Automattic Grand MeetupNo. 011

Automattic is a fully distributed company with thousands of employees all over the world. Every year, the company gathers to spend time together IRL. It’s a major cultural tradition within the company and an important time for all Automatticians.

The 2019 Grand Meetup was held at a large hotel in Orlando. Most of the design problem was making a large hotel in Orlando feel like something other than a large hotel in Orlando.

Around a thousand people came. This turned out to be the last full Grand Meetup — the company still gathers, but now in groups organized by division rather than all at once.

The most interesting part of this and any internal event design project is what you’re allowed to say. In marketing work you’re building a brand and inviting people into it. Here the audience is already inside, and the brand wasn’t constructed by anyone — it grew out of what employees actually do and say. My job was to reflect the best parts of that back in a way that made my co-workers feel seen and like they belonged. I pulled heavily on the text of the Automattic Creed, which is the closest thing the company has to a founding document, and worked in a lot of inside jokes and specific references that Automatticians would appreciate. Bold color and large typographic treatments carried the message and were loud enough to compete with the carpet.

Some of the designs for this event are still among my favorites. Making a thousand people feel recognized and at home in an Orlando ballroom was a very specific challenge, but I think we did a pretty good job.