adQSummit 2021: Orange County Behind The Scenes of our Award Winning Team

adQuadrant is a firm believer that creating massive results comes from one place and one place only – a positive culture. 

Although many companies out there swear by a cut-throat, stress-inducing, and high-pressure culture to drive success, we know that a compassionate, empathetic, and positive environment is what is best for our team. 

We embody an undeniably healthy culture by fostering the principle of social connections. 

As part of our commitment, adQ presented its first-ever yearly company-wide summer summit to build social bonds, demonstrate our gratitude, and simply have some fun under the Orange County sun. 

The adQSummit’s itinerary comprised of flying team members from all over the country down to Orange County, California where a hotel was reserved for the 3-day work retreat.

Want to hear all about what the team got up to? 

Day One┃Boats & Bonding

I mean, what better way to break the ice than with a boat trip?

We welcomed the team with a duffy boat sunset cruise to kick off our 3-day retreat. 

Did somebody say bots? 

Why yes, yes they did! 

Each boat had a variety of snacks, beverages, and tunes available for our team to enjoy, while they relaxed into the evening after a day of travel. 

(No judgment here – staying hydrated is a must!). 

Filled with quirky personalities, every duffy boat had a unique experience while sipping on cocktails, chatting about our love for animals, and simply catching up on life. 

As a fully remote company, we have grown as a team and have worked together virtually every day, and although we had never met in person prior to the adQSummit, the team dynamic has consistently been incredible.“The adQSummit gave a chance for all of us to meet in person and that dynamic carried over so naturally,” said Elena Lopez, Senior Project Manager. 

“We are a group of people that genuinely love what we do and care about each other and our growth as a team.” 

Day Two┃Work Hard, Play Harder

That’s our work ethic here at adQ!

Courtney McCall, Director of Operations commenced the day two kick-off celebration speech alongside a wide variety of fresh bagels and coffee at Noguchi Garden. 

The bagels were to die for…

But we must say, the atmosphere and team spirit of day two certainly trumped their delicious doughy goodness! 

The celebration was based around “You are Limitless”, one of our 8 Guiding Principles. This principle emphasizes that our individual growth is a daily pursuit and that each day we should strive to bulldoze straight through our comfort zone and work together to create bigger, better, more impactful results…

For ourselves, and for our clients! 

The positive energy was felt collectively, and as with everything we do, whether that be winning championships for our clients or brainstorming internal ideas, each team member was constantly striving to outdo their best by learning, listening, and collaborating with each other.

It sounds almost too good to be true, but here at adQ, we really do love what we do, because…

We work hard and play harder. 

After the breakfast festivities, we split off into teams comprised of Team Leads, Account Managers, Media Analysts, Paid Social Managers, Creative Designers, and Project Managers for team exercises. 

The intent of these activities was to provide a non-marketing, non-business, kinetic discussion about roles. A way for the team to think about their roles and the roles of their teammates in a way that wasn’t caught up in the day-to-day details of their jobs that can easily cloud or impact perspectives. “I wanted folks to think about their connections to other people,” said Dale Wilson, Associate Director of Client Strategy. 

“How their roles are impacted by others, but also how their roles impact others and that ultimately we play as a team. I wanted everyone to learn something about themselves, each other, and their team outside the context of how they spend a third of their workdays.”

After a mouthwatering lunch from Fanous Mediterranean Grill…

We dedicated our time to GYSHIDO. 

GYSHIDO is another of our 8 Guiding Principles, a mentality focused on getting sh*t done while staying accountable to deadlines because we believe that strategies don’t work unless you do. 

This mentality is how we consistently provide ALL of our clients with powerful, results-driven marketing. 

The GYSHIDO mentality is embedded into adQ at its core, thus, into each one of us as a motivational tool. 

It’s even a requirement when we advertise for an exciting, up-and-coming position! Know of anyone who fits the bill? Check out our careers page to find out more.

Brian Smith, founder of UGG Australia was announced as the surprise guest speaker during the midday learning session. 

During his speech, he revealed the secrets to his personal mega-success of the billion-dollar brand, touched on his pitfalls, and how he put his heart and soul to overcome all odds to find ultimate success. 

Brian Smith’s wisdom is written in his book, The Birth of a Brand, and is worth a gander to any trailblazer in the world of entrepreneurship. 

After work hours, it was time to play!

The adQ happy hour began at the Noguchi Garden where we raised a glass and bonded with food, friends, and for lack of a better phrase, totally non-work-appropriate jokes!

We’ll let your mind wonder about those!

The garden was exclusively reserved for the adQ team with tables set up a few feet from each other and a waterfall at the center of it all. 

It was a perfect evening! 

To the right people grabbed cocktails, wine, or their drink of choice at the bar. While others were eager to feast on an alfresco hearty meal with vegan options available. 

As always, our team thinks ahead and tailors to everyone’s needs!

The night drew to a close with dancing, laughing, and one too many cocktails. 

Day Three┃A Day To Remember 

Similarly, the third day launched with coffee, tea, and a stroll with team members as we prepped for an all-hands-on-deck meeting. 

This was followed by a pleasant morning filled with an omelet chef as he whisked vigorously to make perfect fluffy omelets. 

Toppings included a variety of meats, veggies, salsas and paired with orange juice, coffee, and toast to make the last day one to remember. 

Joseph McClendon, Performance Specialist was the final surprise guest and speaker at the adQSummit. 

Joseph has delivered hundreds of workshops, coaching sessions, keynote addresses, seminars, and training programs, and one-on-one therapeutic interventions all over the globe. However, on this trip, he was on a mission to make the adQ family bold in the ability to achieve the life we desire and help us go further faster, now. 

Similarly to the success that we strive to help our clients achieve! 

As the adQSummit came to an end, we attended our last team dinner set at a beachfront restaurant with a stunning ocean view called Sol Mexican Cocina. 

As we enjoyed our last meal we celebrated our accomplishments, the team growth and looked forward to taking all we had learned from the summit into our daily lives moving forward. 

We can’t wait until next year when we do it all over again – bigger, better, and with even more fantastic team members behind us!