What do you do after a year of remote work and not able to see your colleague?
You go to Kouvola for a weekend trip together!
As a tradition, every year, Sievo organises a getaway trip for the whole company to enjoy each other’s companies and have fun. Most of all, this is an opportunity for many of us at Helsinki office to finally meet our US colleagues who crossed more than 7000 km over the Atlantic Sea to be with us. This year was even more special. Due to the pandemic last year, we couldn’t organise such a trip, therefore, the hope and excitement for Camp Sievo 2021 were even higher than ever. And boy, “we had probably the best Camp Sievo so far”, quoted from a senior Sievonian who’s been to other trips 😉Camp Sievo 2021 took place mid-September. To begin with, planning a trip for more than 130 Sievonians wasn’t an easy task, let alone during the pandemic as right now. There were so many uncertainties and doubts along the way. To start with, we were unsure whether our Camp Sievo would happen or not. We had to do our plans all over again (… for God knows how many times). We needed to secure sufficient COVID-19 measures for all Sievonians to avoid any unwanted surprises as a result of the event. Sound not like all fun and games, right?
Covid-19 has certainly complicated things when it comes to events & gatherings, but that does not equal to being impossible to arrange anything. Before our trip, we encouraged all our Sievonians to take a COVID-19 test, and additionally, we strongly recommended everyone to be all fully vaccinated. FFP2 masks and hand sanitizers were provided on spot, and we tried to limit outside contacts other than just us Sievonians.
Despite the uncertain times, we managed to pull off a successful event, with everything running as smoothly as we had hoped for. However, the biggest success from Camp Sievo, is the fact that all of us finally got to meet each other face to face after a year of remote works and online meetings. Everyone was dancing and partying together like there was no tomorrow.
Tomorrow came eventually, and we saw some tired but happy faces enjoying the nature and architecture of Kouvola. “Having people come together after the pandemic (or close to the end) gave a sense of Sievo family again. “ a Sievonian commented after the event.
As a recent joiner in Sievo, I felt that Camp Sievo has got me feeling more comfortable and more understanding of other Sievonians as well. Joining the company during the pandemic prevented me from meeting Sievonians, but luckily Camp Sievo happened. I saw many faces that now I can certainly call out their names correctly, and moreover, I got much more motivated with work as I know these people are truly awesome. When asking if it was worth it to organise Camp Sievo to other Sievonians in our feedback survey, this perhaps came up as my favourite one:
“It's totally worth it!!!! I felt so much more motivated with work, connected with my colleagues, and even came up with some new ideas for work. I feel better at work and as a person (hike to exercise, relax in the nature and laugh with people, very good for mental health :D)”