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By Alex Cramer
Let’s be real. WFH life was fun for a minute. Zoom calls in your PJs, no commute, and never having to clean someone else’s lunch out of the microwave wasn’t bad for the first few weeks. But there’s something about staring at flat faces on a video conference and wearing the same sweatpants from bed to work and back to bed that got tiresome after a while.
That’s why we were all pretty stoked when our office reopened for our new flexible schedule and we had the chance to reconnect with our co-workers.
One of the secrets to Advertise Purple’s success is that we actually like the people that we work with. So while virtual office parties and zoom hangouts were a decent substitute for the real thing, nothing ever really replaced the feeling of spending time with people who we actually enjoy being around.
That’s why a huge part of Advertise Purple’s pre-pandemic office culture was everything that we did together outside of the office. From happy hours to Dodger games, a major perk of working here was all of the things we got to do besides work.
Now, with Covid numbers down and mask requirements vanishing, we decided that it’s time to get the band back together and go to the movies. Like for real. We all wore pants and I think that someone actually brushed their hair. It was wild.
Of course, fun events like these don’t just happen by themselves. That’s why we have the AdPurp Social Committee to put together and plan all of our activities. Greg J. is a member of the committee and he spoke about why it was important for our team to start going out again.
“I’ve been with the company for almost three years now and it was a really fun time when we’re all in the office together. There’s only so much you can do over slack and video calls and so we want to bring back that vibe of togetherness. There are eight or nine of us on the committee, from different teams and we’re just trying to rebuild the office culture that we’ve been missing for the past 18 months. So going to see a private screening of Batman was our first event back, but we’re working on a lot of different things for the coming months.”
Going to movies and games and concerts is cool, and we’re grateful to our executive team for sponsoring all of these activities, but as Greg says, there’s a larger point to them than just taking a work break for a few hours.
“There’s a level of connection that is impossible to establish when you can’t meet in person, and without that connection, it’s tough to have the kind of deep trust in each other that we all need to do our best work. You can only get so much emotion and feedback via slack or messaging or emails. When you can actually have that face-to-face contact, you become so much closer.”
And that connection was very real at our first post-pandemic night out. Because while the movie was fun, the best part might have been what happened afterward when several of us went to a happy hour that wasn’t part of the original plan so that we could chat, reconnect and just hang out in a way that wasn’t dependent on having an internet connection and a ring light.
AdPurp underwent a huge amount of growth and change during the pandemic, and as we slowly make our way back into the office, social events are a great way for everyone to get to know each other again, or in many cases for the first time.
So if you’re ever out at a bar in Santa Monica, or watching a game at Crypto Arena and wonder if the big group of people you see laughing and having a good time are friends or co-workers, if you spot them wearing some Advertise Purple swag, then the answer is probably both.
