Coronavirus update (5) - March 16, 2020

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Hi everyone,

Welcome to quarantine! It feels kind of strange to be at home so much, and to know that practically the whole world is in the same boat. The planet seems both bigger and smaller at the same time right now.

Today I have an important update plus some reminders to share.

Stay in touch, proactively

While we do our best to work remotely, please remember that this arrangement can only succeed if we practice proactive, regular, and timely communication. Nobody can just "walk past your desk" to discuss something right now. There's no bumping into people in the kitchen, no riding the elevator together, no lunch discussion. All of this must be replaced with intentional and frequent check-ins and updates to those who need information from you.

  • Keep your Slack open and online, and pay extra attention to notifications.
  • Stay on top of your emails. (I am guilty)
  • If you're working on something with someone, consider setting up a regular Zoom check-in.

We all have a part to play in making this temporarily distributed company a success.

The Vanilla Retreat is postponed

With April coming up fast, we've been in touch with our travel agency almost daily. On Friday evening we decided to formally postpone the retreat, most probably until about the same time next year. The risks far outweigh the benefits, and with travel advisories in effect it will probably become impossible soon anyway. Nobody wants to be quarantined for months in Mexico... or do they ?

Those who had family members in their group, don't worry. No fees are due. We're pushing the whole process out into the future and we'll reset the attendance list to zero when we restart the planning. I am personally relieved in many ways, but this is sad news none the less, so I'm sorry.

Be responsible

I'm sure we're all keeping ourselves updated on the state of global and local affairs at this point, but here's a little update none the less.


Thank you all for being so flexible and agreeable while we figure out how to handle this weird situation. Let's try to remind ourselves that it's everyone's first time dealing with a pandemic.

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