Blue Sky Week
4 devs. 1 office. 4 days. No Teams. No mute button.
Why we're doing this
This is the only week of the year the four of us are physically in the same room instead of four different rectangles in a Teams call. Susan's flying in from Stuart, Florida. Aleksina's coming up from Kelowna. Mike and Brent are already in Vernon, and yes, they will be reminded of this.
The plan: real conversations, time with other departments, a few good meals, some genuinely fun activities, and the 1st Annual Wayside Staff Games. Think of it as our one dev meeting a year where nobody's on mute.
The crew
"Seems to have an AI tool for anything."
"The only one with a legitimate jet lag excuse all week."
"Commute: 7 minutes. Latency: negligible."
"Generously letting us invade her city. Will be home by 6."
The itinerary
Long travel day. Welcome to BC.
Victoria Day. Canada is offline. PRs paused.
- 🛌Sleep in (Susan's circadian rhythm has merge conflicts)
- 🌲Optional: Kalamalka Lake lookout, Rail Trail [map]
- 🍽️Casual evening, early night, no agenda, no pings
- ☕9:00 AM: Welcome coffee at HQ, week overview
- 🤝10:30 AM: Department meet-and-greets (faces to the names you've been emailing for years)
- 🍽️12:30 PM: Team lunch
- 🏢3:00 PM: Department time, real conversations, the kind that don't fit in a Teams thread
- 🚌4:00 PM: Aleksina catches her bus back to Kelowna
- 🚗9:00 AM: Depart Vernon for Kelowna
- ☕Pick up Aleksina, grab a coffee/tea
- 🦘Kangaroo Creek Farm — yes, actual kangaroos [Kangaroo Creek Farm]
- 🍴Lunch at YAMA Kitchen [YAMA Kitchen]
- 🔐2:45 PM: Escape room — Black Ops 4 at E-Exit Kelowna (one hour to find out who debugs and who panics) [Black Ops 4]
- 🚗4:00 PM: Head back to Vernon
- 🌙Evening: Free / recovery / staring quietly at a wall
- 🏢Morning: Light HQ time, mental prep
- 🏆12:30 PM: 1st Annual Wayside Staff Games at 1429 Red Mountain Place [map]
- 🎳7:00 PM: Bowling at BNA Bowl Vernon [BNA Vernon]
- 🍽️8:00 PM: Dinner with Neil at BNA [BNA Vernon]
- 🏨Late evening: Aleksina stays at the Prestige Vernon Lodge [hotel]
- 💡Morning: Strategy and ideas sessions (the four of us, finally on the same whiteboard)
- 🍽️12:00 PM: Lunch out in Vernon with Jesse
- ✅2:00 PM: Action items, commitments, things we'll actually ship
- 🚗5:30 PM: Brent drives Susan and Aleksina to Kelowna (Susan to YLW, Aleksina home after)
- ✈️8:15 PM: Susan's flight out of Kelowna
Wayside Staff Games
The whole company. One day. Bragging rights with a one-year TTL.
Got an idea?
The whole point of this week is talking to each other in real time, with real bandwidth. If you've got something you want to discuss, a session you want to lead, or a question you've been saving up for another department: this is the moment.
- "Something you've been meaning to bring up?"
- "A session you'd actually want to run?"
- "A question for another department you've been sitting on?"
Vernon survival guide
Prestige Vernon Lodge & Conference Centre, 3914 32nd Street. Susan: Sun May 17 to Fri May 22. Aleksina: Thursday May 21 night only. Indoor pool, full atrium, vaguely 1990s vibes in the best way.
Kelowna International (YLW), about 45 min to Vernon. Brent's on pickup Sunday 7:25 PM and dropoff Friday for Susan's 8:15 PM flight.
Typically 8 to 22°C. Layers. A light rain jacket. The opposite of Florida.
Ratio Coffee & Pastry (3101 29th St, in the old railway station, opens 6:30 AM) and Bean Scene (2923 30th Ave, the local favorite). Both are walkable from HQ.
Layers, comfortable shoes, something you can move in for Staff Games day. Laptop optional but you'll bring it anyway.
Wayside Press 3304 33rd Street Vernon, BC V1T 5T2
Yes, fast, you don't need to ask.