Chronosphere milestones: Office openings and in-person gatherings

A year and a half since the world first locked down due to the pandemic, and Chronosphere has reached exciting new milestones: We have begun in-person gatherings and office reopenings, starting with the official opening of two hub offices in New York and EU (Vilnius, Lithuania). More hub office locations are on the radar, but we are thrilled to have these two locations safely opened and occupied with Chronospherians.

At Chronosphere, we proactively decided to reinvent our workforce rather than wait for life to return to pre-pandemic normal.

First we became a remote-first company, which means we believe in giving employees the freedom and flexibility to work from the place where they will be happiest and most productive. Our employees can choose the work location that fits them best, whether that’s at home, a co-working space, or a hub office.

For those working from home (near-term and permanently), we have found creative ways to make the work-at-home experience mimic the in-office experience, with a special emphasis on helping Chronospherians get to know their teammates in a non-work sense.

For example, in the “Chronuts” tradition, new employees are introduced to a new teammate every other Wednesday via Slack. Or, employees can be the company DJ for two hours by live streaming a favorite Spotify playlist over the JQBX music sharing site. Chronospherians can also join company-wide virtual get togethers with colleagues (random groups every two weeks) and there are virtual events that include everyone.

At the same time, being remote-first means we are able to hire the best people because our search is not tied to any one location, as is typical of pre-pandemic hiring models.

Our head of people, Agne Klasaviciene, writes all about Chronosphere’s unique remote-first approach to hiring and Chronosphere’s modern workforce here.

Many of us on the east coast recently gathered to celebrate the opening of our brand new NYC office together, and our EU crew gathered in the recently reopened Vilnius offices.

We have also begun encouraging and supporting travel to facilitate in-person bonding and collaboration. Spontaneous Chronosphere gatherings have occurred on the west coast near Silicon Valley, in the pacific northwest in Seattle, and local folks are meeting up in their areas.

For most of us, these gatherings are the first time meeting in person – ever. Despite the pandemic, Chronosphere grew from under twenty employees working out of three cities to more than seventy Chronospherians working remotely across more than thirty cities in the US and EU. Until now, we’ve only collaborated – or bonded – virtually over zoom.

I am grateful to have reached this new phase of life at Chronosphere. It’s been quite a journey, which I documented in my recent blog on Chronosphere’s origin story, Happy second birthday Chronosphere!

For a visual of our latest in-person gatherings and hub office openings, check out the photo journal below: You’ll see a lot of smiling faces and camaraderie in action.

The NYC team celebrated our ability to come together in a safe environment by smashing stuff at Break Bar.

Martin, Rob, and early employees said a few words to toast the team and the rapid growth we’ve seen. In January we announced the general availability of our monitoring product along with $43.4 million in series B funding, bringing our total funds raised to $55 million. Also, over the past year we doubled our workforce and are continuing our rapid expansion.

With more than 20 people in the NYC office, our east coast hub is our largest.

When our EU team gathered, they experienced a combination of events. First they met for a BBQ on the same Sunday evening of the Euro soccer finals – which was also bringing together people from all over Europe in a very different way. The next (very hot) day they had a walking tour of Vilnius’ old town (over 700 years old!), visiting many of the historical buildings and the curious Užupis artists commune that is listed as a UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) world heritage site after it declared itself an independent republic in 1998.

For many, like our software engineer Mary, they have recently relocated to Vilnius and are still discovering and learning about the area (you can read more about Mary’s story here).

Even though we are a remote-first company, Chronospherians gather with local colleagues when they can.

Ready to join the Chronosphere team? Check out our open roles here.

Even though we are a remote-first company, Chronospherians gather with local colleagues when they can.

Ready to join the Chronosphere team? Check out our open roles here.