Last week, we closed shop for two hours in the middle of the day and headed to Shakespeare's Pizza.
   
Crazy? We don't think so. We actually do this once a quarter to gather our employees and discuss company goals, progress and strategy. We call it our Town Meeting.
   
As we’ve grown, it’s become more challenging to stay in touch with employees and keep them in the loop with regards to what’s going on in the company. This is one way we regroup and get everyone on the same page. We cover not only current projects in all departments, but also where Socket is headed over the next few years.
    
We try our best to minimize any inconvenience this causes our customers. Our techs still make emergency dispatches if an issue arises during the meeting. We attempt to contact those who call us while our call center was closed.
 
Even though it's a hassle to briefly close our doors, there's great value in getting our people in the same room. Our employees tell us it’s helpful to hear about future plans, which often comes straight from our owners. It also gives us an opportunity to interact with people and departments we don't see as often. The free lunch doesn’t hurt, either!
 
We don’t hear about a lot of other companies doing this, at least not companies our size. Maybe it’s too hard to coordinate the logistics. And some companies are just too big or geographically dispersed . We’re fortunate that we’re able to do it, for now at least.
  
But no matter how much we grow, we'll keep having Town Meetings as long as our employees are leaving better informed about what’s going on, where Socket is headed, and how they play a part in that. We'll be a better company as a result, and our customers will benefit from that.