As modern work habits shift, the number of people working remotely has exploded. But what does that actually mean and look like at a music or music tech company? To find out, we visit some of the ‘offices’ of the team behind musician’s website and marketing platform Bandzoogle.
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Guest post by Allison S. of Bandzoogle
Remote work. It’s a common buzzword but what does it mean? Many people think it means working from home, and that’s partially true. Remote workers can work from home, but it’s not necessary to be tethered to your desktop computer!
Remote work is more freeing because you can usually work from any (semi-quiet) location. With remote work Wifi is your friend. As long as you’ve got that and a laptop you’re good to go… literally go!
The Bandzoogle team is a fully remote team. There is no office building, but we still manage to spend time with each other. With tools like Slack, Basecamp, and Google Hangouts, the 23 of us work together like a well-oiled machine (with a personality, of course!)
A couple years ago we gave you guys a sneak peek into our Zoogle team offices. We’ve had some changes since then so we thought it’d be a good time for an update. Here are some fun facts about Team BZ that you may not have known…
We like things to be aesthetically pleasing:
Josh Turner – Lead Designer [Montpelier, Vermont]
Known for: His famous name (no he is NOT the country singer), kitchen gadgets, and introducing us to Moana songs.
….and audibly awesome:
Cameron Gorham – Support Tech and Video Guy [Bloomington, Illinois]
Known for: His deep earth shattering radio voice, eating microwave burritos, and having an awesome girlfriend that can sing her butt off (ok he can sing a little too).
Sometimes we like it quiet:
David English – Developer [Halifax, Nova Scotia]
Known for: His captivating opera voice, trail biking and furnishing his whole office with Kijiji collection finds.
…and sometimes we like to blast out the walls:
Adam Percy – Support Tech and Senior Design [Denman Island, British Columbia]
Known for: His massively amazing home studio, living on an island and showing us all the vegan delights.
We’re outstanding (er…outlaying) in our field:
Justin Ralph – Quality Assurance and Breaking Things [Oxford Station, Ontario]
Known for: Dad jokes, banjos and startin’ trouble. If you look closely enough you can even see horns poking out of his head! 😉
…heavily into our work:
Dave Cool – Director, Artist and Industry Outreach [Montreal, Canada]
Known for: Drinking lots of wine, recreating a Big Mac from scratch, and his amazing dog, Henri.
…and curiously creative:
Luis Tovar – Support Tech [Córdoba, Argentina]
Known for: Being our Spanish translator, his drumming skills, and playing multiple instruments.
All of us love travel:
Julia Kater – Support Tech [Montreal, Canada]
Known for: Hosting a throwback country radio show, and making us jealous with her Cape Breton travels.
…yet find comfort in being home as well:
Wes Walls – Head of Growth Marketing [Arrondissement Le Plateau, Montreal]
Known for: Being a genius of SEO, his riveting performance of Hotel California, and his foot hammock.
Many of us are minimalists:
Brendon Wadey – Support Tech [Ottawa, Ontario]
Known for: Being a minimalist and working in an undisclosed basement. That is all.
… but with a maximalist work ethic:
Stacey Bedford – Chief Operating Officer [Ottawa, Ontario]
Known for: Juggling 500 projects with ease, her sweet cocker spaniel Ginger, and her 15 year old Amazon parrot, Caesar.
Some of us like to work in the sun:
Desi Rottman – Support Tech and GIFmaster supreme [Chicago, Illinois]
Known for: Pizza, pizza, more pizza, comfy Zubaz pants and lover of THS (The Hold Steady)
Some of us like working in a sunroom:
Allison Sharpe (hey that’s me!) – Education and Events Specialist [Carlsbad, California]
Known for: Being a Cookie Monster, an all-year iced coffee drinker, and an Airbnb ambassador.
And others like working around sunflowers:
Melanie Kealey – Support Team Manager [Ottawa, Ontario]
Known for: Having a crib in her main office (baby watch 2017 is in full effect!), and baking all the good things.
We try to hangout often:
Christmas parties, webinars, and social hours!
…get together when we can:
Mini-meetups and co-work gatherings!
….but always look forward to seeing each other in person once a year at our annual meetup:
2017 Annual Meetup [Montebello, Montreal]
Known for: Karaoke, card games, and crepes (and a little work too!)
We’re all unique in our own way, but the one thing we all have in common is our love of music. Everyone on the team is either a musician, former musician, married to a musician, or artsy in some way.
We use this passion to relate to our members. The remote working model allows us to think individually, but work collectively to give our members the best website building experience possible.
We hope you’ve enjoyed this behind the scenes look at the Bandzoogle family around the world!