KeepCalling’s Anniversary in the Time of Coronavirus
On June 1st, KeepCalling turned 18. That’s quite a paradox in certain countries, including Romania, where it has its main headquarters. Why? Because June 1st is Children’s Day and 18 is the age young people officially become adults.
Another paradox is the fact that KeepCalling reached such an important age and yet we couldn’t properly celebrate this event. Not the way we used to, anyway. No garden party this year, no cake, no balloons. However, the milestone couldn’t go unnoticed, although social distancing forced us to celebrate from afar. We asked some of our colleagues to think about their favorite KeepCalling memories. Here they are:
Of course there is no favorite memory. All my experience building and growing KeepCalling has been special. And I can think of a lot of great moments. As an entrepreneur, the beginning is always special. And for a poor entrepreneur, as I was, friends were key. I was very lucky to be surrounded by a group of close friends who were very encouraging and lent a hand without question.
First and foremost, AT. We worked together since day one and he helped me with his financial skills for free. Well, not really free, I did take him out for hot chicken wings and a Coke. :) Andrea scratched phone cards with me, using 25 cents coins, so we could enter the pins in an Excel spreadsheet.
Another friend, Faith, jumped in when I was short of cash for my orders during the first Christmas. Faith pulled out her debit card and took enough money from the ATM so I could meet orders. Giancarla helped me translate KeepCalling into SigueLlamando together with Joselyn, a friend from Costa Rica. Look where we are today!
Everyone was supportive: friends who ran marathons wore T-shirts with the KC logo on them (see the picture). And, if they did not understand my business model, they still had encouraging words for me. And you know what’s the most special thing of all? They are still my friends today.
(Florin, CEO)
The first company party in Bolivia. Every year for Christmas and the company anniversary we used to have a dinner to celebrate. It was a nice moment but at the same time, short, because part of the team needed to go back to end their shift, making the time too little for all the fun. For a long time my dream had been for the Bolivian office to also be able to celebrate with a party where every team member would be able to chill and enjoy the time together.
After coming back from Romania I decided to finally stand up for the dream, so together with Olivia, Paul, Mariel P., Patrick, and other team members we embraced the challenge and in June 2018 we celebrated our sweet 16. We had balloons and a photo booth, snacks and a dinner, a live band and especially lots of fun, everybody was relaxed and enjoyed the night without worries. It was perfect weather and amazing company, it was the beginning of our new tradition: “The KC parties”.
(Giancarla, Office Manager)
Definitely the 2014 Christmas party, with our KC Band moment. :) I loved everything: getting the band together, our “incognito” meeting at the pizza place to discuss things face to face, deciding on the playlist, our secret rehearsals, everyone’s reaction when we started playing (our colleagues’ and the one of the official band of the party :) ) and our nervousness about doing something nice with high energy and positive vibes for our audience. :)
(Maria, HR Manager)
Having lunch with my colleagues on the terrace of the old building.
(Vlad, Telecom Manager)
It’s really hard to choose only one favorite KC moment… I would have to choose between all the fun times we had at our KC events and all the important projects we put a lot of work into. But considering the times we live in (hint: social distancing), I’ll have to go with one specific event, and that is THE KC OSCARS (2018). Who’s the fastest eater, who tests their colleagues’ patience constantly by eating the slowest, who has a caffeine addiction or who is the biggest sports junkie, all those little gold statues combined with good music in a classy environment were the key elements to making that night one to remember.
(Alina, Web Content Specialist)
My favorite KC memory was that time when we went to Top Golf.
(Phillip, Staff Accountant)
Where should I begin? My whole experience with KC has been filled with memories I fondly remember. The friends I made during my days as customer support agent, both in Bolivia and Romania, day by day strengthening bonds so strong; then the excitement of finding my way towards the IT team, where I also made many friends, and the support of Dany that helped me get more involved in IT; of course, without forgetting that a dream came true and that was traveling to Romania where I finally met in person all the friends I’d made from a distance; building memories in a place I now miss as soon as I left.
And most recently a once in a lifetime chance of a transfer which allowed me to move to US and also meet more amazing people and friends with whom I enjoy every day at the office. To sum up, my experience with KC has been a path of self discovery and building strong friendships while being part of two different teams, both involved with Tello.
(Paul, Assistant Developer)
Talking about memories during the time I’ve spent with the company, I would say that one of the best memories that I will never forget is having the opportunity to speak with people of different nationalities during our daily work. It makes each day different and out of routine.
(Damaris, Customer Support Assistant)
My favorite KC memory since joining the company is the one when we had a team building in Cincsor, at Transylvania Guesthouses. It is an interesting location concept with the restored and transformed barn house and the food experience was also nice. This was my first gathering with my colleagues outside of the office, so I got to know them better. The whole team building was really enjoyable, memorable, and fun because of all those interesting games, but of course the people made the atmosphere.
(Denisa, Staff Accountant)
One fun memory that is dear to my heart is the annual KC Auction, a great initiative where we sell our own items or offer to host workshops we think our colleagues would be interested in. All the money raised is donated to a good cause. It is a fun time to spend with my colleagues, but, more importantly, I am happy that I can contribute to someone’s well-being.
(Teodora, Customer Support Supervisor)
