The day shift agent are tired from work, but went directly to our meeting place at Bigby’s.

Just a bit of relaxation and we are good to go, but we need food to fuel our body for some discussions to be tackled during the meeting.

We were all excited to look at the menu book to choose the food that we would like to order. We all ended up ordering the same menu.

We waited patiently for our food.

When the appetizer arrived, everyone was happy.

Even more, when our main course arrived.

See …

However, Marlowe seems to be nervous.

Marlowe was the first to arrive in this place and the last one was also a new agent Paulina.

We discussed about Global Event in where we would want to spend it, how much budget we would need and the games we are going to play.

We also had a getting to know each other time by introducing ourselves to everyone. Then a bit of a chit chat to bond.

When all was said and done, everybody is happy.

The Iloilo Philippines Team: (Left to Right)

1st Pic = John Ross Castano (web developer), Hannah Samson (QA), Donnabel Carato (QA), Anthonette Ardael (SEO) and Junelle Caravana (HR,QA)

2nd Pic = Jun Bustamante (web developer), Marlowe Destua (web developer), Paulita Lobrin (QA), Merben Salarda (SEO) and Sarah Tillo (Graphic Artist)

The Iloilo day shift with Jun who is currently working during night.

From left to right: Hannah, John Ross, Me (Junelle), Agustin “Jun” and Donnabel.

Iloilo Team with Chris.
Chris wanted to eat Filipino food and so we ordered some Filipino food for him to try.

But it was only the three of us who ate, becuase Hannah, Donna and John had already eaten when Chris arrived.

The second day we had a lunch at Nes N Tats. This time together with Manilyn and Tere who has just arrived from Manila. Gerold was supposed to be with us as well, but he was late getting into his flight, so he was re-scheduled to the afternoon flight.

We ride a jeep going back to the office after the lunch at Nes N Tats.

Then dinner came, we ate at Emilion together with the night shift Sarah and Merben.

During this night, we let Chris experience the thrill of eating the worlds famous balot.

Gerold teaching Chris how to eat the balot.

Then Chris did it on his own.

Chris seems to love balot

The Schedule:

4:00 PM to 6:00 PM – Meeting with the Day Shift
6:00 PM to 8:00 PM – Dinner with Day and Night
8:00 PM to 10:00 PM – Meeting with the Night Shift

We know Thea went here to finalize our policies.

Here is the Day shift with Thea updating us with the new and approved policies and benefits.
Of course, if there’s a meeting, there should be a food for our stomach:

Here we are, waiting for our food, and when the food finally arrived:

All of us were happy to finally eat it. After the main course, of course a dessert would be nice.

Hannah, I think Thea wants to have a taste of that delicious dessert.

Gerold, just pose with the Rachel’s dessert because he hasn’t ordered anything for himself.

After the Dinner, we are now ready to have an ice breaker for the night shift and then proceed with the meeting about benefit and policies.

The Iloilo agents (Day and Night shift) were able to had a chance to dine together with Nhut. It was our opportunity to know Nhut better and of course introduce ourselves to her as well.

The group really liked the delicious food served to us at “Dapli by Breakthrough.”

L-R: Merben, Sarah, Jun, John, Donna, Hannah and Nhut (Junelle’s Note: I did pose, but the waitress who took the picture didn’t include me You would see my arm at the side of Merben.)

Everyone is busy eating now.

Right Merben?

Just to let you know, I am here.

And of course, last but not the least, someone is late.

Here goes Amy (at the center).

Everyone seemed quiet since Manilyn speaks different dialect than Iloilo Folks, and most of us were shy to approach her. Amy is doing QA as well, so we let her speak how she does it. This is for Manilyn to know all aspects of QA not just on doing QA on AW. Amy started her speech, but was too shy to finish it. She informed us that she would just email the process of how she does QA.

Everyone enjoyed the food and knowing Nhut better.

Cam provided by Donna. Thanks Don!

Here is the managers dinner with two very jetlagged visitors.

After an hour of waiting for the late comers, some shop hopping and window shopping, the team headed for the restaurant to rest and have dinner.

The feast includes Sizzling Sisig, Bulalo, Inihaw na Pusit (Grilled Squid) and Crispy Pata with matching Crab and Plain Rice and Ripe Mango Shake.

Topics discussed while having dinner are:
>>> Widgets (About, How-Tos)
>>> Career Improvements (Certifications, Trainings, Seminars)
>>> Global Event
- Venues (Paradizoo, La Mesa Ecopark, Clark Air Base Pampanga)
- Transportation (Costs, Ways, Alternatives)
- Foods (Pica-pica, Sandwiches, Drinks)
- Native Games (Tumbang Preso, Patintero, Luksong Baka/Luksong Tinik)
- Other Picnic Activities (Kite Flying)
- Possibility of having Global Event with the whole Philippine Team (having Luzon with fewer members come to Iloilo)
- Flights (Early Flight Bookings Cost Less)
- Charter House, Apartelle, Small Hotels (e.g. Highway 21) Selections for Cheaper Rate Room Accomodations
- 2-Day Stay
>>> Brainstorm on one another’s project issues

After the dinner, the team had the chance to see MOA’s fireworks display which are held on weekends at exactly 7pm.

Browse below some of the pix.

Gerold, Tere, Rachel, Carol, Jac — scouting for a resto

Eating Time!!!

Sizzling Sisig and Bulalo

Crispy Pata, Inihaw na Pusit, Crab Rice

Smile!!!!

Bay View Parking Side of the Mall

Hannah and Paul were not able to attend the meeting

Mariecon, Kristi and Amy

Wish we could have those lovely Promet shirts too!!!

chat after dinner and additional orders for Merben, Sarah and GM

Curitiba, organized by Vere. Of course, the team decided to celebrate at a typical Brazilian restaurant called churrascaria. Rafael recommended that we go to Jardim Grill, which has an amazing selection of delicious meats and wines. In the beginning, we could barely talk with each other, because we kept being interrupted by the waiters putting huge pieces of meat on our plates. A good problem, indeed!

Since we all work in different parts of

Curitiba, it was our first time together as a team. Not only did we have a chance to meet and in person, but we also had the opportunity to meet

It was nice getting to know each other in this informal setting. While we shared our personal histories and a quite a few jokes, part of our discussion focused on the cultural differences between Brazilian and American companies. It was also helpful discussing many of the challenges we all face both at an international company and working in a virtual office.

We look forward to meeting the rest of the Promet team someday! Tchau!

One of the best Churascarias in Curitiba!

Outside the Churascaria…

Now this is what I call getting down to work!

Rafael recommended Jardim Grill to us and it was fantastic!

Anderson’ wife, Emanuela, and his cute 3 year-old daughter, Melissa.

We never saw Anderson this happy before… :p

Enjoying our food and drinks together.

Vere must have really enjoyed the wine… hehe

This Promet team really knows how to eat meat!!

Anderson’s daughter Melisa enjoying some dessert! She is a future programmer at Promet!

Vere and Matt enjoying some lovely Chilean wine…

Team Photo!

While the US based group has not been able to schedule a purely social get together yet, we did manage to have some fun team building after our meetings in May. Below is a selection of pictures from the office (most of which feature Monkey – The Promet Employee of the Year) and pictures from our night out doing Karaoke. As the non-singer from the team I would like to point out that this was definitely a set-up. Julia, who arranged the entire event, has an amazing voice. With the exception of Mara, who also has a great voice, the rest of us were put to shame. However, Matt most definitely gets credit for pouring his heart and soul into every song he belted out.

In addition to our Karaoke team building that week, we also accomplished alot on a work level. We spent several days outlining areas where we think the team could benefit from some additional processes and documentation. From these items we have created a task list, assigning different members of the Promet Team items to work on over the next few weeks.  Shortly, everyone will be receiving a copy of this task list so you can get an idea of the projects we are all working on.  Additionally, if after reviewing the task list, anyone feels inclined to volunteer to help with a specific project, we would more than welcome the participation.

Julia and Monkey

Pim and Monkey

Chris singing his heart out

But no one does it like Matt!

Mara, T.J. and Pim

And last, but definitely not least, Our Fearless Leader!