P2Con 2023: Feeling the Fuerza

Renewing a Shared Purpose

Hi, Everyone—

I’m coming to you from a reflective posture. In the weeks following Phase2’s annual conference, I’ve felt compelled to share what the experience was like, if you weren’t there. One might call this piece “sunny,” but it’s really about business, our priorities, our people, and the impact. 

I posted on LinkedIn using the headline “Find yourself a company like this” upon my return from the trip. 

Here’s why.

P2Con, our annual two-day gathering, a 15-year tradition, is a vital piece of our remote-first culture. And this year we met in Costa Rica—our first ever, international get-together.

Costa Rica represents Phase2’s spirit of adventure, the value we place on our global employees, partners, and client relationships, and our penchant for exploring nature and learning more about sustainability.

It had been a long time—nearly four years—since the last P2Con. Being together in-person is essential to sustaining and propagating our culture. Face-to-face interactions solidify the virtual bonds we make every working day. The time spent recalibrating around a shared purpose and renewing our relationships is something that Zoom alone, simply can’t achieve.

The Rallying Cry

This year’s theme, fuerza, (in Spanish, force, strength, power) was inspired by our location and by our exhortation to always be a force—in one’s career, in day-to-day life, across the globe.

What We Shared

In the spirit of fuerza, people shared their passions (“Creativity in an Age of Calamity”), life lessons (“How Mud and Pythagoras Taught Me to Work Smarter, Not Harder”), and professional insights (“Tips for Quick & Successful Onboarding into New Projects”) all in TEDx-style talks. Additionally there were longer sessions and workshops that covered everything from neurodiversity and ChatGPT to brand voice and graph databases. 

The knowledge shared was expansive and the impact, immeasurable.

Primed for New Horizons

We surveyed our people post-Con and asked them to share how they felt about the experience. The responses have validated why we continue this tradition year after year.

“Amazing organization and CEO and CTO talks.”

“It was incredible and no company has ever done anything like this for me before. I’m energized and ready to crush 2023.”

“Absolutely loved the experience, loved building connections with my coworkers, and loved all the knowledge-sharing.”

“I’m just so grateful for a company that invests in creating connections and experiences.”

“I am pumped to see how the seed of P2Con blooms. I truly believe it will help us grow faster and embrace change together.”

Reflecting back, it’s difficult to simply summarize the P2Con experience. It’s not a reward for fiscal success, goals reached, or initiatives launched. It’s about investing in people, learning from each other, and setting our sights on what’s next in this industry and for our clients. 

These trips make us better strategists, creatives, developers, data scientists, managers, and leaders. It’s safe to say that the learnings have been brought back and woven into our current practices. Just as our clients are global, our practices and perspectives must be, also.

Stronger than ever before, wherever we gather (through our Zoom screens, with our clients on location, in our offices, or another country), the work we’re doing here matters everywhere. 

#digitalagency #remotefirst #collaboration #leadership #tech