“Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better.”
-Albert Einstein
We’re back in the office today after an exciting weekend at the first annual Ripple Retreat! Organized by Ripple Ventures, the retreat was planned to encourage team building, provide a camp experience, and allow all the start-ups in the Ripple portfolio to get to know each other a little better.
With activities ranging from archery tag, to karaoke with a live band, to camp classics like canoeing and hiking, we’ve come away with a renewed sense of team spirit and connections with colleagues from other companies both professional and personal. There’s nothing like relaxing around a campfire with a s’more to encourage the sharing of ideas!
Here are some of our favourite moments from this memorable weekend:
Turn Left in 800 Metres
We’re big believers that sometimes getting to your destination can be more fun than the destination itself. With the car loaded, and rush hour ahead of us, a three hour drive quickly turned to six. 
Travelling together is a great way to learn how you work as a team. It requires patience, navigation, communication and a great car DJ to keep the energy high! When we arrived at Camp Timberlane, we’d already shared some great memories and moments and, with a stomach full of Weber’s Burgers, we were ready to take on the weekend!
Meeting Other Campers
One of the most exciting parts of attending Camp, is getting to meet your fellow campers. Who will be in your bunk? Who will you chat with around the campfire? It’s a great way to form new connections!
This was true at the
Ripple Retreat, where different companies came together for the weekend.
It gave everyone an opportunity to chat with others in similar roles in
other companies; connections that are sure to continue now that we’re
back in the office. For those of us working in the Ripple Tank, it was a
great way to strengthen those connections with the people that we see
and work beside every day!
Ready to Jump!
Camp often encourages us to get out of our comfort zones. There’s something refreshing about being outdoors and exposed to situations that we don’t often find within the city. During the Ripple Retreat, this included activities like a high ropes course, canoeing and archery tag!
Participating in these activities helps to create a shared experience between individuals, allowing us to strengthen our connections! This was especially true during the “Leap of Faith” which had us scaling a pole, standing at the top, and literally taking a leap of faith trying to touch a ball suspended in the air.
Climbing the pole and knowing that you have a team of individuals standing below, offering their support and encouragement was really empowering, and being able to return that support when they started their climb created memories that will be long-lasting.
Mic Drop
One of the coolest experiences at the Ripple Retreat was taking to the stage with a live band to perform Karaoke. The Cognota Team decided to perform a few songs together, featuring classic karaoke hits like Mr.Brightside and I’m Gunna Be (500 Miles).
Performing in front of others wasn’t within everyone’s comfort zone,
but standing side by side as a team, and encouraged by new friends made
throughout the weekend, we were ready to belt it out and have some fun!
Until Next Year!
The end of camp can bring mixed emotions – you might be excited to get back home, or away from the mosquitos, but it’s also sad to be wrapping up such a fun weekend and leaving new friends behind.
Luckily for us, we get to see everyone again on Monday in our shared office space at the Ripple Tank! The Ripple Retreat gave us all a renewed sense of community and some great memories. We can’t wait to go back next year and would highly recommend a weekend out of the city as a way to connect with your team on a different level!
