Editor’s Note: Welcome to a new series featuring life “behind the scenes” at Alteryx. We’ll highlight associates from all corners of the world and throughout the organization — from data scientists to leaders, HR to the Community team, and beyond.
You’ll find we all have a few things in common — a relentless commitment to our customers and each other, and a passion for our jobs here at Alteryx.
First up, we have the social team for the sales engineering group who support our customers in Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA).
The sales engineers at Alteryx partner with the sales account teams to facilitate a client’s understanding of Alteryx technology in order to help deliver advanced analytics through Alteryx products. They are the primary interface with a prospect’s technology leaders, offering high-level technical solutions expertise to help convert prospects to customers.
The ESS Team is a group formed by these sales engineers that came together with one goal: To keep the strong bond between the team active and healthy throughout the pandemic, and to make everyone feel welcome and included, regardless of location.
To reach this goal, the team continues to create new and recurring team activities for everyone to voluntarily participate in and enjoy together, including:
The Book Club
This is a great way to get to know our team’s interests, values, and beliefs through their literary choices. Each member is given the chance to put forward a book which the group collectively reads, followed by an open environment for passionate discussion. We think it’s important to embrace others’ ideas as a way to learn and grow, as well as diversify our own viewpoints with the help of our eclectic and multinational team. Below are some of the books we’ve read so far, covering a range of topics, such as: Data Science, Artificial Intelligence, Personal Development and the Environment.
SE Kitchen
The SE Kitchen is an opportunity for the team to get together to learn and cook a brand-new dish. Each session, one of the group members chooses a recipe that has some significance to them (think favorite home dish, comfort food, dish synonymous with their culture etc.) and cooks it live! For those who want to join in, a list of ingredients is sent before the session so anyone can get involved to cook along with our expert team chefs. Not only do we get to cook delicious food, we learn more about each member’s background, culture, what they like to eat, and what inspired them to cook their chosen dish.
“With many of us living and working within the confines of our homes, we decided to put some spin on the social activities. Most of our events encourage relaxation and socializing with our colleagues across EMEA, however we decided to foray into the positive messaging of encouraging physical activity and healthy competition whilst maintaining accessibility and inclusivity.”
Fitness Challenge
The ESS group is all about mind, body, and soul. We’ve had the mind, in the form of book clubs, games, pub quizzes. We’ve had the soul with the SE kitchen and inherent socializing across all events. Now it’s time for the body!
Split into teams of four, our eight-week active challenge is currently in full swing, with prizes including medals and trophies. There are individual awards for the weekly challenge (such as fastest to do 100 squats), as well as team awards for most steps, active minutes, and weekly challenges complete.
Virtual Games
With the formation of the ESS group, we planned to have no/low budget events. This is where virtual games were great for the no-budget events, be it “Scribbl”, or “Pub Quizzes”, “Family Fortunes”, or simply over sharing info about ourselves in “2 Truths and 1 Lie”, whilst trying to get out of “Virtual Escape Rooms” or running away from “Among Us” imposters etc. The Virtual Games have always leveraged team empowerment and engagement in the SE Team on a global level.
2 Truths and 1 Lie: ESS group
Can you guess which are “truths” and a “lie”?
- The EMEA SE Teams are one of the most social and diverse teams in the London office.
- The ESS group is all about empowering the mind, body, and soul.
- Families are not allowed to participate in ESS group activities.
(If you guessed that #3 was a lie, you’re correct! Read on to see how family members join in the fun.)
Creative Socials
As both a creative outlet for ourselves and to involve the children in our families, we’ve hosted several artistic socials. Check out our origami and mug painting creations!
Pub Quiz
Some of our best socials have been the quizzes and we expect everyone to come ready with their thinking caps on (and a beer if they fancy, but certainly not mandatory). We’ve had individuals host quiz rounds or even sessions where questions came in the form of free-for-alls where anyone can pose topics or areas to the group. Word of advice though – never come up against an EMEA SE, we’re all super competitive!
They say “teamwork makes the dreamwork” and this team certainly lives by that philosophy. Stay tuned for our next glimpse into life @Alteryx.
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