Every time we're halfway through the year, X-Team puts a stake in the ground with its beloved Town Hall meeting. It's a great opportunity to thank individual X-Teamers for their contributions, while also making sure everyone's excited for what's to come. Because if there's one thing a midway point tells us, it's that we're nowhere near done yet.
There's always something else to do. Don't let that be a source of anxiety. Instead, see it as an opportunity. Where you are now is nowhere near to where you can be. You've only just begun.
— X-Team (@xteam) May 29, 2019
An Appreciation Rally
The day preceding our Town Hall meeting, we started a 24h appreciation run in our #appreciation Slack channel. It was a sight to behold. Pages upon pages of X-Teamers thanking other X-Teamers.
Appreciation is underrated. It's easy to go about your day and take the many luxuries you benefit from for granted. But your luxury or comfort is someone else's hard work. Take some time out of your day, and it needn't be more than a few minutes, to be grateful towards the people who make your life better. It is always a worthy endeavor.
Let's Raid
After the 24h appreciation rally, one hour before the start of the Town Hall meeting, X-Teamers came under sudden attack. King Nossec, one of the X-Team nemeses that are always roaming our Slack channels, attacked us on his mechanical dragon.
Over the course of an hour, X-Teamers fought the king and his dragon. It was a turn-based game: All X-Teamers would roll five dice each, after which the king would crush those who rolled lowest. Diego Seghezzo, with all his Argentinian might, hit the king hardest and took home $400 in travel credit as a reward.
Town Hall Awards
The Town Hall meeting, titled Town Hall: Rise, began in earnest after we shot the king off his dragon. It was time to hand out the Town Hall Awards, where we award the X-Teamers who have stood out in the first half of 2019. These are the types of awards we hand out:
- The Pioneer Award is handed out to the X-Teamers who build software that's next-gen, who are revolutionizing an industry and creating something significantly better than what's available today.
- The Terminator Award goes out to the X-Teamer whose code is impeccable, to the point where you'd wonder whether they're a cyborg or a human. Their code is so clean and well-written it's always a pleasure to work with them.
- The Get It Done Award is handed out to the X-Teamer who, you guessed it, gets it done no matter what. Whether that means waking up at 02:00 AM to solve a problem or relentlessly pushing forward despite setbacks, this person gets the job done.
- The Squad Goals Award goes out to the X-Teamers who make for a great team that the client can always rely on. They build great software and have fun doing so.
- The Not Done Yet Award is handed out to the X-Teamer who leads by example, who pushes him- or herself beyond what many consider possible, whether that's physically or mentally, while inspiring others to do the same.
- The Extra KM Award is handed out to the X-Teamer who goes beyond what's required, who excels in delighting the client. They could finish work and have a happy customer, but they're !Done and always push for the extra something that makes all the difference.
More Ways to Spend Unleash+
Every year, X-Teamers receive a $2,500 Unleash+ budget to spend on what they love. Every Town Hall, X-Team expands the categories that X-Teamers can spend their Unleash+ budget on.
X-Teamers can now use their Unleash+ to sponsor an entire MeetUp in their town, to fund someone else's growth and learning, and to light up their lives with LED lamps, light-up keyboards, or anything else that brings light.
More to Come
The Town Hall meeting also unveiled a bunch of new bounties, a new Vault item, new Slack games, and new X-Outposts. Suffice to say that the second half of 2019 will be at least as busy as the first half. We might be halfway through the year, but we're not done yet. The best is yet to come, and it always will be.
