Group photo from the 2025 wetransform Summer Offsite. 15 members of the wetransform team stand in a forest, organised in two rows, smiling at the camera.

The wetransform Summer Offsite: A Premiere!

General Interest News Culture Events Offsite Staff Teamwork wetransform

John Boudewijn

Morchid Chellali

Thorsten Reitz

28 Jul 2025

Get-togethers are of particular importance to the wetransform team. They provide an opportunity to connect, have fun, and align on our course. Our annual winter offsite is always a highlight, so why not try it in summer?

Just recently, organising the SmartForest conference reminded us that starting a new event is quite the challenge. Fortunately, SmartForest 2025 also proved that our organisational skills are well up to the task. Aligning the schedules of nineteen adults is no mean feat, so we agreed to meet up for a shorter time than we do in winter, and not quite as far from home. Franziska, Ramona, and Thorsten pulled together to set up events that ran from preparatory webinars to a guided walk in the woods to ensure we could make the most of the time we had.

Welcome to a hyper-efficient offsite.

Welcome to Darmstadt

A view of across the roofs of Darmstadt, taken from the northwest of town, facing southeast towards the centre. Green trees, buildings of different ages and styles, construction cranes, windmills, the distinctive hand-shape of the Hochzeitsturm at UNESCO World Heritage Mathildenhöhe, and a Ferris Wheel can be seen against a summer sky.

The wetransform team (headquartered in Fraunhoferstr. 5, Darmstadt) has gone on a two-day summer offsite to… Darmstadt.

For a remote-first company, this is less of a staycation than one might think. After all, most of us don’t live in, or even near, Darmstadt. An early July heatwave provided temperatures of around 35°C and added an additional “group vacation” vibe to a trip we could all take with ease.

Three women from the wetransform team are gathered around a black table on which there are two blue bins full of markers. Anna, a blonde sporting a white shirt, looks on from the left. Julia, also blonde, wearing a striped top and jeans, leans over as she writes something on a card. To the right, Ramona's dark hair and colourful dress are seen from the back.

We started by going to a different workspace, a workshop- and project venue called Queststadt, on the northwest side of town. There, we found a comfortable space with plenty of drinks and fans to help beat the heat, alongside a variety of seating options and work materials. Lunch had been arranged in advance via Slack-vote, so we were free to get to work!

Day 1 – Data-driven Decisions

Like every wetransform offsite, we try to make the most of the time together by preparing well. This included three preparatory “WEShare” sessions, in which Franziska provided us with suitable models and some data on topics such as change management and conflict culture.

We were thus able to get to a running start in the physical workshop. And, with Thorsten being an avid (trail) runner, why not let him do the first leg?

Thorsten gave a condensed rundown of the key things that happened since the January strategic offsite. This included presenting the final version of our new mission statement, reporting from the shareholder meeting just a week earlier, and giving a view into the long-term development of our products towards creating a “tapestry of possibilities” for improving resilience of human and natural systems.

Implementing such challenging long-term objectives only works when you have alacrity and internal alignment. To achieve that, we spent the rest of the day discussing how we can become better as a team. Specifically, we looked at how we handle conflicts and where our company culture could be improved.

Day 2 – The Art of the Woods

A large banner hangs high between sun-dappled green tree foliage. It reads "12. Internationaler Waldkunstpfad. Kunst Natur Wasser".

With projects such as FutureForest, our work on the Forest Data Space, and the organisation of the SmartForest conference among our recent accomplishments, a walking tour of Darmstadt’s Internationaler Waldkunstpfad made for a very fitting and pleasantly cool activity on the second day.

During a leisurely walk, we were shown artworks that had been constructed in the woods as part of a recurring international competition, with plenty of opportunity for the team to relax…

Two men from the wetransform team lay down back-to-back across a wave-shaped wooden construction in the woods. Lead Sales Chris stretches out to the left, his grey hair just touching CEO Thorsten's brown hat. Thorsten lays in the opposite direction, his legs up over the crest of the "wave". On the structure is the white text "Plaudernde WELLEN".

…and learn.

The wetransform team is on a forest path. They are looking intently at the Waldkunstpfad tour guide, who stands in a sunny spot between two wooden constructions shaped like water drops, his hands spread as he explains the artist's vision.

An Event Worth Repeating

The first wetransform summer offsite will not be the last. Getting the ball rolling is always the hardest part, but we are now ready to make this a recurring event and can iterate and improve as needed.

For this first summer offsite, we played to our strengths:

Efficiency – We leveraged what we already knew about Darmstadt to our advantage
Preparation – Advance webinars and homework allowed the sessions to run smoothly
Organisation – Clear plans and decisions made in advance kept us on track
Flexibility – Setbacks were swiftly dealt with so everyone could participate

In short, we set ourselves up for success and success was exactly what we achieved!

A restaurant's terrace on a cobbled street in Darmstadt on a sunny day. Thirteen members of the wetransform team sit at three combined wooden tables with a variety of drinks on it. Everyone is smiling at the camera.

Curious how we’ll iterate on this for future offsites? Why not join them? We are hiring!