Verve Monthly Magazine – Oct 2018 – Issue 13

Campus Vacations
Joins Verve!
Find out how we're using therapy to be our best!
Which members of the leadership team are you?
Kritsen Rowsey tells us all about Fall Break fun!
Want to find out why Community are our warriors?
VERVE’S MONTHLY MAGAZINE • OCTOBER ISSUE


CONTENTS
1. Editors Letter 01
2. New Starters 02
3. Interview with Justin Van Camp 10
4. Why coaching matters 14
5. Therapy at Verve 16
6. A Crash Course in Design Thinking 20
7. The Warriors of Verve - Community 22
8. Kristen tells us about Fall Break 26
9. Caisie takes us to ADE Dance Event 28
10. #Whatup from Team Hamburg 30
11. Charles Whirlwind Adventure 32
12. The Sports Squad 36
13. Wired 40
14. My Set of the summer 42
15. High Five 44
16. Which member of the leadership team are you quiz? 46
17. Interview with Orlando 51
18. Lock-ins 52
19. What else is happening? 54
20. And other stories 56
21. Things jack and ted would never say 58
WHAT IS FALL BREAK? - P10
WHY COACHING MATTERS - P20
FROM TEAM HAMBURB - P36
CHARLES WHIRLWIND ADVENTURE - P40
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We're bringing you this issue fashionably late (as usual)...
...however to make up for it we have something for everyone, from the sublime (coaching and therapy), to the ridiculous (things Jack and Ted would never say) and everything inbetween....
This issue's big exciting story is that we have a new Canadian office! Campus Vacations is now part of the team and they could not be a nicer bunch (of course they couldn't, they're Canadian) - its amazing to have them as part of the team!
And also thank you to everyone who reached out about wanting to be part of this month's issue - you can see from the team list that we had a new mix of contributors - slack me (@annebedi) if you'd like to be part of next months issue!
ANNE BEDI
EDITOR
THIS MONTHS MAGAZINE TEAM
CHARLES BARNARD GEORGE POWELL ALANA PEREZ CAISIE DILKS
ELINA MEIMANE GEORGIA OWEN JOE MARTIN
JOE STEVENS KRISTEN ROWSEY ORLANDO BAEZA VIVIENNE SUNG
THE DESIGN TEAM
MATTHEW KENDALL GRANT BARRATT
Verve Magazine | Issue 13 | October 2018 1


NEW STARTERS
Marjorie Love Conway
Account Manager II Community - Los Angeles
Who’s the most famous person you’ve ever seen/met in real life?
Hugh Hefner. At one of my previous jobs, we threw 3 parties a year at the Playboy Mansion and I got to interact with Hef each time. He was a really sweet man.
What is your favourite swear word?
By far Fuck is my favorite cuss word. Use it on the daily.
If you had to wear one piece of clothing that you currently own for the rest of your life, what would it be and why?
My grey hoodie shirt. It’s comfortable and I can rock it casually or dress it up a bit.
Mary Montgomery
Office Manager
People & Talent - Los Angeles
Who’s the most famous person you’ve ever seen/met in real life?
I managed a restaurant in WeHo near the Hills so we got
a lot of celeb types in constantly. Charlize Theron, Halle Berry, Kristen Bell, Michael Vartan,
Joss Whedon, Zach Braff, Alex Pettyfer, and Tyra Banks were all regulars. My biggest fan
girl moment came when Tom Hiddleston and Hugh Laurie came in for dinner one random night. I came around their table “checking up” on them so often Hugh Laurie invited me to sit down with them and have a glass of wine to relax. I accepted.
What is your favourite swear word?
Far and away - Cunt. Americans can be super uptight about that word but I think it’s just great.
If you had to wear one piece of clothing that you currently own for the rest of your life, what would it be and why?
Probably my Frye boots. Does that count? They’re super comfy, durable and badass. I feel
like I can do anything in those boots. Basically, I am answering this question “in the event of
a zombie apocalypse what would I wear...”
Phoebe Gash
Software Engineer Intern Engineering - London
Who’s the most famous person you’ve ever seen/met in real life?
The most famous person I’ve met by a long way is Ralph Fiennes (aka Voldemort) - he came to do an interview at my school. He was incredibly engaging and I was totally starstruck. Coming in close second was when I was about 6 years old and Katy Hill from Blue Peter came to Cyprus (where I lived at the time) to fly with the Red Arrows. I got to hold her hand as we walked across an airfield.
What is your favourite swear word?
When ‘wank’ is used adjectivally.
If you had to wear one piece of clothing that you currently own for the rest of your life, what would it be and why?
Tricky because you’d need
to account for the seasons... imagine wearing a hoodie
in the summer we just had... Maybe a hat? I could cope with wearing a hat for the rest of
my life.
David Kroes
All things people
People & Talent - Los Angeles
Who’s the most famous person you’ve ever seen/met in real life?
Allen Ginsburg — he autographed my orange.
What is your favourite swear word?
‘Butt-rash fungus’ (I type, smiling).
If you had to wear one piece of clothing that you currently own for the rest of your life, what would it be and why?
My Apple Watch — it talks to me!
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Orlando Baeza
VP of Marketing
Marketing - Los Angeles
Who’s the most famous person you’ve ever seen/met in real life?
I have worked in and around lifestyle culture my whole career so this is tough. Kobe? LeBron? Lenny Kravitz? Jonah Hill? Michael B Jordan? James Franco? Rihanna? Nas? I’ve been around a few different people along the way. :)
What is your favourite swear word?
Shit. No, it’s probably fuck. Shit, did I fuck this up already?!
If you had to wear one piece of clothing that you currently own for the rest of your life, what would it be and why?
Basketball shorts because it’s eternally comfortable and also functional. I like versatility, ha!
Megan Wright
Assistant
Office of CEO - London
Who’s the most famous person you’ve ever seen/met in real life?
Most famous person I’ve met: The one and only Stone Cold Steve Austin, Oddly dead handsome IRL.
What is your favourite swear word?
The F word, waaaay too much.
If you had to wear one piece of clothing that you currently own for the rest of your life, what would it be and why?
Pyjamas - really don’t understand why people actively chose to wear anything other than pyjamas at home.
Jesse Owens
Salesforce Administrator Sales - Las Vegas
Who’s the most famous person you’ve ever seen/met in real life?
I met Kylie Minogue once after my friend randomly lent his chihuahua to her when she was recording an album in the UK. Bit of a long story.
What is your favourite swear word?
''Twat'' - I always thought it's had a great ring to it.
If you had to wear one piece of clothing that you currently own for the rest of your life, what would it be and why?
I absolutely love my watch. I've only recently started wearing it, but it's quite satisfying not to have to find your phone and get distracted by a tonne of messages when you just need the time.
Gary Rosoff
VP of Business Development
Inventory and Business Development- Los Angeles
Who’s the most famous person you’ve ever seen/met in real life?
Kobe Bryant, Shaq, John Elway, Robin Williams (Funny Oscars story)
What is your favourite swear word?
For Fuck Sake.
If you had to wear one piece of clothing that you currently own for the rest of your life, what would it be and why?
My Baseball Hoodie.
Verve Magazine | Issue 13 | October 2018 3


Patrick Guido Arminio
Software Engineer II Engineering - London
Who’s the most famous person you’ve ever seen/met in real life?
I briefly worked with the current wife of Chris Wood (Bastille’s drummer), she was kind enough to give me and two friends tickets for Bastille’s concert in Rome a few years ago.
What is your favourite swear word?
Shit.
If you had to wear one piece of clothing that you currently own for the rest of your life, what would it be and why?
Nike shorts and t-shirt, they super comfy and look really nice :)
Anja Bexelius
Senior Sales Manager Sales - London
Who’s the most famous person you’ve ever seen/met in real life?
I went to a Christmas dinner with a client of mine and surprisingly one of the owners and also the biggest actor in Sweden, Mikael Persbrandt, joined us.
What is your favourite swear word?
Huvva!
If you had to wear one piece of clothing that you currently own for the rest of your life, what would it be and why?
I would move someplace warmer and walk around in one of my tunics all day.
Paul Monk
Software Engineer I Engineering - London
Who’s the most famous person you’ve ever seen/met in real life?
Most famous person I’ve ever met is Dennis Rodman, NBA Hall of Famer. I met Dennis at a pool party in Las Vegas a few years ago. An interesting guy... a giant of a man.
What is your favourite swear word?
Hmm, the word f*ck tends
to come to mind, purely for versatility. Although I’m not sure I really have a favorite, I think it’s situational. However I’m trying to cut down on the swearing.
If you had to wear one piece of clothing that you currently own for the rest of your life, what would it be and why?
An overcoat. Warm, functional, durable and never goes out
of fashion. Although if global warming continues this may not be the smartest pick!
Evan Fonfa
Accountant II
Finance and Legal - Las Vegas
Who’s the most famous person you’ve ever seen/met in real life?
When I was in Los Angeles recently I saw Larry David walking out of a hotel I was staying in. I happened to be getting in my car at the same time and was following behind his Tesla for a few blocks. I kept thinking how he would be the best/worst person to get in a car accident with!
What is your favourite swear word?
Fuck. It never gets old.
If you had to wear one piece of clothing that you currently own for the rest of your life, what would it be and why?
Probably my black jeans. I wear them multiple times a week anyway, and I think they are appropriate for many occasions.
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Verve Magazine | Issue 13 | October 2018


NEW STARTERS
CAMPUS VACATIONS
Justin Van Camp
Leading our outside sales team Sales – Toronto
Who’s the most famous person you’ve ever seen/met in real life?
Eugene Winer.
What is your favourite swear word?
Merde.
If you had to wear one piece of clothing that you currently own for the rest of your life, what would it be and why?
A warm jacket!
I don't like being cold.
Alex Handa
Advisor
Sales – Toronto
Who is the mot famouse person you’ve ever seen in real life
Dalai Lama and Jane Goodall - its a tie
What’s your favourite swear word?
I’m very proper, I never swear, anyone can vouch for that.
If you had to wear one piece of clothing that you currently own for the rest of your life, what would it be and why?
My underwear, to spare the world from having to look at my furry buttocks and bullocks all day
Eugene Winer
Advisor
Sales – Toronto
Who’s the most famous person you’ve ever seen/met in real life?
Nelson Mandela.
What is your favourite swear word?
Calisse Tabarnak.
If you had to wear one piece of clothing that you currently own for the rest of your life, what would it be and why?
My Garmin Watch - gotta count those miles and calories.
Corinna Howard
Senior Manager of Events ops & Program Development
Events Operations - Toronto
Who’s the most famous person you’ve ever seen/met in real life?
David Duchovny, I was an extra on site.
What is your favourite swear word?
Câlice or the classic Fuck.
If you had to wear one piece of clothing that you currently own for the rest of your life, what would it be and why?
The large Adidas sweater
I accidentally stole from a SnowJam passenger, because it's crazy comfy.
Verve Magazine | Issue 13 | October 2018 5


NEW STARTERS
CAMPUS VACATIONS
Danielle Jones
Agent
Sales – Toronto
Who’s the most famous person you’ve ever seen/met in real life?
I worked as an assistant
to a publicist for Toronto International Film Festival. One of my favourite (and slightly embarrassing) memories would be when I delivered
the wrong lunch orders to Jake Gyllenhaal and his assistant.
What is your favourite swear word?
Fuck.
If you had to wear one piece of clothing that you currently own for the rest of your life, what would it be and why?
As a Canadian I should probably like the cold or at least be used to it, but that’s not the case and I am always complaining I am freezing! So I would choose my Lazypants sweatsuit. There is nothing softer, comfier and warmer in my wardrobe.
Emily Tsinkas
Senior Agent Sales – Toronto
Who’s the most famous person you’ve ever seen/met in real life?
I met Lil Jon in Cancun on Spring Break!
What is your favourite swear word?
I don’t really say it a lot but I think the word cunt is funny.
If you had to wear one piece of clothing that you currently own for the rest of your life, what would it be and why?
Definitely my sweat pants because they are so comfy.
Megan Boese
Account Manager Sales – Toronto
Who’s the most famous person you’ve ever seen/met in real life?
I met Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen during an interview they did with MTV when I was in high school... A friend and I waited all morning, crouched up on the streets of Toronto in a line that was wrapped around the block. We were able to be on set while they were filming, that’s the day all my childhood dreams came true.
What is your favourite swear word?
Fuck - I still remember looking it up in the dictionary for the first time as a kid..
If you had to wear one piece of clothing that you currently own for the rest of your life, what would it be and why?
Can i pick my hair scrunchie? If not - I would have to say my fave pair of PJ’s for optimal comfort.
Mallorie Ihnat
Senior Agent Sales - Toronto
Who’s the most famous person you’ve ever seen/met in real life?
Justin Timberlake.
What is your favourite swear word?
Not sure if this is a swear word but I use ‘tits’ a lot lol.
If you had to wear one piece of clothing that you currently own for the rest of your life, what would it be and why?
My roots sweatpants, they are the definition of comfy, you
can only get them in Canada! They’re perfect for the cottage, sleeping or lounging around on a lazy Sunday.
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Leigh Kane
Senior Agent Sales - Toronto
Who’s the most famous person you’ve ever seen/met in real life?
Lebron James.
What is your favourite swear word?
Go Fuck Yourself!
If you had to wear one piece of clothing that you currently own for the rest of your life, what would it be and why?
My Hat.
Shelby Bolitsky
Event Operations Coordinator Sales Toronto
Who’s the most famous person you’ve ever seen/met in real life?
I've met Skrillex.
What is your favourite swear word?
Fuck.
If you had to wear one piece of clothing that you currently own for the rest of your life, what would it be and why?
My velour hoodie because it's literally the comfiest piece of clothing I've ever owned.
Patrick Whearty
Agent 2
Sales - Toronto
Who’s the most famous person you’ve ever seen/met in real life?
Dave portnoy (owner of barstool sports)
What is your favourite swear word?
Don’t have a favorite, try not to swear that much but I guess it would be “shit”.
If you had to wear one piece of clothing that you currently own for the rest of your life, what would it be and why?
Denim blue express t shirt.
Cheryl Myerscough
Events Operations Coordinator Events Operations – Toronto
Who’s the most famous person you’ve ever seen/met in real life?
Owen Wilson, while shopping at Third Street Promenade.
What is your favourite swear word?
Fuckface.
If you had to wear one piece of clothing that you currently own for the rest of your life, what would it be and why?
Red flannel shirt
Verve Magazine | Issue 13 | October 2018 7


NEW STARTERS
CONTRACTORS
Sheila Htin-Kyaw
Software Engineer Intern
Engineering - London
Who’s the most famous person you’ve ever seen/met in real life?
The actor Tim Roth has bought me a drink. We were chatting to a friend who was working behind the bar at the Lizard Lounge in Paris and Tim joined us. There was some small talk but he was most interested in my boyfriend’s native country, Burma/Myanmar.
What is your favourite swear word?
I don’t really swear unless I’m driving (in which case it’s a stream of F-word variations), but I do say ‘bloody’ a lot which I argue is not a swear word as it’s uttered by the fairy bloody godmother in Shrek!
If you had to wear one piece of clothing that you currently own for the rest of your life, what would it be and why?
If I had to wear one thing
for the rest of my life I would choose my eternity ring. It was given to me by husband after the birth of our daughter in Singapore. It reminds me daily not only of him but that we made a whole new person! :D
Steve Jalim
Software Engineer Engineering - London
Who’s the most famous person you’ve ever seen/met in real life?
My secret super-power is saying dumb stuff to celebs.
Exhibit A: Me, on deadline, during my first job as a journalist: “Which [bad word] idiot stole my [bad word] chair!?” Jeremy Clarkson: “Er, me.” Wheels it back over and sits on the edge of a desk instead.
Exhibit B: I was a contestant on Pointless. Thirty seconds before filming started an episode, Alexander Armstrong was chatting about how he loved living in Oxfordshire. Mishearing, I managed to accidentally diss his favourite home county. (We still made it to the semi-final, at least.)
What is your favourite swear word?
Anything in French. Probably connard.
If you had to wear one piece of clothing that you currently own for the rest of your life, what would it be and why?
A now-ragged Howies t-shirt that’s nearly a decade old but still fits perfectly. I was wearing it when my first daughter was born - it was old then!
Pauline Richey Arthur Azis
Senior Product Manager
Product - London Finance and Legal - London
Paralegal
Who’s the most famous person you’ve ever seen/met in real life?
Chris Hadfield - astronaut.
Not famous to everyone but
he was a commander on
the ISS (International Space Station) - he got Twitter famous particularly for performing Bowie’s Space Oddity whilst in space. Very cool and interesting human.
What is your favourite swear word?
Having fallen in love with
The Good Place: “Holy Motherforking Shirtballs”. A great way to swear even when hanging out with folks with
kids :)
If you had to wear one piece of clothing that you currently own for the rest of your life, what would it be and why?
Definitely one of my dresses with decent pockets. I pretty much never get rid of any of the ones I have with pockets as they are so rare - I blame the patriarchy ;) Pockets have a surprisingly interesting history. If that sentence doesn’t make you snore, feel free to ask me about it!
Who’s the most famous person you’ve ever seen/met in real life?
Bradley Cooper once accidentally poured a beer on my head at Glastonbury (he apologised - we are all good now).
What is your favourite swear word?
CHRISTMAS NIGHT! ‘cause it doesn’t really make sense and it makes me laugh when my grandmother says it.
If you had to wear one piece of clothing that you currently own for the rest of your life, what would it be and why?
I have a matching corduroy over-shirt and trousers that my friend made for me which I reckon would do me pretty well for all occasions.
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Paul Annett
Principle Product Designer Design - London
Who’s the most famous person you’ve ever seen/met in real life?
I once worked with Beyoncé.
What is your favourite swear word?
At the moment it has to be the one my 9 year old recently came out with – “What the fudgecake?!”
If you had to wear one piece of clothing that you currently own for the rest of your life, what would it be and why?
I tried to think of something cool, but my wife says it’s obviously my dressing gown. At least I’ve got Arthur Dent for company.
Verve Magazine | Issue 13 | October 2018 9


HOW IT ALL STARTED
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WITH CAMPUS VACATIONS JOINING VERVE WE WENT STRAIGHT TO JUSTIN, ONE OF THE FOUNDERS WHO IS JOINING US, TO FIND OUT HOW THE COMPANY STARTED.
Take us back to the beginning...
We grew up in Ottawa, Alex, Eugene and I [three founders], which is the capital of Canada – Alex and Eugene were best friends at school and then I was a few years behind them and met them later.
How did the whole Student Grad thing come to pass?
Well originally in the 90s this tradition developed of going away with your friends after you graduated. Groups of kids were doing it just using local travel agencies and there was nothing official. There was no name for this trip, it wasn’t like in Greek life where they have these specific trips they go on – here it was totally organic. It was just a few groups who thought of it and then eventually a load of different groups ended up going away together to the same place and from there people started thinking about how they could all go together in bigger groups.
How did you three get involved?
It was through Alex’s dad who owned one of the travel agencies who help facilitate all these trips - ‘Handa Travel’. One agent there decided to send all the students who came to him to one destination and the students really enjoyed that. That sense of all celebrating together before they went their separate ways. And then every year it would get bigger and bigger. It got so big in our city there was more then
1000 students going to Acapulco Mexico one year. The local newspaper would send a reporter so parents could see what their kids were getting up to.
And how did you three get involved?
So Alex planned the trip for his year through Handa Travel, and then Alex and Eugene started working at his Dad’s agency being the travel agents for other students trips. I was the rep who organized my own years trip and Alex was my agent. I was very passionate about it – it was the coolest thing to be involved with and Alex hired me when I came back from the trip to help book the next years trip. I helped
out all the trips happening in my neighbourhood – so I was front lines.
How did the company come about?
So Alex was working at his dads agency, Eugene was helping when Alex wasn’t around and I was there too – but we were doing this alongside our studies. Alex created a brand called S-Trip as his college project which became the brand that dealt with all the students and thats the brand that eventually created Campus Vacations..
When did you go full time?
So I got a summer job with an American company that were doing these grad trip and I saw the way they ran their business and were scaling and
I thought, nobody is doing this
properly in Canada. So I went back home, Eugene and Alex were at University at this
time and I decided to
quit school and do this full time.
Verve Magazine | Issue 13 | October 2018 11




I had made a deal with Alex’s father to give me a desk and a phone because I wanted to try and prove
we could do trips outside of Ottawa where we grew up, because at this time that was the only place doing these ‘grad trips’. I had to teach myself everything, faxing off airlines, buying space, I made a small website. I had a lot of success, selling trips in the first
few months. I called Alex and Eugene and said “I’m doing this, you need to come home”. And they came to do it. So in about 2004 we decided to separate what we were doing from Alex’s dads business and do our own thing – and we used S-Trip as the main brand.
What was your mission?
We had one mission: market creation. Grad trip was a tradition in Ottawa but nowhere else. So we went round and we sold this idea...that when you graduate you should all go somewhere together and celebrate. We went from town to town and convinced them they were missing out. We grew our business from just us to 8-9 full time staff and we got into every town in Canada and started to push into America.
What made you want to get involved with Verve?
We first heard about Verve because we were competing with the JusCollege brand. We were fighting over the same groups, sales people going head-to-head in Greek Life
and Spring beakers in the States. Then we were introduced to Callum. Mine and Alex’s conversation with Callum was very surprising because we always felt like we’d kind of been alone on this peer-to-peer thing. We saw a massive potential in it, and we had acquired lots of companies who were doing it. We had proven it in North America – we knew it could work. It was amazing for us to meet someone who not only saw the same potential as we did but was acting on that potential, who was following through on a very big
THE WAY VERVE HAS BUILT ITS BUSINESS UP, VALUING ITS PEOPLE SO MUCH AND ITS CULTURE WAS SOMETHING THAT WAS VERY SPECIAL AND WE FELT THIS WAS THE BEST FOR CAMPUS VACATIONS.
strategy of using peer-to-peer selling. It was very exciting. We also felt that student travel had so much opportunity but was a niche that nobody else was paying attention to, but he was and we felt we could together introduce this around the world in a way that has never been done before. The way Verve has built its business up, valuing its people so much and its culture was something that was very special and we felt this was the best for Campus Vacations.
So what are your, Eugene and Alex’s roles in the company now?
So Eugene and Alex are joining in an advisory capacity, and I’m joining full time. My role is helping to build the outside sales team that’s going to be selling travel all across north America.
Verve Magazine | Issue 13 | October 2018 13


WHY COACHING MATTERS
ALI HALL
Head of coaching
Why do you feel coaching works?
One of the reasons coaching is
so powerful is because it is time
for the person being coached
to stop and reflect. Coaching is asking questions -- and not even necessarily profound ones. It could be as simple as “what gives you energy?” or “when are you at your best?” Most sessions begin with the question, “what do you want to get out of this session?” People may want to discuss what is frustrating them or making them anxious, or they may begin with an
WE WENT TO OUR HEAD OF
COACHING ALI HALL TO EXPLORE
MORE WHY SHE FEELS COACHING
IS SO IMPORTANT AND HOW IT’S
DIFFERENT AT VERVE.
opportunity they want to explore. you find frustrating?” or “is this it Coaching works because it is about where you fee you’re getting stuck?”
I listen for self-imposed limiting assumptions when I coach, and help the person I’m coaching explore what is holding them back.
creating a reflective space for the person being coached to explore what they want, what the reality looks like, what options they face and how to get there.
Much of my time is spent reflecting back what I hear and then testing it - such as “is this is the part that
It is about breaking down the story into small parts and noticing where there is energy and possibility.
Is there anything that is universal in your coaching sessions with everyone that you work with?
A common theme is around self-
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belief. I listen for self-imposed limiting assumptions when I coach, and help the person I’m coaching explore what is holding them back. My job is to see the potential in those I coach, and to support them in developing that.
What is the most common type of work you do with everyone?
The most important work I do is help individuals raise their awareness and take responsibility for who they are and what they see. I ask those I coach “what is driving you?” or “what is stopping you?” I want to know what is preventing someone from having a difficult conversation, or blocking them from what
they are trying to achieve and then asking them questions to help them find ways forward. I want to know what someone believes they could accomplish
if they knew they couldn’t fail. I’m helping them to hone their awareness and feel empowered to do what they want. Deep down people crave choice and responsibility and at Verve that coincides perfectly with the company’s core drivers of freedom and ownership.
What has been different about your work at Verve and other places you’re worked?
The thing I love about Verve, and something I genuinely witness all the time, is that if there’s something that someone really wants to do, and it’s inline with Verve’s core purpose, then the company says do it. Try it. Go for it. Ultimately Verve is open to all
the ideas – and that is so exciting. My background is in professional service firms -- big corporates, law firms and banks -- and that just doesn’t happens in those types of environments. I ask people working there
what they want, and we work it out and sometimes we realise that there’s no way to navigate the political constellation and bizarre bureaucracy to get there.
I had this coach in high school who would say, “If in your mind you can conceive it and in your heart you do believe it then your body will achieve it.” At Verve, I feel is exactly like that. I’m the coach that tries to help them unlock potential, deal with inner critics and help create the conditions for people to thrive.
Being an in-house coach for a whole company is a first for you - how has that differed from working with a few individuals from one company?
Firstly it gives me a broader context because I know how the organisation works and the dynamics at play on a wide scale. What I really love about being a coach to the company is my ability to help enact change, rather then trying just to help the people I’m working with enact it. If someone says that there’s
this huge blocker, and it has to do with the dynamics between a few people (for example) then I can call
a meeting with all those people and we sort it out. Because I’m coaching everyone in the room, I feel like I can have meetings with positive intentions where everyone feels supported, challenged and listened to.
Verve Magazine | Issue 13 | October 2018 15


Therapy at Verve
Callum’s has always been a huge advocate of therapy as a way of removing the things that are holding everyone back and we’ve been trialling offering therapy as part of the mastery process for the last few years. We’ve had such positive results we’re now locked in therapist in the UK and are looking for ones in Vegas and LA. We spoke to Callum and the other people involved to find out more.
Callum Negus-Fancey
I think what’s interesting is that we all
have saboteurs that hold us back and I’ve found that the change you can make by tackling these has a surprisingly big impact on all parts of your life. Thats because
it doesn't tend to just deal with the one particular issue you were trying to solve, but instead affects you're overall performance,
happiness and wellbeing in a way that’s very profound. Therapy also doesn't tend to feel as iterative as other forms of development - instead it feels like a huge step-change as you find yourself overcoming something you never thought you’d be able to solve. I've seen Jamie and lots of different therapists to help me develop as a leader and I really recommend it.
How to get therapy through Verve?
We have a therapist in the UK called Jamie who specialises in EMDR and we’re looking for a great therapist in both Vegas and LA. You can use your mastery budget to see them (talk to your manager) and it gets you about 3 sessions which is more than enough to have a huge impact.
16 Verve Magazine | Issue 13 | October 2018


Our Therapists
Prof Jamie Hacker Hughes
Prof Jamie Hacker Hughes
has been working with Verve over the last few months. “I’m a consultant clinical psychologist and specialise in using a type of therapy called EMDR. EMDR (or
eye movement desensitisation or reprocessing
in full) is a form of therapy which helps people to remove psychological blocks in the form of doubts, fears, trauma and addictions that may be affecting their performance or enjoyment at work and at home replacing them with more adaptive ways of thinking and behaving.
“EMDR, (Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing) is a form of therapy developed about 30 years ago which uses eye movements (or other forms of bilateral stimuli) to facilitate, through a process of dual attention, a process of adaptive information processing. In other words, EMDR blocks the normal use of working memory which allows information stored in long term memory to be retrieved, processed and resolved.”
Fiona Nicolson
Fiona Nicolson is a therapist we used for the last few years.
Fiona is a cognitive hypnotherapist.
Cognitive hypnotherapy differs from traditional hypnotherapy because it also draws on recent discoveries in psychology, cognitive theory and neuro linguistic programming (NLP).
It works to unlock potential through pinpointing and positively changing the negative beliefs that can hold individuals back.
See what some of our team had to say about their experiences with
Jamie and Fiona.
Verve Magazine | Issue 13 | October 2018 17


We spoke to some of the peop
Harriet Cross
(Pollen Membership Manager)
Had sessions with Fiona last year and has just started seeing Jamie.
The reason I wanted to go was I realised that there were situations which were giving me anxiety
when they shouldn’t. I realised I had an overall anxiety where I didn’t feel good enough and it was affecting
me in my relationship, my friendships and at work. I’ve started seeing Jamie this year and been doing EMDR and together we determined exactly where the anxiety was causing me the most problems both in my personal life and at work, and then working out the exact situations where I felt stressed when I didn’t need to and then we did the EMDR on that.
We started on stuff at work first and then when we started doing situations where I felt stressed at home realised I already found myself looking at stress in
a totally different way. I saw Fiona last year and she
had started the process of changing how I felt about situations, so I already felt further along. The last session I had with Jamie I could really feel the difference – I mean I was in the kind of situation a few days ago that would have caused me so much stress before him and I realised I felt absolutely fine. I can feel the difference and I’m really looking forward to the next sessions.
Dan Almeida
(Pollen Member Growth)
Had sessions with Fiona last year, and is about to go and see Jamie.
The main reason was insecurity about what people were thinking about me – I’m a highly sensitive
to people’s body language and tone, and I constantly over analyse everyone and don’t take what people say
at face value. So when people say things I think “do
they actually mean that” and that will stay with me
the following day “do they think am I doing a good
job”, “what do they think of me”. It happens in work, it happens in my personal life: to give you an example say I haven’t spoken to a really good friend in ages, and then
I reach out to them to arrange catching up – if they then they come back with a wishy washy answer because they’re busy, in my mind I’ll start being like “are they mad at me?” and “what did I say that pissed them off?”.
This is then replicated at work where I’ll have a short conversation my manager or with someone from a different department and if it goes really well I could come away thinking that was really productive and
its all fine, but if I pick up on anything not being okay, even something really insignificant, I’ll then spend ages thinking afterwards “what did I do?” or “what were they really thinking” or “what have I done wrong” and it affects me really deeply and my productivity takes
a nosedive. Frustratingly it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy where now my performance is affected because I was worried that it was when in reality it was nothing. Its absolutely exhausting.
Fiona didn’t have a huge effect on me to be honest I think I might just not be very receptive to her kind of work because I was over analysing what she was saying to me, and when she was asking me questions I’d be overthinking it: “what is she trying to do” or “what is she thinking” and maybe that stopped it from working. I saw little changes afterwards that helped, and I could see where she was going with her work, and it did work for a little bit but not enough to make me want to go back. I’m looking forward to going and seeing Jamie and seeing if he will have a bigger affect.
18 Verve Magazine | Issue 13 | October 2018
l


e who have seen Jamie and Fiona
Anne Bedi
(Communications & Brand Director)
Saw Fiona a few years ago and saw Jamie earlier this year.
I was suffering for travel anxiety that I’d had since I was around 19. It all started when I had to
go on very strong medication to cure a benign brain tumor which caused extremely high anxiety and when
I came off the medication the anxiety, although far lower, ultimately stayed. It all became focused on travel anxiety – I didn’t do any big travel (planes or long car journeys) and I found even short bus journeys stressful and struggled with the sense of overwhelming panic in the run up and during the experience. It got worse and worse over the years and became really debilitating - I really wasn’t coping at all. About 4 years ago I saw Fiona and post sessions with her I was able to start travelling internationally for work and pleasure. I still found it difficult and draining emotionally, but I could do it. Then last year I went to see Jamie and did EDMR and that was when everything changed – it actually mostly cured my travel anxiety for 95% of the time. I suddenly found I was totally relaxed around travel and chose, rather then simply coped with, going in long car journeys. I didn’t have any anxiety in the week running up to the travel either.
This has enabled me to do the job I do now as I travel
for work internationally constantly, I have felt my productivity go up without a doubt, mainly because
I’m not tired all the time because being anxious is exhausting. However it’s not just about the travel because although it felt like my anxiety was all focused on that, actually it was affecting my entire life – and having that removed has opened up my world literally and figuratively. Occasionally it flares up still when things are particularly stressful, but the times it happens are
so rare that I never worry about it. I’ve stopped getting anxious about the possibility of getting anxious and that in itself is a huge win.
Irene Coghlan
(Global Head of Partnerships & PR)
Saw Fiona last year and this year has started seeing Jamie.
I went to Fiona originally to tackle my public speaking nerves. Naturally, I don’t enjoy being
in the spotlight and had some
embarrassing attempts at public speaking growing up
so always tried to avoid it. When I moved into the new partnerships role at Verve, it was much more client/ partner facing and I felt my nerves had become a barrier so I really wanted to work on it.
Fiona helped me address some of my nerves around public speaking but she also helped me deal with work stress and the constant feeling that I wasn’t doing enough. When I first went to see her, I was quite sceptical about what I would get from it, but over time I started to notice the benefits and one of my friends actually commented on how I seemed much happier and less stressed and wanted to know what I was doing differently. She has actually gone to see Fiona herself since then and found her great.
I went to see Jamie this year and we continued to work on my public speaking nerves. I was able to test this out like-for-like recently when I did a reading at a friend's wedding in front of a room full of people I know very well and noticed that the extreme nerves I'd had before were gone. Five years before that I'd read at another friend's wedding and was terrified, with shaking hands, voice, sweaty palms and speaking way too fast, but this time round, I was in control.
Before I saw Jamie and Fiona I had been avoiding public speaking but now when I'm asked to talk at conferences, weddings, the town halls etc I'm up for it – it’s been great for my confidence and important for my job.
I’m continuing to work on my public speaking as part
of my Mastery plan but rather than worrying about controlling my extreme nerves, I can now focus on developing my actual presentation skills and style which will help me perform better in my role.
Verve Magazine | Issue 13 | October 2018 19
l


VIVIENNE SUNG
Chief Product Officer
A cras inAdesign
s part of my trip to Vegas, I facilitated a two hour design thinking workshop to introduce everyone
to how we like to solve problems in product and design. From the outside this will have looked a bit like a kindergarten art project (right down to
the pipe cleaners and stick on gems), but underneath the hood it was a fun way to learn about some key concepts from design. The workshop, which was designed by Stanford d.school, gives anyone that takes part a quick and dirty introduction to the way to approach design thinking. Instead of just telling everyone about design thinking you actually get to do it.
The topic of the workshop was to improve the gift giving experience for a partner, so that the next time they have to give someone a present it would feel easier/better/simpler!
We broke down the process into 5 stages, with a couple of rounds of rapid fire iteration in each stage:
• Empathise: gain a deep understanding and empathy for your customer and their problems
• Define: select a problem you heard from your customer to solve
• Ideate: come up with as many potential solutions to that problem as
possible
• Prototype: build a demonstration model of a favoured solution
• Test: give it to your customer to try out and feedback on
At the end, everyone presented their designs back to the group. We had some amazing fun solutions - from Salesforce integrated calendars to flying gift parrots and mobile Apps.
h


course thinking
Why did we do this?
Anyone who tackles problems that impact customers of any type can use the design thinking approach to help them get to better, more innovative solutions. The idea of this workshop was to demonstrate some of the core values of this approach, and also to help build empathy between product/ design and other teams who might not understand why we ask so many questions instead of jumping straight into solving problems. Some of the takeaways I hoped people would have are:
• Human-centred design: Empathy for the person we are designing for, and feedback from users, is fundamental to good design - if we skip this step our solutions will inevitably fail.
• Experimentation and prototyping: Prototyping is not only a way to validate an idea; it is an integral part of our innovation process. We build to think and learn - the activity of building improves our solution no end!
• A bias towards action: Design thinking is a misnomer; it is more about doing that thinking. We as a team aim to have a bias toward doing and making over thinking and meeting.
• Show don’t tell: Creating experiences and telling good stories is the best and most impactful way to communicate a vision.
• The Power of iteration: The reason we go through this exercise at a frantic pace is that we want people to experience a full design cycle. A person’s fluency with design thinking is a function of cycles, so we challenge participants to go through as many cycles as possible— interview twice, sketch twice, and test with your partner twice. Additionally, iterating solutions many times within a project is key to successful outcomes.
If you fancy giving this a go for yourself then you can do a virtual version of this workshop here: A Virtual Crash Course in Design Thinking — Stanford d.school. All you need is a partner, a bunch of craft materials (the more glitter the better!) and a couple of hours.
I’d love to hear how you get on!
h n




‘THE WARRIORS’ OF VERVE:
THE FIRST TEAM TO RESPOND YES TO A LOCK- IN, AND THE LAST ONES
TO LEAVE THE OFFICE AFTERWARDS. WHAT DO WE DO ON A DAILY BASIS AND WHAT IMPACT DOES THIS HAVE ON THE COMPANY?
GEORGE POWELL
Community Manager
“Community is so important as we look after our users and, without our Ambassadors and customers, we’d have no business.” - Ryan Bentley, US
We’re a company that prides itself on providing money-can’t-buy experiences to Ambassadors. That can mean anything from securing the best possible rewards, through designing the product in a way that’s simple to use, to making sure that Ambassadors remain motivated and receive only the most relevant and engaging communications.
The Community team are able to touch on every aspect of this. It’s the link between Ambassadors as far and wide as Chile, Poland and New Zealand, as well as the rest of the world. Working in Community encompasses managing Ambassador relationships all the way through the funnel, driving activation, engagement
& reward redemption, motivating our Ambassadors, collecting feedback, all campaign communications & humanising the business as much as possible.
Verve Magazine | Issue 13 | October 2018 23


BUT WHAT DOES THE DAY OF (THE TYPI COMMUNITY MANAGER LOOK LIKE?
ANGELA VERATTO DOING A VIDEO DASHBOARD WALKTHROUGH
9am
Still in bed
10am
Still in bed
10.15am
Checking messages from Ambassadors and emails to see how the day’s lookingx
11am
Either in the office or, at least, upright.
Now, we’re ready to start the day
Responding to questions from Ambassadors like “what’s a box office?” or “are you allowed to take in chocolate bars?”. These are legit questions.
15 minutes of ping-pong or Fifa to restore faith in humanity.
_
Brainstorming engagement ideas with the team and Emily Adams from CRM, such as video tutorials or walkthroughs.
_
Building out templates for newsletters and content to catch the eye of Ambassadors.
_
Meeting with CSM to discuss how we can increase the number of active Ambassadors.
_
Scheduling in communications so ambassadors keep in the loop of any news as well as engaged.
_
Jumping on a few calls with Ambassadors to get some feedback and have a chat. This is useful in gaining insights into what to improve and feedback to the wider team.
_
Adding best practices or results of experiments to Notion for current or future Community Managers
- if you want a link to our Notion pages, just shout!
GIFS, ANIMATIONS AND IMAGES ARE NOW A STAPLE IN ALL EMAILS
WE PREFER THE HEARTWARMING MESSAGES
_
Running experiments on how to convert inactive Ambassadors or on ways to motivate people to hit reward thresholds.
End of the day
This is when members of the team will talk about ways to improve campaigns or brainstorm ways to improve the dashboard or automated emails for Ambassadors.
24 Verve Magazine | Issue 13 | October 2018
C


WHAT PHELAN LOVES ABOUT COMMUNITY:
"Community is that human touch that lots of other companies don’t seem to have these days. I enjoy seeing some of our Ambassadors join the team and
grow throughout the company, from an Ambassador to a Community Manager, Membership Manager, client success or wherever! I can think of Georgia, Harriet, Ellen and Jack Fossey - all coming through the ranks!"
WHY GEORGIA THINKS COMMUNITY IS IMPORTANT:
"It’s the customer-facing side of the company. We motivate Ambassadors, push them to sell, and get them
earning their top rewards. They’ll have a better time at the festival, and we get more sales."
WHY ANGELA VERATTO LOVES COMMUNITY
"I love the way I'm learning and having the freedom to share my ideas, working in a great team where everyone helps each other and
enjoys their job. It’s great, believe me - from Monday breakfast in the office until the weekend when the festival is on!"
WHY RYAN BENTLEY
LOVES COMMUNITY
"I love working in Community because the Ambassadors and customers are what allow us to do what we do! It can be stressful, but once you start figuring
it out and getting the issue resolved, the Ambassadors and customers are always super grateful and you
can even joke around with them. It’s just a great experience to be a part of."
Verve Magazine | Issue 13 | October 2018 25
SCHEDULING IN COMMUNICATIONS
Between May and September, community received a tide
of 123,000 messages from Ambassadors and customers. Despite the amount of fire- fighting though, we all love what we do, and we all want to find improvements so Ambassadors and their friends can have a better experience.
It’s this last point which is perhaps the most important. As we look to grow rapidly
next summer, we’re looking
at ways of reducing the
issues Ambassadors face, so everything goes as smoothly as possible in 2019. So, if you want to see what we’re working on, or if you want an insight into what our Ambassadors are thinking, come find us in the cave or one of the tables in LA!
CAL)


FALL
FALL


KRISTEN ROWSEY
Senior Account Manager
WHAT IS FALL BREAK?
Fall Break is a mid-semester “holiday” where students
get a long 3-day weekend. Most campuses will either give students a Friday or Monday off of school. Typically, Fall Break
falls either the first or second weekend in October; however, can run throughout October and even into November.
HOW MANY TRAVELERS DO THE TRAVEL TEAM DEAL WITH?
This year we traveled 4,721 students to Vegas during the month of October. That’s over 1K more than we did in 2017!
WHO WORKS ON FALL BREAK?
Everyone on the travel team really contributes to this trip. Everyone from Customer Service to Marketing & CRM, to Sales & Operations all really comes together to pull their weight and contribute in different ways. Bo, Zach and myself primarily sold this trip; however, the rest of the sales did close some additional groups. Sales is also extremely instrumental in hosting and working at the clubs. Operations & Hailey specifically, played an integral role in basically making sure EVERYTHING goes smoothly. From check-in, to hotel logistics, shuttles & open bar, operations ensures this is all set up for our groups and runs according to plan. Mackenzie worked long hours sourcing hotel rooms & continually tweaking these based upon our projec- tions. Garrett & Andrew setup an incredible lineup & ensured our students would have the promised entry. Customer Service played a crucial role for all of us in ensuring clients are really being taken care of. They assist is so many ways, continually answering questions, dealing with tricky situations and occasional difficult students. Giuliana was instrumental with the product side, Sarah Jane with our mass messaging & Sean with graphics. These are just a few key people & departments; but truly everyone in every department really came together & helped make Fall Break a massive success.
WHAT TYPE OF ACTIVITIES ARE THERE?
We provide them a club access lineup that they get complimentary entry to with their wristband. They just need to arrive and be inside by cutoff times with an even girl to guy ratio! Lineup will typically include a few options each day and night, Thursday-Sunday.
ANY STAND-OUT STORIES?
There were some students from two different universities that didn’t travel with us, even though a majority of their cam- pus did. These students chose to book around us and unfortunately when they showed up in Vegas, the company they had originally booked with, hadn’t pulled through and the students were left blindsided with no reservations. Their friends who did book with us, immediately reached out to see if we could help their friends out. We were able to hook them all up with reduced club access passes & even a hotel room for the weekend. We were able to come through as the hero’s and help these poor students out. Several reps from these two schools that did book with us, reached out expressing their gratitude and appreciation for what we’d done. I know this will go far specifically for those organizations & helping secure bookings from those groups next year! Travel team = Vegas Legends.
Verve Magazine | Issue 13 | October 2018 27


17-21ST OCTOBER
AMSTERDAM DANCE EVENT
OCTOBER SAW ANOTHER YEAR OF VERVE AT AMSTERDAM DANCE EVENT!
CAISIE DILKS
Senior Client Success Manager
ADE is an annual electronic music conference and festival which offers a full program of daytime conferences and night time parties across 450 events, with 2200 artists in 115 venues across the 5 day schedule.
The shows attract over 450,000 people from all over the world to the city, making Amsterdam one of the busiest clubbing cities in the world! So obviously Verve had to be there...
The Sales and CS teams from Europe attended on top form, holding meetings with our current
clients and prospective clients alike.
From this we were able to secure LiveNation Sweden who confirmed Summerburst and Way out West, I-Motion agreed on 10 Festivals across their portfolio, Paramo Presenta in Colombia agreed to working with us on Estéreo Picnic, and DGTL said yes to us working with their Barcelona event!
On top of this huge success, Verve hosted a networking event in
the evening, with a mixologist, canapés and some key names in tow. In attendance was the We Are FSTVL team, the Director of Elrow, the Head of Insomniac, PayLogic’s team, Stubhub and TicketMaster to name a few.
Aside from a few sore heads and probably a bit of liver damage, Verve came out on top once again!
Until next year, ADE!!!
28 Verve Magazine | Issue 13 | October 2018


Verve Magazine | Issue 13 | October 2018 29


#WhatsUp? From Team Hamburg
We wanted to find out more about where our German teammates work from, so Elina reached out to Mark to fiHnd out more!
ere is your inside look on where Jan and I work, and some reasons why you guys should definitely
come and visit us. Hamburg is always a
little in the shadow of our big neighbour Berlin, but it is the second biggest and “most beautiful” city in
Germany (at least we gotta say it is, both born and raised here).
Our office is located in the middle of the city, and is a highlight by itself! We don’t actually have an our own office, as we’re working in a co-working space and sharing it with other startups, bigger companies like Redbull and Spotify (my wife works there as a Sales Director) and big booze brands (which comes in handy, as they often throw TGIF after work drink events). We can work from the open spaces on all 4 floors with different vibes, 1on1 rooms and chill areas. You can also book massage sessions, workshops, so a lot is going on here.
I work from the office nearly every day, as I like to be around people. When Jan isn’t in his van lost somewhere in Europe, he parks the van in the city and comes to the office as well. This happens more often than people might think! I am hoping that I am one of the main reasons why he comes in, but it might as well be the good wifi. When Jan and I are both in town, we
MARK POEHNER
Senior Client Success Manager
30 Verve Magazine | Issue 13 | October 2018


often do afterwork drinks in a pub called “dschungel“ or do our typical hawaiian lunch bowl which we both love.
As anyone who has ever met Jan will surely understand, it took him no time to become the center of attention in the whole office. So I am spending a good amount of time updating people on where he is at the moment or where his car has broken down. He’s also loved by the desk clerk as all of his post and packages arrive to the office (as he has not rented a flat yet). I am thinking to start a new career now as a postman,with all that experience earned during the last month... (kidding!)
Our office is close to Old Town, the harbour,
the famous Red light district and Party Mile “Reeperbahn” where the Beatles started of.
The coolest thing about Hamburg is that although it is quite a big city, it does not feel like that at all, you can get to the best places in about 10 minutes.
We truly love working for Verve from our office and that the company gives us the freedom to do so.
Verve Magazine | Issue 13 | October 2018 31


1.
All started in Brighton for the tech retreat
2.
Two of my favourit things: Gatwick
Express...
4.
Swung by beautiful ...
3.
... and airplane food!!
32 Verve Magazine | Issue 13 | October 2018
5.
... and busy LA
Charles whirlwind adventure
Charles has just returned from 6 weeks of travel, both for pleasure and work, and we wanted
to hear all about it!


6.
Got back in Europe, quick Paris stop
7.
And in London to launch Pollen Travel with the team!
8.
Cultural visit of Ukraine
e
9.
And flew back to the land of the free!
10.
Checked in for Fall Break
Verve Magazine | Issue 13 | October 2018 33
t


11.
Got an all-access thanks to travel team!
13.
Owned the dance floor with Viv
12.
And rushed to party!
14.
Crazy turnout for travel teams event 1
34
Verve Magazine | Issue 13 | October 2018
15.
And for event 2


16.
But also did some work!
17.
Participated in
the design thinking workshop organised by my dance partner, namely Viv
18.
And came up with an app for Zach!
19.
Picked up useful reading at the airport on the way back
20.
And started using all the new information with Barbara in London!
Verve Magazine | Issue 13 | October 2018 35


THE SPORTS SQUAD
The Sports Squad assembled in January this year. Their opposition: the challenge of building a sports product while contending with moving goalposts and opposition tough to break down.
GEORGE POWELL
Community Manager
the intervals. Following user research, though,
it was clear that an answer had to be found for the question of how to sit people together if tickets are bought separately.
FIELD GOAL 3-3
The squad hit back quickly with a solution to allow ambassadors and their customers to sit together. Things looked briefly shaky when it was clear the product had to be built around an
Ateam of fourteen huddled for their warm-up: a design sprint to figure out what this product may look like and how it would work. After coming up with the initial designs, the squad was ready to kick off. It was time to face a long process of gathering feedback, design iterations,
pushback from partners, and signing up the first team.
0-3 - FIELD GOAL
The initial designs didn’t cater for group seating, the assumption being that people would happily sit apart for the match, but catch up
over a beer and hot-dog in
BONNIE VIVATNAMONGKON
ENGINEERING
36 Verve Magazine | Issue 13 | October 2018
MARCIN JAWADZSKI
ENGINEERING
DANIEL PAVITT
ENGINEERING


JORDAN OYENUSI
ENGINEERING
Verve Magazine | Issue 13 | October 2018 37
JACK SHELDON
STRATEGY
ANTONIO SORBO
DESIGN
JASON GERALI
SALES
JAMES SPRY-LEVERTON
ENGINEERING
JERETH CORMACK
ENGINEERING


integration, however the squad’s previous experience with integrations put them in good stead, and they started to look confident.
3 - 10 TOUCHDOWN, CONVERSION
A surprise setback as Ticketmaster US decided to change their API halfway into the process. The squad could do nothing but sit back as
the ticketing giant knocked around ideas on how that API should look. Frustration was clear on the faces of the home team, and changed tactics to focus on improvements to the UI around group buying and seated inventory.
TOUCH DOWN 9 - 10
The Squad and Ticketmaster began to link up well, with
the ticketing giant asking for advice on how we built other integrations around Braintree. The squad started to get some momentum.
TOUCH DOWN 15 - 10
The squad, spurred on, hit back. As they started to build on top of the existing product rather than building one
from scratch, they realised
that by doing this, they could effectively turn on and off the newly-built features for current clients, increasing the scope
of the product and opening up
the possibility for catering for touring events.
15 - 17 - TOUCHDOWN
After an assured lead after designing a functional and attractive product, the squad hit a roadblock. Now, the tactics focussed on signing up clients. The problem was, nobody wanted to be the first to sign up. It’s always hard to prove yourself in a new game. The sales and strategy members of the squad had their opportunity to influence the proceedings.
FIELD GOAL 18 - 17
It wasn’t long before the squad started to find a solution to the defensive opposition. Soon,
38 Verve Magazine | Issue 13 | October 2018
ANIA WARZECHA
ENGINEERING
IRENE CO
MARKE
ZARA TAM
PRODUCT


MATT SVENSON
SALES
STATS UPCOMING FIXTURES
ABOUT THE AUDIENCE/FANS
44% GO WITH FRIENDS 67% DON’T NEED TO KNOW THEIR EXACT SEAT
55% BUY TICKETS ON BEHALF OF ANOTHER
THEIR PAIN POINTS
COLLECTING MONEY GETTING SEATS TOGETHER PEOPLE DROPPING OUT
they realised the similarities between NFL teams and festivals. With every home NFL game having the capacity of one of our biggest festivals, and tickets costing anywhere from $100+, the squad could see how big the opportunity was. The expertise of the squad began to show.
PUNT RETURN 25 - 17
Then, an opening. Many NFL teams reserve blocks of seats for inside sales agents to try and sell. However, if these
are not sold, they simply go
to waste. This was the final push, with the squad creating a product and finding a way to market.
Verve Magazine | Issue 13 | October 2018 39
WES STAR
COMMUNITY
OGHLAN
ETING


JOE MARTIN REPORTS ON WHAT THE UK TEAM SAW AT WIRED MAGAZINE’S NEW WIRED: SMARTER EVENT IN LONDON...
JOE MARTIN
IHead of Content
can’t turn down free tickets to
anything (See: Bloodstock 2011) — so when a friend at WIRED gave me five free tickets for their new
conference last month, I had to take a look.
The talks were all incredibly varied. Fixtures such as Will Shu (CEO, Deliveroo) and Cal Henderson (Co- founder, Slack) rubbed shoulders with diversity experts such as Y-Vonne Hutchinson (CEO, ReadySet). Her
talk about hiring biases is well worth
“My highlight was Spot, a start- workplace harassment — 90% o unreported. It’s a topic close to Worth checking out for free at Joe Martin — Head of B2B Content
looking up online.
We also got to hear what’s keeping
other entrepreneurs up at night. Brands such as Uber and Airbnb were noticeably absent, for example — and even Deliveroo seemed to distance themselves from “the gig economy” after months of public backlash.
Instead, the popular topic was the role of ethics in business. Kresse Wesling (Director, Elvis & Kresse) talked about using charity to find the right investors for her fashion business, for example — and Julia
Shaw ( bravel work.
Ultima the op Cockt Aisla B the nig the mo the ev more e on infl up soo
40 Verve Magazine | Issue 13 | October 2018
T
y
t
e a
e
u n


“It was interesting to see customer happiness at the forefront. Net-a-Porter and Deliveroo both spoke about using tech to get
products to customers without compromising quality.”
Salim Hamid — Technical Recruiter
“Helen Merriott from EY was great. Their work to envision how consumer behaviour may change as technology advances was
fascinating. I thought their roadmap was interestingly robust.”
Arnold Mutungi — Pollen Ops Manager
up tackling
f which goes my heart. alkToSpot.com.”
"The conference left me feeling inspired to look at business holistically. The breadth of knowledge shared helped reset
my brain from all the detail-oriented work I’ve been doing!"
Kitty Wong — Senior Management Accountant
"It’s exciting to see machine learning applications, such as how Net-a-Porter’s recommendation system drives sales. The most fascinating though was the talk about quantum computers —
that will have an even bigger impact on tech than the internet!"
Lukasz Aszyk — Business Intelligence
“I focus on experimentation so hearing from Amazon’s CTO was really helpful. I liked hearing about the investment they put in before getting experiments off the ground... if you're passionate
enough about change you should be willing to put in the effort!”
Kelly Snodgrass — VP of Community
- o
T
(Co-founder, Spot) spoke
y about sexual harassment at
tely nothing could keep us from
en bar at the end of the day. ails from data-driven distillery
Bay carried conversation on into ght and gave us sore heads in orning, but I’d still recommend
ent as a whole. WIRED has two events (including one focused uential young people) coming
n too!
Verve Magazine | Issue 13 | October 2018 41


Angie + Ashley • Community Managers (London)
We both saw Buttmitzfah together at Bestival on the HMS Bestival (the boat stage!). They played all the club classics, with Phats & Small’s Turn Around closing out the most feel-good set of the festival.
Arnold • Pollen Ops Manager (London)
Bonobo’s live set at Dimensions back in September has to be my highlight. Was some serious pathetic fallacy with rainbow lights shining through the rain - not sure how he managed to play for 8 hours though!
Ashlee • CE Lead (Las Vegas)
I saw Modest Mouse in May and they are my absolute white tiger group to see! Their sound is very post-punk, and every show is a range of emotions - such musical talent every single time I see them!
Bo • Benelux Client Success Manager (Netherlands)
One of my favourite performances this summer was at WKND Baltic in Estonia. The biggest act there was Post Malone who put on an amazing performance - so different to any of the other acts.
Sean Lane • Co-head of Demand for Pollen (Los Angeles)
Over the summer I saw Lost Kings at Omnia Nightclub in San Diego. I may or may not have drank their tequila and fan-girled in the DJ booth with them the whole night...who knows?
Dylan • Commercial Strategy Manager (Los Angeles)
My favorite set of the summer was Django Django - I was hired in July and the timing just so happened to coincide with Bestival. It was a great opportunity to bond with the team and really see how we bring Pollen to life on site.
Enosha • Head of People (Las Vegas)
I saw Tamia at the House of Blues Las Vegas. She’s my all-time fave singer and it was her first time performing a solo set. It was uh-mazing!
CAITLIN
42 Verve Magazine | Issue 13 | October 2018
Naturally, the Ve With worldwide amazing experi Fighters, Croati
e a
ANGIE & ASHLEY
SARAH JANE
ENOSHA & PALS
DYLAN


rve family has its fair share of festival fanatics and music maniacs. offices and a global client base, we’ve been lucky enough to share some
JOE STEVENS
nces together, at events all over the planet. From The Weeknd to Foo Copy Writer to Las Vegas, here’s a collection of all our favourite sets from summer 2018.
e
e a
George • Community Experience Specialist (London)
Chemical Brothers at Bluedot as every day I still find myself thinking about it, and Grace Jones at Bestival of course. Plus a special shout out to the sax player at the retreat - brass never fails.
Sean Reilly • Graphic Designer (Las Vegas)
Florence & The Machine and Justice at Life is Beautiful, both top notch performances. Florence has amazing stage presence and her voice is on point, and Justice absolutely killed it.
Leila • Client Success Manager (London)
El-B at Hyperdub’s monthly event at Corsica Studios. Picture an atmospheric blend of R&B bangers and rave-reminiscent melodies - think slowed down disjointed Whitney in a smokey neon lit room.
Leila • Client Success Manager (London)
El-B at Hyperdub’s monthly event at Corsica Studios. Picture an atmospheric blend of R&B bangers and rave-reminiscent melodies - think slowed down disjointed Whitney in a smokey neon lit room.
Mark • Senior Client Success Manager (Germany)
As one of the few rock/metal fans in the company (to my knowledge!), of course I have to choose something from Summer Breeze Open Air. This year Northlane was my pick - the Aussie group completely blew me away.
Sarah Jane • CRM Specialist (LA))
My favorite set of the summer was T-Pain at Life is Beautiful in Las Vegas. T-Pain was huge when I was in high school and being able to share that experience with some of my high school friends, dancing and singing along to all the lyrics was a special moment!
Wes Starr • Community Manager Lead (Los Angeles)
For me it has to go to Foo Fighters for their headline performance at CalJam last month. As part of their encore there was a Nirvana reunion, Smells Like Teen Spirit included!
Verve Magazine | Issue 13 | October 2018 43
SEAN


44 Verve Magazine | Issue 13 | October 2018
HIGH F
5. BellaLinda
Gelateria Italiana
If you’re like me and crave frozen treats, this is the go to spot. It’s located in Lake Las Vegas so the scenery is amazing (looks like an oasis) and the gelato is authentic.
I


THE
IVE KRYSTAL NUNEZ
Staff Accountant (Vegas)
2. Off-roading
If you’re into exploring hidden trails with rough terrain in the middle of the desert, Vegas is the perfect place to do that, day and night. Since I’ve been here, I’ve gone off-roading multiple times and it continues to be a thrilling experience.
As a distributed company spread over many countries we wanted to get an insiders guide
to the different cities we’re based in so we went to Krystal Nunez to get the five things she would recommend in Vegas.
1. Lee Canyon
If you’re into snow-related activities, this is the only place in Vegas to
go during the winter season and sometimes even spring. I love snowboarding so having this mountain nearby is super convenient (only 45 minutes away).
3. Rachel’s Kitchen
If you're a health nut and love food, this is definitely the place to go to. Great place to sit down, relax, enjoy a variety of healthy food options, and go shopping afterwards.
4. Blue Fin
If you’re looking for a low key sushi spot away from the strip, visit Blue Fin. It offers all you can eat sushi for a very affordable price and the customer service
is amazing.
Everyone is super friendly and the
food is delicious.
Verve Magazine | Issue 13 | October 2018 45


WHICH MEMBER OF THE LEADERSHIP TEAM ARE YOU?
QUIZ MASTER
GEORGIA OWEN (PROGRAM SPECIALIST)
46 Verve Magazine | Issue 13 | October 2018
QUESTION 1
Who is your favourite music artist?
a. Muse
b. Bruno Mars
c. BiggieSmalls
d. Freddie Mercury e. MaceoPlex
f. The Rolling Stones g. Prince
h. The Strokes
i. Frank Sinatra
j. Celine Dion
QUESTION 2 What is your favourite drink?
a. PimmsCup
b. Chocolate protein shake c. GinandTonic
d. Codigo on the rocks e. American-styleIPA
i.
Does coffee count? If not, champagne
f.
Anything strong g. Green tea
h. Ballast Point
j. Pina Colada


INSTRUCTIONS:
NOTE DOWN THE LETTERS YOU CHOOSE FOR EACH ANSWER. WHICH EVER LETTER YOU PICK THE MOST CORRESPONDS TO THE LEADERSHIP TEAM MEMBER YOU’RE MOST LIKE.
Verve Magazine | Issue 13 | October 2018 47
i.
So far I am an equal opportunity employer for all of Verve’s offices
f.
A nice hotel room with room service and the aircon turned down to the coldest setting
QUESTION 3
What is your favourite place to work from outside of the office?
a. Myhomeoffice
b. A riverside cafe
c. Idon’tworkoutsidetheoffice except on weekends
d. My house
e. Placethatservetheone true coffee, a flat white
g. Anywhere sunny with a breeze
h. An airplane - feels like you’re making time (especially if you’re
flying West)
j. Anywhere I can pace up and down on the phone
QUESTION 4
What is your favourite holiday destination?
a. What’sa“holiday”??
b. Rome
c. Mexico
d. Lake Tahoe
e. NewYork
f. Anywhere with amazing snow
that I can ski
g. San Sebastian, Spain
h. Trois Vallee ski resort, France i. Marrakesh
j. Alton Towers


48 Verve Magazine | Issue 13 | October 2018
a.
I like to put together a fairly detailed agenda and have a solid structure going into the meeting, but want relevant folks in the room to take ownership on the areas they’re responsible for. I will religiously take notes for myself, but want managers in the room to own follow up and execution.
d. f.
it structured.
Always on time and 100% engaged.
g. h.
On time, tight agenda, key outputs and next steps a must!
QUESTION 7
i. j.
The most important ingredients are 1) an agenda, 2) at least a few laughs, and 3) an early dismissal if possible.
b. Workout
QUESTION 5
How would you describe how you generally run meetings?
b. Workshops over meetings: Realtimeboard or post-its and
sharpies!
c. Running from one to another, Can’t sit still, pace around, try to keep
e. Agenda and outcomes or GTFO
Go to the wrong meeting room, can’t work the tech and leaning back in my chair or pacing around, Regular breaks are a must.
Try to focus on what we really needs to achieve, what really matters and how do we get shit done. Feel like these often happen at odd times of day. Normally by phone in smaller groups with colourful language.
What do you like to do in your spare time?
Delegate the running of the meeting to someone else at the last minute.
d. e.
Ping Pong, Karaoke, Sushi
i.
j.
Spend time with family friends, read, explore new places and restaurants
a.
You lost me again - not sure what that is...
c.
Watch football, drink beer, respond to emails
Spend time with my family in my neighbourhood
f. Rave, ski and netflix
(not necessarily in that order)
g. Listen to music, work out, travel, see friends
h. Drink & eat with friends
Walk the dogs, restaurants, party
QUESTION 6
What is your go-to Karaoke song?
a. Specifically? None.
b. Anything by 5ive
c. Eminem - Lose Yourself
d. Kiss from a Rose - Seal
e. Livin’ on a Prayer - Bon Jovi
f. Lose yourself - Eminem
g. Anything I can do with other people to hide my voice
h. Sex is on fire - Kings of Leon
i. Fresh Prince of Bel Air - Will Smith
j. I NEVER do karaoke