 

Want to join us next year? See our available roles here: https://apply.workable.com/metomic/?lng=en 

‍

‍