Thirty people from Confluent’s global sales team had just spent a full week in meetings at their Mountain View offices. On the last day, they swapped the conference room for something a lot more fun. A charity bike build in Mountain View gave the group a hands-on, competitive way to wrap up the week while doing something real for the community. The sales team and their business partners went head-to-head building bikes, and when the dust settled, five completed bicycles headed out the door to children in the autism community through Joshua’s Gift.
Confluent builds data streaming infrastructure that helps organizations move and act on information in real time. The company’s platform connects teams and systems through a continuous flow of data, built on the technology behind Apache Kafka. Confluent serves businesses worldwide and is now part of IBM.
Confluent’s Sales Team Closes Out Onsite Week with a Charity Bike Build in Mountain View
The competitive instinct that helps Confluent’s sales team win at work showed up immediately. Teams dove straight into the challenges, earned their parts, and kept a sharp eye on what the other tables were doing. Early on, the whole thing felt like a race. Everyone wanted to finish first.
Then the bikes started coming together, and the energy in the room changed. Teams that had been sprinting to stay ahead started helping each other out instead. Spare parts moved across tables without anyone being asked. People offered tips, shared tools, and cheered when someone else figured out a tricky step. By the time the last wheel went on, the group was collaborating more naturally than it had at any point during the week. That tends to happen when the goal is building bikes for kids rather than closing a deal.
Mizpah Brown-Rich, the founder of Joshua’s Gift, joined the group in person to pick up the five completed bikes. She shared the story behind the organization, including her own son’s experience that first inspired her to start it. Joshua’s Gift puts bikes in the hands of children in the autism community, where riding supports motor skills and helps kids reach important physical milestones. By the time she finished speaking, everyone in the room understood why the afternoon had been worth it.
Thanks to Confluent for finishing a busy week with something that actually mattered. And a big thank you to Mizpah Brown-Rich and the entire Joshua’s Gift team for the work they do every single day for kids and families.
Looking for a way to send your team home on a high note after a long stretch of meetings? A charity bike build is one of the best finishes to an onsite you can plan.