Attendees of Dyn's first-ever Culture-Con expressed delight at the company's premier event.
More than 50 people crowded Dyn's headquarters at 150 Dow Street in Manchester's historic mill district on Tuesday to participate in the event, which also featured a panel of local businesses talking about their own company cultures.
Even the keynote speaker noted he learned a few new things about building a great corporate culture. I got so many great ideas, said Donavon Roberson, director of service innovations at OOBE, a uniform manufacturer in South Carolina, and former culture evangelist at the online shopping site Zappos, which is located in Nevada.
The DYN event followed Business NH Magazine's celebration of the Best Companies To Work For, Breakfast With The Best, which recognized 10 companies who demonstrate exceptional corporate cultures.
Roberson discussed the importance of creating a workplace that brings out the best in employees. He learned these lessons from Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh and says he has perfected them at OOBE. During his time at Zappos (also a Dyn client), he coached businesses on the value of culture in the workplace. While he said some companies "just don't get it," he also noted that attendees of Culture-Con do.
What was fascinating for me, and I talked with a couple of people about this, is we didn't have to convince anybody about why discussion like this matter, Roberson said. It was more about sharing ideas. Roberson said it was rewarding to see that so many businessesmostly smaller to mid-sizewere working on their culture. While most people present were from NH, there were representatives from a company in Los Angeles, Calif., who noted Culture-Con was well worth the trip.
Roberson, who also spoke at Breakfast With The Best that morning, said of Dyn, which is a Hall of Fame company in the Best Companies to Work For competition, that he finds Dyn refreshing.
They're certainly walking the talk, Roberson said. I saw it not just in the decorations and the office space, but by walking around and interacting with employees. I could tell they care about me as a person.
Roberson wasn't the only one excited about the day. Chris Widner, Dyn's director of culture & tlent development and event organizer said it was phenomenal.
The audience was great, Widner said. There was a lot of participation and by the end, people were viewing each other as if they were part of a community.
Adding to that community feel was the exchange of business cards and contact information between attendees. Widner said those who exchanged cards would be checking in with each other in the near future to see if goals made today were reached.
Widner added one of the attendees said he was in the process of launching his first startup but was holding back because he knew something was missing. Culture Con gave him the answer to what's missing and he left yesterday with the confidence and motivation to launch within the next month, Widner said. We inspired him to chase his dream.
Widner said the event was so successful that it is likely Dyn will host similar ones in the future.
Dyne is an internet infrastructure firm, and Business NH Magazine is a monthly magazine for business executives throughout the state.
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