Camp Wonderist 2018 Recap

Camp Wonderist

Writing objectively about a company’s values and goals is surprisingly difficult, especially when you’re personally invested in the culture. So much of a workplace identity is the ‘atmosphere’ and ‘cohesion’, two concepts uniquely difficult to describe. As one of the Wonderist copywriters, I’ve tried many times to explain what makes our company different. Before 2018, before Camp Wonderist, it was incredibly difficult to pinpoint. It may sound cliche, but you really had to be a part of it to understand why our company culture worked. Luckily for us, in the second week 2018, the Wonderist team came together and agreed upon our identity and culture as a team. This meeting was the inaugural Camp Wonderist, and it highlighted a few features of our company that I believe helped define our identity.

We acknowledge the past, but don't dwell on it.

It was really encouraging to hear that 2017 was Wonderist Agency’s best year since inception. With so much growth and change came many exciting things, but it also included its fair share of challenges along the way. At Camp Wonderist, we identified some of the difficulties we faced in the past, but more often than not, these led to incredible solutions that helped us grow as a company. We wanted to head into 2018 with a concise goal and a clear purpose. This meant reflecting on our growth and learning from all our past experiences. More importantly, it meant fully defining our values. Our company values and culture have been taking shape as we’ve grown, but most of these were unspoken principles. Understood, but unspoken. Heading into 2018, we were determined to hone in on what mattered.

During this new year, we really wanted our values and ethos to be a beacon that we could point to for future clients and coworkers. With our ever-present workload, it’s seldom that we take time to regroup and reflect. At Camp Wonderist, we had this chance. Everyone purposefully set aside time to meet together and develop a united vision for the upcoming year. This shared purpose and commitment is one of those intangible features that we’ve created together at Wonderist that has shaped every task at hand.

We love what we do, but we love the people more.

At Wonderist, we always prioritize people first, whether our clients or coworkers. While we value our work highly, our clients and their goals are what drive us to provide quality, performance-driven marketing. We want our priorities to align with theirs as best we can.

The energy and well-being of our coworkers matters, too. There will always be work to complete, but having the right people to complete that work takes precedence. Co-Founders Michael Anderson and Laura Maly have done an excellent job of fostering talent and trusting the team to develop Wonderist through our skills and ideas. Each of us has unique strengths that they provide to the team and can use to help us develop. After Camp Wonderist, we all set personal goals to improve Wonderist together based on our unique talents.

Besides individual development, our focus is on growing as a team. We realized that our quality is at its highest when we’re in constant communication and cohesively working towards a goal. Every website, brand, or ad that we create is the result of multiple people working together. Our values and goals reflect this dedication to people and teamwork. The quality of our services is a reflection of the quality in the people that provide it.

This company ethos was portrayed all throughout the meeting, from our company values right through to our time of team-building in a local escape room. At Wonderist, we’re actively seeking ways to improve our cohesion and productivity together. Each role may be unique, but we all share a common purpose: “To deliver the best dental marketing, with a smile.”

Our humble beginnings shape our identity.

Like most startup companies, we’ve spent our share of time working from a kitchen table. Considering how we’ve almost doubled the number of employees over the course of one year, there will be a lot of changes coming our way in 2018. Michael and Laura once donned many hats to accommodate all the services we offer, now there are clear departments, positions, and portfolios that have emerged as we’ve grown. Even with our company growth, we’ve done a good job of celebrating the small things, whether it be any recent hire or a cornucopia of a Thanksgiving party.

As our company has developed, so has our culture. It’s hard to carve out an identity with only two or three employees, but at Camp Wonderist, we decided on four pillars that shape our team culture and keep us energized for the work at hand. Health & Wellness, Social Good, Professional Development and Social Activities are now just as much a part of Wonderist as the marketing that we provide. We’re trying to create a company that people want to work with, and that involves being people that others want to work with.

We're future-focused but we tackle every day head-on.

2017 showed us what we could do with bold goals. Heading into 2018, we’re keeping our sights high while also remembering to live in the moment. It’s not just our goals that drive us forward, it’s the people, too. That’s why we’re emphasizing honesty and exceptionalism for our clients and among each other. We have set high expectations for ourselves, and those will only be fulfilled if we work with our clients to grow their company to new heights. Our mission is very outward focused, in 2018 we want to make each practice the best it can be. Each goal that we have is centered around making our work meaningful and impactful for our clients.

Camp Wonderist may be over, but it’s prepared us for an exciting 2018. If you aren’t already partnered with us and are looking for a marketing company driven to provide quality service that suits and strengthens every company we assist, we invite you to join the Wonderist team.