The last 7 years taught us a lot about Devopsicon - our beloved unconference format. In this post we share how this event came about at Meltwater Engineering, and how it is striving in present days. For this we interviewed organizers and participants to give you an idea how the unconference works as well as the untold number of connections and sparks born every six months at Meltwater’s favorite collaborative event.

April is Stress Awareness Month. Since 1992, Stress Awareness Month has increased familiarity about the causes of and cures for stress in our modern world. Particularly ubiquitous amid the pandemic, stress affects our mental, physical, and emotional wellbeing. This month-long event reduces the stigma of discussing negative emotions and increases the likelihood that people remember to use their coping mechanisms and seek help if needed.

With this in mind, Meltwater has been looking at new ways to help employees deal with stress and mental health.

At the heart of Meltwater Engineering are the employees who find ways to collaborate around the world. In our Spotlight series we will introduce you to new hires as well as veterans from across the organization, and give you insights into their day to day from North Carolina to Hong Kong.

Today in the spotlight, we are happy to introduce Sophie Gatshal from our Toronto office.

March 4th is Employee Appreciation Day! With that in mind, how do we show appreciation for our employees at Meltwater? One of the most influential places to get feedback and gratitude is from our peers and colleagues. How do we make it easy to foster an environment where we feel encouraged to show our appreciation for each other? That is where Bonusly comes in.

At Meltwater, we are great believers in “participant-driven meetings” like unconferences, as we’ve written about in the past. Recently I started a little discussion community using Lean Coffee as a meeting format. Here’s a quick rundown of what it is and why I like to use it and how it works in a remote setting.