Sparkle Estonia started its first activities in august 2021. By the summer of 2022 the team had grown to around 7 people via the guidance of Pieter Jansen, the Managing Partner. Pieter together with some colleagues, decided a proper team building event was in order to celebrate. Sparkle Estonia also invited other countries to come and join. As the Managing Partner of the Sparkle Belgium I decided to join them and for the first time explore Estonia with its beautiful capital Tallinn. What follows are some of the highlights of a great teambuilding weekend.
Visiting the Palo Alto office in the Telliskivi neighbourhood
The Estonian office is located in the so called Telliskivi Creative City which is a former industrial complex of Tallinn, which houses galleries, small shops, various creative companies, start-ups, and restaurants. It seems to be a well-known leisure place for city dwellers and visitors to the city, where design, music, art and open-mindedness meet. An independent business centre located on the territory of the former industrial complex belonging to the Baltic Railways. I was told that during the Soviet period, locomotives, wagons and transformers were repaired here.
The Estonian office is located in the Palo Alto Club and shares offices with several other businesses and startups.
It was super nice to visit the office and get to feel the local vibe. We lunched together with the Estonian Sparkleers, where I had the chance to get to know the team in a more informal setting. We also discussed several challenges, projects and opportunities over coffee.
An offsite and canoe trip at Võsu beach
One of the Estonian colleagues offered his families guest house at Võsu beach for a BBQ and a weekend sleepover. Many thanks to Stig and his wife for hosting this location! As the weather was amazing with temperatures above 25 degrees the whole week this was a great escape from the city center. Võsu, in Lahemaa National Park, 70 kilometers east from the capital Tallinn, is home to one of Estonia’s most popular sandy beaches and offers great walking trails.
We started the weekend with a team meeting, where Pieter gave an updated on Sparkle Estonia, past & future opportunities and ambitions. I discovered the training service of Sparkle Estonia, and how it was one of their focus domains. After the team briefing, it was time for fun. The host prepared the best ribs in town and other fine meats accompanied with delicious cocktails and drinks. It was very nice to meet the Estonian team in this setting and really get to know them beter. After a lot of talks, laughs, drinks and great food, some of us went to bed sort of on time, while other stayed up (maybe too) late.
The next day was Canoe day. For the first time in a whole week there was some rain during the start of the day, but it turned out to be a day full of laughter and sunshine. The canoe trip took around 3 hours and meandered through great wilderness scenery far away from traffic and daily live. We concluded the team building weekend with a nice dinner at one of Võsu’s beach restaurants.
On Sunday we each went our own way. For me it was time to fly back to Belgium. I definitely enjoyed the trip and will visit Estonia more regularly from now on.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Lien Keulemans
Managing Partner