2019 SCAVENGER HUNT - Verve

 
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2019 SCAVENGER HUNT - Verve
The Verve Magazine
               April 2019

2019 SCAVENGER HUNT
2019 SCAVENGER HUNT - Verve
CONTENTS
                                                                                                                                                                                              FOR THE                  THIS MONTH'S

                                                                                                                                                                                              TRAVEL TEAM,             MAGAZINE
                                                                                                                                                                                              MARCH MEANS
                                                                                                                                                                                              SPRING BREAK!            TEAM

                                                                                                                                                   '
                                                                    April
                                                                     -
                                                                    2019
                                                                                                                                                                                                                       Anja Bexelius
                                                                                                                                                                                                                       Senior Sales
                                                                                                                                                                                                                       Manager                 Anne Bedi
                                                                                                                                                                                                                       London                  Director of Culture
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               & Communications
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               London

                                                                                                                                                                                                                       Elina Meimane
                                                                                                                                                                                                                       Finance Project
                                                                                                                                                                                                                       Manager                 James Spry-Leverton
                                                                                                                                                                                                                       London                  Engineering
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               Manager
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               London

                                                                 - 06-                                                                                            So this month is a big one...it's the Scavenger

                                     THE 2019 SCAVENGER HUNT
I T ' S OU R BIG GEST C O MPETITIO N O F TH E YE A R AS T HE W HOL E C OMPAN Y GOE S HE A D TO H E A D
                                                                                                                                                       S          Hunt. We had 13 teams battling for 14 hours
                                                                                                                                                                  across four different cities, and it was amazing.
                                                                                                                                                                  As you'll see, there was an insane amount of
      TO COMPLETE A SET O F (SO METIMES ) OU T R AGE OU S C H A L L E N GE S...HOW D I D T H E Y DO ?
                                                                                                                                                   energy and the submissions were absolutely hilarious...Anne         Mateusz Sobas
                                                                                                                                                                                                                       Senior Software
                                                                                                                                                   and I even found them funny after 13 hours of watching, which       Engineer
04 NEW STARTERS                                 12 SCAVENGER HUNT:                              23 VERVE EVENTS:                                                                                                                               Matt Kendall
                                                                                                THE NORDICS                                        I would say is testament to just how great everything was. A        Wroclaw                 Art Director
See who we've got coming on board               BEST OF THE REST                                                                                                                                                                               London
this month!                                     It doesn't stop there - with hundreds of        The Nordics have been smashing it recently         massive thank you to everyone for throwing so much into it
                                                incredible submissions, we delve deeper into    - find out what their key to success has been
                                                                                                                                                   and huge congrats to the winning team - Jesse was only in it to
                                                the world of Maude and Igor's onboarding to     with Anja and Max.
05 SOUNDS OF THE SONOS                          find the best of the rest.                                                                         win it, so there's one very happy man. But also we need to call
Ryan Bentley takes over the decks this month,                                                                                                      out Joe Tsoi, Jack Fossey and Elliot Cross, whose submissions
giving us the lowdown on his Coachella                                                          24 HIGH FIVE: WROCLAW
favourites.                                     20 SCAVENGER HUNT:                              With a large team centred in Poland's Wroclaw,     were second to none.
                                                BEHIND THE SCENES                               we find out what the top five spots in the city
                                                Find out what it's like to mark the scavenger   are from local Mateusz.                               But there's also more...we've got the king of
08 SCAVENGER HUNT:                              hunt with Major Maude (Anne Bedi) and Igor                                                         #soundtrackmyday Ryan Bentley's top tracks, Mateusz' high           Max Wikholm
THE TIMELINE                                    (Polly Dowson)
Introducing some new Verve members...                                                           26 TRENDING                                        five to Wroclaw (look out for pronunciation, an overview of         Senior Client Success
                                                                                                Elina takes stock of instagram to find out where                                                                       Manager                 Ryan Bentley
                                                                                                                                                   what James Spry-Leverton does, and more! Next up it's the           London
                                                22 WHO YOU ARE                                  we've all been this month (mostly Coachella!)                                                                                                  Community
10 SCAVENGER HUNT:                              AND WHAT YOU DO:                                                                                   retreat - can't wait to see you all there, and let me know if you                           Experience Specialist
THE CHAMPIONS                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  Los Angeles
                                                JAMES SPRY-LEVERTON                                                                                fancy contributing for the retreat special!
We hear from the winning team, and outline a    Having just moved into a brand new role, we     28 THINGS SAFIYA WOULD
selection of the submissions that pushed them   hear from James about what it's like to be an   NEVER SAY
to victory,                                     Engineering Manager.                            Our Chief of Staff - "I'm not bothering with                                                                             If you would like to
                                                                                                North Star goesl this week:...hmmm                                                                                       contri bute to the
                                                                                                                                                   Polly Dowson                                                                             Ver ve, get
                                                                                                                                                                                                                         in touch wit h Polly
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              Dowson
                                                                                                                                                   polly.dowson@verve.co
                                                            THE VERVE   2     MAGAZINE
2019 SCAVENGER HUNT - Verve
Sebastian Paynter

                                                                                     Sales                                                       Head of Membership,
                                                                                                                                                 UK - Pollen,
                                                                                                                                                 London

                                                                                                   Vincent Guittet                Tell us about the funniest April Fool’s Day
                                                                                                   Lead Product Manager,          prank you pulled on someone/someone
                                                                                                   Growth - Product,              pulled on you? Timed with my friend
                                                                                                   London                         leaving London to return to Melbourne
                                                                                                                                  in 2010 - we arranged for a massive
                                                                                    What is your favourite swear word?            billboard to be driven around the
                                                                                    shoot - it’s always politically correct for   city for hours with his phone number
                                                                                    some reason. :smirk: great substitute for     on it. He was bombarded with filthy
                                                                                    many swear words too                          propositions via text all morning before
                                                                                                                                  the truck drove by the pub we were at.
                                                                                                                                  He almost died!

                                                                                                   Kristen Gephart
        Every month, we welcome all the new
   E    starters we've had - and as always, loads of
        people have joined this month!
                                                                                                   Head of Ambassador
                                                                                                   Experience, Verve
                                                                                                   Travel - Sales,
                                                                                                   Los Angeles
As a way of introducing everyone, we asked them
to answer one (or more) questions so that we can                                    What is your favourite swear word?
find out a little bit more about who they are.                                      Joder (Fuck in Spanish). So many
Here's who we've got coming on board!!                                              people don't know what it means so I
                                                                                    feel like I can say it freely.
                                                                                    (Maybe I should be careful now
                                                                                    that I'm back in LA)

   THIS MONTHS QUESTIONS                                                                                                          Marketing
   Each month we ask our new starters a handful of
   questions for them to answer. Here's this month's.
                                                                                     Community                                                   Heba Asmar - Senior
                                                                                                                                                 Manager - Business
                                                                                                                                                 Marketing - Marketplace,
   1. What is your favourite swear word?                                                                                                         Los Angeles
                                                                                                   Avalon Frantz
                                                                                                   Revenue and Operations
                                                                                                                                                                                                  This month, we’re handing over the
                                                                                                   Analyst - Event Operations,
                                                                                                                                  What is your favourite swear word?                              musical reins to a serial #soundtrackmyday                            RYAN'S TOP 10
   2. Tell us about the funniest April Fool’s Day                                                  Las Vegas
                                                                                                                                  Fav swear word is typical: f**k. I never
                                                                                                                                                                                                  poster - Ryan Bentley. If this isn’t enough,
   prank you pulled on someone/someone                                                                                            had a April fools day prank pulled or
                                                                                                                                                                                                  head over to that slack channel where                                 Tame Impala
                                                                                                                                  pulled one. I’m boring :/
   pulled on you?                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       - New Person,
                                                                                    What is your favourite swear word?
                                                                                                                                                                                                  he’ll most certainly be sharing more of
                                                                                    Fuck. The king of all swear words.                                                                                                                                                  Same Old Mistakes
                                                                                    Tell us about the funniest April Fool’s Day
                                                                                                                                                                                                  his top tunes!
                                                                                    prank you pulled on someone/someone                                                                                                                                                 Camelphat, Cristoph
   3. We just came back from our European                                                                                                                                                             Since April is COACHELLA month and some amazing
                                                                                                                                                                                S
                                                                                    pulled on you? We were warned days                                                                                                                                                  - Breathe feat. Jem Cooke
                                                                                                                                                 Stephanie Dale
   annual ski trip – tell us about your fav ski/                                    before a certain conditioning practice
                                                                                                                                                 Senior Graphic Designer
                                                                                                                                                                                                       musicians are making their way to party in the desert,
   snowboarding destination?                                                        that it was going to be double the
                                                                                                                                                 - Marketing                                             I wanted to focus on some favorites that are on the            Polo & Pan - Nana
                                                                                    sprints than our normal set. We all
                                                                                                                                                 Los Angeles                                              lineup. Some of these artists have been personal
                                                                                    thought it was an "obvious" April fools
                                                                                                                                                                                    Ryan Bentle             favorites of mine for a while and some I’ve just recently   Rufus Du Sol
                                                                                    joke and thought we might get the day                                                                         y
                                                                                    off. It wasn't. We ran springs for an
                                                                                                                                  Tell us about your fav ski/snowboarding           Membership               discovered. I am one of those “listens to everything,      - Lost in My Mind
                                                                                                                                  destination?
                                                                                    hour & a half.                                                                              Support Ma                    except for Country” types with Electronic Music being
                                        What is your favourite swear word?                                                        Fav destination to ride thus far in                      n a g er                                                                     Gesaffelstein - Hellifornia
                                        Shit. It's so versatile! You're the shit                                                  life is Banff Alberta.                                                      one of my favorite genres.
Engineering                             and you ain't shit have exact opposite                                                                                                                                    I am constantly looking for new artists and
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        CloZee - Evasion
                                        meanings                                                                                                                                                                always sharing my findings. I consider myself a
                                                                                                                                                                                                                serial playlist maker.
             Mark Norman
                                                                                                   Estevan Cervantes                                                                                                                                                    Billie Eilish - bellyache
                                                                                                   Community Experience                                                                                             Coachella is commonly referred to as “The
             Backend Software
                                                                                                   Specialist - Community,
             Engineer - Engineering,
                                                                                                                                                                                                                 Influencer” festival, and yes it does have that        Nora En Pure - Come With Me
                                                                                                   Los Angeles
             London                                    Łukasz Siczek                                                                                                                                              popularity however, the music has and will always
                                                       Junior Software Engineer
                                                                                    What is your favourite swear word?
                                                                                                                                                                                                                   be the heart of the festival. I wanted to include    Gorgon City
What is your favourite swear word?                     - Engineering,
                                                                                     It has to be the one I use the most                                                                                            songs with similar vibes. That being said some of   - All Four Walls
shizzle - also acceptable in polite                    Poland
                                                                                    often, F***, short and sweet.                                                                                                    the artists are further apart genre-wise.
company , I guess because most people
                                                                                    Tell us about your fav ski/snowboarding                                                                                             All of the songs have some sort of beauty       Telefon Tel Aviv
do not know what it means :wink:        What is your favourite swear word?                                                                                                                                                                                              - Sound In a Dark Room
                                                                                    destination? Oh man...I'm not much of
                                        I'll go with whole phrase - 'You fokin'                                                                                                                                       to them, whether it’s beautiful darkness from
                                                                                    a ski/snowboarding type either....Can                                                                                                                                               (Bassnectar Remix)
                                        bastard! - I've spend enough time
                                                                                    my April Fool's prank be submitting one
                                                                                                                                                                                                                      Gesaffelstein, some funky tropical dance beats
             Anita Tasavanh             in Scotland to hear it not once, not                                                                                                                                          by Polo & Pan, or ethereal wispy sounds of
                                                                                    of the most honest yet boring answers
             Director Of Business       twice. Surprisingly, brings lots of great                                                                                                                                                                                       FOR THE FULL PLAYLIST,
                                                                                    to this?                                                                                                                         Tame Impala. Some of these tracks have lyrics
             Intelligence - Business    memories.                                                                                                                                                                                                                       OPEN SPOTIFY HERE!
             Intelligence,
                                                                                                                                                                                                              and some are purely instrumental. Hope you find
             Los Angeles                                                                                                                                                                                     something new to add to your favorites!

                                                                       THE VERVE    4     MAGAZINE                                                                                                                                   THE VERVE   5 5
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          THE VERVE MAGAZINE
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        MAGAZINE
2019 SCAVENGER HUNT - Verve
THE 2019 SCAVENGER HUNT
             Once a year, every year, almost the        13 teams battle it out for a total of 14 hours across four different cities. And there's
     O       entire company takes part in a
             global, themed scavenger hunt.
             Battling at the same, teams form in
                                                        everything to win...not only proof that they are the best, the strongest, the most
  all our major offices around the world - and          mentally able - but also a seriously elevated experience at next month's retreat.
  upload videos of themselves completing a
  series of challenges (that often involve the          So who wins??
  general public) in real-time.
  Last year, teams went head to head to win a
  place at a brand new fraternity. This year, the
  company was turned on its head as a fake                                                                                                                                              BE RESOURCEFUL
                                                                                                                                                                    When in enemy territory, you'll often find yourself stranded with no cash
  new CEO came to the helm - and tried to instil
  a new culture, one very different to what we
  know that required a six hour onboarding                                                                                    BITING
  session with a set of challenges that had to                                                              Biting is Igor's favourite Mixed Martial Arts move
  be videoed and uploaded in real-time...here’s
  how it panned out...

  Words: Polly Dowson,
  Communications Manager

         M E D I TAT I O N
In the most inappropriate place possible

                                                                                                                                                                         A B S O L U T E LY S O B E R
                                                                                                                                                                        Recreat Callum's "absolutely sober photo

                                                            C E L E S T E BA R B E R C L AS S I C
                                                        Tie a whole load of wires and string around your face
                                                                                                                                                                                 R E C R E AT E A M AS T E R P I E C E
                                                                                                                                                                 Igor has a penchant for the great masters which demonsttates his cultured soul

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2019 SCAVENGER HUNT - Verve
THE TIMELINE

MONDAY                                                                                                         MONDAY
                                                                                                                (later)
Our CEO and founder uploads a video of his (fake)
resignation to slack, revealing that following his                                                             ....a backlash ensues. CMO
mastery journey he has come to realise that his true                                                           Orlando gives Callum some
passion lies in becoming a designer. So he’s stepping                                                          honest feedback on his
down with immediate effect, and welcoming a new                                                                design work so far, and Head
leader to the company.                                                                                         of Coaching Ali Levin tries to
But also revealed are some of his wonderful new                                                                convince him to rethink his
designs - logos for the company...                                                                             decision. Callum is not swayed...

TUESDAY                                                             TUESDAY                    TUESDAY                            WEDNESDAY
                                                                    (later)                    (even later)
Igor (surname unknown)                                                                                                            The oaths start rolling in,
introduces himself as the new                                       Following Ali Hall’s       Major Maude asks everyone          and teams (squadrons) are
CEO of Verve. He reveals that                                       ‘dismissal’, Igor          taking part in the onboarding      chosen...
a six-hour onboarding session                                       welcomes a new             to swear an oath...
will take place on Thursday,                                        head of coaching - a
teams will be pitted against                                        suspicious Major
each other in a military-style                                      Maude - who will
operation - and there is                                            be running the
everything to play for...                                           onboarding.
                                                                    In Igor’s words:
                                                                    “She was previously a
                                                                    Major in the US army,
                                                                    but was dishonourably
                                                                    discharged on
                                                                    aggression charges,
                                                                    before trying her hand
                                                                    at the hammer throw.
                                                                    In fact she was on                                                                          THURSDAY
                                                                    course for silver at                                                                        With the squadrons decided, the onboarding pack -
                                                                    the Olympics, but was                                                                       Verve’s Uniform Code of Military Justice - is released,
                                                                    unjustly disqualified                                                                       revealing Igor’s extraordinary obsessions (Julia Roberts
                                                                    due to impaling a                                                                           films, George Bush quotes, biting, and Celeste Barber
                                                                    lineman. Then she was                                                                       videos to name a few…) and explaining that in the new
                                                                    hired by my parents                                                                         culture, the team will live by three principles:
                                                                    to raise me and has
                                                                    been at my side my
                                                                                                                                                                • Self-discipline • Regulation & Control •   Individualism
                                                                    entire life. Ever loyal.
                                                                    Ever present. Ever                                                                          And so the Polish team kicked off the Scavenger Hunt,
                                                                    protecting.”                                                                                with the UK starting an hour later, followed by the US a
                                                                                                                                                                few hours behind.

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2019 SCAVENGER HUNT - Verve
THE 2019 CHAMPIONS
                                After 14 hours of battling, it was team 13 who came out on top. Here's the champion squadron
                                                    line up, and just a selection of their top submissions...

    Georgina                 Joe                     Cassi                Joe                  Jesse                     Ada                     Emily                  Vincent                    Angela                  Kitty
    Andrews                Stevens                   Bles                 Tsoi                 Owens                  Szynwelska                Howard                  Guittet                   Varretto                Bartlett

                           Emily is good at biting
                           people. This one tasted
                                                                     "The scavenger hunt was                                                                      Best part is not taking yourself seriously and
                           a bit funny.
                                                                     such a hilarious way to get to                                                               seeing all the videos of other people do the
                                                                     know people better. Pretty
                                                                     happy (and amazed!) to have                                                                                     same. Each time Vincent
                                                                     been on the winning team"                                                                                       did something, I'd want to
                                                                     Georgina Andrews
                                                                                                                                                                                     top it and he'd respond by
                                                                                                                                                                                     trying top it again. Joe Tsoi

Meditate anywhere,
                                                                                                                                                                    We found out that
they said..                                                                                                 You've been licked!                                     Joe Tsoi might be the
                                                                                                            Nothing is off Emily's menu.                            next Celeste Barber

                                                                                                                                                                                                                   Not   sure you should
                                                                                                                                                                                                                          bite that either

                                                                      Joe ropes in
                                  We shall
                                                                      Georgina for more
                                fight them
                                                                      Celeste Barber
                                    on the
                              beaches. We
                              shall never
   We found out that           surrender!
   Joe Tsoi might be the       (Churchill
   next Celeste Barber        with Jesse)

                                                                                                                                                   Pretending to do snow                         Convince a security guard that they

"First scavenger hunt @Verve and ever. Loved the                                                                                               angels, not just reaching for
                                                                                                                                                     the bottle of wine
                                                                                                                                                                                               should give you their uniform and let
                                                                                                                                                                                               you protect whatever they’re guarding
concept, great way to get out of your comfort zone,
have a good laugh and do some crazy things you'd                                                                                           "Thoroughly enjoyed confusing members of the general public and having the
                                                                                 The famous (neverending)                                  opportunity to explore London on a sunny day! Some people asked what we were
never have thought of doing" Vincent Guittet                                     Ben Sanders impression                                    up to and when we explained, they asked us if they could join Verve" Emily Howard

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2019 SCAVENGER HUNT - Verve
BEST OF THE REST

                                            an am az ing tim  e on the   scav enge r hunt! Seeing people from the
                                     "I had                                           outside of the office and outside
                                                  I ha ven't  gotte n to  kn ow we ll
                                     Vegas team                                       lot of the challenges was a blast,
                                                        ne 's co mf or t zo ne with a
                                     of almost everyo
                                                                                phen Burns
                                     and I can't wait for the next one!" Ste

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2019 SCAVENGER HUNT - Verve
BEST OF THE REST

As soon as I heard about
the scavenger hunt, I
(an extroverted
Sagittarius with a
background in rugby and
university sports clubs)
knew it was going to be
right up my street. A day
of making a complete
fool of yourself can only
end in making some
incredible life-long
memories - finding
the perfect balance
between "this is really
funny" and "am I going to
get arrested" is always
good fun, and I think the
videos from the day are
a perfect testament to
exactly that.
Jack Fossey
                                                                                                estly it
                                     "This was my first year doing the Scavenger hunt and hon
                                                                                               challenges
                                     was better than I could imagine!!! Who knew doing crazy
                                                                                              building- it
                                     around London could actually be the best way for team
                                                                                                 though we
                                     really got us all even closer together! Don’t get me wrong
                                     all showed our competitive side…" Vela Stoyanova

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2019 SCAVENGER HUNT - Verve
BEST OF THE REST

                 I loved doing the scavenger hunt with team 10! I only knew a few people at
                 the beginning of the day but after embarrassing ourselves on Las Vegas Blvd
                 together and driving across town to get in a plane we really became friends!
                 I cannot wait to reunite with everyone at retreat! Katie Wells

                                                                         "I really enjoyed my team realising about half
                                                                         way in that we weren’t going to come close to winning, so
                                                                         completing the rest of the challenges in a bar." Joe Jordan

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2019 SCAVENGER HUNT - Verve
BEST OF THE REST

                                                                                                                          "I LOVED the scavenger
                                                                                                                          hunt. As a fairly
                                                                                                                          new employee at
                                                                My team and I have never                                  the company, it was
                                                              been closer to being arrested                               a great way to meet
                                                                   Tommy Bronkowski                                       the team and do
                                                                                                                          something fun.
                                                                                                                          Also helps that I'm
                                                                                                                          super competitive."
                                                                                                                          Maddy Feld

"The scavenger hunt is always one of my favourite time
                                                          s of year (second only to zorb
football at the retreat) and this year was one of the bes
                                                         t ever. Team 4, led by @
georgiaowen, united to tackle Igor's challenges with grac
                                                            e, flair, intelligence and a
can of Stella in one hand. Can't say thank you enough to
                                                          Anne, Polly, Katja, Millie and
Billy for putting on another amazing, if somewhat blur
                                                        ry day of adventure!" Joe Martin

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BEHIND THE SCENES
                                               We all know what was going on in the main arena, but what was happening backstage?

IDENTITY REVEALED
                                                                                                           MAUDE AND IGOR’S TOP FIVE MOMENTS
So who really are Major Maude and Igor?
It's the Communications team - Anne Bedi and Polly
Dowson - what do they have to say for themselves?!                                    1.
                                                                                                                                               2.                                 It’s incredibly hard to pick
                                                                                      Luna Chen’s Just a Girl
                                                                                                                                               Jack Fossey’s                      the top moments - but if we
                                                            Polly: I have to say                                                               The Cab                            had to choose, our favourite
                                                            Anne and I really got                                                                                                 submissions would have to
                                                            into character as Igor                                                                                                be:
                                                            and Major Maude,
                                                            which could be slightly                                                                                               1. LUNA CHEN’S JUST A GIRL
                                                            worrying since they’re                                                                                                That famous scene in Notting Hill when
                                                            quite horrid - we’re                                                                                                  Julia Roberts tells Hugh Grant that she’s
                                                            definitely not that                                                                                                   “just a girl, standing in front of a boy,
                                                            horrid, we promise.                                                                                                   asking him to love her”. Recreated in a
                                                                                                                                                                                  London pub to a man and older woman -
                                                                                                                                                                                  but even better than Luna’s delivery was
                                                                                                                                                                                  the hilarious shock reaction from the

DURING THE DAY
                                                                                                                                                                                  older woman.

                                                                                                                                                                                  2. JACK FOSSEY’S THE CAB
                                                                                                                                                                                  If you haven’t seen Celeste Barber’s
                                                                                                                                                                                  version of this video, you need to. Follow
                                                                                                                                                                                  @celestebarber and look for the video
                                                                                                                                                                                  with a very chic man dancing with a
                                                                                                                                                                                  New York taxi. Jack Fossey recreated it
                                                                                                                                                                                  carrying a supermarket plastic bag, and
                                                                                                                                                                                  falling backwards into a London cab…

                                                                                                                                                                                  3. DAWID KOSTYSZAK AND
                                                                                                    3.
                                                                                       Dawid Kostyszak
                                                                                                                                                                                  MATEUSZ SOBAS’ THE SLEEPERS
                                                                                           and Mateusz                                                                            Our cover stars. Need we say any more?
                                                                                            Sobas’ The                                                                            Just sublime.
On Scavenger Hunt day, we spent           laughed consistently for all those                  Sleepers
a whole 14 hours on Zoom - surely         14 hours. I have to say, our ener-                                                                                                      4. JOE TSOI AND VINCENT
the longest Zoom in history - watch-      gy did wane in parts…but give us                                                                                                        GUITTET’S THE ART GALLERY
ing every single video in real-time       a long weekend, and we watched                                                                                                          Another fantastic Celeste Barber
and doing our best Igor and Maude         everything back - and laughed all                                                                                                       rendition - this time Joe and Vincent
impressions. As you can see, Anne         over again.                                                                                                                             dancing round London’s National Gallery.
                  started at 5am
                  in Canada (in her       And now it’s mostly sad that we’re                                                                                                      5. MADDY FELD’S THE FACE
                  towel) and I finished   going to leave our favourite Verve                                    4.                                                                Another Celeste Barber classic, where
                   at 2am UK time (all    team members behind, and say                                          Joe Tsoi
                                                                                                                                                                                  she ties a whole load of wires and string
                                                                                                                and Vincent
                   the London office      goodbye to Major Maude and Igor                                                                 5.                                      around her face - redone by Maddy, her
                                                                                                                Guittet’s The
                   will remember          the Eagle. But before that, a massive                                 Art Gallery
                                                                                                                                Maddy Feld’s                                      face squashed into some incredible
                   me holed inside a      thank you to everyone who took part,                                                      The Face                                      shapes.
                   meeting room for       the energy and contribution were
                   the whole time).       absolutely amazing.
                    And it was mega,
                    we pretty much

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WHO                                                                            "I'VE BEEN KNOWN
                                                                                                                                                                                                VERVE EVENTS
YOU
                                                                               TO ENJOY A PINT
                                                                               OR TWO IN THE
                                                                               PUB AFTER WORK.

ARE
                                                                               OUTSIDE OF THE
                                                                               PUB, I PLAY IN
                                                                               GOAL FOR MY

AND
                                                                               OLD UNIVERSITY
                                                                               SIX-ASIDE
                                                                               FOOTBALL TEAM IN
                                                                               BATTERSEA"

WHAT
YOU
DO
                                                                                                                                                                                      THE NORDICS

JAMES
                                                                                                                                                                             Over the past month, we’ve been hearing more and more from
                                                                                                                                                                            the Verve Events team about how the Nordics are smashing sales
                                                                                                                                                                            and winning some great new clients. But we thought it best to get
                                                                                                                                                                             the lowdown from the team directly to understand what’s been
                                                                                                                                                                                   happening - and what we can expect in the future!
                                                                                                                                                                                   Words: Anja Bexelius, Senior Sales Manager Nordics

                                                                                      SPRY-LEVERTON
                                                                                                                                                Anja Bexelius                                 Max Wikholm, CSM Nordics                                                        Max Wikholm

                                                                                                                                                          We’ve heard there’s been a mas-       Do you have any stats to show the             Nation festivals Lollapalooza Stockholm
                  What is your role and
                  what does that involve?
                                                What does a normal day for you look like?
                                                I'm lucky enough to live within 10 minutes
                                                                                                allow the conversation between manager
                                                                                                and managee to focus on the stuff that
                                                                                                                                                   W      sive success in the Nordics recent-
                                                                                                                                                          ly, what’s your strategy been?
                                                                                                                                                                                                progress we’ve been making over there?
                                                                                                                                                                                                57% up on acquired ambassadors, 52% up
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              & Way Out West will be pushed live in the
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              coming weeks. Both are Massive wins for
                  My role is Engineering        walk from our Vauxhall office. So I'll often    matters.                                                                                        on active ambassadors - we just launched      us and will raise the awareness in Sweden.
                  Manager. It's a new role at   spend the morning at home with a coffee                                                          We had a bit of a slow start. Anja started     10 new campaigns in 6 weeks so expecting
                  Verve, introduced at the      catching up with email and slack. I'm really    Favourite moment of Verve so far?                chasing the clients but struggled to get       growth to pick up even more                   So, what’s next?
start of the year. The engineering team has     more of an office person though, so I'll tend   That's a difficult one! I think it would have    hold of them and get in touch. The break-                                                    We’ve been really successful growing the
been growing rapidly and there was an           to head into the office for the first meeting   to be playing Secret Hitler & Codenames          through was definitely attending all the       Any big wins/new clients that you’re          number of clients in Norway and Sweden.
emerging need for more managers to sup-         of the day. Most days involve one-on-one        at the tech team retreat in Brighton. Verve      industry conferences, Eurosonic in Grönin-     really excited about?                         A lot of the festivals are first year clients and
port Brad and Ola. Alongside my mentoring       catch-ups over a coffee at Urban Botanica,      has introduced me to two of my favourite         gen, Sweden Live in Luleå and By:Larm in       We are working with all the festivals in      have much potential for the coming years.
and coaching responsibilities I'm also          pair programming, calls with potential can-     board-games.                                     Oslo where we could get a lot of meetings      the Woah Dad portfolio (Smash x Stadi-        Nordic people are known to be late buyers
heavily involved in hiring and support-         didates and reading through CVs.                                                                 and mingle at the parties. Of course, all of   on, Gården and Daze Days) and the first       and will wait for the weather forecast, so
ing various technical initiatives like our                                                      What do you do outside of work to find           them finally wanted to launch at the same      festival (Solar Sound) from the BIG Nelonen   we’ll be working hard on activating am-
bi-weekly tech talks and tech lead commu-       What’s your favourite part of your job?         balance?                                         time so Max got a couple of hectic weeks       portfolio. Nelonen Media Live is by far the   bassadors and growing awareness about
nity forum. I also maintain some technical      It's definitely the coaching and mentor-        I've been known to enjoy a pint or two in        working endlessly to get them live.            biggest festival promoter in Finland and      ambassador programs in the region. After
involvement in areas I'm passionate about,      ing relationships I build with those that I     the pub after work. Outside of the pub, I          And a big factor of the massive success      they own 14 festivals over there. They        the busy summer period we’ll be focusing
like our ticketing integrations framework       manage. I really enjoy supporting people        play in goal for my old University six-aside     has been Tinderbox, which has grown into       recently acquired Rock Fest, a second-year    on localising the program & improving the
and the formation of our UI library.            with their problems and challenges. It's a      football team in Battersea and enjoy play-       our best-selling festival worldwide at the     client for us. For the next season, we are    flow on the website & take the learnings
                                                privilege to manage at Verve as the unique      ing video-games.                                 moment.                                        positive to get several more from them. We    and apply them and get back even stronger
                                                culture of Freedom, Ownership & Mastery                                                                                                         will be smashing it even harder with Live     next year.

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THE HIGH FIVE

Wroclaw
When you live in one city almost all your life it should
be easy to pick 5 top things in it. Not really. Even though
Wrocław seems quite small in comparison to London or LA
there is a lot to do in it. But wait, how do you even pronounce
it? Vro-tz-wav, but if phonetic presentation doesn't make any
sense to you you can ask some Pole to pronounce it!

                                                                                                                                             PANORAMA OF THE BATTLE OF RACŁAWICE
                                                                                                                                             BIG PAINTING WHICH IS PERFECT 360 PANORAMA
                                                                                                                                             THAT SHOWS BATTLE IN POLISH UPRISING IN 1794.
                                                                                                                                             IT'S DIMENSIONS ARE 15 × 114 METER.

                                                                  Mateusz Sobas
                                                                  Senior Software Engineer

                                                                  Rivers. There are 7 rivers in Wrocław and over 100
                                                                  bridges. The beaches next to them are a perfect
                                                                  way to spend some time to drink some beers and
                                                                  have grill or kayak on the river and see the city from
                                                                  another perspective.

CHRISTMAS MARKET. THERE ARE A LOT OF
REFERENCES TO GERMAN HISTORY OF WROCŁAW.
ONE OF THEM IS CHRISTMAS MARKET TRADITION                                                                                  There are 244 dwarfs in                 PERGOLA IS ESPECIALLY NICE IN
                                                                                                                           Wrocław and this number
WHICH ISN'T REALLY POLISH ONE, BUT IS VERY BIG IN                                                                          increases all the time. This
                                                                                                                                                                   AUTUMN, BUT IT'S WORTH VISITING
WROCŁAW. THIS IS ORGANISED ON MAIN SQUARE WHICH                                                                            tradition started to honor              AT ANY TIME - ALONG WITH THE
                                                                                                                           Orange Alternative which
IS EVEN MORE BEAUTIFUL THAN NORMAL, BECAUSE                                                                                was anti-communism party
                                                                                                                                                                   BIGGEST PARK IN WROCŁAW,
OF CHRISTMAS DECORATIONS. YOU CAN DRINK HOT                                                                                who's members wore dwarf                WHICH IT'S IN.
                                                                                                                           hats. Now it's attraction not
WINE AND EAT SOME KIEŁBASA (SAUSAGE).                                                                                      only for kids!

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Elina and her
                                                    friends in Moscow

                                                                                                                                                                                             Overheard
                                  Coachella
                                  with Ryan
                                                                                                                                                                                       We know we usually snoop around on
                                                                                                                                                                                        slack for this section, but this month
                                                                                                                                                                                       we had to bring you something we saw
                                                                                                                                                                                         on email. Mary Montgomery (Office
                                                                                                                                                                                         Manager in Los Angeles), thanks so
                                                                                                                                                                                       much for sending this absolute GOLD.
                                                                                                                    Coachella with Janet

                            Bonnie loving                                               Erica's new friend.
                              some sun in                                               Say snap!                                      Caitlin at Tobacco Dock
                                   Hawaii

                               #TRENDING
                                    What have we been doing on social media this month?
                                    Answer: a lot, as usual. We've smashed Coachella, we've
                                       travelled the world, and we've just sat in place...
                                           Don't forget to follow us on @onverveco
                                                                                                                            Lionel.
                                                          Elina Meimane                                                     welcome to
                                                     Business Support Manager                                               the jungle

Sara with a tiny friend

                          Ryan's Coachella crew

                                                                                                                                               Karan. Just sitting
                                                                                                                                               somewhere

                                                                                                 Ellen and Ashley
  Allie, Anne and                                                                                livin Miami
  Harriet hit F45
  in toronto

                                                                                                                        Jan's trip to Nepal

                                                                                                                                                  Kat ready for easter
                             Caisie in NYC

                                                                                                                          Bryan
                                                                                                                          chasing
                                                                                                                          them
                                                                                                                          waterfalls

                                                                         Brandon poolside

                                              THETHE
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SA FI YA
   (OUR Chief of Staff)

                                                                                      Where can I get
                                                                                      more whiskey?
   I don’t think we need
   this level of clarity

                                                                                                        I think we should increase our flights budget
 I love the idea of slum
ming it - give me a tent!
                            Swear down, show me
                            how we get down

                                                                                      Let’s not
                                                                                 play this out
                                                                                 to its logical
                                                                              conclusion, that
                                                                                takes up time

   I’m not bothering                                               I don't believe in
   with North Star                                                    playing devil’s
   goals this week                                                         advocate

    Let’s PARTY!!!!!!!!!!!!
                                                  THE VERVE   28   MAGAZINE
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