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FormAssembly Stays Connected Thanks to Confetti
Learn how FormAssembly overcame the challenges of social isolation & virtual event planning with the help of Confetti.
Learn how FormAssembly overcame the challenges of social isolation & virtual event planning with the help of Confetti.
In 2020, the pandemic canceled FormAssembley’s annual company-wide reunion, exasperating feelings of disconnect and social isolation. In 2021, Confetti helped them plan an entirely virtual reunion that brought everyone together — and led to recurring team bonding initiatives throughout the year.
Founded in 2006, FormAssembly started and scaled as an entirely remote company. With its growth opportunities and work-life balance, IndyStar deemed it a Top Workplace in 2019 and 2020.
Industry: Software & IT Management
Company Size: 130+ employees
Location: United States
Hayley McNitt is the Field Marketing Manager at FormAssembly, having originally started as the sole Event Coordinator. As she grew with the company and into different roles, Hayley held the responsibility of event planning – including the company’s Annual All-Team Reunion.
Like many of us during the pandemic, FormAssembly’s employees saw drastic changes in their personal life (not being able to see friends, family, or participate in social life outside of work). This resulted in intense social isolation and feelings of disconnection.
Hayley commented on the challenges of connecting remote colleagues:
“We don't get to see each other a lot. So that can make it difficult for team bonding and team building.”
With no signs of the pandemic ending, Hayley had to pivot the August 2020 All-Team Reunion to a virtual event.
She spent hours researching, dealing with non-communicative vendors, and overall trying to figure out how to host a 130+ person virtual event for the first time.
“I was calling and calling vendors, asking about availability, cost, whether or not they ship to Canada, among other things. It was so much back and forth, and such a waste of time.”
Vendors would agree to virtual experiences without having done one before. The lack of expertise and preparation resulted in technical difficulties that stalled events. “Even if vendors do have virtual experiences, I'm still emailing them, coordinating times, getting quotes. It takes up so much time.”
Hayley made it work, but not without plenty of headaches.
Thankfully, future virtual experiences (including the 2021 All-Team Reunion) wouldn’t churn up the same challenges. Hayley found Confetti with a simple Google search of donut making class.
“I immediately told my team, Confetti is going to solve all of our problems!"
In 2020, Hayley spent so much time researching and just trying to figure out what to do to keep her team happy and connected. But 2021 sang a different tune, as she had Confetti’s help.
“It was a great booking experience through Confetti. We were able to celebrate from afar. It helped us all stay connected in a time that we felt really disconnected from everyone.”
One of Hayley’s most significant pain points was wasted time, so having everything she needed in one place – including event details, vendor info, customized invitations, and experience availability – proved more beneficial than she could have imagined. “Confetti saves me so much time – at least two hours per every event. I'm not spending all that time researching, emailing back and forth. It's just one and done.”
Confetti’s platform allowed her to narrow down her search and find experiences aligned with her team. “Having backed, researched, and vetted vendors to book team building experiences with was such a huge relief, too.”
“It was really awesome to have the expert-led workshops,” Hayley said. “The hosts were super engaging and fun, and you could tell they totally knew what they were doing.”
Another benefit Hayley found came from the ease of scheduling. She could provide several times and dates when making an event inquiry. From there, the Confetti Customer Success team would quickly verify whether or not her choices were feasible.
Hayley found Confetti’s Customer Success team a great touch to her overall planning experience. She especially praised Confetti’s online chat feature, which helped her answer initial booking questions right away. And if the intuitive chatbot didn’t have an answer? She was quickly connected with a person. “Just having that instant communication with someone on the site was so nice.”
Hayley included two Confetti events for the 2021 FormAssembly All-Team Reunion: the Deskercise Class and Donut Baking Class. They were a hit.
“I think it was really great for employee engagement, especially for people that haven't been able to connect in-person and meet other coworkers since the pandemic.”
Hayley noted the inclusion of Confetti’s well-vetted, professional experiences gave new hires the chance to see the fun side of FormAssembly. They could participate in something other than a work-related brainstorming session and truly bond with their coworkers.
What else did the FormAssembly team have to say about the Donut Baking Class 🍩 in their company-wide Slack?
“Everything we did with Confetti, [sic] everyone loved it,” Hayley said, summarizing her teams’ post-event surveys.
When asked if Hayley would continue using Confetti for FormAssembly’s team building events, she gave us an enthusiastic yes, even mentioning thoughts about implementing monthly Deskercise classes as part of its health and wellness initiative.
“As things pivot virtually, Confetti has honestly just opened up a whole new world,” Hayley said, going on to mention her intentions to use Confetti for both team bonding experiences and prospect-facing experiences.
“As the event planner, all the work doesn’t have to fall to me anymore. With Confetti, I can simply connect with great vendors that lead amazing workshops and events. I’m so impressed with Confetti and I’m excited to use them again in the future.”
